Fire!

"We've got a very big problem!  There is a fire at fish pond #2!"

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But, I am getting ahead of myself.  Let me explain a few things.  

1.  It has not rained here in many weeks.

VERY, VERY DRY!

2.  It was Saturday afternoon.  All the workers (who know how to deal with fire) had left.  The majority of the other missionaries had gone to a wedding.

3.  There was a group of teenage boys that had gathered to play soccer.  They were all barefoot!

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Back to the story:  Alloys and I jump into the car with buckets and some of the boys.  

We were told that the goat shelter that was inside the fish pond fence is gone.  Luckily, the goats were out grazing.

Fish pond and what was left of the goat shelter

We arrive a few minutes later.  I send some of the boys to the fish pond to fill the buckets with water.  I warn them not to get the fish too - we didn't want to cook any fish today in the fire.

I grab some green branches and go running to the fire.  (Here, you use green branches and beat the fire out. This is because there is usually not any readily available water)

One of the green branches we used to beat the fire

 The fire is very high, probably 8 feet at this point, burning in some tall grass.  The wind was feeding it just right.  Alloys, a guard, a few boys and I run through some of the area that has already burnt, trying to get to the flames.

The reason we were so desperate at this point was because it was headed straight for our pigs, chickens and goats.  It was only a few hundred feet from the cages.

See the arrows pointing out the livestock houses

It was at this point that I realized we were in over our heads.  I sent one of our boys to go find anyone on the property to help. He came back 30 minutes later to say there was no one.

I have to admit, I looked around at all those boys - barefoot, standing around or trying to beat the fire - I was scared.  

I was worried about the livestock. 

I was worried about these boys being in danger.

The smoke was so thick I had trouble breathing many times. 

I had never been in a situation like this and I was in charge!!

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But, after a minute, God helped me get it together and get organized.

We started attacking the fire in an organized way, working it back towards the wet lands on the back of the property.  

The buckets were coming too slow . The boys were barefoot and walking through freshly burned areas to get to us!

Rice fields

After about an hour of exhausting work, we chased the fire across our fence line.  The neighbor has a rice field, which slowed the fire down.  

We started getting water from the water canals that feed the rice.  These canals are only about 2 inches deep, but after another hour of wetting and beating we got it under control.

But, small areas kept re-starting!  We would look back and see a flame where we had just put one out.  We could not leave them because the flames could spread too quickly.

Towards the end, the other missionaries returned and helped us put out the last flames that kept popping up.

After it was finished, we all went to the Prayer Garden to thank God for his protection.

It was dark when we finally made it back home.   

I was so tired.  So dirty.
But so thankful that God had protected everyone.  

There were not any real injuries.  Some of us have some small burns and lots of scratches, nothing more.

I looked pretty bad

Those are  my good shoes!  

After I took off the shoes!  Pretty funny!  One child told me I was black like him now!

"My whole body hurts!"

Birthday cakes

We are growing. 

We have many children. 

The children want to celebrate their birthdays. Even if half of them don't actually know them. 

So, we are going to begin having a party on the last Sunday of every month. (We are actually a bit late this time, but no problem)

I made a cake. But it was too thin. No way it would feed 40 people. 

Undaunted, I tried again. It was big enough, but, then the icing!

No idea what happened!  

But, Joyce loved it!  (She was the only birthday in January)

The kids loved it. 

One said,"Happiness!  Nothing but happiness!"

In the end, nothing left. 

(Excuse the blurry pictures. Taking pictures in a room only lit by 2 flashlights cause problems. )

Leadership and Team Work

We have a great group of Esangalo helpers!

They are the kids that will one day be the Esangalo leaders.  This past Thursday and Friday, we had a training seminar just for them.

We discussed topics like team work, leadership and the importance of a personal Quiet Time.

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Come along and see what they did!

Registration

Me, Doreen and Brenda

Name Tags - there were 35 students in all

Praise and Worship 

Workshops on leadership, responsibility and quiet time

Small group discussion - "What does it mean to be a leader?"

"Why do you serve God?  What is your motivation?"

Of course, breakfast and lunch!

Afternoon team building games

"Don't Touch"

Trust fall

There she goes!  Trust!

Trying to get everyone on the team through the net - without touching the string or repeating a hole

Me and John

Skits - What is your offering to God?

Alloys and some of the boys

"We are a team."  

Jumping the great pit - later they decided they should work together, as a team, so that everyone could cross the pit.

"One, two, three, step"

Summer Vacation

Our kids are on what Americans would call summer vacation.  But, they don't have television, internet, ipods, ipads, or video games.  

So what do they do? 

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They make hats out of mango leaves.

They make mud swimming pools.

And then, just play in the mud.

They dig holes and gather rocks to play amakora, similar to mancala.  

They build doll houses out of cardboard.

They have tea parties.

They play the drums (a lot).

They play volleyball, and soccer and tag and hide 'n seek.

They dig more swimming pools (I think we need a real one. . . ).

In short, they just have fun!

Teacher Interviews - Rome, strikes and southern accents

I just sat through 4 hours of teacher interviews!

The good news, we found four really potential people – Christians, educated and good attitudes.

The funny (because you know that is where I am going with this post. . . )

One person, when asked to share their testimony basically said this:  I was born Muslim.  But after I finished my teacher education I decided to be a born again because “When you go to Rome, do as the Romans.”  (Translation:  I was born Muslim, but I found out it is easier to get a job if I am a Born Again, so. . . here I am.)

We had a panel of three doing the interviews, myself and two social workers.  One asked religious questions, one asked teaching questions and then I asked a mixture of the two topics. The funny thing was that almost every time I asked a question, the applicant would look to the social workers for translation.  They would repeat my EXACT words, in English.  The applicant would then respond.  My southern accent!

Another interesting/funny response. The question was “Why is it important to have a scheme of work?”  The applicant responded that teaching without a scheme of work is like a driver who is driving without a permit.  If there is an accident, they will blame the drive that doesn’t have the permit. (Not real sure how that relates. . . )

One question on of the social workers kept asking was how the teacher would react to hearing news that the students were preparing a strike.  My thought every time was “Does that happen often?  Should I expect my students to strike?  What would they strike about?”  I never did ask the probability of a student led strike in the school.