Challenges

Megan and our boys

Life on the islands has inherent challenges...power outages, heat, and tropical illnesses come with the territory.  Then there is the intense challenges of language and culture that lessen with time but by no means disappear. Plus there are special challenges, this week was our fourth week of food shortages on Clove Island. Flour was supposed to come on the 18th, then the 22nd, then the 25th...now we’ve stopped asking when it will come.

I was walking with Grace and Peter today. They were sharing that they didn’t like when kids laughed at them, followed them and tried to touch their hair. I sympathized with them and tried to explain that we stand out here and the kids are just curious. It isn’t always easy.

But at the same time challenges can encourage us. They can stretch us to new heights and force us to try and do things we wouldn’t usually do. Power outages force us to find pleasure in things other than electronics. Cultural and language blunders humble us, force us to study harder and try to understand better the people around us. Tropical illnesses encourage us to pray more. Food shortages help us to be content and thankful for the food we have and to be creative! (We had some good cookies today made with cassava flour.) Curious kids teach us patience and may gain us friends.

Fun in a river

We find that challenges are good for us! But then comes the hard part-- what about when we need to be challenged but there is no outside force pushing us? It is easy to get comfortable, sink into habits and even fall complacent. We need someone or something to light a fire under us, get us moving, push us along. We’re reminded of sports coaches or PE teachers who would push us to do more sprints, more drills well past our own inherent motivation.  Sometimes you don’t know how far you can go until someone pushes you, challenges you.

Here on Clove Island we are part of a team. And one of the great things about a team is that we can challenge one another. Sometimes by simply sharing life together, we can challenge each other by example. Sometimes by going back to our shared goals, values and vision. Sometimes as team leaders we can light a fire that pushes us farther. This is a crucial role that our team can play and these past few weeks have reminded us of that.

Great spot for a Sunday gathering

Facing challenges isn’t always easy or comfortable, but we trust in the One who knows how much we can handle and pray that we will be pushed closer to Him and to greater heights for Him.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
The new foreign family has arrived and their youngest is now in the same class as Peter. It is nice for them to have each other (the only foreigners in the class). We’ve heard from teammates that flour has been spotted. We haven’t seen it with our own eyes but are thankful with the encouraging reports that these shortages may be coming to an end. Peter is feeling better. We met this morning to sing and study on the side of a river (instead of in a home)-- it was a fun change.


PRAYERS REQUESTED
As part of an effort to challenge us more, we’re leading our team in refining our team vision and focus. Pray for us as we do this, that we would be guided in the right directions and we would be united in our goals and values. We have been encouraged by the process so far. Sometimes it is hard to keep all our ducks afloat-- pray that we would continue to have the right priorities and balance in our life as a family and team. Our good friend Ma Imani has been sick-- pray for her healing.

Back to School

Grace & Peter ready for school

When we first came to Clove Island it was in the middle of a school year. Last school year began while we were on vacation, so again our kids entered school with everything in full swing.

So this was our first “back-to-school” experience and we realized there is a lot we don’t know….

We don’t know when school will actually begin… It was already September and I could not get a clear answer from the school administrators as to what day school would actually begin, other than them insisting that it would begin this month. Finally it was decided: “Sep 8th will be the beginning of school. Parents come to a meeting a few days before.” At the meeting I learned that teachers would return on the 8th, children on the 10th. When I asked more specifics, I learned that only the primary age kids would come the 10th, the preschool on the 11th. When I pushed for a time, I was told that they would only come briefly on the first day and the normal school hours wouldn’t apply until the third day. “What about the second day?” “The second day will be for gathering all the school supplies.”

We don’t know how to buy books…At the end of last year we were given a school supply list-- presumably so we could buy the supplies over the summer and bring them to school the first day. We got all the required notebooks, pencils, chalks, crayons, etc. But there was still the question of the books. Thankfully the school was opening up a little shop and ordering the books so parents don’t have to hunt around town for them. I went to the new shop on the corner of the school grounds… “I need the preschool and first grade books.” “You can’t buy them. First go to the school office and come back with a receipt showing that you have paid.” Oh, we must have to show we’ve paid the school fees (which I hadn’t done yet) before we can buy the books.  I looked at the school office and noticed a long line and decided to wait until the next day.

We don’t know how to pay school fees… Usually paying is the easy part, everyone wants money, right? Last year we had delayed paying one trimester and then received a typed notice that school fees are supposed to be paid at the beginning of each trimester… we assumed that this note was targeted at us and promptly paid. We didn’t want a formal notice this time so the week before school I asked, “Should I pay the school fees now?” “The school fees? Now? For this year?,” the administrator asked. “Yes, for the first trimester.” “No, no, no, not yet.” At the parents’ meeting, I saw parents streaming into the school office and coming out with receipts. “Are they paying school fees?,” I asked a nearby mother. “Yes, for last year.” Another good friend told us a story of how she had to pay a school all the money for last year’s school fees before she could enter her daughter into school for this year. Later I sat in the school office and saw a mother pay for last year’s second AND third trimesters. All the receipt books are labeled, 2013-2014. No wonder they weren’t ready for my money.

Grace learning to grate coconut

We still don’t know how to buy books…Now I think I understand: people must be proving that they paid last year’s school fees in order to buy books. So I go back to the shop and explain that I’ve already paid last year’s fees but I don’t have the receipt anymore. The woman looks at me blankly. I notice that the parent next to me doesn’t have a receipt for school fees, but for books. The shop woman tells me she only sells the school supplies, the money for the books goes to the school office and then people just come and pick up the books at the shop. Humbled, I return to the school office and see the other set of receipt books for all the school books. “We don’t have the first grade books yet,” the administrator tells me, “You’ll have to come back later.”

We still don’t know when school actually starts...I take Grace for her second day of school with all the school supplies. They say she will just meet her teacher and hand over the supplies. They call the kids into the classroom. Someone is there monitoring them but it is not the teacher. I wait outside with some other mothers. The directrice comes and tells us that she has to discuss some things with the teachers first. We wait and we wait. Finally two hours pass. The kids have done absolutely nothing besides sitting at their desks and being scolded every so often. I’m bored and I’m not 6 years old. Finally someone comes out. Grace’s teacher isn’t even in the country at the moment-- we should come back next week! We came back on Monday and her teacher was still gone and she still did next to nothing all day. Finally on Friday, her teacher arrived- Grace says she is very nice.

Welcome back to school!

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We’re thankful that Grace continues to be very positive about school despite the rough beginning. Peter also enjoyed his first day of school.  Homeschool is going well too. So far David’s burn scar is not thickening, but continues to heal well. Megan’s back continues to do well.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
The shortages continue and are starting to hurt. Most types of meat are hard to find, as well as eggs. Flour is still non-existent and rice is running low. They say the shipment is coming this week. Pray that even this weekend we could get some relief. Peter is sick and missed multiple days of school this week. He is doing better but pray for a full recovery. A new family is coming to the islands this week, pray for their transition to life here. Pray for us as we try to guide our teammates well through the various challenges and struggles of life and work here.

Name Your Price

An old friend visits us while visiting Clove island

We’ve lived on the islands for four years now.  Most of the time we feel like we have a decent understanding of culture and language.  Of course, there is always more to learn, but we take comfort in the fact that we have enough sense and cultural understanding to avoid the pitfalls, the communicational blunders and accidental insults that happen regularly for newcomers.  But we are not immune to them.

Like all societies, Clove Island’s society is stratified.  Islanders do not carry such notions as our American egalitarian ideals.  Some families are rich in wealth and history and as such are greatly respected and greatly honored.  They are treated with deference and no one questions their right to be proud and even haughty.  The regular rules do not apply to them, and society accepts this and even promotes it.  As white westerners we have even experienced this deference directed at us.  I have never been able to take a common seat at a wedding, but am always moved to a place of honor--whether I want it or not.  Weddings are actually a time when the stratification is clearly seen. There is a sort of musical chairs when higher level guests are brought forward to places of honor, and at times even displace those already seated, sending them to a lower level of respect.  All of this happens rather seamlessly at weddings as everyone knows everyone else and everyone seems to intuitively know at what strata each should be placed.

Important people being seated at a wedding

Everyone knows this--almost intuitively.  I (Tom) do not.  In fact, most of the time I am completely clueless.  Numerous times someone has said to me, “Did you know you were talking to so-and-so?” and my answer is always surprise and interest--partially because I didn’t know, but partially because it doesn’t really matter to me.  I imagine it should, but this part of American culture is so ingrained in me that I don’t tend to be properly awed or impressed to know I was talking to the director of the port or a man from a prominent and respected family.  Sometimes, this attitude gets me into trouble:

Two women came to our door on Thursday right in the middle of our team meeting.  We were busy meeting and they were women so I passingly greeted them and called for Megan to receive them outside.  (We normally invite people in, but for meeting days, we bring chairs on the porch and meet there.)  A bit later Megan came in and said, “I think you need to go out there.”  The woman was from an important family and she wanted to speak to me.

I went out apologetically explaining that we were having a meeting and that was the reason for meeting on the porch.  The woman, with a look of begrudging acceptance, then explained to me the reason for her visit.

David's burn is healing well

“I have a son.  I want you to tutor him in English.  He will come everyday.  I will pay whatever you want.  Name your price!”

Taken a little aback, I explained that price is not my concern.  We are volunteers and so I don’t work for a salary.  Then I explained that we don’t tutor individuals, we only teach classes. Then I gave some class options for her son.  She looked less than pleased.

“I’m from the former president’s family,” she said rather quietly as if it was embarrassing that I wasn’t aware and that she should have to tell me.
“Oh,” I replied.  “Can your son come and visit me?  Maybe he could come to our English Club if his level of English is sufficient.”  I knew it wasn’t what she wanted to hear, but I was not about to start tutoring her son everyday.  With a look of dismissiveness, she agreed to send him over.  With nothing else to say she rose to leave.  As I walked her to the door she tried one last time.

“Do you know Salim?”  She asked, as if this surely would carry some weight.

“I know many Salims.” I replied.  Wrong answer.  Clearly she was not talking about any old Salim, but Salim.  She turned and walked out looking rather exasperated.  I went back inside to the meeting, thoughts running through my head...Perhaps that could have been handled better...I wonder who Salim is...Name your price?...Did I just insult the family of the head of state?... How much would she have paid?…

Her son never came to visit.  He probably had more important things to do.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
The ladies on our team have signed a contract on a new home! David burn continues to heal well. A translation project for Clove Island is getting started-- it is very exciting to see it coming together! Grace and Peter have met their teachers and bought all their school supplies to start school this coming week! We figured out that we had a faulty modem, so if we can replace the modem we should have much better and more reliable internet. Our new English classes started well!


PRAYERS REQUESTED
The shortages on the island continue. There is still no flour and now we hear that rice and cooking oil are getting in short supply. Pray that the expected container ship would come soon with these basic supplies. We are starting a new unit of study on Cross Cultural communication-- pray that our team would gain great insights into how to communicate essential things well into this cultural context. Pray for us as we try to balance English teaching, homeschooling, taking care of our team and reaching out to islanders.

Shortages & Bulk Shopping

Tom's view from behind groom at wedding event

“Be careful staying out too late. There aren’t many taxis around with the gas shortage.”

“There’s no flour….I don’t know when it will come because the whole city doesn’t have flour.”

“Taxi drivers are charging extra to go up the hill.”

“We don’t know when there will be power again.”

“No bread anywhere. None of the bakeries have any flour left.”

No flour. No fuel. No electricity for over 42 hours. No, there hasn’t been a natural disaster. There is no major world crisis effecting the islands. It is just one of the realities of living on this island--- shortages. There is no warning, but if boats don’t come on time with the goods that islanders use, then there will be a shortage or mini-crisis until the boat arrives. So as the winds pick up during this time of year, the seas get rougher and boats are late and we have shortages.

Part of us wants to ask…”isn’t this just a problem of not planning ahead enough?” Can’t business people anticipate that certain times of year the boats will have more delays and order accordingly. Why does this have to happen every year?

But we also learned from living in Africa that hoarding and storing goods is not how most African cultures work. Islanders usually only buy food and supplies for that day. The idea of buying in bulk is something usually only shop-owners do. We have containers of rice, flour and sugar (more than one days supply). But every time I restock, the assumption is that I’m baking a bunch of cakes that day--- why else would I buy multiple kilos of flour and sugar?

Many island business people will not even give discounts for buying in bulk. We’ve tried to bargain like this-- suggesting we pay less because we are buying a lot, but many times the business owner has looked puzzled and merely quoted the same per unit price that he gives to someone buying one unit.

Our boys being tickled

When we first came to Africa, we didn’t necessarily understand this mentality. There is no one-stop shopping here, so our desire to store up and avoid daily shopping trips was only increased. But then there are other African realities… weevils, mold, mildew, leaky roofs, rodents, no power (leading to no refrigeration). Things happen and stuff goes bad or gets ruined. Plus if neighbors see your stocking up, they will not understand your planning and may start asking for handouts of whatever you have stored away.

We brought some goodies back from South Africa and in my past I would have wanted to parcel it out, eating it slowly so that it will last a long time. But Africa has changed me and I can’t help the feeling that we should eat it up as soon as we can, while we can, and share it with whoever might be visiting. We lost a good amount of food with this past power crisis. “If only I hadn’t bought extra meat yesterday!” was my thought.

This is part of life here, no matter how much it may frustrate us. And we’re in it together with our island friends and neighbors. So we rejoiced and shouted along with our neighbors when our power finally came back on. We were excited to see the taxis back on the street. And until the boat comes with flour, we’ll figure out meals and treats that don’t use any.

Rejoice always. Pray without stopping. Give thanks in all circumstances…

Teammate w/ boulder that hit house

PRAYERS ANSWERED
David’s burn is doing great-- the wound is no longer open. The healing process continues as we try to keep it moisturized and covered to minimize scarring. Peter and David were sick early this week, but thankfully it was a short-lived virus. Thanks for praying. Our single ladies have found a possible house after just a couple days of looking!

PRAYERS REQUESTED
There is a group of islanders starting to gather on a weekly basis-- please pray that they would continue and grow into a group that would support and encourage each other. We have been praying that there would be a healthy island group we could direct new people to. A huge boulder fell from a hillside and crashed into our teammate couple’s house. Thankfully no one was hurt but the whole hillside appears unstable. They are considering moving to a safer area- pray for them in this process. Pray for the ladies as we talk to the landlord of this possible new house. Pray for us as we discuss together how to best help and reach out to islanders. Continue to pray for the healing of Megan’s back (it is improving!). Pray for Grace and Peter as they return to island school this week!