Recovery

So the cyclone was a bit more serious than we had thought.  It just seemed like a lot of rain to us.  But apparently, it was a catagory 4 (that is high it seems) and sat kicking around in the channel between Mozambique and Madagascar for a few days--moving north and south erratically.  It was far enough off shore that we didn't have horrible winds here--just a whole lot of rain.  The single north/south Mozambican highway washed out yesterday and we were warned of food shortages--but apparently the got at least a temporary fix in to let traffic through--so starvation at least has been averted.

We have shared many a picture of the typical Mozambican mud and stick house.  They are simple, but can either be engineered and built well--or built poorly.  The well built ones will have sturdy corner posts made of heavy wood--a cedar which doesn't rot and can be anchored in the soil to serve as strong foundation corners.  Stronger homes will have other heavy timbers at reasonable intervals along the walls.  All of these will have cross pieces of lighter branches woven between them and tied to them and all filled in with lighter horizontal and verticle sticks and branches all tied to the main structure.  Then this framework is filled in with mud. 

If corners are cut, no heavy timbers are used to anchor the corners and nothing is anchored into the soil, and the various pieces are not tied to each other nor into the main structure of the home.  Three people with whom we are close lost entire walls in the storm and flooding.  Our maid, had a wall fall inward on her sleeping grandson.  Others fell outward.  We spent a part of Monday and Tuesday finding and providing wood for the reconstruction of homes.  For those who we helped, they simply did not have the resources to do it themselves.  When you think of it, it is really quite amazing: an entire wall (25% ) of someone's home, can be reconstructed in Mozambique with materials costing less than $50.

Angelina next to her falling and eroding rear wall

After doing the first load of wood in a white shirt and covering it with mud and wood stains, I switched to more workin-man apparel.

The next load we solicited the help of younger workers as well in Elders Miller and Ostler.  Elder Miller is being transferred tomorrow after six months in Quelimane.  He professes to love the place but is also quite ready to see it in his figurative rear view mirror.  He, along with Elder Derrickson who is also leaving, has been a great missionary here and will be sorely missed.

Raul and Clara and part of their family (dad and granddaughter) who we dearly love--but they earn about $30 per month--the wood to repair their home cost more than that.  They simply have nothing, yet serve others tirelessly and provide a home for several beyond their own.  He is speaking in church on Sunday. Clara is such a fascinating charming woman who we taught to say "I love you" to her husband in English--she says it with such a breathy sultry voice that is so completely entertaining--and Im trying to get Debbie to learn to mimic her. 

As long as we are talking about people in need, let me mention the two young women who were baptized this week.  As the rest of the city began school this week, we noted that they were not doing so (they are both 17).  They are both bright and articulate so we asked why.  Apparently, primary school is fully paid for by the government, but secondary school is not--and the cost of supplies and uniforms were prohibitive--about $40 each.  They were simply not going to finish high school.  Well, giving them money is not soething that we are supposed to do for a number of reasons.  But we did remember that we have a little money left in the Osborn Literacy Foundation--which we set up last year for African educational projects.  We found a discreet way to bring some of those resources to bear and Debbie spent part of her day doing school shopping and the girls will start on Monday. .

These little projects are not the focus of our mission here--I just mention them today as they seemed to have all converged at once.  Because of the tremendous and unrelenting needs here, the church cautions us to never be seen as a source for a hand-out--it would quickly paralyse us and reduce our future ability to serve and function.  So the small ways that we do help are always cautious and discreet, quiet and confidential.  It is impossible however to see the unending basic and simple needs of people without wanting to find some way to help,  Throwing money at a need is rarely a productive long term solution--but sometimes, a tiny bit of cash, carefully applied to avoid diminishing self respect and self reliance, can accomplish a bit of good--at least we hope that is what we hope.