ONE missionary in Mozambique: 7 random facts

7 Random Facts

People often ask me questions about my day-to-day life here in Mozambique. I don’t really know how to explain into words, so I decided I would post pictures of the most interesting parts of my life here.

1. I volunteer at 2 different centers. The first center is Masana. Masana is an organization that seeks to reconnect street children with their families. We run a day center in the city of Maputo, where we are able to provide meals, cleaning facilities, and a consistent learning environment for these boys. Masana is my home (literally).

2. The second center is Project Esperança (Project Hope). Project Esperança is an organization that supports over 250 children in need through education, healthcare, and spiritual needs. Since 2003 Project Esperança has been helping support a community in Marracuene, Mozambique (a little community outside of the city of Maputo) through feeding, tutoring, orphan care, and extracurricular mentorship. Though started as a small childcare/HIV prevention center in 2003 the project now oversees the individual care and sponsorship of over 250 children, many of whom have been orphaned or abandoned.

3. My Best friends are all within the ages of 13 to 17. Felipe is 16 years old, Macabeca (aka Julinho) is 13 years old, and Djuma is now 14 years old. Felipe and Macabeca are boys that I met in 2010 at a local soccer clinic that we held for all the neighborhood kids, and we been best friends ever since. Djuma and I met at the end of 2008 while he was living on the streets, and to me he is more like my son!

Me and Julinho

Me and Felipe

Djuma 2012

Djuma 2010

Me, Julinho and Felipe 2012

4. Rice, Rice, Rice, and More Rice. At least once a day I eat rice with a meal. I have become accustom to if so much so that I crave rice when I visit the states. I never knew that there we so many different way to prepare rice. I know how to cook white rice, butter rice, onion rice, vegetable rice, fried rice, oil rice, Cajun rice and curry rice. They are all delicious, I have learned to love rice with anything!

5. Our Pet is a street dog named Yankee. He was a gift for our boys who found him wandering the streets with his baby sister (she was stolen from us). He isn’t very ferocious or protective because we still get broken in to but he is sweet and innocent and we’ll keep him around!

6. I speak three different languages fluently. English of course. I have been learning Portuguese since 2008 because Mozambique’s national language is Portuguese. Over the past year I have been trying to learn on of the Mother tongue languages Changaann. I have learned that the best way in this country to connect with people is by speaking the “mother tongue”. God has blessed my ability to learn languages and I hope to be completely fluent in Changaan but the end of 2014.

Amor (Love in portuguese)

7. I love to BARGAIN. Here in Mozambique there isn’t a “set” price for anything you buy on the streets, whether its produce, clothes, chips, arts & crafts, candy or restaurant food. Since I began to speak Changaan, I find a joy in bargaining prices on the streets. It’s an feeling that I can’t describe. Most foreigners don’t buy local goods on the street because they don’t know how to bargain well, BUT I Love it!

These are just a few areas of my life that are easier to explain. It’s a little strange but I love it!