Phase Two

 

Every new international staff member of Food for the Hungry (FH) is required to attend an extended orientation period of three weeks, taking a more in depth look at FH as an organisation, how to live and work in another culture as well as many other things.  For us however, things were a little different and we had a select numbers of the topics all crammed into one week taking place here in Sucre.

 

It would take too long to tell you about it all, so we have just put together a short snippet of what we looked at. 

 

Servant hood

We are here in Bolivia to serve the people of Bolivia, and so first of all it is important that we understand clearly what it is to serve. Every morning we studied together a chapter of Darrow Miller's book 'SERVANTHOOD: The Vocation of the Christian.' These provided a thought provoking look at what attitudes we as servants should have, different areas of serving and most of all how Jesus served and what we can learn from him and then be challenged to implement into our own lives. 

 

Food for the hungry

It is important for us to know what is the ethos behind the things that we do within FH, and what the mission, vision and values are. We knew some of these things before we arrived, and it was this small glimpse of what we saw that drew us to work with the organisation.  In a nutshell FH exists to work with the poorest of the poor and help them to solve their own problems and improve the lives of their children and their community in four basic areas of need physical, spiritual, mental and social. The vision of FH worldwide is a vision of a community – a vision of what a biblically based community can look like.  

 

During our phase 2 programme we learnt more about the structure of FH and how it as an organisation is seeking to meet needs in the way that God wants needs met, and how FH as an organisation is continuing to evolve and grow.

 

One of our days we spent with a very humble man called Arturo Cuba who works for FH teaching and training staff about worldviews. A worldview being our inner belief and value system that dictates how we as individuals and communities act and react to different things. Apparently from as young an age as 7 a worldview has been set from what has been learnt and observed up to that point.

 

Arturo was talking about how it is possible to change a worldview, but that there needs to be a willingness to change which can and often means being at odds with the culture, resulting in actions and practices that need changing.  This was an important concept for us to come to grips with as we seek to understand the people here in Bolivia, and for those who put together programmes and projects for FH to be involved with. 

 

For example – a sanitation project may be set up to install toilets in every home that are more hygienic than defecating all over the yard.  However, it is unlikely that they will be used as defecating into the ground goes against the worldview and understanding of the sacredness of 'Pachamama'(Mother earth).   In order for the people to understand and use a more hygienic way of doing their business, then their worldview, their system of beliefs and values first need to change.

 

With this in mind Arturo expresses the need to base any value and belief systems on the bible.  Another example we looked at was with regards to children not going to school.  When you keep asking the question Why? you eventually come down to the belief in a very fatalistic society that this hard way of living is how life is, and its never going to change.  If you can change this belief, then the society slowly changes, people realize that it doesn't always have to be this hard, that there is a way out, then they begin to see the benefits of the children being educated and thus send them to school.

 

Family

We also looked at the importance of family. Making time for our family and not putting work above it, and also involving our children in the decisions we make, as much as they are able to understand. This led into looking at realistic expectations of what we hope to achieve during our time here, whether that be speaking the language, making friends in a culture that is very family orientated and not easy for outsiders to make enter or how much we can do in our jobs and the time frame for that to happen.

Happy day :o)

A warm sunny Saturday in May

On the 10^th May 6 missionary's decided to be tourists for the day and went off for a 3 hour horse ride from Sucre to Yotala, about 18 Km from Sucre. The 6 included Sarah and myself, and we a great time trotting and cantering through some beautiful countryside and enjoying seeing it at a slow but bouncy pace. As well as the views it was an opportunity to get to know each other better while avoiding inch long thorns and going down some steep paths. The last part of the ride was going along the riverbed next to Yotala and cantering through the river, which was great fun. We then met up with the rest of the families that didn't come on the ride (including Alana) and enjoyed a long and leisurely lunch.

Ed's first Campo Trip

Finally after many weeks of talking about it at the end of April I finally got to go into the Campo (rural areas) for 3 days and see some of the areas that I have been making maps of, with my own eyes. The purpose was to help teach some of our (FH) technicians and some of the government workers in the Municipals of Ravelo and Ocuri, about the mapping programmes we use. This was an interesting trip to the world of different cultures, granted the roads are not that good out here and the guys from Ravelo had a flat tyre, but still it was an eye opener.

Monday 28^th - April I left the office at 8am for the 3 hour drive to Ckara Ckara (where we have an office/house), stopping off on the way at a couple of offices to collect some computers for the training. It was great to see the countryside at ground level and not just from the air. The first part of the journey was through mountains, zig zagging down the side of one hill to cross a river and then climb back up the other side. Then just before we entered Ravelo (the first notable sized settlement since leaving Sucre 1 ½ hours earlier) the terrain levelled out and the rocky land gave way to large areas of cultivated land of wheat, barley, oats, beans, peas and a number of other crops. It was quite a change.

Ckara Ckara is a small drive through village with huts made of mud walls and corrugated roofs. The FH two storey, brick walled office stands out like a sore thumb. The village itself is in a flat plain and is very windy at this time of year, which brings in lots of dust storms especially coming off of the roads. That said it is a beautiful pace to look at. The office, you know how it is in the UK in Summer you need to take a jumper to church because it is always cold inside well the office there is even worse. Outside it is warm and sunny and a T-shirt is enough, but inside I had to wear a thermal T-shirt, shirt, jumper, thick fleece coat and a hat in order to be just about at the right temperature.

Once we arrived we sorted out the room and computers and prepared for a 12:30 start. That time came and went and no one arrived. Finally at 1:30 we decided we would have lunch, a lunch Bolivia style with lots of boiled rice and potato and a fried egg!!! An hour later the guys from Ravelo arrived. After they'd had lunch we started training but the Ocuri guys didn't show at all (our guys were coming the next day). A few hours later we went to one of our work areas to collect some data using GPS's and returned to the office after dark. As we drove the only signs of life was the occasional lamppost marking a community that had electricity. We worked until 9 and then the plan was that everyone would sleep over at the office, in order to start at a reasonable time the following day. However, the Ravelo guys had other plans despite the fact that they had a flat tyre and a spare tyre also with a hole in it! So our driver took them back to Ravelo returning to us past midnight.

Tuesday 29^th - The plan was that we would start at 8:30 with a full day of training! Well plans can change, and they usually do here – several times! 9:30 the speaker for the morning arrived, 10:30 one of our guys arrived followed half an hour later by another of our guys and then at midday the guys from Ravelo arrived only 3 ½ hours late! So eventually we got started. I did some teaching which I enjoyed as they were a group that wanted to learn. That night we finished at gone 11 and the Ravelo guys thought that it was unlikely that they would be returning for the last half day of training.

Wednesday 30^{th -} Last half day training with our 3 Technicians for Natural Resources. Despite not having any of the previous guys return we had a very positive day helping our own technicians get to grips with the programmes. Including an unprompted clearing of the office, when we saw water coming through the ceiling because the night before there was no water on the top floor and someone had left a tap on. So after brushing water down the stairs and out of the front door we carried on, before packing up and getting a guided tour back to Sucre with my boss showing me the different areas where we are working.

So that was the first trip, it was a good time and I look forward to exploring more of the campo.

Moulding Chronicle March 2008 Letter No. 4

Dear Friends,

Since our last letter at the beginning of the year we have been enjoying the space and freedom of our new home, as well as experiencing many new changes.

Once our formal language study finished Ed began work with FH. He plodded though the first couple of days not knowing what he was supposed to be doing as he had no supervisor, but the second week he joined with others on a training course about using the computer system he is to be working with.

A month down the line and he has started doing bits and pieces of work on different projects. He yet awaits a trip out to the 'Campo' (rural areas) the dates of which keep changing.

After a tough month settling into the role as full time mum, other opportunities have opened up to give Sarah some other focus outside of the home. The first of which was starting on a 17 week Pregnancy crisis training course. With homework, books to read, videos to watch and an exam at the end of it, it should provide good practice for Spanish if nothing else..

Sarah has also started working one day a week with \FH whilst Ed is home with Alana. She is working on the Child Development Programme in Horno Ckasa (a poor district on the outskirts of Sucre), though as yet she doesn't know what this work will entail.

Sarah also has joined the (very competitive) ladies volley ball group on a Monday evening. Wednesday evening we take it in turns to attend a bible study group.

Alana is doing great, and is growing up fast. She has now moved into a big bed of her own which she has taken to well despite one night slipping off and ending up underneath. She has stared going to nursery 2 mornings a week so at last she has some little friends to play with, and she seems to be enjoying it.

Ciria

One of the customs here in Bolivia is to have help around the house, as things get dirtier quicker and take much longer to clean without the use of machines. Very often they are young girls who need to earn extra money so that they can complete their studies. So in order to keep in with the culture 2 mornings a week Ciria comes to our house and helps me with all sorts of chores from, cleaning, cooking, ironing, and childcare as well as being a great source of company and encouragement.

Ciria is a mature student and a single mum with 2 children of her own to care for, Immanuel (3) and Rachel (5mths). She has a hard life with a difficult family background, with parents who are split. Her mother lives and works in Spain, her father lives local but she has little to do with him. With her mother away she has been left with the added responsibility of also looking after her two younger brothers and younger sister.

We praise God that though she works for us and helps us out a lot, our home becomes a refuge and safe place for her, as well as providing her with a job and money to help her finish her studies.

Praise God For:

· Our house

· Ciria, and that she enjoys coming to our house

· The arrival of another British family working with FH who have become good friends

· The nursery, that Alana has friends to play with

Please pray for:

· Clarity and focus in our jobs

· Opportunities to arise through the pregnancy crisis training course

· Good friendships

Ed, Sarah & Alana

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D is for Dinner

It’s not really the main topic I want to write about but just happens to fit in here, what I want to talk about is one of the oddities of Sucre. It has just one supermarket and so you would think that is great thinking of UK supermarkets always (well pretty much always) having what you want. But not here, one day you may find in the supermarket (or in fact in the city generally) for example chedder cheese, and you think I don’t need it today but I’ll get some next time. So next time you go in you can’t find it and you may not find it again for weeks or months. The other week Melissa (another Brit working with FH saw some Cheerio’s in the supermarket, but thought normally they are to sweet for my children so I’ll not get them, she then told this to a friend who said don’t be silly go and buy some there not in very often. So she went back and bought some.

So what are some of the things we have gotten excited about seeing in the supermarket. Kellogg’s Cornflakes, Coco Pops and Frosties, Shredded Wheat bite size, taco sauce and wraps, prawns (though not brought because they were to expensive), mushrooms (tinned and fresh) and today best so far baked beans, not quite heinz, but they were good enough. We have been here almost 6 months and have missed baked beans so coming home tonight to find Sarah had found some was great, so guess what was for tea tonight?

This constant flux of goods available to buy brings out some interesting behaviour. Firstly when Sarah finds something new and good she’ll buy 2 or 3 of them, as she doesn’t know when she’ll next be able to buy, then debate with herself whether to buy more or is that just greedy. Secondly she’ll get excited about it because it is something we are missing from the UK, or something new she can make. Thirdly as today with the baked beans she almost considered calling Melissa to tell her they were in and did she want any. Sarah has never got so excited over food shopping, but as she says ‘it keeps food shopping interesting, because you never know what you are going to find!’

D is also for Dinosaurs

On the outskirts of the city there is a large quarry for cement. Over the years they have found a number of dinosaur footprints in the quarry that have been studied by many scientists from across the world. In the past it was possible to get up close to the quarry face and see the footprints up close (you may still be able to but we didn’t). Now we think that it is only possible to see them from a distance, from the new visitors centre that has been constructed in the last few years. A few weeks back we went to visit with another Bolivian family and their two young boys. Alana enjoyed the visit and playing with the two boys. She also managed to get a piece of all of our ice creams; I think it’s the blue eyes and the pretty face that do it (Ed wasn’t so fortunate!!!).

The visitor centre begins with a zigzag path including a timeline of events, leading up to the entrance of the park that includes life size scale models of the different dinosaurs found here (along with recently added sounds). There is also a T-rex, whose footprints haven’t been discovered here, but was thought to be too famous not to include. From the quarry you also get some great views looking back over the city and the surrounding countryside.

D is for Dogs

There are lots and lots of them here and very few of them would get anywhere near crufts as they live on the street and some look in need of a good wash and brush up. Some of the Dogs have homes and spend their days sat outside their gate watching the world go by, and then at night they are brought in to protect the house. Others roam the streets in packs, or on their own and will literary eat anything they find. After the Carnival and the many water balloon fights, there where many multi-coloured dog poos around the city!!!!

All this said people do love their dogs and the dogs seem very loyal to them even if they don’t get treated well. We have seen many people walking around carrying in their arms dogs that look to young to have left their mothers and also dogs that get to where their own special clothes!!!!!

January's newsletter finally put on the blog in March, better late than never!

Moulding Chronicle – January 08, letter no. 3

 

Dear Friends,

We hope that you had an enjoyable Christmas and that the start to 2008 has been a good one.  As some of you will be aware Christmas 2007 wasn't so enjoyable for us.  It was hard to stay awake to celebrate 'Bolivian style', Christmas day we didn't feel so great from having eaten so late, then to top it off Alana came down with a really bad case of diarrhoea Christmas day eve, which resulted in her becoming very dehydrated. 

 

However, God remained faithful and we were put in contact with a good paediatrician, who it turned out had worked for FH in the past.  She spoke very little English, but eventually we were able to work out what medicine we needed and how to administer it.  By the end of that day Alana was a bit better and within a couple more days she was back to her normal chirpy self.

 

New year was a much happier (and earlier) affair as we celebrated together with people at our church and prayed in the New Year. After New Year we enjoyed a well earned rest at a hotel just outside of Sucre.  We were able to play in the river and visit some waterfalls, just what we needed.

 

Sunday 6th Jan we moved into our own home, affectionately called 'Stonewall Cottage'.  Its on the ground floor and has 3 bedrooms, lounge/dining room, kitchen, bathroom and a small yard.  Buying household things here isn't quite as simple as in the UK, but we have had some help from a good friend who knows how to get things at a  good price.  We haven't finished yet, but it does now at least begin to feel more like home.   

 

It has been a good experience to live with a Bolivian family and a aid in our language learning.  However, it is nice now to have  our own space, Alana is certainly enjoying the freedom to roam and explore.

 

Re-starting language school was a struggle but we have slowly readjusted to the delights of language study once again and are now in our final 2 weeks. Ed hopes to start his work with FH just after the carnival season at the beginning of February.

 

Another turbulent chapter to add to Bolivia's history

After an interesting start to our time in Bolivia in being evacuated within our first month, life has since been peaceful with Dec 14th passing by with few problems.  However, the new constitution has yet to be accepted, therefore the future for Bolivia still remains uncertain, so please keep praying.

 

Christmas Traditions in Bolivia

Bolivians like to celebrate Christmas the moment it arrives, which normally involves going to mass  and staying up till midnight to wish everybody a happy Christmas.  Then there is the exchange of gifts followed by a large meal and eventually bed by 3am if you are lucky. The traditional meal is 'Picana', involving beef, chicken, a few vegetables and 'chocklo' (corn on the cob, only bigger) all served in a spicy soup. 

 

There are also special sweet breads which are made and then served for breakfast for several days after Christmas.

 

Praise God For:

·         Time spent with our Bolivian host family

·         Stonewall cottage

·         Our church and the new friendships forming

·         A good Paediatrician and Alana being better

 

Please pray for:

·         Our final 3 weeks of language study

·         Friends for Alana to play with

·         Opportunities for us to make friends

Ed as he starts work beginning of February

 

Ed, Sarah & Alana

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‘Nannan’ - Eva Olive Halliday - (1921 – 2008)

Friday 25th January, 3am GMT after a short time of being unwell, my Nan (Sarah) peacefully died in hospital with a nurse by her side, and has finally gone to be with her Lord and Saviour. Though we are sad at her parting and will greatly miss her, we Praise God for the life of such an amazing lady.

My Nan has been the most amazing and inspiring women I have ever had the privilege of knowing and loving. She may have been very small in stature but a giant in her testimony and witness of Christ, and who always put others before herself. I have so many happy memories of time spent with Nannan, she was always fun to be with and never had a cross or bad word to say about anybody. Her fruit trifles produced every Sunday without fail when we were growing up never could be rivalled.

She would tell us that she made a point of praying for us all every day, all the children, grand children and great grand children, which when you look at us all realize that was no easy thing, but we knew that this wasn’t just empty words to make us feel better but that was actually what she did, day in day out. She had been such a strong witness for Jesus throughout her entire life, from her single days of being a ‘cadet’ and kneeling beside her bed to pray in spite of any ridicule she may have received, to her last days still baring witness to Christ her saviour.

She has been the head of a family that have all known the Lord. A family that has been of great importance to her. Even in her last days of frailty she could still name all the grandchildren (7) and great grandchildren (10, going on 13) as well as each of their birthdays.

I Praise God for the life of such an amazing lady, and for the privilege of having been her granddaughter and for having been able to share all of my 28 birthdays with her. I love you Nannan, and will miss you dearly, but thank you for all that you have taught and shown me in my life.

Picture of family

C is also for Carnival

A five day festival at the beginning of February, with much music, dancing, alcohol and water – lots of water. Carnival begins on the Friday as people have the day off from work or finish early to begin the revelries of music and firecrackers, and stock up with water bombs.



It being a rather heathen affair with a lot of alcohol and violence breaking out as a result most of the evangelical churches organise church retreats and ‘camps’ during this time and flee the city. From talking with many of the lecturers at the language school we discovered that many of the locals decide to go else where at this time and we were soon to discover why.



Having seen many videos at the language school depicting carnival we thought it would be a good experience to see the processions with their vibrant costumes, fervent dancing and music. We were however very sadly disappointed by what we did see. Over the weekend there were 2 or 3 organised processions through the city, we were told the safest to attend particularly with Alana would be the one for the children on the Saturday morning.



In true Bolivian fashion the procession arrived at the plaza an hour and a half later than what had been advertised and what followed was a handful of bands, all playing pretty much the same tune, with different groups in some kind of costumes just jigging around in circles, nothing at all like what we had imagined, in fact the carnivals in England had been far better. But apparently it is all due to the lack of money and resources now available for such frivolities.



Throughout the next few days the same monotonous music could be heard throughout the city as individual groups would wend their way through the streets.



So where does the water come into it?



Well I think that the water must be the most integral part of the whole thing as passing groups get pelted with water bombs or sprayed with water pistols, or any other passer by for that matter. Thankfully for us Alana proved to be a pretty good deterrent that made people think twice before soaking us. We also made a point of avoiding any processions (yes maybe it was a bit cowardly but we didn’t fancy being wet and cold as the weather wasn’t too favourable for the first few days). People would be gathered on most street corners with buckets filled with full water bomb for people to purchase and use. Several groups of younger people would travel around in the back of a pick up and soak any unsuspecting passer by who looked a little too dry. After just the first couple of days the streets were literally littered with the remains of colourful water balloons, even the dog poo round our area started to look pretty as it was flecked with many different colours.

Tuesday afternoon when the weather had become considerably warmer we joined in some of the fun and had a water fight with the neighbours. I don’t think Alana quite understood what was going on but did seem to enjoy holding on very tightly to the water balloon she had been given, and despite all the squeezing it still didn’t burst.


Tuesday was the last day of carnival and was the day dedicated to the honour of ‘Pachamama’ (mother earth). Throughout the morning fire crackers could be heard sounding off all around the city, people would decorate their cars or other things acquired during the last year with balloons and streamers, and would pour alcohol over these things as a sign of good luck. Didn’t really understand that as they would spend ages making their cars all clean and shiny only to then pour sticky alcohol all over it. The other thing to note was the burning of coal in small tins outside of homes or small businesses that were still open, on which were burnt something, not sure what as a further offering to Pachamama.


It was interesting to see all that went on, and gave us an opportunity to relax a bit but I think next year we will join the church on retreat.