"What is Your Chicken's Name?"

from Elliott
As part of the Creation Story Enrichment Curriculum, Katherine has been teaching the children about birds one of Katherine’s favorite topics. She shows the children pictures of the many bird images she has taken in her travels and explains to them how God created them each in a unique way. She points out the features of each species like the shape of the beak, colors and size of feathers, etc.

She then asks the children what other birds they know about. She was surprised when no one mentioned chickens since she had admired many in the community. She asked whether chickens were birds. They all agreed that chickens were not birds! 

That reminds me of working on a mission construction team in Liberia with my friend Dave Main. We arrived on the site one morning and one of the Liberians that we were working with arrived leading a live chicken tied on a string. Dave said, “What is your chicken’s name?” The man replied, “Lunch”
 

Perhaps many of Katherine’s students don’t think of a chicken as a bird because it is really dinner!

Meeting a Friend Along the Road

from Elliott
I had not seen my friend Lusizo in a while so I was excited when I turned off the tarred road onto the rough dirt road on the way to visit Pastor Andile last week. Lusizo was walking along the road so I hopped out of the truck for a chat. It had been almost a year since I had last seen him but he had told me that he was going to work on a nursing certificate at a small hospital about 60 kms from where I found him. He was on a school break visiting family so that is why he was on that road that day.

I met Lusizo last year. He is probably 20 or so and had been a student for a couple of computer classes that I was offering. I share scripture in each class and he was always eager to participate during that part of class and often spoke to me afterward about the message and his hopes for the future.

As we stood by the road he told me all about the nursing program and the practicum at the hospital that followed each semester. I got excited because he was so enthusiastic and not just about what he was learning. He said, “I do not have a computer so I have not been able to use what I learned in the classes but someday I will use it. I learned something more important. God showed me that I CAN LEARN even something as difficult as computers. Before that I did not have confidence and was not sure that there was a purpose for my life. I learned in the class that God has a plan for me and with his help I can get a good job as a nurse and help other people.”

Wow, just what I wanted to hear that day. I don’t think I felt a bump anywhere along that road; I was so excited I must have floating over the rough patches!

A Little 'Croaky' this Winter

from Katherine
It does not seem to matter where I live I always have a bit of a cough in winter.

I was at one of my schools last week with the Creation Story Enrichment Program. Winter has left my throat feeling a bit croaky!  The children and I were singing our little hearts out with giggles in between because every couple of words I sang the words did not come out right. 

Without thinking how it might sound to the kids, I told the children ”I have a frog in my throat.” Well they obviously had never heard that expression before because they looked at me rather funny as if they wanted to come see what kind of a frog would be in my throat making that croaking sound. They wondered how it got there!

"Did You Want Your Package Today?

from Elliott
We were expecting a large box of books sent from friends in America. Late one day recently I walked to the Post Office to check our Post Office Box. There was only one thing there but I was very excited. There was a slip informing me that the package had arrived and to take the slip to the counter to retrieve. It was about 15 minutes before they closed. I recognized the women at the counter…I have spoken to her often and she is very friendly. This time though when she saw the slip her smile vanished and she said with a sense of dread, “Did you want you your package today?”

I could tell she was working by herself since the Post Office was about to close. I could see what I thought was the box about 10 feet behind her and it was very large. I smiled and told her that I could come back the next day since I had actually walked to the Post Office and could not carry it back to the house a couple of kilometers away! Her face looked very relieved!

The next day I went with the car and gave her the slip again. This time there were a couple of people working. She is quite small so she got a fellow worker to help her. A few minutes later the door opens and the two of them are taking turns turning the box end over end to get it to the door. Unfortunately, our Post Office does not have any kind of dolly or cart. They were quite relieved to get it to the door and let me take over.

I was so excited to receive the 200 or so books destined for one of the Primary Schools that Katherine works with that I did not concern myself with the logistics.

"No garnish?"

from Elliott
OK, Cason is a bit weird. When he orders a burger – beef or chicken – he just wants the meat and a bun, nothing else. No ketchup, lettuce, tomato, pickles, relish, mustard; NOTHING! Most places that may not be a problem but in South Africa it can create great consternation! Garnish is the word that they use for all the other things that come on the burger – and they love their sauce here!

Ordering usually goes like this:

Cason:  I will have a beef burger plain – just meat and bread. No garnish.

Server: No garnish?

Cason: No garnish…just meat and bun.

Server: No garnish…

Then they go to the kitchen to turn in the order. Sometimes though, they come back to the table in a minute or two…

Server: No garnish?

Cason: No garnish…

It was clear the cook or manager had ‘grilled’ the server on this strange order and sent them back to check. I am not sure whether they are offended or just perplexed and do not want to get the order wrong.

Either way, it seems about 50% of the time the order comes back incorrect. I am not sure whether they just cannot imagine that the customer knows what they want or they assume they are doing it just to offend the local cultural sensitivities. Sometimes it seems that they just cannot complete the order as requested.

Regardless, they are always pleasant about it and oftentimes, accepting when Katherine strips off the offending items when the order is incorrect.  There are a couple of places where he has become known to the server and after almost three years of his strangeness they now receive his order and complete his sentence by saying, “and no garnish.” 

How nice it is to be known in your small town!

One Mans Take on Saving Rhinos

from Elliott
You may have read about the epidemic of rhino poaching here is South Africa. The horn is prized in Asia as an alleged aphrodisiac. Unfortunately, the poachers method of harvesting the horn is to slaughter the animal and leave the carcass to waste. Already over 300 have been slaughtered this year in South Africa alone most of which were in our province. It is difficult to protect them all due to their vast grazing area even though much of their habitat is in protected parks and game reserves.

There is much discussion on how to protect them from poaching. Even the sand artist on the Ramsgate beach has his take on a solution!

A Rooster Came for Tea

from Katherine

Yesterday Elliott and I stopped at our friend Pearl’s house for a visit. We were having a nice chat that was interrupted every few minutes by her rooster crowing loudly all around the house. He was so loud that we had to stop talking while he crowed so we could hear each other!

Now there are lots of dogs who follow their children to school and wait and sometimes peek into the classroom just to make sure their kid is still there. I have even had the same goat come into a classroom while I was teaching several times.  Chickens and roosters are kind of shy, but not Pearl’s rooster! He finally jumped right onto her stoop and strutted right into the house. I am pretty sure he was saying “excuse me, did you not come to see me and my beautiful feathers and hear my LOUD call?”  I have stopped asking the names of animals because I often get the response, "LUNCH!"