Sunday, June 2, 2013
What a wonderful
Sunday! A deacon’s mass was held in a converted classroom – the church for the
compound is under construction, currently a red brick foundation maybe 5 feet
high – and about 25 folks, form newborns to elderly, men and women, sang,
clapped and prayed during a service lasting maybe 2 hours.
The deacon lives on the
grounds in a cow manure walled home with corrugated iron roof, a simple bed, a
rattan table and 4 chairs. It is a simple life indeed.
The Bishop and his wife
are gone for the day. It seems a family member died and another, in her grief,
swallowed poison....so sad....
More positively, I plan
on stealing a few of the women who sang at church today to join the various, wonderful
choirs at St E’s!
Monday, June 3, 6:15 am
Good morning faithful
readers! Are there any of you?
Dawn is slowly breaking
amidst a chattering of beautiful yellow birds in the nearby tree. They hang
upside down from their nests and sing all day long.
Hoping that all went
well yesterday at St E’s, that supply folks remembered, and toilet paper got
filled (a rector’s first order of duty) and that all is running smoothly. You
are all in my prayers.
Today is orientation
day, so I am patiently awaiting my marching orders. Anything that gets us out
with the folks will be great.
I learned that cows can
be purchased for about $200, and more than that, a single cow can support a
family for many years with it’s milk, it’s babies and other parts that are
still a mystery....soooo, maybe our heifer fund drive can come here next year??
Whaddyasay?
OK, just back from the
first micro business visit and what a trip, literally!
Over many miles of dirt
roads, through tiny clusters of mini-villages, as school kids and grownups on
foot, on bikes and on motorcycles pass by – only to see a elderly man fully
dressed in a three piece suit walking next to the corn fields....
The 20+ members of this
particular micro business banded together three years ago, raised a few hundred
dollars and now plant corn, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, beans and raise poultry.
Sitting in a darkened
hut made of cow dung, the only decoration an old calendar, the few chairs
quickly filled so most of the 23 folks who came sat on the dirt floor – but in
the midst of all that lack, out came a tattered ledger book with the listing of
the names of each co-op member, the monies raised and spent and profits earned.
Out of all that need
came eager discussion about how they can improve on what they are doing and
earnest questions about our micro-businesses in Hawaii.
One thing our friends
are anxious to learn how to do is how to raise tilapia in tanks (land is a
premium here and tank raised fish can be placed on existing holdings) AND the
wherefores of aquaculture.
Sooo, I’m hoping that
you, intrepid reader, may have some skinny on these two issues for me that I
can pass on to these wonderful but struggling brothers and sisters.
If so, please shoot me
an email, which I can check every night for about two hours thanks to the
miracle of a generator and a router.
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