Bitter Sweet, this on my way home thing...

Well this would be a very opportune time to update my blog!!! I am sitting in the Hong Kong airport with free internet and still more than 9 hours until I take off toward Vancouver! So I have been out of Africa for two weeks now and I still long to go back... that probably won’t change!! So, what have I done for two weeks???

Well, I have been in Indonesia with Kim and Tris and Matthew and Abby. It was an amazing time. I enjoyed seeing their life in Indonesia and the meeting the community that is around them. It was a perfect opportunity for me to catch up with them and to rest. I did a lot of resting and sleeping and recovering that I would not have done if I had of gone straight home. Although resting is the main event I also did a few other things on my journey. I discovered ‘cream baths’ which are about 1.5 hours of head and shoulder massage including a luxurious hair washing that almost put me to sleep. I did two of those, one for each week and they only cost about $5!!! I also had a full body massage which is beyond description for less than $10... I think that I would go back just for those two wonderful things!!

I was also invited to share about my experiences in Africa as a nursing student to about 150-200 Indonesian nursing students. I love to talk, I love Africa, and I love nursing so as you know when I talk about Nursing in Africa, I become a little passionate... it was a great experience.

I also got to share my life story with a group of ladies from all over the world. I really enjoy using the experiences of my life to encourage others and to talk about God.

We also went shopping; apparently shopping is what you do here. Indonesia, or rather the bubble in Indonesia where I was staying, was much more western than I expected... I got Starbucks and Wendy’s and Donuts...

Last Friday Kim took me to some slums in Jakarta... and of course my heart came alive, I think that I needed to see some poverty to help my transition home to Canada. I helped a Dutch woman teach English to 10-13 year olds. Let me describe the room and environment and them I am going to go find Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. We went down many tiny allies, so small we had to walk single file and then came to a set of stairs that even half my foot couldn’t fit on and the angle was closer to that of a wall or a ladder than inspection approved stairs. The room was at the top of the stairs a short distance down a little porch. It was about 8ft by 10ft and filled with the smiling faces of children. I have baked cookies in cooler ovens than that room. There was a single fan, not pointed in my direction. The smell is indescribable because our methods of dealing with waste in Canada are far to civilized for your imagination. But even in this, you know I was playing with these kids and making faces with them!! I would go back regularly just to have these kids teach me how to speak Indonesian.

I saw something in these kids that I also see in my African kids... I saw joy, imagination, resilience, and even hope!! The buildings and walk ways that these kids live among are built over the grimiest water that I have ever seen... everything is on stilts and I could barely trust my footing ever. I could not even imagine living here, let alone during an earthquake or during the regular flooding.

I am sorry that there are no pictures of this adventure but my camera found a new owner, without my permission, somewhere along the way.

I know that I missed parts of this adventure but I am tired and hungry so I will go eat and then find somewhere to sleep.

I am sorry if my tiredness is way too evident!!

Blessings, Candace

Just a quick peak inside my heart...

So life in Pemba is coming to a close. :) :( :) :( :S

I have many mixed feelings about this. It seems like in the last few days, my heart is being further broken for this place and these people. My heart is ever expanding in my desire to love and care for people with HIV. Lately it has been the women with this disease that are becoming so near and dear to me.

Yesterday as I was organizing donations, I heard my name being called from the direction of the clinic. The nurse, a good friend of mine, was asking for my help. She was reviewing women and the babies that they care for who are eligible for our formula feeding program. She called me because she was overwhelmed with the need and all the sick babies, she wanted me to come hold babies and pray over them, because for many of them God is their only hope. Sitting in that clinic my heart broke again. I held sick baby after sick baby. At home many of these children would be in the hospital.

Three of these babies will be etched in my mind and heart forever. The first was a three month old with a bilateral cleft palette, unable to suckle on the breast or on a bottle. The mother must feed her baby formula by spoon until they have an opportunity for surgery. I have never seen a cleft palette before repair and I am so thankful for the health care systems that we have in west, no matter how corrupt they may be, this child would have a different life.

The other two babies are twins, cared for by their grandmother. These twins are 14 months old according to their birth certificates. The brother weighs 6 Kg (13 lbs) and the sister only 4kg (8.8 lbs).... I have held newborn babies bigger than her. Just thinking of these babies brings tears to my eyes. Upon inquiry the grandmother told us that the mother was dead. Over and over again, grandmother after grandmother told us that they had their grandbabies because their daughters are dead. We never got a clear answer as to cause of death for any of them but my passion to care for people with HIV increased every time I held another baby with a dead mother.

I do not write this to make you sad or to make you feel bad for the poor orphans in Africa; I write this today because this is where I am at. Today I do not want to leave this place, I want to sit myself in the dirt and hold babies until they are healthy. I want to go into villages and teach about the reality of HIV and how one can still live a healthy life with this disease. I want to see fear and stigma die... I want to see these women and children live.

We all know that I am here in this place because of these passions and desires. I am amazed that these passions and desires are still growing in me, even in these last days before I head home to finish my education.

I can honestly say that I have learned multitudes more than I even thought possible in these past four months. Even though I have been here twice before, my life will never be the same again after this specific trip. I am so grateful for this opportunity to love and to serve. I have so much more to say and to share but it may be months or years before I process it all.

Thank you for your love and interest in my life and journey.

I would appreciate your prayers as I start packing up this season of my life. My heart is aching at the thought of leaving these precious people and all the friends (now family) that I have come so close to here.

See you in a few weeks (unless you live in Indonesia)

Forever changed.

Candace

Hi my name is Candace but you can call me Chicken...

Wow... A short break can fully change a person!

In April I applied for my Visa to travel to Mozambique. The embassy said that I could remain in Pemba for 90 days. Before I left I knew that I would be here for 124 days... So last Wednesday I have the opportunity and privilege to escape and go on a little vacation. A friend and I found a sweet deal on a return flight and decided that the hot showers in Johannesburg would be a great place to rest! So we left and in 72 hours I had 1 bubble bath, 2 days of shopping (the long term missionaries sent lists), 3 Hot buffet breakfasts, and 4 steaming hot showers!! I don’t think that I will ever be the same again, I lost about 6 shades of what I thought was a tan!

For the first time in my life I sort of enjoyed shopping, it was just so nice to wander around without obligation or responsibility. I did not realize how exhausted I was or how much I needed a break until I returned to Pemba... I am a new person. I am learning a lot about rest and taking time to re-focus, I think that it is more important than most anything else. How can we care for anyone else, African, or Canadian, or American, or anything esle-ian if we do not first care for ourselves.

Besides being rested there is not too much new going on here. I am building some great relationships with my housemates and still enjoying my interactions with the Mozambicans... I love throwing random kids up in the air! Tonight we start a week of 24/7 prayer... I enjoy these weeks and I look forward to the changes that happen as people pour themselves deliberately into prayer.

One daily event that I just remembered that might make you smile... One interaction that makes me smile everyday is when any one of a group of about 20 boys addresses me... these specific boys know that my name is Candace but they all call me Frango... the English translation is Chicken. This is because of a teaching I did back in May that involved a story about a boy named franco. So every single day as I walk around the compound I smile as off in the distant I hear that I am being summoned “Frango, Frango... Chicken, Chicken”

Here are some random pictures from the past months:

The first 3 are on outreach, the third being the view from the squatty potty, notice no door just a view...

The fourth is Augusta a little baby with Downs Syndrome that I visit with as weekly as possible

And the last is a picture after I cleaned one of my feet...

Still Here and Smiling

I often walk around for a week saying to myself (often out loud) “I need to write a blog” but then when I sit at my computer I have no idea what to write! So here I sit on another beautiful day in Mozambique not quite sure what to tell my faithful readers. Let’s start with a story (or three)!

Just over a week ago I had the opportunity to lead a group of 18 people on an outreach into the bush bush. It was an intense outreach and yet God still showed up and we still got to experience his goodness. You must know as warning the stories that follow are not common and if you want to come to Africa do not let these stories stop you!! As we arrived in the village and started setting up our tents one of our team members felt a sharp pain on her thigh, upon investigation a relatively not small spider came away from the source of the pain. Redness started spreading up her thigh. We had 3 nurses and other medical professionals with us and when this happened everyone came to my tent looking for me. My reaction inside was “WHAT, a SPIDER bite, I am a STUDENT I do not know what to do”!!! So I ventured out with a first aid kit, praying for help under my breath. We were 4 hours away from the nearest medical care and outside of cell phone reception. Prayer was the only thing that I could do, we prayed intensely and we watched the redness stop spreading and it even receded a bit, the swelling went down. I drew a circle around the bite and we watched for the following days... She is now totally fine.

The next night I was sharing stories from the back of a truck, as I spoke my translator had two jobs, one was to translate and the other was to remove giant flying bugs that were landing on me! He picked them out of my hair and off my shirt, THEY were HUGE, but I kept sharing and it was good. I have a bunch more stories about removing bugs and spiders from my body and off of others on my team but I do not want to gross you out too much... okay only one more bug story...

Around 5:30am on our final day of outreach I was feeling a slight tickle on my face... I opened my eyes to find ants crawling all over the wall of my tent. The smaller ants got through the mesh and were crawling over my stuff, my clothes, my body, and my face!!! I did not freak out as they were not fire ants, I simply got changed and evacuated my tent and gathered myself. Then I packed up all my stuff and continued on with my day... I never want to wake up with bugs on me EVER AGAIN!!

Over all I am doing well, learning how to give up control and just letting be. I have moments of missing home but other than that I absolutely love being here. I am leading another team on outreach next weekend. I would appreciate your prayers over myself and my team. Wisdom is highly valued and needed on these trips.

Thank you for loving me

Candace

“If you don’t quit, You win!”

Some of my Favourite Things...

So I have been here 7 weeks now and I have realized that I have been silent in the blogging world for too long! This week I would like to share a few of my favourite things about being here in Mozambique.

Since my last blog 80+ westerners have arrived for our missions/cultural school. I have the joy of leading and staffing in this school. One of my favourite things is living in community. I lived in my house by myself for a month, it was sort of lonely. Now I have 5 ladies living with me and they each bring me so much joy!

I love swimming in the Indian Ocean... and then climbing in giant trees with my friends and stuffed monkey named Cheeky.

I love going to the village of Mieze with the medical outreach nurse. I find myself playing for ages with a little boy with cerebral palsy.... he is just TOO cute, his name is Omari. He is just starting to walk so I am actually helping him develop his leg muscles ;)

I love worshiping God in community everyday

I love helping people adjust to this lifestyle

I love the chicken shack!!

I love the Joy that I live in.

I love teaching about HIV and AIDS to over 100 villagers in Mieze

I have also fallen in love with sitting with people with AIDS. I love to hug them and pray with them and learn Makua from them. I think that I could spend my whole life just hugging these ladies with HIV.

I also love the fact that beautiful sunsets happen EVERY single day!!!!

I think that I could keep going for ages and ever but instead I think that I am just going to post some pictures of a few of these things and carry on with my day.

Blessings on you and all that you do!!

As my eyes are opened...

I know that I often write about my experiences and adventures here in Africa, and that in telling these stories I reveal that I am greatly enjoying myself... and I am!  But there is a part of my everyday life here that I have yet to find words for.   Every day I come face to face with extreme poverty.  I am surrounded by amazingly precious people who are in circumstances that I cannot imagine, yet I am here witnessing it.  I am a problem solver but I cannot solve poverty.  I also face every day my own affluence.  I also cannot solve this.  I am a student; I live off student loans and the love of those around me... but I am rich beyond measure.   Every Sunday we open our kitchen to anyone who is hungry.  We feed close to 2000 people lunch every Sunday.  This has been happening for years.  The first time that I was here in 2006, there was often riots on Sunday because the people were so afraid that there wouldn’t be enough food.  Now there is order and lines and hand washing, the people know that there will be enough food.  But today as I was helping to serve these precious people, I realized the beans that my hands were covered in are most likely the only source of protein that these people will eat for the whole week.  Today, as I did dishes and served food, my heart broke (again).  Oh how I wish I could provide for all these people.  What also touched my heart today was the joy that I witnessed in the people.  As I went into the masses of children to pick up dirty plates many of the kids would follow me laughing and playing... I could not have found all the empty plates without their help.  As I took that pile of plates I did not just leave it on the counter but took it right to the massive sinks and did the dishes... the smiles on the kitchen staffs faces could not be matched... I wash plates much slower than them!  Every day this culture and these people are impacting my life.  I hope and pray that I can love them well.  That is the reason that I am here, to love the one in front of me.  What does real life love look like in this kind of poverty?  

Well the day is ready to begin, I am sure it will bring with it new opportunities to love people.  I wish that I had the words to truly convey what I experience here.  Please continue to pray that I will have wisdom and strength to face each day.  Also please pray that the people that I interact with this week would experience God.  Thanks for reading my thoughts.

Blessings and Back Rubs

Candace

I am ALIVE... Really, really Alive

So, I think that it is about time that I updated this little blog thingy :)

Life has gotten busier now, it is so good but it leaves less time for blogging!  I don't really know what to blog today so I will just type and see what happens.  I only have 2 weeks left of my practicum which mean I have been here for three weeks!!  In one moment I feel like I have been here for years and at othe moments it feels like I arrived yesterday.  I have finally settled into a routine... of course the routine will change when students arrive and my job changes but for at least a week and a half, I have a routine.  Why is it that as humans, we so need routine??  The two strangest things about my routine are: a) I start my day before 6am! and 2) I have to clean my feet before bed every night... or my blue sheets turn a reddish brown.  The best part of my routine is the starbucks coffee that I brought with me!!

The missionaries have really embraced my presence and that feels really good.  I am now to the point that I am wondering if I really need that last year of school or if I could just stay here forever...

Even as I typed that I could HEAR my Aunt looking at me... no worries, I will be home the day before school starts!

Well, I know that I am rambleing, I just wanted to check in and let you all know that I am doing very well.  The bed bugs are GONE, praise God!  I had a quick tummy bug but it is gone and I am washing my hands like I have OCD!  I slowly learning more portuguese... pray I pick it up quicker, sentences would be good.

Well, Love and hugs and back rubs

I will let you know when something unordinary happens!!

Candace

A Poem of sorts and a story

I wish death on your head

     Oh, bugs in my bed

You’re not welcome on my skin

     Neither you nor your kin

Because of the itch

     My Mattress I did ditch

Poison I did liberally spray

     Under my net you can no longer play

Oh how I wish death on your head

     Oh, gross little bugs in my bed!!!

So I have been dealing with critters in my mattress... I look like I have chicken pox!  I have now switched my matress, sprayed my new one and washed my sheets.  I still needed to spray the bed frame because they can hide in the cricks!!  So I headed over to the clinic to see if they had more (you can't get the right spray in Canada, so I didn't bring any).  It was after hours but the back door was open so I knew that I could walk in.  I poked my head in and saw no one so I walked into the next room... still no one.  Then I heard a little voice "Who is here?"  I checked the other room and saw no one... I could tell where the voice was comng from!  I answered "It's Candace"... then the nurse said "I am in here, come in"... the only room left to check was the medication room, so I tried the handle.  I opened the door to find the nurse and another missionary checking their email and facebook in the only air conditioned room!

It made me laugh that they would check email with the drugs... but ac is ac and I would do the same!!

I have now sprayed my entire bed and put cream on all my itchy spots.  I am worried that Cheeky has bed bugs so she is not allowed in my bed anymore!!

Blessings on all who read about my little life in the dirt

Sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite

Candace

Kitchens and Bathrooms

I think that I have the best practicum placement ever!!   I don’t think my instructors would have let me come if they knew how much fun I would have!!  There is a missionary here who is an RN from Canada and she has agreed to be my preceptor.   She works with Public Health which means that the community as a whole is her ‘patient’.  Right now she is in charge of the kitchen which is cool because she is changing the diet to include fruit and milk and eggs.  I have the pleasure of helping her acquire all the goods for the kitchen which includes food for 250 widows and those in extreme poverty that is given out every month.  At home we would phone in an order to some food company or we would go to costco... but not in Africa!!!  We get in a truck and drive all over town, down roads that cannot qualify as roads or even allies, we find the product barter the price and then load thousands of pounds into the truck... if they first place doesn’t have enough we drive somewhere else to get the rest... AND that was just the first thing on the list!!!

When my nurse got here she found a major problem... a gazillion people come to the center and there was only 4 latrines, or squatty potties, AND they were mostly full!!  Once she spotted the problem she became the construction nurse and hired a team to start building new, fancy, permanent latrines.  They are vented in such a way that the flies can’t get out the potty hole (because it should be covered) so they fly up a large pipe toward the light... they can’t get out the metal grate so they die and fall back into the latrine... this should greatly minimize cholera and other gastro bugs!!

Because the kitchen and latrines have been two of the major projects that my nurse has worked on, my job will be to teach many small groups of people (400-500 people total).  The first session I get to teach about why we wash our hands, not just because Mama Linda said so!!  The second session I get to teach about Latrine etiquette!

So that is a bit about my responsibilities and what I will be doing for the next month!!

Blessings on you head

Candace J

Moved In and Getting Started

My new little house is great!  I can get internet in my room and it has been surprisingly reliable (although I do not expect this to last).  There are 13 missions school houses and I am living in one of them.  I am the only one in this housing compound so I had the privilege of going through the other houses to find the things that my house was lacking (I call it house shopping).  I found an electric kettle and enough hand sanitizer to make any nurse smile!! And I acquired some fans which made my night more bearable in the heat.

Just after breakfast this morning (7:20am) a Mozambican man showed up at my house... once we established that he spoke about as much English as I speak Portuguese he said the word ‘plum’.... I realized that he must be the plumber.  I was right, soon after his arrival his helper arrived.  I know that my house has water because my bathroom sink works and the toilet has water but the kitchen sink had no water and the shower would not work.  These men quickly (30min) fixed my kitchen tap and have been working on the shower for 2.5 hours!  The water is now running but I still need a shower head!  I am sure it will arrive! (It arrived before I posted this J)

A quick update on my missing bag for those of you not on Facebook:  On my luggage tags, I do not write my address but I write my email address.  A couple of days ago I got an email because of that tag (it made me smile that my idea was efficient).  My bag decided to hang out in Johannesburg; maybe it went on safari or chased some elephants!  I now know that my bag got on the 0830 flight this morning and it will meet me at the airport after lunch... so exciting!!  This is also the first year that i locked my checked baggage so i am sure everything will be present!!

Now to town for groceries before going to the airport!!

Have an amazing day!

Candace

Update on the update: My bag is here and I have shaved my legs J. I chose not to include pictures!.. everything that I put in my bag in Canada came out again with nothing missing and no explosions. God is Good!!

Stay Tuned: My next blog will be all about latrines and what the nurse has done here!!!

The end of one journey, the beginning of the next...

Hello from afar!

I am now in Pemba!  It was a long journey and I am glad to finally be here.  I have been resting a lot, allowing my brain to catch up to my body.  It is VERY hot.  Even the people that have been here for years live in a constant state of sweat.  Of course, I know that ladies don’t sweat, they glow... I have been GLOWING BUCKETS!!!  I arrived in with one piece... I started with 2 pieces of checked luggage.  The heavy one (70lbs) arrived, he light one (50 lbs) did not.  I am amazed by this circumstance because I did things differently and because of a few good God ideas along the way, I am not stressed at all about this missing bag!  I packed equal amounts of clothing in each of my bags, including my carry on, so I have 2/3rds of my clothes!  I was planning on buying a brand new back pack before I left but a friend gave me her old one instead (saving lots of $$$)... If it was a new back pack missing I would be anxious but because I did not spend the money I am at peace!!  While I was in YVR I randomly bought deodorant... so weird for me... the most important thing in the missing bag is my toiletry bag.  I am amazed because I have everything that I need.  A friend here is in charge of donations left behind by visitors so she hooked me up with flip flops, shampoo, and a new toothbrush.  All these simple things make me smile!!

Since I have been here I have chased several canine sized cockroaches out of my room, my house, three different bathrooms, and one from inside my bug net.  I might stop chasing them and just start naming them... I might look for some cockroach leashes in town so that I can take my new pets for walks!  Other than more bugs than I remember, I am settling in very well.  I love catching up with old friends and hugging kids all day long.  I have yet to take many pictures since I have been here but I have cleaned my new house... the water was the colour of mud and almost as thick!

I am still adjusting but I absolutely love being here!!!! I will write more interesting blogs to come but I think that my brain might be in that missing bag... or it melted in the heat... or a cockroach ate it while I was sleeping J

Thanks for reading this little update!

Until next time, Candace

PS  Here are a couple of pictures from my travel... my travelling buddy is named Cheeky and she proved to be a lot of fun!!!

Before I Go...

I have heard that just before a pregnant woman goes into labour she goes through a 'nesting' stage.  She gets this urge to clean and make sure everything is 'right'.  I am not pregnant!!! But I am nesting.  The 'due date' is tomorrow and everything is on schedule.  I am officially really, really excited now.  I think (hope) that I have everything in order and I am now working on packing! My methods are a little odd but I am praying that everything will fit!  I have stacked everything on the couch and now I have to get the couch into the bags... I am so thankful for my friends!!

I wanted to quickly update my blog to touch base with you before I take off.  I truly believe that this is an adventure that we are on together!  

I would love and appreciate your prayers!  I start my day tomorrow with a little flight to Vancouver.  I then board a 14 hour flight! I get to stretch for 2 hours in Hong Kong then I board a 13 hour flight followed by a 4 hour flight!!  That is 31 hours of sitting still, and we all know me!!!

Hopefully once I finally get to Pemba (on Saturday) I will get to go swimming before I even unpack! (my bathing suit is in my carry on).  

Quick prayer points: Quick and easy adjustment back to life in Pemba, No illness (not even once!!), that I can learn more of the language, that my practicum would go smooth, and just the basic protection stuff!!  I want to encounter God on this adventure!

I love you guys, thank you for journeying with me!!

Below are pictures of the task at hand.  First a pic of my couch covered in most (not all) of my stuff to pack, then a pic of the three bags I am taking, Then a couple of Laura trying to come with, and then a picture of the couch and bags in perspective... quite a task but it will be completed!!!

Love always, Candace of the Bush Bush

Back to the Land of Squatty Potty's and Bucket Bath's

FRIENDS.... FAMILY.... RANDOM BLOG READERS,

I am SO very excited to finally update my blog, although it has taken a while ;)
I am bursting with JOY because I am headed back to Pemba in about a MONTH!!!

If you haven't seen me recently you might be wondering what I am doing this time and I why I am leaving a month and half earlier than usual (I love that going to Africa is becoming 'usual' for me!!!)

I am just about about finished my third year of Nursing school (WOOOHOOOOOO), and for my year end practice experience I am going to be working with a Canadian RN who is serving as a Public Health Nurse with Iris Ministries in Pemba, Mozambique. We will be working on some health education projects in two local villages which you will hear more about in weeks to come.

This is the same organization that I went with before. After six weeks of being a Nursing a student I will transition into a role similar to my last trip. I will work with the missions school and hug as many children as possible :)

I am Obviously, just slightly, really, really, burstingly, excited about this next adventure and chapter in my life. I will try to blog regularly and I will post pictures when I can.

If you like numbers like, you can count down the minutes with me until I leave using the counter at the right of this page --> --> -->
(or find it on my blog at candaceinafrica.blogspot.com by clicking here if this comes to your email)

Also, if you want my blog updates sent to your email inbox, you can sign up using the subscription box.

Thank you for joining me in this next adventure!!!

Candace

PS: Here are those long overdue pictures from the Congo