in the buj

a picnic

2011-07-25T08:01:00.000-07:00

Being in Burundi 4+ years now, Seth and I have seen our little capital city of Bujumbura slowly (“buke-buke”- slowly, slowly) grow. A few more mzungus are spotted in town. Traffic has become even crazier. And more restaurants are popping up— we now have Italian, Indian, Ethiopian, two little cafes, and an assortment of the more traditional Belgian / Burundian food! We even have THREE coffee shops—Aroma, Geny’s, and Cappuccino! Buja is becoming a happening place.

Despite this growth, we often find ourselves on Friday afternoons thinking, “what the heck are we going to do this weekend?” While the options have increased, they remain few. Our friends in the US and Europe are likely jealous of this problem; we remember the crazy weekend planning and there never, ever being enough time to breathe. But here, we’re still in slow-paced Africa, and sometimes we have to get a bit creative to entertain ourselves.

Thus, this weekend, our friend Jonathan and I planned a Sunday afternoon picnic for our group of friends. We deemed it “Food, Fear, and Fun.” We took the idea of a simple picnic and upped the ante by locating it in the Ruzizi National Park. The Ruzizi is a small park just north of Bujumbura along the Ruzizi river (thus named) and boasts viewing of hippos and crocodiles. We weren’t sure if our friends would be game to brave crocs and hippos, mosquitoes and sun to enjoy an afternoon of food delights along the river with us (and, we have to admit, Seth was among the skeptics). But, we were bored and felt creative, so why not try?

Alas, the combination of “Food, Fear, and Fun” turned out to be great fun. Thirteen of us convoyed out and entered the park together. We talked the park guides into a discounted group rate and even got permission to enter without an armed escort! We plopped our blankets, food, and eager selves along a grassy spot along the river, and it was near perfect! Sure, there were ants (always a picnic menace), the ground was a bit bumpy, and there may have been hippo poop we had to step around. But we enjoyed the flow of the river… the huge flock of birds on the grassy island in front of us… and the pod (what a group of hippos is called) of hippos lazily enjoying the afternoon, a safe distance away.

I think we indulged in at least three types of potato salad (Seth was in potato salad heaven. He loves the stuff!), pasta salad, watermelon, and even Nitro Teddy cookies that Jeff brought. Hilarious, they’re really named that! For the most part, the sun hid behind the clouds so as not to bother us too much and we really enjoyed our time. An afternoon of beautiful Burundian nature and wildlife. Old and new friends. Good food. Exploring and adventure.

I think I can still enjoy the simple African life.

For Kimberly

2011-07-19T06:49:00.000-07:00

In Oregon, October last year, some friends and family requested that I blog again. Our dear friend Kimberly being one of them. At that point, it had been nearly a year since I had blogged... and now, 8 months since that request. Yet, the earnestness of her request lingers in my mind. Thus, here I write!

Obviously, BLOGGING is a bit out of my system, and I thought it had dropped in popularity with everyone face-booking and twittering. What do I know about social media and networking from here in Buja? Ha! (Granted, I do get turtle-speed internet on a data plan on an i-phone here).

But sure enough, I checked up on some of the old blogs I used to frequent regularly... Bekah... Tabs... and some of my friends and family with kiddos. They're still at it!

Perhaps I should give it a try again. For Kimberly. :)

But then begins the monumental task of beginning a project I let drop nearly two years prior! Do I summarize our lives since that time? Memorialize it in photographs? Oh my gosh, not possible! Do I jump right in?

Let's suffice it to say that Seth and I are still in Bujumbura and still really loving our lives here. The eternal sunshine. The old and new friendships. The film projects that are now coming Seth's way. Challenging projects and a great new boss for me in World Relief. The tennis tournament I won last weekend. Our weekend to a relaxing beach house in Kigoma for the fourth of July weekend with a bunch of friends.

And it's still challenging. Sometimes we feel stuck and discouraged in relationships, work stuff, and life. We now often joke with friends saying, "You know you've lived in Burundi too long when... " and complete the phrase by describing a random habit or idiosyncracy we have picked up while living here. And there's a few...

So what was that? Maybe a mix of a summary and a jump right in. Writing about where we are now... and thinking about where we are going.

MOMBASA

2009-11-01T23:44:00.000-08:00

I spent a few days in Mombasa (Kenya) last week for a World Relief Communications Summit. While most of the hours were spent in a conference room (and luckily, it rained, making the hours indoors more bearable), we did get a chance to explore Mombasa town. Beautiful! An exotic mix of white sand beaches, Indian spices, seafood, Arab architecture, and Swahili culture.

The highlight of my week was an evening exploration with Dan and Tambry Brose and colleague/friend Myal, from Rwanda. We piled into a Mutatu (small bus) and cruised into town, getting dropped off in Mombasa center. There, we walked and explored, checking out the waterfront, viewing Fort Jesus, and just taking in the sights and sounds. Tried our first sample of ginger tea (oooh... strong and sweet!) and then crowded into a little tuk-tuk (pictured here) to try to find a seafood restaurant. We settled on a little hole in the wall place, a bit reminiscent of a chinese restaurant in the US... complete with pinky/peach decor and chairs covered in plastic. We were the ONLY patrons in the place and were a bit sketched out, Myal saying that it could be a front for the mafia, ha! Our server / restaurant owner was an eager little Kenyan named Omare who asked me, "Do you know garlic?... It is like onion." I laughed out loud. Do I know garlic? Am I married to SETH CHASE? Those who have visited Seth and I know that, yes, WE KNOW GARLIC! I said yes, and proceeded to order shrimp with garlic sauce. I have to say the quantities of garlic that were in that garlic sauce surpassed my normal weekly consumption. YUM!

Overall, the meetings were interesting, Mombasa was fun, and now... it is good to be back home in Burundi and with Seth.

CHRISTI AND MILI VISIT

2009-10-25T23:33:00.000-07:00

This last weekend, my sister Christi and her baby Mili braved THE BELVEDERE BUS... a 30-something-seater that cruises twice a day between Kigali and Bujumbura... to visit us here in Buj. Not a small feat for a newbie to Africa with a baby-- as it is a crowded and hot, the road is windy, and it is a LONG six hour ride! I was impressed. My sister is AMAZING.

The two arrived Thursday afternoon, and we had an incredible and relaxing weekend (a bit slower pace with the little one-year-old Milster). The weekend was full of lots of walks and jogs, sunset at the lakeside, playing in the sand, making yummy meals, meeting our friends, church, and chilling. The only thing missing was Tony and hippo viewing (though not for lack of trying... we went on several hippo safari attempts!).

It was so wonderful to be together... and they are back to Kigali today...

MALAWI

2009-10-08T00:46:00.000-07:00

Near the end of September, I had the opportunity to visit Malawi with a few others from World Relief Burundi. We went there to learn about their integration of the local church there with their technical programs.

General observations:
* Dry! They have EIGHT MONTHS of dry season a year! It was beautiful, but not green like Burundi, and the importance of a good rainy season was incredibly evident!

* People were warm and hospitable. We could not leave a place without a full meal. Always meals consisted of "sima" (pronounced see-mah), a white dough type substance that you roll up and dip into heavy beef sauces. Mmmmm. It seemed that people there were more open and generally friendlier than here in Burundi. Malawi has not experienced war like Burundi has, and I am sure that is a significant factor.

* The church in Africa CAN be empowered to serve the poor themselves!! It is possible! Sometimes, the challenges we face here in Burundi are discouraging... and it was inspiring to see several churches in Malawi, with support from World Relief there, to be excited about and doing significant programs to help the poor in their communities.

* As English is spoken, I loved being able to talk to people in the community (as here, people upcountry only speak Kirundi... not even French!). This mama (pictured below) is a member of her church's ministry team and helps run a program that gives pigs to her community!! We enjoyed chatting and laughing together.

SHE'S BEAUTIFUL

2009-08-20T20:08:00.001-07:00

Photographed on August 5th at Laurelhurst Park in Portland, Milina's first birthday.

Here, Christi is watching Mili eat her birthday cake.

I think being a mom has made my sister even more beautiful.

STATESIDE BESTS

2009-08-18T22:26:00.000-07:00

It's late Tuesday night. My Dad, the ultimate packer, is helping me cram the last minute items in the duffle bags. Grandpa and Grandma and Tony and Christi and Mili just left after one last family meal together. You can see our ATTEMPT at a family photo there, to the right. Seth is now upstairs working on video and floats down to check-in on my progress, every so often. (He's hanging out here a couple more weeks to finish a project). And in a few hours, at a very uncomfortable hour (3h15am, argh), I'm waking up and heading to the airport. Back to the Buj.

Our time here in Oregon / Canada / Montana has been a whirlwind, but an incredible time of fun and connection.

As I look back over our month in the States, here are some of the highlights:

* Best meal: hands down, scallops at BISHOP'S, a swanky Vancouver restaurant, with Seth, Becky, and Jonathan. My mouth waters thinking about it.
* Best coffee: always Stumptown.
* Best dessert: I think I hit my favorite frozen yogurt place, TCBY, at least 5 times while here!
* Best drink: the created "trinitini" at Oba's. Mmmm... basil.
* Best re-connect: Starbucks with Terry Jackson, missionary in Slovenia and former youth leader, dreaming about future potential youth ministry ventures together.
* Best sporting event: toss up between roller-blading with Christi and Mili on the spring water trail and getting beat at ping pong by Holzer.
* Best Seth time: AMAZING meal to celebrate 6 years together at our favorite Portland restaurant, Oba's. Thanks Dan and Tam!
* Best Mili time: her birthday photo shoot at Laurelhurst park. That girl melts my heart.

* Best Portland moment: incredible timing... getting to see our fave band, STORYHILL, with some of our bestest Portland buddies. I seriously smiled all night, I was so pumped. And we are SUCH groupies, borderline stalkers... a traditional front row seat for yet another concert at Alberta Street Pub.
* Most memorable sleep: Seth, Cooper (Christi and Tony's LARGE dog), and I together on a floor mattress at my parents' house. Yeah, not so comfortable.
* Coolest moment: riding behind Bob (Seth's dad) on his incredibly cool Victory motorcycle through beautiful Montana canyons.

* Most random moment: Bob bringing the lost "Joey, the dog from Billings" to our bedroom so we could watch him until his owner showed up for him. Little RAT of a dog! We laughed so hard.

So many highlights, reunions, laughter, and memories created. It was good.

Thanks to all you friends and family who took the time to see us, encourage us, help us, pray for us, and be a part of it all with us. We are refreshed and encouraged by you. And now, back to it... back to Burundi, baby!

TAKE ME HOME

2009-07-11T23:00:00.000-07:00

When I was young, we would go camping together for our yearly family vacation. “As a family,” Mom would always say. Dad and Mom in the front of the truck, Christi and I piled in the back with all the gear and our stack of allotted library books , our own radio, and a stash of snacks from Mom. Whenever we got back on the road and were headed in the direction of home, Dad would inevitably belt out the song “Take me Home, Country Roads” by John Denver. Depending on how old we were, Christi and I would enthusiastically chime in or groan at his cheesiness.

And now, Seth and I are heading home… to Oregon and Montana. In a matter of hours (well, two days, I guess... the flight back is pretty brutal) we will get to see my little niece, Mili, who is now almost a year old!! We will go on yet another Newcomb family camping trip to the Oregon coast, reconnect with all of our family and friends, and get some spiritual, emotional, and physical rest.

We arrive in Portland July 14th and will be in the States for just over a month. Can’t wait!! Take me HOME!!

SAM

2009-07-07T05:13:00.000-07:00

Morning remains my favorite time of day. I still love the cool morning air. The sun peaking over the Burundi mountains behind our home. Setting out for a run before the rest of Burundi wakes up.

And I have a new reason to enjoy my morning runs— my new running buddy, Sam. I asked my parents to send out a leash so I could train our new puppy, Pippin, to run with me. However, we are discovering that while he is sweet, he is a bit retarded. Doesn’t know how to bark. Is afraid to leave the yard. And is generally very annoying.

Sam, however, remains the greatest of dogs. He is a beautiful golden retriever. A good guard dog. Smart and chill. And even though he is a few years old, I thought I would try him on a leash. Just to see if he could learn and would like it.

Sam absolutely LOVES it!! I’ve now walked him many afternoons and taken him on two morning runs. He now hears the clang of the leash and comes running to the front porch. So excited. Tail wagging enthusiastically.

We head out of the compound, and at first, he is a bit hard to control. Him running ahead of me and me tripping over him— he is just so excited; although we soon settle into a rhythm. Then, he trots nicely alongside me. He often looks up for approval, bumps into me when people call out to him, and pulls at the leash to go after a goat or bird. He is a wonderful running partner, and in him, I have a found a new buddy.

And him, in me. After a run or walk, he drinks his water, and then comes immediately to the front porch to hang out with me. He stands there, panting and almost grinning (if a dog can grin, this is it!), looking in the house through our screen door as though he wants me to come out and play some more.

It’s another one of the simple pleasures of my life here. A new thing that is bringing me joy. I recently read a book called The Geography of Bliss— a light but fascinating read that looked at different places around the world and elements within cultures that would make a person say that he/she is happy. While the author found some contradictions (like some of the reportedly happiest places on earth have the highest suicide rates and some poor countries whose people claim to be very happy) and was hesitant to make any sweeping statements about the nature of happiness (which I appreciated), he did conclude that a person’s happiness centers around the ability to meet basic needs, strong relationships, and the ability to trust others. Interesting, as these are elements lacking here… we see poverty— the most basic of needs not met for others every day. It’s often a lonely place for us as “muzungus”. Living in a culture where lack of trust in each other is endemic. Maybe that’s why Burundi is often categorized as one of the saddest places in the world to live.

When we moved to Burundi, Seth said he was taking the happiest girl in the world to live in one of the saddest places on earth. While I’m not sure about that, I do recognize and am so grateful for the gifts of the small pleasures here that sustain and bring joy to this “happy girl”— my faith, the support and prayers of friends and family back home, Seth, tennis, morning runs, and now in a new way, Sam.

WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS

2009-06-29T01:37:00.001-07:00

> A chaotic Friday night youth party at our place. 20 kids expected. 40 came. Lessons learned... ALWAYS have more food than you think you will need! A little bit of a planning is better. Don't offer to drive EVERYONE home.
> Chasing down escape chickens and returning them to the coup.
> Getting my growing mullet properly trimmed. No more party in the back. Have had some interesting haircuts here.
> Successfully avoiding a painful singing experience at a karaoke fund-raising event for 2 orphanages here.
> Piling 14 kids in my WR landcruiser to hit the Bujumbura beach on Sunday afternoon.

TO GRANDPA AND GRANDMA

2009-06-26T00:18:00.000-07:00

Today I had the opportunity to interview an elderly woman who received a roof and a goat from World Relief. I think it’s my favorite part of my work. To drive the long, bumpy, back-altering road to the field. To crouch down in the dirt. To sit side-by-side on a small wooden bench, my back-side getting sore after a bit, and to listen to the stories of the lives of people here.

I listen and then I write, primarily so those who support the work of World Relief can see that people ARE being helped. To help the church in America understand. The by-product for me, of course, is incredible— my heart stays soft. Even after more than two years and hearing multiple stories, I fought back a gulp of emotion today as I listened to their accounts.

This is Celine. She is 81 years old and still beautiful. A widow with eight children— five of whom are dead. Celine has no idea of how many grand-children or great-grandchildren she has. Twice a refugee.

She told me a story of how she, as a young wife in Burundi, fought off a lion with fiery embers from her cooking fire. While she was fortunate to escape, she learned the next day that the same lion killed and ate a drunkard near her home. She told me the story while waving her cane, making growling noises, and laughing. It was a great moment.

In Burundi, as an elderly person, she is given great respect. She is a “Mutama Kazi” (literally translated “old woman” but carrying within it an essence of deep esteem). And so I asked this Mutama Kazi to give me advice on life, as a young woman who wanted to learn from her. Her words were simple— “You are a creation of God. Trust in God and expect blessing from Him.” Yes.

Spending time with Celine today made me think of my own grandparents, who have a few years on Celine and who recently celebrated their 60^th wedding anniversary! Sixty years! Seth and I are going on six this August… just a few more to go.

I think my Grandpa and Grandma would give me similar words to those of Celine, so simple and profound. Although they may not have warded off any lions, they have been around a few years, married for a long time, and in ministry for most (if not all) of their years together. I have no doubt that their words would direct me to God. I will need to ask them in person when I am home next month.

They are both “Mutamas,” and I have incredible respect for them. To sustain a marriage for that amount of time is an amazing feat, and I can only hope and pray that Seth and I can follow in their footsteps. They raised two boys. My Grandpa fought in WWII. My Grandma lovingly cared for her ailing mother for years. They spent two years in Haiti as missionaries. They loved us four grandkids deeply— spending much time with us when we were young— taking us to fairs, having us over for sleepovers, telling us stories, and allowing us free reign to destroy their home.

When I reflect on the stories of service, compassion, and sacrifice I have heard of my grandparents before my time and consider what I have seen and experienced with them, I think of words like…

Imprint. Legacy. Heritage. And in Kirundi (a very complex and rich language) the fitting word would be UBUNTU— “I am because you are.” Thank you.

TENNIS IN THE BUJ

2009-06-23T13:38:00.000-07:00

My Burundi-inspired tennis fanaticism continues.

Not to the same degree, but still intense. I’m taking fewer lessons with coach Gervais, but still playing frequently and a bit more competitively against friends and in small competitions. Thus far, I’ve played in three Bujumbura tournaments, two upcountry tourneys (one in Gitega and one in Ngozi), one “international” competition at the US Ambassador’s residence here in Buj, and may head up to Kigali for another tourney early next month. I recently attended my first “tennis banquet” in honor of my tennis friend, Gil- the elderly husband of the US Ambassador, who departs next week. Of course, that doesn’t include the NUMEROUS tennis banquets that always and necessarily accompany each and every tennis tournament (as celebrations involving food, drink, and long, predictable speeches are tradition here).

Seth can attest to the foreseeable “click” that happens in me each time I pull out my racket. The day could have been frustrating. I could have nearly died from one of the Coaster buses that plow through town without regard for life or limb. I could have been in a 10-hour management meeting and ready to pull out my hair after our team talked in circles about our pre-planning for our pre-strategy meetings. I could be exhausted, stomach rumbling from the amoebas within, and mentally ready to curse out the next human to cross my path. Some days, it does feel like that.

But then, after work, “click!” a change comes when I hit the courts. Just two of them where I play… Simple. Beautiful. Red clay. Cracked and difficult to see white lines. Spanking new nets. I plop myself down in the broken, plastic chairs next to the courts, wearing my culturally appropriate mid-calf sport pants and tank top. Hair, now just long enough, is pulled back in a pony-tail with three supporting barrettes. (Us gals understand the context… a three-barrette pull-up is mid-length hair, but not a true, true ponytail!). I lace-up my once-white sneakers that are stained red, just like my ankles and socks will be after a few minutes of play. I pull out the taxi-yellow and black DUNLOP racket I won in my first tennis competition here, and I give it a twirl.

I think I literally bounce onto the courts. I’m so excited to be there. I dribble a ball with the racket, do a couple of hip-twist-bounce type things to warm up my joints, and then hit some volleys at the net with my partner to warm-up.

I absolutely love it. The clean “twang” of the ball when I hit the sweet spot just right. The soft clay under my feet. Running down the ball and (if fortunate) hitting that beautiful down-the-line winner. Calling my opponent “umasuma” (thief!) when he makes a bad call. Seeing the ball boy (who secretly always cheers for me) quietly clapping his hands together to applaud my good shot when the other player isn’t looking. The pent-up aggression that exits my body when I hit that ball so hard. The complete and utter exhaustion after playing a solid three hours.

Perhaps I am a bit over the top. Granted, I play a lot of tennis and maybe use it to cope with the challenges of my life here. However, it has brought hours of good play and exercise, introduced unique and unforeseen friendships, brought moments of great hilarity, and taken me to new places. A crutch. An obsession. A gift? Whichever (or maybe a little of all), I am thankful for the opportunity to play here and the patience that my husband has with me, his somewhat compulsive, tennis-fanatic wife.

ADVENTURE

2009-06-14T21:39:00.000-07:00

Last week, with World Relief HQ visitor (and new friend) Caroline, I jumped in the WR Landcruiser and headed out on a Thelma and Louise type adventure to show her World Relief Burundi programs. Our formula: HUGE vehicle + 2 white girls + Burundi = ADVENTURE.

As always, it was great to get out of the office and see the work that is actualized by our efforts in our respective Bujumbura / Baltimore offices. I absolutely LOVE getting to the field and after two years here, generally feel confident about taking guests on the WRB program tour... driving myself upcountry and meeting up with program staff along the way.

This trip seemed to have a few more hitches, however. Good thing Caroline was a sport! Without incident, we drove two hours from Bujumbura to the southern province of Makamba to see our work with refugees and internally displaced persons. We visited the family who gave me the chicken, saw families with goats (pictured above), and those in the process of rebuilding their homes. After several hours on the field... talking with beneficiaries, meeting with staff, and petting goats... we jumped back in the cruiser and headed another two and a half hours to Gitega, central Burundi.

That trip... and our time in Gitega... was where our adventures began. Honestly, it was nothing too crazy. Just classic- "this would only happen in Africa" type things. Things like not finding a place to use the restroom... so instead, we stopped at a random guest house to get a "tour"of the facility and then delicately asked at the end to use their toilettes. Caroline thought I was pretty smooth. We later sipped incredibly strong coffee at "Antonio's Cyber Cafe" in Gitega with fresh cow's milk that was a bit curdled, out of coffee cups that still had the lip marks of the former user. Generally NOT advisable. We weren't sure if it was the milk or the unclean cups that later gave us the diarrhea!

And the fun in Gitega continued... a walking tour of the town and market and then a late night, off-road drive to the orphanage of our friend where we got to join in some before bed-time singing and received good night hugs from all the kids. That was a treat!

The following morning we woke up refreshed (despite the pain and queasiness from the diahrrea from the coffee incident). And then, before 9am, we had QUITE the morning. We got a tour of the orphanage (complete with a beautiful health clinic and school, housing with a family style set-up, and randomly, several blind cows!), stopped along the road to buy some delicious avocadoes for 10 cents each, managed to fall through a rickety bridge in our landcruiser (paying 10+ Burundian guys to help haul us out), sideswiped a bicyclist who veered in front of us (he was just fine! no damage to person, vehicle, or bike, fortunately!), all before joining our Child Survival team just outside of Gitega. Whew! What a morning.

Our day visiting the Child Survival project went beautifully, and we returned the same day to Bujumbura without further incident, stopping (as we always do) in the town of Bugarame to buy fresh strawberries, lettuce, carrots, and green peppers from vendors who shove their goods in our car windows as we barter for the best price.

One thing I appreciate about Burundi: the adventure of daily life and that there is ALWAYS some story to tell.

BABY NAMIN'

2009-06-08T01:56:00.000-07:00

Saturday afternoon, I piled a bunch of my youth group kids into a World Relief Landcruiser and drove up into the hills above Bujumbura for a baby naming ceremony. My first one here. And I was charged with giving the English name to the newborn girl.

What incredible pressure! But what an honor, really. I LOVED being a part of it. The family is from our church and the seventeen-year-old daughter had a baby before being married... so because I am a friend of the family and have been able to help them some with an unexpected life event like this, they wanted to thank me the best way they knew how, by having me name the little one. They wrote me a beautiful letter of thanks (pictured here) and stated within it that I was charged with naming her.

Her name in Kirundi means, "He knows us,"- a beautiful name, I think. Because of cultural expectation to name her after myself (as I asked around... it feels a bit weird, honestly), I went with that and decided that her second name would be "Trina Joy." Trina, after me. Joy because it is the middle name of both my sister and her daughter.

I also chose "Joy" because, as I told the young mother before we prayed for the family, my hope and prayer is that... though her arrival caused great pain and there will be difficult times ahead- especially here in Burundi culture... this daughter will bring great joy.

Because that is the nature of God, isn't it? That life is tough. He allows us to make choices that bring us pain. But inevitably, because He is so good... he DOES bring great joy and blessing in the end. I deeply hope that for this family and for little Trina Joy.

CHICKENS

2009-06-03T00:06:00.000-07:00

We live on a farm. Well, practically. It's still "Big City" Bujumbura (I've heard around 600,000 now), but it still has that rural feel. It's just another one of those continual paradoxes or tensions I continually find myself in here in Burundi. Crowded busy streets... but then, sometimes, the cars have to maneuver around herds of long-horned cattle or goats. Buses whizz by, around women in African fabrics carrying huge stalks of green bananas on their heads.

And at our home, in the "suburb" of Bujumbura, I find myself surrounded by animals. Two dogs. One very loud cat. A coup of clucking chickens. And now, a rooster. Well, honestly, he didn't last long. I got him last week as a gift from a family in Makamba who Seth and I visit regularly to film / photograph, as we track their life progress as beneficiaries with World Relief. As I often work down there, I've gotten many opportunities to see them, have given them some things... and to thank me in return, they gave me a rooster.

It's the first time I've received a rooster as a gift! I was really excited and the picture here is of me holding him (the first time ever holding a chicken... they are surprisingly docile and I was quite pleased, as can be seen!). However, I ended up having to give him away as his ALL NIGHT CROWING proved to be a detriment to our sleep and his ALL DAY CROWING inhibited Seth's video work. I just couldn't bear to kill and eat the little guy.

SMOKING

2009-03-16T02:27:00.001-07:00

I found this woman on a hillside in the remote areas of Burundi. We drove 2 hours off the main roads... bumpy, back-jarring terrain, but beautiful... to join our team in a goat distribution there. She was smoking this hand-rolled cigarette as she waited to receive her goat. I liked the lines on her face and hands. The wisp of the smoke. And the subtle gleam in her eyes.

JACK JACK

2009-03-04T03:19:00.000-08:00

Lil' Jack Jack.
Attempted to be a guard dog... more of a licker and lover.
March 2007-March 2009.

RELAXING

2009-02-24T12:02:00.000-08:00

Seth and I just returned this afternoon from a long weekend holiday, visiting our favorite beach in Tanzania- KIGOMA. We went there with our dear friends, Simon and Lizzie, and their two beautiful kiddos, Zach and Gracie. We had two purposes... to shoot a film on the rocky cliffs of the lake and to simply relax. Both goals were accomplished! And you can see from these pix that these are some GREAT people to spend time with. Zach, for the most part, loved the water (especially playing on the "lie-lo"... floatie) and exploring. Grace is the biggest sweetheart... beautiful expressions, heart-melting giggles, and quite the personality! Simon and Lizzie are pretty cool too... :)

Although I love swimming and the unique beauty of the rocks and the red sand beaches there, I have to admit that this time (aside from hanging with the kids) my favorite aspect was the old leather couches. Probably due to prior exhaustion and a bit of a stomach issue due to something I ate. But I spent literally HOURS on them relaxing, reading, and napping. Something we just don't find too often here in Buj is a comfy couch and as work and life have been a bit hectic, this weekend was a beautiful respite. Many thanks to Simon, Lizzie, Zach and Grace!

UPCOUNTRY

2009-02-17T01:12:00.000-08:00

I've had the chance these past two weeks to get out of the office... this was during a photography shoot of a health center we are trying to open and a goat distribution. I love the people I meet upcountry.

OUT OF IT

2009-02-16T12:04:00.000-08:00

It's been a long while... 2 months in fact. Shame!
The brief run down:
December- Adventures in Zanzibar for Christmas.
January- Malaria that knocked me out for a bit.
January/February- Traveling for meetings for World Relief.

And last Friday, with the help of dear Karri, I hosted my first ever Burundi girls' slumber party! It was fabulous! I cooked up 5 pizzas and made a caesar salad for dinner. The girls (12 of them, in total... ages 11-18) chowed down, whilst arguing vehemently if Usher or Chris Brown is the better dancer. It was serious! Laughing, but up in each others' face with fingers wagging and all! Wow! Who knew?!

After, we brought out all the necessities of a true girls' slumber party... masks, nails, foot soaks, "big screen" movies with a projector, and concluded the night (well, for Karri and I ) with a brief and hilarious dance party. We crashed, but the girls stayed up talking and laughing... some until 6:30am.

We had a late and sleepy cinnmon roll and fruit salad breakfast.

The girls went home to naps. I stayed home and began to clean the chaos.

For me, it was a perfect night. I set out with simple objectives... for the girls to come, have a good time, and connect with one another. All hopes were met, and now, for the first time ever, I am sporting black toe nails... :)

YOUTH GROUP CHRISTMAS PARTY

2008-12-17T05:24:00.000-08:00

The majority of my time here in Burundi is spent in work/ministry with World Relief. I'm daily at the office or on the field... these days, mostly in the office working on writing reports and concept notes, creating stories and pictures to help the world learn about Burundi and the needs here, and helping the general flow of office activities (sometimes, my job can be quite the potpourri of various activities). However, as much as I believe in WR, enjoy our staff, and am learning so much from (and hopefully helping) the work here, I find my passion remains with young people! I just can't stay away from them.So, here is my crew! A group of approximately 20 students from our church (Partnership Trust International) crash our place every Tuesday afternoon. I think every youth group around the world is defined by at least a bit of chaos. This one is no different. Our formula for chaos= lots of "fantas" (high sugar soda drinks) and kids from at least 5 different nationalities, speaking 3 different languages, and ranging in age from 12-22 years. And they all still have the universal syndromes of kids in that age range... flirting, short attention span, teasing, easily distracted, high energy, etc. Add the additional challenge of language, culture, and huge age range... and there we are! It's crazy and I LOVE IT.

We began a year ago, January... a small, struggling group of 5 (and 2 were the pastor's kids!) and at the end of the summer, we had multiplied! We play volleyball in our yard to start most evenings (and have seen great improvement in skills, I might add) and have studied the books of Matthew and Romans.

It's a pretty unique (if not only) thing here in Burundi. Most churches do not do much for their youth... and what they do is usually a re-creation of the adult's service. Long preaching. Hymns. No discussion. So we make it interactive with lots of activities, food, games. We look at Bible passages (reading it in French and English and sometimes Kirundi) and then discuss together or break up in discussion groups.

Most of these guys have memorized at least 5 different Bible verses from Romans (motivated, I admit, by chocolate M n M's from the US. But hey, it works! I remember being motivated by my growing sticker collection, rewards from memorizing verses in the KJV as a kid!). And most importantly, they are learning (I hope!) that being in the Word is important... that it is relevant and challenging and exciting... and that there is much depth and fun in Christian community.

We had a bit of a Christmas party yesterday. It was pretty different than what I've ever done in the States. I did make Christmas cookies for them to decorate (crazy mess after!)... and Jim (pictured far left in first pix above- WRB intern who is helping me with this group for the few months he and his lovely wife Karri are in Burundi) organized a great relay theme game with- "wise men carrying gifts to Jesus" (on the head as Chemin is doing in the 2nd pix... it was easier for the Burundians than for our Scottish members!), a four-legged "shepherd run" (3rd pix), and of course, "Mary, Joseph, and the donkey en route to Bethlehem" (Mary riding the donkey, pictured last). It was hilarious fun. Much laughter and several wipe-outs. We concluded the evening with Christmas pictionary and a brief Christmas exhortation on joy.

So, with this celebration... and a small but brightly-lit fake Christmas tree in the living room, 5 Christmas cds on repeat, an attempt at Christmas baking, and doing some advent reading... Seth and I are preparing for Christmas despite the warm weather and lack of other festivities. This year, we will be out of town... and we'll post about our adventures in Tanzania when we return. With that, we wish you a very...
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

PEACE MARATHON in BURUNDI

2008-12-11T12:11:00.000-08:00

After a week of what we think was amoebas (= fever/stomach issues/diarrhea) and thus against general common sense and my Dad's advice, I ran in Burundi's first marathon last Saturday. Well, I did the half. It was one of those deals that I knew if I didn't at least try, I would regret it. So, I went with the mind-set to at least start… to be a part of the festivities and history (as it was the first official race in Burundi and with the goal of bringing people together for peace.)

What a day it was... Very fun. But very "Burundi." I got up early and headed out the door… I attempted to wake up a very groggy Seth, but he hadn't been sleeping well and couldn't be moved. I headed into town on Rumonge road (the main road into town), and it was jammed packed! Police had barriers up and they were letting NO ONE through! Not even race participants. So, I jetted down to Avenue du Large (another road into town that parallels the lake, near our house). That too was jammed packed! I couldn't even get to the race! I INCHED forward… and told an officer "I am running! I need to pass!!" He just shook his finger at me in an emphatic NO.

But then, in a instantaneous change of mind, he decided to let me pass… but instead of dropping the rope barrier, he made me drive around the road block, through the rocks and grass along the side of the road, to get through.

I met up with our friend Jim at his office and about 15 of his colleagues, and we walked to the stadium where the race would begin. Some people were not able to pass through the car barriers, so they ended up having to run/walk 5-8km to even get to the stadium! There, we met up with some other friends there who were running and others who had just come to be part of the event…

So, the race did not start on time. Eight was the official start. At 8:30am, race officials herded us to the start line (out of the shade… and it was getting HOT!). Then the pre-race festivities began… Burundi style… for another hour and a half... an off-key marching band… speeches… the president of Uganda… another speech... and our president with his entourage. And we had to wait… roasting in the sun. And then, without any fanfare or shooting of a gun (who knows what kind of riot that could have started), we were suddenly off.

I seriously wasn't planning on running very far … but then, probably the adrenaline of the day, I decided to continue. I ran with a few friends, and we all decided to take it easy because of the heat and my stomach.

I was actually quite impressed with Burundi. The whole course was well guarded by police (lots of guns, but at least it was well-marked!). They had water and sponges every 5k and had several ambulance vehicles taking care of people along the race. Even official race numbers and a souvenir t-shirt!

The streets throughout the 21k were lined with Burundians- some saying "courage!", some blankly staring (typical), and a few that were even laughing and pointing at us. Some friends came at different points to encourage and take pix, and it being the small country that it is, I inevitably happened to run pass people who I knew at various points … Gervais the tennis coach who ran with us for a small bit… Melissa and Maria who were coming to cheer us on... Gilbert who plays tennis yelling out from his balcony… another Gilbert who was simply walking to work… and Theodore from church randomly walking along the route, Bible in hand, with about 50 other pastors? Oh, this place can be so random! I love it.

The finish was classic… we ran (triumphantly, I might add) into the stadium and around the track. Some friends had finished before us and others who came to watch were there. So, there were actually people calling out our names in encouragement and taking our pix as we rounded the track for the final stretch. And then, it was done! My slowest half-marathon time yet! But still proud to have taken part.

I was pretty wiped after, obviously, and we all hobbled back to Jim's office and then I made it home to Seth and some post-race ice cream.

And that was the day. A run for peace in a country still struggling for it. But I felt proud to be here. To be a part of it... the race itself...and to be part of the progress of this country towards peace in our own small way through our work and ministry here.

FREAKER

2008-11-24T05:59:00.000-08:00

I’m definitely NOT a cat person. Freaker is the first cat that I have ever had. I don’t know if his being my first makes him unique to me… or if the funkiness of being a cat living in Africa makes him a little freaky (thus the name)… or if it is just HIM. But he is a little psycho.... We got him just over a year ago. Sara and I spontaneously brought him home, just a little kitten without a tail, not knowing the adventures that would be in store with the little guy.

For one, for such a tiny one, he’s a noisy cat. He meows constantly and loudly. So much so, that family and friends who call us can hear him over the phone and recognize his voice. After researching a bit online, I’ve learned that his vocal aptitude is likely compensation for his lack of a tail (he has only a stub, supposedly born that way). Apparently, cats communicate a great deal with the flick of a tail, and without that capacity, the poor thing lacks the means to communicate. So he talks. Especially every morning, when he’s hungry. I get up early to go for a run, and there he is on the front porch. Looking up at me with his big, Puss-In-Boots like eyes, saying, “FEED ME NOW.” It’s actually more of a yell, really. He’s quite demanding. And those morning meows are long ones. I look down at him. He stares up at me, his little mouth hanging open in a five-second bellow.

And then there’s the meow when he’s bothered. Freaker is such a social cat that he is always in someone’s lap. If I’m home, typically it’s mine. But when that lucky person whose lap he chose to warm (In this African heat!!) decides to move, he inevitably gives a groan of a meow in protest. And of course, as his little padded feet hit the tiled floor, a second PUFF! of a meow escapes.

And he has his other little quirks. He and Seth are good buddies now, as they hang out at the house every day. When Seth emerges from his office for a break from editing, it is always to find Freaker and to “give him some love.” He also is known to give Freaker “mirror time” every day, and the little freak just loves it. Lower legs extended upward, Seth’s chin resting and caressing Freaker’s head, Freaker staring upward in a blissful state of relaxation. Weird.

And then there are a few things that are just cute… how we puts his little paw over his eyes to cover it from the light when he sleeps, how he tucks his head into any crevice he can find when he sleeps, how he comes to greet me at the door (with a meow, of course) every day when I return home from the World Relief office, how he follows us around whenever we are together at home, how he loves curling up in his basket on the shelf next to the front door, and how when he is angry at being ignored, he sits a few feet away with his back to us, acting all nonchalant. What a funny little creature.

He’s already down two of his nine lives. The first was when Sara and I put tick medicine down his back, forgetting that cats have great flexibility and like to be clean. That night , Freaker cleaned himself, licking up the tick medicine. He showed up the next morning on the front porch, barely able to walk and shaking. I grabbed him and rushed him to our shower, without even a meow from him in protest! After, I wrapped the pathetic little bugger in a towel, and he took the day to fully recover.

The next life lost was during the heat of dry season this last July. I think the humidity and high temperature drove him a bit mad. He would sprawl out over the tiles, actually avoiding all laps, in an effort to get cool. One time, he didn’t come home for 3 days, and when he finally did, he was severely beat-up from a fight. I think he just had to get that angst out. He was sporting several huge gashes, a tear in his little ear, a bloody upper lip, and was missing some eyebrows. We quickly learned that there IS a vet here and one available to make house calls! Dr. Immaculee visited and gave him an antibiotics shot to help his wounds heal, and I (maybe a bit paranoid) watched him closely and, at the same time, kept my distance for fear of rabies.

But, he has survived… the tick poison, the fight, our two dogs, and the heat of Africa. Seth thinks that cats just aren’t made for this climate… but then... lions? We don’t have it figured out yet.

So, maybe a bit trivial and light. I often write about the significant happenings in our lives here… our work, political happenings, adventures, and all that we are learning. I do generally feel it is pretty relevant stuff. And even now, I could focus on the current crisis just across the border in Congo (for more info, see Seth’s blog http://fadical.blogspot.com) or the human rights violations currently happening in Burundi (http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/11/04/burund20130_txt.htm). We encourage you to read and learn about what’s going on in our world… in your world, really, as this globe is radically diminishing in size!

But sometimes…. Maybe just to stay sane in the midst of things out of our control like the politics here or the war there. Or maybe because we crave the comedy and normality of the everyday. Or because I have enjoyed Freaker’s little personality a bit more when Seth was gone, I thought I could write a bit about one aspect of the everyday of our lives here in Bujumbura. Little Freaker.

BACK IN THE BUJ

2008-11-12T04:33:00.000-08:00

And now, two and a half weeks. Two solo. And Friday, Seth came home.

We are back in action! Pictured left, we've been working on a film piece together for World Relief Burundi that documents the life of a Burundian boy (named Zuberi) and his family who've received assistance from our rehabilitation program in Nyanza Lac.

And Seth and I are getting back into the flow of the everyday and realizing, once again, that our lives in this place exist in a continual tension... having some amazing highs and pretty frustrating lows... ah, the power outages (but fewer these days), the ticks on our cat Freaker, the aggravating nature of things and people just not working, the potholes (although road work IS being done... go Chinese!), our hearts breaking for children literally thrown away and longing for people back home to whom we just said goodbye.

But there is definitely the good with the bad, the silver lining, the hilarity and ridiculousness of things that always makes us laugh, and the hope that we are contributing to something bigger than ourselves... we relish the beauty of the lake and the dramatic Congo mountains behind, enjoy the reunion with friends here over a backyard bonfire at Brandon's and a fajita night at our place, let little Danny and the other babies at the Rainbow Center laughingly crawl all over me, and hold the hands of some of the poorest people in the world and remember that we have so much. And much to give.

So, here we are... back at it in the buj.

GOOD TIMES IN OREGON

2008-11-06T22:03:00.000-08:00

After two weeks back in Burundi, our Oregon visit already seems like such a LONG time ago! The slowness of days can do that to me here. And honestly, I haven't posted because I am again getting acclimated to the snail-speed of the internet here. Ah, Burundi! :)

But Seth arrives tonight (hurray!!!), and I remember our US visit fondly. Ah, the land of Starbucks, fashion (what's up with the bell-shaped tops? SO not flattering!), customer service, English, and people who, well, really know us and love us. Such a good feeling...

The visit was actually a bit of a shocker, but not quite the trauma that I thought it could have been. The initial landing in the US was the first and highest moment of cultural re-entry confusion (or whatever they call it). We walked through the Chicago airport (and granted, had already traveled 20+ hours and were operating on very little sleep), making really nerdy, African-missionary type comments like, "Wow, Seth, look! A water fountain!" and "A bagel shop! Unbelievable!" and then, "Look at this food court..." followed by a gaping, open mouth. There, Seth downed a big mac meal that he later regretted and, overwhelmed by choices and feeling less adventurous, I stuck to a fruit smoothie... something a bit more familiar to me from living here in Burundi.

Our time in the States was WONDERFUL. We had such an amazing time with our families and friends... I think my highlight was all the time I got to spend with my newborn niece, Milina (pictured as sleeping beauty here). I loved learning her little quirks... that she likes space to kick her legs and throw her arms around (active! like me, I'm thinkin'...), that she hates her car seat, and is already a good sleeper. I LOVED her smell and just holding her and only had to change ONE diaper (not a really helpful aunt, I know...). And I loved seeing my sister with her. Amazing! My little sister is a mom! (that was a bit weird, after missing the whole pregnancy thing... did that little girl REALLY come out of Christi?!!). And it was a bit weird, too, to see my sister in that role... but she is so natural. Relaxed. So incredibly patient. So loving. I was VERY impressed, and I loved hanging out with, going for walks and coffee, and spending that time with Christi and little Mili.

And there were so many things in our visit that I loved, so many highlights... the Oregon coast, the time in Bozeman, shopping with my Mom, hiking Angel's Rest with Dad, going out on the town and amazingly fitting right back in with my girlfriends, reminiscing with Sara (oh, how I still miss that girl!), running in Bozeman with Jaime, making dinners and eating together with both my family and Seth's family, meeting little Jane and seeing how big Ellie and Savvy are getting (our little nieces in Bozeman), tennis with Holzer, dinners with the Pietzolds and the Lundeens, short, nonfat, one-pump vanilla, extra-hot lattes with many gals that I got to know through the high school ministry at Good Shepherd and whom I still love so dearly, breakfast with Pat and Rakel, pizzas with the Broses, time with the MacEwan's and observing Robbie's animal obsession, an incredibly encouraging meeting with the Good Shepherd elders... wow! I could go on. So many people that we love. Our time stateside was really so rich.

So, I want to say THANK YOU TO ALL who took time to hang out with Seth and I and encourage us as you did. Thanks for the food, the drinks, the hospitality, the warmth... thanks for your continued friendships and support and for not forgetting us... really. We feel so incredibly loved and blessed to have such friends and family!!
THANK YOU.

OREGON!

2008-09-25T14:44:00.000-07:00

Together again. Here we are, at the P-town airport. Late Monday night, after 32 long hours of transit (brutal for Seth, who is also nicknamed "tallness" by friends in Burundi), we are together again with our family. Christi and Tony. Mom and Dad. And Seth and I... holding my cute little niece, Milina. We are so happy to be here!!

THE VOLCANO CLIMB

2008-08-29T01:09:00.000-07:00

Nyiragongo Volcano. On Friday afternoon, August 15, when we arrived in Goma, Congo, it did not look too daunting. It had no rugged peaks. No snow-capped mountain top. It was only a large, black mound of lava rock looming over the scarred town that it had destroyed in its’ lava flow in 2002. The volcano seemed like other mountain tops Seth and I had climbed… quietly waiting for the adventurous spirit to climb.

However, it was a beast of a mountain. At 11,387 feet, it stood taller than it appeared from the town and was higher than anything we had peaked before. And apparently the lava inside made the entire top glow at night. Eerie.

Saturday morning, we rose early and drove half an hour outside of Goma… over the black lava rock roads that had become the town’s trademark, past the thousands of Congolese refugees camping along the road under UNHCR tents, and into the rainforest of the Virungu Mountains.

We got a briefing from the “park guide” (seriously, called “Mr. Gorilla”) and set out. A group of seven of us (Seth, Brandon and I from Burundi and 4 friends from Rwanda), our five porters, and one armed guide/guard.

It was a beautiful hike up. The rainforest was lush and green; there were many rest stops along the way; Heavy clouds hung over the mountain top and steam rose from geysers, creating a feeling of mystery. Eventually, the path grew steeper, the lava rock became loose and our steps became more unsure, and the air became thinner (and my head began feeling unusually light).

We pressed on. Before the last leg, Seth and I lingered for a picture together. This climb was part of our celebration of our 5-years together. A bit symbolic of the two of us, we thought— an adventure, accompanied by others (not much alone time here!), and in the beauty of creation.

It took a long time to conquer that last leg. It appeared so short, but the elevation gain, the altitude, and the pack on my back made me stop every 10 steps or so. But we made it! And the top was surreal.

I can only liken it to how the moon might feel. It was very cold. Windy. And gusts of sulfur smoke kept drifting over the top, making visibility over 3 feet difficult. We set up camp on the black lava rock rim of the crater. The tents were all in single line… about three feet on one side before it sloped steeply down to the valley and about five feet on the other side of our tents… where the rock went up, and then undercut as it dropped into the crater.

We stayed the night at the top… I was a bit sick, probably because of the altitude and a bit of dehydration. Seth made his rocking chili that we shared with the porters. And after the sun set, we sat on the rim… staring into the crater, mesmerized by the red and orange flow, who’s heat we felt though high above.

Needless to say, we did not get much sleep. Four of us were packed into a small 3-man tent. The lava rock was hard on the shoulders and hips. And the porters stayed up all night by the charcoal fires, loudly talking and laughing in Swahili.

We grumpily (well, I admit I was grumpy) arose, packed up our tents and gear, stuffed some granola in our mouths, and began the long descent. Again, because of the loose rock, our packs, and the steepness, the way down was slow and each of us had a wipe-out at some point.

But we made it. Made the climb up and down Nyiragongo. Survived a night camping on top of a volcano. Made the hike through the Congo rainforest in potential rebel territory. And Seth and I have successfully completed five years together!!

The beautiful pictures within are from our friend and photographer: Brandon Thiessen.

ANOTHER GOODBYE

2008-08-08T12:46:00.000-07:00

The "Hiebs" as we fondly refer to them. AKA "Doog" and "D".
Doug and Deanna.
Maddy and Keza.

Here we are pictured at the airport in Bujumbura Wednesday night, as we said goodbye to our dearest friends here. Well, pix with their two beautiful babies... (Doug and Deanna were surrounded by a crew of their Burundian friends... speaking words of hope and encouragement to each of them to the very end!) After 6 years in Burundi working for peace and reconciliation with the Mennonite Central Committee, they made the difficult decision of returning to Canada. It was time for them to be back and be with their families.

And another brutal goodbye for Seth and I. But we hope and pray and wish all the best for them. And we will forever remember what we have learned from them. Here are some of the more light-hearted lessons:

* To run off stairs and jump off couches and trust like Keza... knowing that someone will always catch you.
* That downward facing dog is a good position for farting.
* How to maneuver and bargain like a Burundian in the crowded central market.
* That singing will ALWAYS make a day go better.
* How to play Settlers.
* How to craft with the brightly colored cloths worn by women here.
* Thai Coconut Lime Fish with bananas (yum!).
* That long skirts ARE cool! :)
* and of course, much more!

MILINA!!!

2008-08-05T12:48:00.000-07:00

My little sister had a baby!!
Milina Joy was born to Tony and Christi on Tuesday, August 5th at about 1:00am. "Mili" is 8 lbs 14 oz and 21" long. Both Christi and Milina are healthy and will be recovering in the hospital until Friday.

We are so excited and proud and can't wait to meet her!!! :)

DIARRHEA

2008-07-30T07:45:00.001-07:00

Diarrhea- as defined by one of our Child Survival community care groups-
"A sickness that brings noise like a sheep in your stomach and breaks your back."

I like that description. Pretty accurate. Comprehensive. But not too many gory details! Living here, Seth and I've had definitely endured our most serious bouts of and the strangest conversations about diarrhea... but I definitely WON'T go into all that...

Anyhow, I got be a part of these women's first community care group (pictured here). I was so impressed with these women. They are each volunteers. Elected by other members of their community to learn basic health messages and then to share them with other young mothers.

So they came together. Sat in a small room in a local health clinic. And talked diarrhea. The young, smiling World Relief Health promoter, Gertrude, asking prompting questions, showing pictures, and teaching. They discussed soft, hard and empty stomachs, watery feces, unclean water, flies, and the need to properly take care of waste, to boil water, and to their wash hands. They covered it all: The symptoms. The causes. And prevention.

And even though I could only track the conversation through a translator, I sat quietly and observed, enjoying the obvious rapport of the group (even though it was their first session!). I could tell by the women's relaxed postures, their laughter, their open answers and thoughts that were translated for me, that they felt comfortable.

And I think what is especially incredible is how this group will grow. They will stay together for 5 years. They will learn more about diarrhea. Malaria. Nutrition. Immunizations for their families. And there is potential for them to evolve into much more (as has happened in other countries)... maybe becoming a savings group, a group cooking nutritious meals together for their families, praying together, etc.

Pretty sweet stuff to be a part of.

MORNING IN BURUNDI

2008-07-14T07:47:00.000-07:00

“Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a lion or gazelle - when the sun comes up, you’d better be running.” – Anonymous

Most mornings in Burundi, I like to get up with the sun.

It’s my favorite time of the day. 5:45-6:00am (ish). Seth is still sleeping. The house is quiet except for the songs of the birds outside. They begin at 5:15am each morning, as if on cue—year round as we’re near the equator. It’s relatively cool. Our night guard is washing his face in our outdoor faucet. The cat hears me moving around the house and starts meowing outside to be let in for breakfast. And after eating a small banana, I sit on the front porch— lacing up my sneakers as the light starts peaking over the hills that hover over Bujumbura.

It’s around 6:00am. And I head out… left down our street and greet the elderly Indian couple who walk up and down the short ½ kilometer stretch every morning to ease her knee pain. Uphill to the left, navigating a short, rough stretch littered with sharp rocks. Down the next street where I keep my eyes open for a stray dog that sometimes lingers there. He has never bothered me, but we always eye each other and I keep my can of pepper spray at the ready. Then past Doug and Deanna’s home where I think of Maddy who is probably already awake and starting to sing…

And on… passing children in a variety of school uniforms, walking or waiting for the bus, intently studying their lessons in small, stapled notebooks. Past the tiny shack shop of Papu where we often buy cheese and last minute things (our version of Fred Meyer, one-stop shopping!) and where I recently high-centered a World Relief vehicle and children crawled under the car to dislodge the large rock.

And then, a right turn down “Avenue du Large” that parallels Lac Tanganyika. A group of taxi bicyclists wait at the corner for clients, sometimes hollering out a “muzungu!” when I run by. Past a military station where soldiers in uniform stand on a second-story porch, smoking a morning cigarette. And passing a variety of other people as they, too, are beginning their days— the small Batwa man in rags who never makes eye contact with me when I try to greet him, the women walking to market carrying baskets of bananas and mandarins on their heads, moto-taxis zipping into the city with business men/women sitting primly on the back, and the fifty (+/-) Congolese refugees under the mango tree at the field on the corner… some still sleeping, some waking up, stretching, and brushing their teeth… their children running to me to ask for money.

And then I turn back, past the office of UNHCR where the hired guard always greets me and says “courage!” Past the turn to Dolla’s house. Past the Indian high school student who bikes to school each day the same time I run. We always greet one another with a “bonjour” or wave. And then, soon, back home. 6:40ish.

I am definitely not a lion or a gazelle. I am slow. It is morning and I am running.

RETURNING REFUGEES

2008-07-10T12:55:00.000-07:00

It was Tuesday afternoon. Seth and I, new friend Beth, and the Hiebert crew were enroute back from Tanzania and, at the border, we ran into this: Eight-hundred refugees. Twelve UNHCR trucks. People coming back into Burundi.

I've heard all the stats (as we work with many returning refugees in the south of the country): Tanzanian refugee camps are closing and shooing thousands and thousands of refugees from Burundi back into the country. Many of these have lived in Tanzania since 1972. Many are children and do not know Burundi as home. Many have established as much life as possible in Tanzania and are uprooting the little structure they have to come back to what they do not know and to what they still fear.

And it's another thing to see the faces. To shake their hands. To smile and wave and say (in my pathetic Kirundi) "God bless you and good luck!" (which of course doesn't seem sufficient, but what else to say?)

To wonder what these people are thinking and feeling as they are being brought back into Burundi. And of course, there are more questions than answers:

What do they fear as they return? What will they experience in the few days/weeks in the transit camps? What happens when UNHCR and government support stops? Do they have any family connections that they are returning to? Will they have any access to land (as land issues are so significant)? Potential for work? Access to any sort of health care? Education for themselves or their children?... Hope?

GOATS

2008-07-09T00:44:00.000-07:00

June was packed with visitors. A communications team from HQ. Marketing people. Colleagues from Nairobi. An operations team from HQ. Coffee gurus. And a refugee advocate. It’s crazy. It’s fun. A bit stressful and sometimes annoying… but one thing I often really love about visitors is that they give me an opportunity to get out of the World Relief office in Buj and get out to the field where our programs are in action. I love that.

Thus, I got to again visit our livelihood and rehabilitation programs in Nyanza-lac. That small town is one of my favorite places in Burundi. I associate it with Dolla, crispy mukeke fish, lots of children running around in their tan school uniforms, and, of course, goats. Dolla’s passion is goats, so much so that within his album of family pictures, he has many pictures of goats! AND, the other day, he told me:

“A goat is an answer to almost everything, even my personal problems.”

Goats. One of World Relief Burundi’s oldest programs (that Dolla helps run) wor with goats. We work to help returning Burundian refugees and internally displaced persons (“IDPs”) get their feet on the ground by providing for the most basic of needs. These programs (rehabilitation and livelihoods) are located in the southern most province of Burundi, in an area called Makamba, where refugees are returning daily. Nyanza-Lac is a town in Makamba, right along lake Tanganyika. In fact, as Tanzania has committed to closing refugee camps this month, Burundian government officials estimate that approximately 3,000 returnees will be flooding the transit camps and making their way back into Burundi EACH WEEK for the next month! In fact, we saw 800 returnees packed out in UNHCR trucks at the Tanzanian/Burundian border this last weekend. And do you know there are Burundian refugees in the US? Several families in P-town, in fact!

For these people who are making their way back into Burundi, we provide assistance on several different levels— materials for shelter, food for work, seeds, tools, and goats.

Goats?! While goats may not seem to top the list of a human’s most basic needs (one would tend to think food, water, shelter…), they actually are, as Dolla our Rehabilitation Program states, “an answer to almost everything.”

They really are quite funny animals… crazy bleating noises, nervous skittering, beards like old men… but when you learn a bit more about them, they are quite interesting and useful animals!

A dairy goat will provide very useful resources to a returning refugee or IDP family. Such a goat will give one to two liters of milk, a very adequate amount to consume at home but not enough that would compel a family to sell it. This milk provides MUCH NEEDED nutrients that a malnourished child could not from a mother who herself is malnourished— protein, minerals, and vitamins.

Also, because goats have a gestation period of five months, they produce an average of one and a half kids a year. Even more as the occurrence of twins is more than 60%! These kids are sometimes sold in the market, increasing the well-being of family. Goats are typically sold for between $30-60— which can provide food for a family for two months, the financial means to access health care, the ability to buy a uniform and materials so that the children can attend school, and so forth.

The offspring of these goats are not only sold for profit… the recipients are required to give every other kid that is born to another member of their community that has also been selected to receive one (selected by their community because of the health needs of their family). This sharing of livestock, in Burundian culture, is a powerful way to build relationships. When someone gives a gift like that to another, friendships and community are built.

Additionally, a goat will produce a kilo of droppings a day. These droppings provide the best possible natural fertilizer to the family. These families rely on their land for subsistence— land that they rarely get enough food from to provide for their family because is nutrient-depleted, farmed year in and year out for years on end.

Therefore, these funny animals are an incredible resource for needy Burundians in Makamba. And they are a successful, ongoing, and life-changing project of World Relief Burundi. Providing milk. Money. Community. Fertilizer… “an answer to almost everything…” :)

COFFEE

2008-06-11T01:33:00.000-07:00

I’m not an addict. Well, maybe I do begin my mornings with a cup or two and am groggy and headachy if I don’t… but I KNOW I can stop if I want. We all believe that, right? :)

I blame it on college and Dan Brose. College— because (like most coffee lovers) that is where it all began. Coffee was the necessary stimuli to fuel the late night paper-writing and, of course, the social life of dating and discourse over books and class lectures and such. My drink of choice at that time: a white chocolate mocha frappucino.

I remained in the land of occasional drinking of foofy mochas and lattes with friends and over meetings with my coffee-loving high school/college gals (I think Aleah Smith won out with her 4-shot daily espresso drink!! No wonder that girl always has so much energy!). That is, until I came to Burundi. Here I met Dan Brose who enjoys a STRONG, black cup of coffee every morning. The combination of Seth and I living with the Broses… the smell of coffee waking me every morning… and having to head off to a day at World Relief where I was swamped with new people, a new culture, an overload of information… Let’s just say the morning cup of coffee became a no-brainer. And therefore, I blame Dan. On various levels.

Now, I can’t drink it black like Dan Brose. I don’t have the delicate taste for it like our coffee snob friend Brando. And I can’t seem to quit and go healthy like Seth and his daily HUGE cup of tea. For me, it is what it is. A daily cup or two of caffeine. Sometimes I splurge and enjoy some of my Starbucks stash that my friends sent out. Usually it’s coffee from Burundi.

We actually have the potential to grow great coffee here. Not yet, as quality control isn't yet established. I don’t know all the ins and outs of it, but I’m learning. I know that the climate and land here offer great resources for specialty coffees… one can see tons of coffee trees burdened with their red beans that are ready for the picking when traveling upcountry this time of year. Road-side coffee drying and washing stations... and men hauling enormous bags of beans are frequently seen. And I've heard of various buyers that have come out to scout out the potential of coffee here (and actually, a guy from Stumptown will be staying with us next week while he is here in Buj)… and other NGO’s are working to improve the coffee sector (which is now Burundi’s #2 export, after tea) to help fuel the economy.

And actually, World Relief may be looking into that as well. Nothing is set in stone. But the other week, I traveled with Ngaira (our country director) and Andre (our director of development programs) to the northern province of Ngozi to meet with leaders at a university that has a community-based agri-business program. With an organization like World Relief and living in a country like Burundi, there is always potential… there is always need, as you can imagine. So we are really at the very beginning phases of looking into this new project— partnering with a local university to help fuel the coffee business here in Burundi.

BURUNDI CHILD SOLDIERS

2008-05-06T05:04:00.000-07:00

This was recently in the news and caught my eye. Excitement (good things, this time!) continues in Burundi...

More than 200 child soldiers held by rebels have recently been demobilized here in Burundi! According to a report from UNICEF, the children, including one girl, were being held by a dissident group that had broke from the FNL (the last remaining rebel group here in Burundi).

The corpse of a young rebel of the National Liberation Front (FNL) lies in a street of Bujumbura, Burundi, 13 July 2003 (file photo)

Many of the children were as young as 10 when they were recruited by the FNL, and they were being kept in camps (in very poor condition!) to the north of Bujumbura. Even though negotiations for their release have been in the works for the last seven months, part of the motivation for their release now was the ongoing fighting between the national army and the FNL that has been occurring here for the last couple weeks. The children's security was at risk, as they were likely being kept in areas where there was/is fighting.

Since 2004, 3,000 former child soldiers have been returned to their communities with a 94% success rate of reintegrating back into Burundian society.

Of course, the process of reintegration is a difficult one. The former child soldiers suffer from a number of illnesses (like malaria and skin diseases), and many are severely traumatized by their brutal experiences and have to undergo psychosocial counseling. These children were taken to Gitega, where the process of reuniting them to their families will begin. According to statistics, it takes approximately 18 months to reintegrate them into their communities (plus, as we are learning through our Vocational Skills Training program that works with young demobilized soldiers and other types of vulnerable populations, it really takes years to "normalize"- whatever that means!). UNICEF estimates that there are still approximately 1,000 child soldiers in Burundi and that rival armed rebel groups continue to recruit children.

And this "hits home" for Seth and I, as Enoch (who works in our home) also was a former child soldier. (He is pictured right, in the white shirt, with Sara and his younger brother Emmanuel). He was recruited by a rebel group called the CNDD-FDD (who is actually a rebel group turned political party that now LEADS the Burundi government!) when he was only 13 years old. He spent 5 years fighting "in the bush"- years without schooling, family, etc.. His younger brother Emmanuel was also a child soldier (from about 15-18 years old), part of the FNL. To leave the group, he had to escape and actually hid out in our house (years ago, with its' previous owners) when both the FNL AND the police were after him (the police thought he was a rebel... the rebels wanted him because he left... a tough spot to be in, to say the least!).

Neither Enoch nor Emmanuel went through a process of demobilization. And Enoch thinks that the process of demobilization is often not enough. He says that these young former soldiers need years to learn how to live, how to make money, and to "be good people." Both Enoch and Emmanuel have been learning those things. Enoch has been a good worker (and raved about chef) in this house for over 3 years. He also began and continues to pastor a church in an area south of Bujumbura, in Ruziba (called Maranatha Church Community: Peace and Gospel Source). Emmanuel used to work here as well, and now works for some of our friends. He has come to me to help him start a soap business, and I am waiting for his business proposal! :)

So. Even in times of conflict, there is hope. In the news- as we here about these many child soldiers being returned to their families. In our home- as we remember where Enoch and Emmanuel came from and how God has been gracious to them. And in our own hearts and lives as we continue to process and pray through all we are learning and experiencing here.

I got the stats in this blog from an article I read on http://voanews.com, by a gal named Lisa Schlein.

TROUBLE IN BUJ

2008-04-30T06:27:00.001-07:00

These last couple weeks have been a little interesting here in BURUNDI. A bit exciting. And maybe just a little scary.

Thursday night, two weeks ago, I came home from a long day at World Relief. Seth was at a friend's. And just as I was putting my computer bag down, I heard an explosion. And then another. I went looking for Enoch (who helps around the house) as I was curious. He was posted in our laundry room, looking out through our screened porch to the explosions on the hillside. For comfort (I think that was my primary motivation!), I joined him there.

The next four hours were a bit surreal, honestly. Sitting on the floor of the laundry room across from Enoch, listening to machine gun-fire, grenades, and the explosion of bombs. And a few times, the whistle of the bomb before the explosion. Trying to call Seth and not getting through because the phone lines were jammed. Nervously chatting with Enoch about his years of fighting as a rebel in the bush. And him instructing me how to listen to a bomb to know if it will hit near me and what to do in preparation. I come back to the word "surreal." It was weird and movie-like and crazy and a bit nerve-racking all at the same time.

I asked Enoch what to do in such a situation... thinking that he would have some kind of plan of action from his experience. His response WAS from years of experience and a gentle rebuke to me. He said, "trina, we pray and we trust that God will take care of us."

Yes. Of course.

The fighting we heard that night was between the last remaining rebel group (called the FNL) and the Burundian national army. Apparently, the FNL had staged attacks on several government positions outside the city, and what we heard that night was primarily the government fighting back. Since that night, fighting has continued in various locations in Burundi, and only one other night did we hear it again in Buj.

The response here has been intriguing to me. Friday morning after those first attacks, life went on as usual. NOTHING CHANGED. People talked of it, of course. Rumors and speculations abounded. War?! FNL planning a coup? Government ousted the FNL? I suppose after over twelve years of even more intense and ongoing conflict, a person learns how to manage. And even I, the next time, was noticeably more at ease.

And now, this Wednesday evening as I write, the conflict has seemed to ease. Some fighting continued this week, but mostly it was the Burundian military pushing the FNL out of their former strongholds.

And Seth and I are just fine. Learning to listen to all the talk and filter truth from all the rumors. Developing a plan for ourselves and World Relief Burundi in case something serious does happen in the future. And we're reflecting about what an awful thing war is... and (obviously) what terrible things it does to people, to families, to a country. Burundi is on the brink of peace. So close! But, as analysts speculate, if it falls again into conflict... it will mean erasing years of progress since the new, multi-party government was established in 2005; it would take out all investors and hope for continuing aid to the country; not to mention what it would do to individuals and families personally affected. Please continue to pray for peace for this little African nation.

2008-04-27T05:43:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SETH!!
31 years.
April 27.

Today is a low-key day of celebration here in the Chase household in Bujumbura. For me, it began with a long-run on an unusually hot morning. I came back, and birthday boy Seth was just getting up. Making his usual ENORMOUS cup of tea with two tea bags. I greeted him with the happy birthday song, and with my LOVE of birthdays, I was eager to have him open his presents.

By necessity birthday celebrations and birthday gifts have to be pretty simple here. It's actually pretty refreshing. So for Seth today, just three presents. From me, a jar of green olives (something, randomly, that he has been enjoying here recently). Also from me (and my accomplices at Frontline Church in DC- thank you!!) a huge stash of his favorite goodies, wrapped in a blue striped blanket with a big blue bow: Red Vines, Sour Patch Kids, Microwave Butter Popcorn, and KRAFT Mac N’ Cheese. And from my parents (who are incredible gift givers), the new Jack Johnson CD and some movies that he has been wanting. He loved 'em all!

Then, it was off to church... we headed out to pick up some of my youth group kids and one of our friends… and after the service, we’ve been chilling here at home, trying to stay cool. Me- baking another one of his favorite’s… a Red Velvet Cake (thanks to an incredible recipe given to me by Leeann Cook!) and he- reading, resting, and listening to Jack Johnson.

Tonight, we are going out to dinner with some of our friends and then returning here for the birthday cake. A chill, but good birthday, I think. I hope Seth thinks so too.

So... to Seth... HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

FAREWELL TO SARA

2008-03-19T00:57:00.000-07:00

"Not sure when I'll get to do that again" Sara said, laughing, as she walked up the steps at a conference center in Rwanda... referring to holding hands with Marcel, a Congolese pastor and followed by Sophonie, a Burundian pastor she has worked closely with this last year.

Because she's heading back to Oregon. To her family and dear friends that are so eager to have her back. To cool rainy days. To Starbucks, fast food, and the conveniences of stores like Target and Fred Meyers. To a lot that is still unknown.

And she's leaving behind many dear friends, Burundians and expats both, a legacy of work accomplished here, and many daily joys and frustrations that have somehow become normal to her over the years. Saying goodbye to Saturday beach volleyball that she loves, our pets Sam, Jack Jack, and Freaker, and the opportunity to hold pastor's hands. (no worries, it's normal here.)

And this is probably self-centered thinking, but I think I might be the one to miss her the most (although Deanna, Lizzie, or Gretie may argue that!). We've lived together and worked together, and there are so many fond memories in those thousands and thousands of hours. To me, she's been a cultural mentor, an empathic sounding board, a dear friend, and really (in many ways) a sister.

I hope she knows what she has meant to me. And how much I will miss her.

ONE YEAR IN BURUNDI

2008-03-17T06:18:00.000-07:00

A year ago yesterday, Seth and I stepped off the plane onto the outdoor ramp and into the open air of Burundi- the warmth and sweltering humidity. Four large bags in tow between the two of us. Hopeful. Nervous. Excited. I remember not being sure what to expect. Or what to feel.

Even after a year, I still often find myself in that same tension. Not always sure of myself in this culture. Not sure if I absolutely LOVE Burundi or if I could be ready to pack up and head back to Oregon. Yet still hopeful and still excited. And still here! :)

I think of this last year as being rich. I don't think I would say it was the best year of my life, but it was weighted with more significance than other years seemed to have... definite challenges, great joys and laughter, confusion and chaos and many "what the heck?!" type moments... and of course all kinds of learning and expanding thoughts that inevitably happen through cross-cultural living.

And another year in Burundi lies ahead... and obviously, my hope and prayer is that it is even richer and deeper and more significant than this last year. I want my learning to be more than "inevitable." I desire to be more purposeful in growing in my cultural and language understanding. Deeper in my grasp of the issues of poverty and development that I daily work in and deeper in knowing, feeling, and acting on Christ's love for the poor.

12 MILES TO THE HEART OF DARKNESS

2008-02-12T12:10:00.001-08:00

It's exactly 12 miles from the US Embassy in Bujumbura to the Congo. A perfect distance for a run. Our buddy Matt (center, sunglasses) who works for the US Embassy decided to plan a fun run for this last weekend. I couldn't resist.

We started at the embassy early in the morning... cruised through town to curious stares and shouts of "muzungu!" and then started on the straight road out of town. I've done a few runs in the States, but this had a few unique components... we passed long-horned cattle, slaughtered goat hanging outside a shop, a car that got ambushed the night before, and men in uniforms with AK-47's... we crossed a bridge with hippos and crocs and ran along the edge of a small national park... one of the gals collided with two Burundians on a bike resulting in a full-on wipe out by all three, with only minor scrapes for all... and we were accompanied by an armed guard and US embassy follow-vehicle deemed "Blue Steel."

We got to the Congo in under 2 hours and were eager to walk across to get our pix with a Congolese military and the "Democratic Republic of the Congo" sign. Our US embassy guard succumbed to the Congolese's demand for a bribe to get the above picture, so we had to have him in the picture as well. One of those "only in Africa" mornings.

MOMENTS

2008-01-20T09:49:00.000-08:00

We've lived in Burundi for 10 months now, and I STILL have those surreal-type moments where I pinch myself to believe that I am here. Living in Africa? Burundi?! I had several such moments this last week:

One was getting to chat with these boys pictured here. They look a lot younger than they are (partly because of malnutrition when they were at critical stages in their development)... I thought they were 11 or 12 when they actually are 18 and 19.

They are students of our Vocational Skills Training program in a school in Ruyigi, a province on the far west side of Burundi. These young guys have incredible stories. Abandoned by parents, living alone and fending for self at a young age, former refugees in Tanzania... and I could go on. The stories that I hear from these young people in our programs are absolutely unreal.

I was there in Ruyigi just for a day to interview them and get some pictures of our programs, so I sat and listened to them and asked them questions about their lives... and I wondered how they can continue after what they have gone through. Yet they smile. Laugh a bit. There is a bit of hope. And, yeah, some pain that remains deep.

After talking with them, I drove the 3 hours from that school in Ruyigi back to Buj (with one of our staff drivers). And maybe this sounds cliche, but I sat and stared out the window at all the things rushing by... the banana trees, the brightly clad women carrying pots on their heads, goats and long-horned cattle... and I reflected on those conversations. At that moment, I felt privileged to be living here in Burundi, to meet such people, and to be challenged as I had in those conversations. I sat and (in my small, simple way) pondered existence and life and some of the "why" and "how" questions that are unanswerable yet automatically surface when one faces individuals with such experiences:

Why them and not me? How can they get out of the poverty they are in? Can they change the path of their lives? Can anyone for them? Why did they go through what they did and for what purpose? Do they ponder their own existence and their purpose for living? What is God's purpose in all of this? What is the meaning in any of this?

KIGOMA

2008-01-10T01:55:00.000-08:00

Seth Chase: former life guard, gymnast, and all-star of his junior high school diving time... beautifully swan dives off rocks in Kigoma into Lake Tanyanikya (photo credit to Brandon Thiessen).
This photo captures the essence of Kigoma. The absolute fun. The beauty. The moments of carefree and joyful bliss...

In Buj, most offices are closed for the week after Christmas. World Relief Burundi was too.
In our minds, an ideal opportunity for a mini-vacation.

December 26th: Seth, Sara, and I… along with a crew of our pals (Brando, Duncan, Dave, Sarah, Matt, and Rebecca) piled into the landcruiser and Matt’s suburu, and headed 7 hours south to Kigoma, Tanzania.

It was crazy beautiful. A different kind of beauty than Burundi… the road wound around big hills with grass at the top and scattered palm trees, red dirt roads and red brick houses, huge rocks, pineapples sold in abundance on roadsides. It was fun for Seth and I to get out and explore.

We stayed in a comfy little house above the lake with a 5-minute downhill walk to OUR own beach! And it was GORGEOUS. The beach was small with red sand, framed by boulders on either side and had several little grass huts for shade, two boats, and the water was calm, clear and a beautiful green/blue.

We spent the week in relax mode. Swimming, snorkeling (Lake Tanganyika is actually known for its’ great variety of fresh water tropical fish), rock jumping, exploring and bouldering, and we even got to sail on the lake with an MAF pilot one afternoon. Dinners of fish, rice, and pineapple were ate on a deck overlooking the lake and the sun setting behind the Congo mountains.

One day, we decided to go to nearby Gombe Park where the famous Jane Goodall spent years studying the chimps! It’s now a national park and continues to be a research institute. To get there, we took an adventurous 2-hour boat ride in a large fishing boat (with a very small motor), north along the lake shore of Lake T.

There, with a guide, we trekked through a beautiful rainforest and spent a couple hours tracking and communing with the chimps. It was pretty amazing!

New Year’s Eve celebration was low-key with just the 9 of us, but really fun. The fact that we had nothing planned or any expectations of the night (as is so often the case when people plan big parties or events to bring in the New Year), made it even more enjoyable, I think. We played poker and speed scrabble, went for a midnight swim, and concluded the evening with a mini-dance session to music on Matt’s i-pod.

New Year’s Day, we got up early and groggy after staying up late for New Year’s and hit the road. Unfortunately the roads in Tanzania can be horrendous when it rains. It had rained. You can see (as pictured below) that the trip home was a bit adventurous. Needless to say, we were soon glad to get across the border, back to our Burundi with the main roads being cement with potholes... and home.

CHRISTMAS

2008-01-09T22:30:00.000-08:00

Probably my most unique Christmas yet. And that’s not saying much, since every Christmas prior (minus 2 celebrated with my new Chase fam) had been spent with the Newcomb clan. I loved all of our traditions— Christmas Eve skiing on Mt. Hood. Gourmet Christmas breakfasts created by Mom, ate in our ‘jammies. Stockings. Gifts. Christmas Story read by cousin Matt.

So, this year, Seth, Sara, and I (along with our friends who are like our family here) talked and schemed and planned (well, Sara and I planned… Seth listened and gave input) in the hopes to bring together all of our traditions and to perhaps create some new traditions for our time here in Burundi.

We didn’t do so well on the creating or maintaining of traditions. No skiing (obviously J). No smokies for Sara. Christmas breakfast wasn’t very gourmet. But you know, even though it WAS very different, it was good… in a new way.

Christmas Eve day we all ran around doing last minute shopping (no holiday rush here… just getting ingredients for the evening dinner and creative last minute stocking stuffers from a store ran by Chinese with random, cheap goods— “T 2000”). And then, with a group of our good buddies, we had a simple dinner of homemade pizzas, fruit salad, and all kinds of baked goodies that we could concoct here. We finished the evening with Christmas carols and Christmas worship songs, with our friend Doug on guitar.

Christmas morning, we sipped the last of our Starbucks coffee (thanks to the G-Shep team who had brought some out) and opened our stockings. I got Sara, Sarah (who joined us from WR Rwanda), and Seth all goggles in prep for our Kigoma trip (see pix) and Seth a new supply of his favorite creamy peanut butter. We opened a few presents from each other, then hit the kitchen to make breakfast. Sara made waffles while I blended my fave fruit smoothies. Randomly, we played a bit of badminton in the backyard (as I bought rackets for Seth at T-2000, and he had also bought some for himself while he was there earlier that same day! The downfalls of limited shopping options!) That afternoon, we had a big dinner with a collection of other missionaries and NGO workers, and we concluded the day with desserts and games at a friend’s home.

So, it was good. But I missed many things from home— no Christmas Eve service (although we had attended a Christmas service the Sunday prior), my dear family, and the intangible FEELING of Christmas that was just… well, absent.

But I am reminded that all of those things are more surface. Those things that make up that “feeling” of Christmas time. I know that, of course, the essence of Christmas, is much more, much deeper, much richer— the message that Christ brings. The coming of true peace to the world. Reconciliation for mankind. Freedom from suffering, poverty, and hunger.

And, you know, the hope for those things, I think I can see more clearly HERE.

TENNIS

2008-01-09T00:25:00.000-08:00

I played in my first tennis tournament of my 30's the weekend after my birthday. In Burundi! Not that I plan to play in many tourneys, necessarily. Tennis was a fun hobby of my high school and college days. And it has been great to begin playing regularly here... it's become an almost needed stress outlet after busy days at work and a way to meet and befriend other Burundians, outside of World Relief.

Seth and Sara came to cheer me on and take pix. I lost in my second match, in a grueling three-hour, three set match in the hot afternoon sun to a guy named Leo (pictured right) (whose, by the way, two high-school aged daughters I am starting to hang out with). The weekend was definitely fun- both to play and join in the festivities of such an activity.

A few more pictures for you to see a glimpse of my tennis days:

The ultimate tennis coach, Gervais:

Aimer, the winner of the tourament:

Me at the "awards' ceremony" with the tennis president, Denny.
Ironically, I won a used racket (formally Denny's) for playing the long match and being the only American to play with them:

TURNING 30

2008-01-06T22:03:00.002-08:00

The big 3-0 hit last month for me. December 19, about a week before Christmas. Leaving behind the more carefree 20’s and entering into a new decade. Into “real” adulthood, whatever that may be. With this birthday, I have been reflecting on my life as it is now—living in Burundi with Seth and working with World Relief; beginning to help with the youth ministry of a local church here; continuing the study language and culture. And as I enter this new decade, as is typical of transition times in our North American culture, I’m beginning to envision and plan for the years ahead— perhaps graduate school? Kids? Staying in Burundi? Moving elsewhere? Back to Oregon?

The day before this seemingly “monumental” birthday, I had the chance to meet another 30-year old woman. Analiss Nzabonariyo.

Sara and I had driven two hours south from our home in Buj, along Lake Tanganyika, to visit some of World Relief’s projects in Nyanza-Lac— a small, picturesque fishing village in the southern province of Makamba, bordering Tanzania. After driving our rugged vehicle 20 minutes off road— through winding rocky red dirt roads, fields of cotton, banana trees, and corn, and scattered brick homes with alternating straw or iron roofs, we came to Analiss’ home.

It was a simple home. Like the many other homes in her area that had been built with the help of World Relief Burundi or other NGOs. Red brick walls. Dirt floors. A basic iron roof. Very dark. Three small rooms that were shared by the entire family and their three goats. She welcomed us to a crude wooden bench to the side of her house, and we plopped down on the bench next to her, to chat with the help of a translator.

What I learned about Analiss during that conversation was nothing new. Living here for about 10 months now, I have heard many stories of hope, survival, and courage as many Burundians have faced so much during the recent 12-year conflict. However, what resonated within me was that this woman was thirty. Just like me.

And honestly, that’s about where the similarities ended. During the war in Burundi, she and her family had to flee their home. They lived in an “Internally Displaced Persons” (IDP) camp (similar to a refugee camp, but within the same country of one’s origin) for three years, from 1997-2000. They then moved from place to place until they were finally able to return to their land in 2006. That same year, her husband died from an unknown illness. She was left a widow— with seven (SEVEN!) children to care for on her own, from two to 15 years— at the age of thirty.

And now. The year that Analiss turned 30. Even though the war is over and she has returned to her land, life obviously continues to be very difficult. She has no source of income and attempts to grow corn, cassava, and beans to provide for her family. However, Analiss told us that prices for seeds have recently gone up, and she was not able to buy enough seeds to plant this season.

Those in her community, though struggling in similar veins, have recognized her great need. Members of her church sometimes come to help her cultivate her land, and community leaders nominated her, because of her children’s obvious malnutrition, to be one of the first recipients of a dairy goat from World Relief.

She has two other indigenous goats that she hopes to breed as she uses their manure to fertilize her land. The one dairy goat that she received from WR provides half a liter of milk two times a day. Mixing that milk with equal portions of water, she can get a total of two liters— enough milk to have some for all her children. She says that she has seen the health of her children improve, since they received the goat and have been drinking the high protein milk.

And yet, Analiss says, there is still not enough food.

As she told me these things, I studied the face of this woman— this woman who is thirty, like me. She appeared older than our thirty years. Her skin is beautiful, her body is strong. But her eyes betray. They have personally seen and experienced war. Death. Hunger. Poverty. And they age her.

And I thought about my plans and visions for this new decade— schooling?, family?, etc.— and so I asked her what her hope was for her future. Her reply was simple and strikingly and painfully different from my own— “to overcome hunger.”

Sidenote: To celebrate my birthday, Sara took me out for cappucinos and a pedicure and Seth treated me to a fun surprise—dinner on the beach of Lake Tanganyika— with fish brochettes, friends, and the Burundian drummers!

IT WILL COME

2007-11-22T11:27:00.000-08:00

I chose this picture of a Sudanese gal because she looks like she is patiently waiting. For what, I am not sure. But she sits there at the corner of her house, waiting for whatever will come next for her.

And whatever is next WILL come. "It will come." I’m getting used to hearing this expression. I’ve heard it countless times in the last few months— from different people and in different languages and in a variety of forms. In French, the direct translation is, “Cava venir”— it will come. In context, “it” being whatever it is that I want at the time and, of course, meaning that it will come in time.

And that’s where I am realizing that I can have a problem. I’m learning that I don’t like to wait for things to come in time. Africa is teaching me that I'm more of an “instant gratification girl” than I had thought.

My French tutor, Phillipe, uses a related phrase when I get frustrated with my pronunciation. When I am discouraged and assume that I should be speaking quickly and fluently, he says to me, “Trina, petit-a-petit”, or “little by little” it will come. This of course originates from the African proverb, “Petit-a-petit, l’oiseau fait son nid,” meaning, “Little by little, the bird builds its’ nest.” Little by little Trina learns to understand and speak French. There is no instant gratification with language learning.

And this very true expression is also common in Kirundi, “buke, buke” (little by little) and in Swahili “pole, pole”. I hear it from Virginie, my co-worker at World Relief when I try to hurry to understand something… and I hear it from Gervais, the coach with whom I like to play tennis: “Buke, buke” as he makes a hand motion indicating that I need to slow down… I even hear it from Desire, the young guy who works at the tennis courts. When playing last week and frustrated that I missed a shot, I heard this small voice with a Kirundi accent saying, “Trina, cava venir.”

Cava venir. It will come. French. My work at World Relief. Getting this culture. Peace and progress for Burundi. Marriage. Life. Becoming like Christ. Cava venir. As my Burundi friends translate this truth into English: “Slowly by slowly, it will come.”

MUSEE VIVANT

2007-11-18T07:45:00.000-08:00

The week after Sudan, the Good Shepherd team joined us here in Bujumbura. It was so fun to host them—to give them a tour of Buj, to show our work with refugees in Nyanza-Lac, to have them meet our friends and co-workers, and to play.

The last day (and actually a bit of highlight for me, because it was just so fun and a little crazy), we took them to “Musee Vivant” (“Living Museum”) where an assortment of the wild animals of Burundi can still be found (we no longer have elephants or lions, but can claim hippos, crocs and snakes!). To Brandon’s delight (and Sarah Beeghley’s chagrin), the rules of such places are MUCH more relaxed than in the States… we had the freedom (led by our English friend and crocodile enthusiast, Simon) to jump in the cages with the crocs and tug on their tails, to hold baby crocodiles, and to watch, within a few feet, a trainer play with a very deadly cobra (outside a cage!). As the pictures convey, the day was fun and adventurous… and a pleasure to share with our friends and mentors from Good Shep. I think our friend Brando had the most fun:

SUDAN

2007-11-17T22:29:00.000-08:00

This is Yei, Sudan. Surprisingly green, flat with rocky mountains peaking in the distance. People everywhere (recently returned to the area after the war), now living in small, grass-covered tookles like this building to the right. They lived together- families, friends, neighbors- on miniature compounds of 4-6 tookles. One tookle would be for cooking, one for the goats, and the others divided between certain family members. There were signs everywhere to stay on the roads because of the danger of land mines, and military camps and NGO vehicles were in abundance.

Seth and I arrived in Sudan on a Monday. We came in on a small, 20-passenger plane whose one engine cut in and out and flamed intermittedly, making us just a little nervous. The airport was a small building and the runway, dirt. We were picked up by a guy named Nehemiah, right from the plane... no security checks, customs, or forms.

On bumpy roads that rival those of Tanzania, Nehemiah drove us to the Good Shepherd team, already engaged in work. We first met up with Rakel and Janice at the women's conference... what a fun reunion! Multiple hugs. Statements like "I can't believe I am actually seeing you right now!" And arm pats to ensure we were actually seeing one another in person. I stayed with them, and Nehemiah took Seth to meet up with Jonathan and Brandon at the pastor's training seminary.

Our time in Yei was very good. We got up each morning for a breakfast of eggs and bread (with peanut butter brought from the US) and instant coffee and Nido and enjoyed rice and beans for the other two meals. After the guys were dropped at the training center, us girls went to the conference. The women that I got to meet that week were incredible. They were leaders in their churches, wives of pastors, and all had stories of hardship-- losing children, unfaithful or abusive husbands, conflict in their church, etc. I heard some of their stories, prayed with them, sat with them, held their hands and their children, and was blessed by their smiles (see picture of me with a beautiful Sudanese woman named Leah) and their hearts.

And Seth (and Brandon and Jonathan) had a similar experience with the men. More incredible people with incredible stories. Hearts to learn and be changed. Passion for God and learning His word. Deep desire to teach and impact their people for Christ. Below are a couple pictures of the gentlemen we met at the pastoral training center:

The early evenings were a highlight for me. I love the golden hour lighting and the time of settling-- dinner preparations and the gathering together and discussions of the day. Most days, Seth and I wandered among the tookles behind the compound where we stayed and had the privilege of greeting and talking to many people:

And here's Seth. Doing the thing that he loves most, and does best. As a contribution to our trip, Seth made a video of the people of YEI and the work of ALARM (whom Good Shepherd partners with there) .

BEST SMILE

2007-11-06T00:35:00.000-08:00

Seth and I voted this guy "best smile" in Sudan. His name is William, and he is the country director for ALARM there. He has one of those faces that is really easy to look at. And his smile is contagious. Deep lines. Dimples. Perfect teeth. Eyes that disappear. And the smile lines from his eyes nearly meet the smile lines from his mouth.

His smile is one that evokes a response. Whenever we talked with him, I couldn't help but smile back. And I wondered how he could smile like that. We didn't learn all the details of William's life, but I know that it hasn't been easy. Like many other Sudanese that we met, he lives in a tookle (a small, circular hut-like structure with a grass-thatched roof); he is separate from his family who lives in Uganda for better education for their children; and he took 2 days to get from Jubba (where he lives) to Yei (where we were) by bus, walking, and hitching because the roads in Sudan are crazy during rainy season (the trip should normally take around 4 hours).

While in Yei, Seth and I walked most evenings in the "suburbia" behind the compound where we stayed. ("suburbia" being a village of tookles grouped together... people cooking outside together over a fire... paths going from tookle to tookle). One afternoon, William walked with us, and talking with him and meeting many of the people living in those tookles, it hit me how incredible hard life has been for the people in Sudan. (obvious statement, I know, but there are those moments when it hits me in a new or a more profound way). I believe Sudan has the record for the longest on-going war in Africa. They now have peace, but are teetering on civil conflict again. There are signs everywhere warning people to stay on the roads because of the danger of mines. And everyone we spoke with could talk about where they came from... no one had remained in their home land. They were all from Yei, but had spent the last few years of the war as refugees-- in Uganda, in Congo, in the hills...

And yet it seemed that many of them, like William, could smile... could warmly greet us... and would openly talk about their lives with us. And it amazed us that their faces could contain so much joy and warmth and even hope.

(more pictures and thoughts from Sudan yet to come!)

MIA

2007-10-20T13:59:00.000-07:00

So, just briefly want to apologize for being a bit out of touch of late. A few weeks ago my computer crashed... it is now mostly up and running, but there are still a few things that haven't gotten sorted. One being access to my blog via my own computer. Thus the absence. So, I'm sorry for not posting recently... but intend to get it figured out this next week!

And... soon to come... pictures and thoughts and stories from our recent trip to Sudan. I'm actually writing now from Nairobi, enroute back to Buj with friends from our home church, Good Shepherd, who we had the extreme privilege of hanging with, working, and ministering alongside with in Yei, South Sudan this last week. It was an incredible time... both with the team but especially with the Sudanese people we got to meet. Their stories (as they are only recently out of a long civil war), hearts, and beautiful faces deeply touched both Seth and I.

More of that... soon!

NOT ALONE

2007-09-27T03:14:00.000-07:00

Wherever you are, you are never alone.

So says Dominic Dolla— more commonly known as “Dolla.” We share an upstairs, corner office at our World Relief office in Bujumbura. He manages all of our rehabilitation and goat projects, and (in my opinion) he is part-time philosopher.

He is a story-teller. A bit of a self-professed rambler. And a speaker of wise-sayings. So much so, that I have started a notebook with Dolla quotes (although I’m not sure he likes me quoting him, as he thinks I may take it out of context, which I probably do). I hope I do not take this quote too much out of context.

A couple of weeks ago, sitting together in our office, Dolla turned to me and said, “Trina, wherever you are, you are never alone.” I immediately scribbled it into my Dolla quote book— for record and for future reflection.

On the surface, in this country especially, that statement is so very true. In Burundi, a little African country of now approximately 8 million, people are everywhere. It is not possible to go anywhere without meeting another individual. One is, physically speaking, NEVER ALONE. Rumonge road, what I drive in to work each day, is lined with cars, motorcycles, taxi buses, bicycles, and pedestrians. Driving here has been likened by more than one visitor as a real-life video game. The market is so packed with people that one often has to make way with one’s elbows. And a walk to the lake always includes passing groups of people walking, kids playing soccer in the grass, and a crowd of guys on a hillside huddled around a guitar.

But I think Dolla meant more than that. His statement made me think about the places I have gone to in my past— to college in Canada, to the Czech Republic for several months after, and various trips around Europe and in the US. And to the places I go to now— to Kigali sometimes for meetings and work, to various parts of Burundi to visit our various projects, to the WR office each day… and he is right, I have not yet ever been alone.

And of course not just in the physical sense. It’s obviously deeper than that. Emotionally. Relationally. Spiritually. There is this complicated network of community, of family, of humanity, of spirit. There are always people who, in my view, God graciously gives us to make it through.

And I think perhaps this statement is especially true of Burundi, and perhaps many African cultures. People here are significantly more about togetherness. Generations of families live together, eat together, grow together. People gather for days to celebrate a wedding. They mourn together for even longer— talking, eating, and drinking fantas under a pitched tent in a yard so that everyone can participate— when a loved one dies.

And this sense of togetherness is what Dolla is speaking of, and it brings me comfort. Honestly, I have felt frustrated, discouraged, sometimes a little angry these last couple months. Maybe it’s the 6-month cultural adjustment phase or whatever they call that in those cross-cultural training classes. But I feel the togetherness of this culture extend to Seth and me. In the warmth of the traditional Burundian greeting of a warm, 3-part hug. In patient answers to my cultural questions. Through invitations to family gatherings. I experience the pleasure of good friendships— Seth, Sara, other expats, Burundian friends from World Relief. And I have know the depth of friends, family, and supporters back home— Mom and Dad, Bob and Marge, Christi and Tony, Jesse and Jill, Jaime, Grandpa and Grandma, Kevin, Becky and Jonathan, the Broses, Rakel, Darell, Bekah, Kristin, the Beckers, the Banisters, Sharpie, E-Dunning and all my gals from GS ministry, and many other prayer supporters from home and new friends that I have met here. So, in all that, I believe Dolla is right. As “far” as we are now, we are surely not alone.

TAGGED

2007-08-28T06:58:00.000-07:00

My buddy and former partner in crime Tabitha (aka TABS) (worked together at Good Shepherd) recently "tagged" me in her blog. Normally, I totally ignore such things (especially those crazy chain letters) but this seemed fun and I have enjoyed reading from others who were "tagged." So, here goes.

I guess what I have to do is simply post 8 random facts about myself. Since I'm living here in Burundi, I'll try to tailor it to my life here in Africa these days (as most people who read this blog probably read it because I am here and not there).

1. I'm totally into fruit smoothies these days. I like to make a big batch for breakfast to eat with my peanut butter and toast. I (usually) share with Seth and Sara, but I try to make enough to freeze so I can have a second one when I come home from work. They are good for breakfasts, for snacks, for desserts... Here's how to make them: The night before, freeze all the fruit for the smoothie (that way you use less ice and the smoothie is tastier!). Combine 1 C. plain yogurt, 1/4 C passion fruit juice and a whole bunch of fruit-- small bananas (that are so yummy and sweet here), mangoes, pineapple, passion fruit, japanese plums, and papaya. Whirl together in a blender and add some extra milk if you need to-- and yum! A perfect start to a day in Burundi.

2. A new thing I recently learned about myself: I can't stand protocol. It's weird, because I usually like things pretty structured and organized and some sort of system. (yes, I'm first-born, slight type A personality). But I've been in too many meetings of late that have been bogged down in discussions of policy and systems and protocol (protocol especially is a VERY important part of African culture) that I want to scream!! Throw the rule book out the window and just wing it. And maybe this current frustration is just a little of the process of adapting to the culture, but it's a current thorn.

3. I adore high school students. Maybe it's the nostalgia of getting to rub shoulders with them as I got to do when I was in Student Ministries and I now don't have to deal with the drama, rounding students up late night at retreats, and so forth anymore. But it's been so funny. Being here, I have REALLY missed getting to interact with students. Several high school students have come through Burundi, and I have felt drawn to them and have loved the chance to chat. Definite warm fuzzy feelings.

4. I need to move. As much as possible and as frequently as possible. Going back to my time in Student Ministries, I think I inherited some ADD from the students and staff I worked with. Sitting still for long periods of time can be pretty difficult for me. My job and general life here requires me to sit a lot: in long meetings of protocol (as mentioned), in sitting and talking with friends, in e-mailing and blogging and general computer stuff, so I am learning that my best bet here is an early morning run and an evening walk with Seth... with tennis and yoga thrown in when time permits.

5. I admit it. I'm into 24. A little late on the draw (I think its in season 7 now in the States?), but entertainment options are a bit more limited here and Sara happens to be hooked up with the first six seasons. I'm now in season 4. I loved that David Palmer came back, hated President Logan, love that Chloe finally shot a gun, and I'm dreading next season 'cause I here Tony dies. See? Hooked.
6. I've been married for 4 years. FOUR YEARS!! Seth and I celebrated our anniversary just last week, on August 22. Well, we haven't really celebrated yet because our schedules were crazy. I think we'll go out for dinner or something sometime soon in "our" honor. But our four "blissful" years together have flown by (don't we always say that?).

7. I love learning and trying new things. Probably a good thing, since I'm living here. I remember learning once that after the age of 25, most people stick with what's comfortable and don't try to learn or do new things. Stuck in a rut. I heard that, and I was determined to buck that norm. So far, I've let a giraffe lick my face. I'm trying to learn French. Meeting new people and making new friends. And I do have more areas where I should stretch myself, but haven't gotten the guts to yet.

And that's it. Only 7 and not 8. Ah well. Nothing terribly exciting. Just some randomness to answer Tabitha's tags.

I would tag Seth, Sara, and Karyn.

ON SAFARI

2007-08-27T01:13:00.000-07:00

Mom and Dad were out here last month and, after their time in Burundi, Seth and I got to go with them on safari in Kenya. I think it’s one of those things you have to do when you’re in Africa. At least this part of Africa. I wasn’t so sure of that when we started out. Can one really look at animals for several days in a row?

Turns out one can… and with great enthusiasm! What a treat it was— to be together again "as a family" (as my mom always used to say, making my sister and I groan), to relax and be away from my computer and cell phone and the busyness that work has been recently, and to have a true (and this time planned) adventure in Africa.

Our Kenyan guide and driver, Edward, came to the house we were staying at in Nairobi to pick us up. Brown Toyota Landcruiser. Suntrek Safari sign on the side. He is a safari veteran with 12 years @ Suntrek under his belt, and he knew how to handle the rough Kenyan roads with speed and agility. He answered all our questions enthusiastically and emphatically, saying in his deep, slightly accented English: "oh ya" to anything requiring an affirmative response and "oh, no, no, no, no, no" to the negative. He called the wildebeest an "ugly, ugly animal" (which it is, honestly, in a funny sort of way) and eagerly searched to show us all the cats he could find. Cheetahs were his favorite.

We were endeared to Edward and we loved being on safari. Seeing wild animals in their natural environment, in all their power and majesty and beauty and humor was an incredible experience and after the first game drive, I was hooked.We saw what safari enthusiasts call "the big five”— the lion, leopard, elephant, rhino, and buffalo- as well as MANY other animals. And we didn't just peer out our binoculars, squinting our eyes to make out the shape of an animal in the distance. This was up close and personal— the lioness with her cub strutted RIGHT NEXT to our car, the elephant stood SO CLOSE we could hear him chewing the grass and stomping his foot angrily when we got a bit too close, the leopard gazing lazily from the tree right above us, the buffalo that stared us down, and the rhino that lumbered across the road. It was so fun to see all of the diverse and beautiful land and the wide variety of animals. A new and different side of Africa that I had not yet experienced. Here are a few more of my favorite pictures from our safari adventure:

ONE MONTH WITHOUT THE BROSES

2007-08-13T03:00:00.000-07:00

Dan and Tambry Brose. Country Director of World Relief Burundi and Princess of Burundi, 2003-2007.

For four months, up to July 12, 2007, Seth and I lived with them, ate their food, slept in their house, lounged on their furniture (we weren't total mooches and did pay some rent), tagged along on their family vacation, shopped with them, cooked with them, worked with them at World Relief... basically, we jumped into their lives like leeches, sucking all the knowledge and wisdom and goodness and perspective from them that we could.

And Dan and Tam were SO GOOD to us. Dan taught us all he could (as we drove around Buj, over late night dinner conversations, on early morning runs) about Burundi culture, language, and life. And while he knew we could never remotely fill his shoes, he graciously imparted to us his vision for World Relief and Burundi and his deep love for his country. It's weird, but I think some of his love for the country wore off on us, and we now possess more love for Burundi and the people because of Dan Brose- that we wouldn't have had without knowing him. And amazingly, he believed in us. He advocated for Seth in many ways and was his biggest fan and most helpful critic of his African films. He gave me the incredible opportunity of a job working as Director of Programs at World Relief Burundi, believing that I could do a job that I don't quite yet have shoes to fill. He led World Relief Burundi with vision, impact, and humility and won the hearts and deep respect of all that worked for him there. Seth and I included.

And Tambry (aka Tam, the Tamster, "Tam Tam," and Princess of Burundi). Although "petite with a small voice" (quote from The Only Road North), Tambry was a rock-- the wise older sister and friend-- in our transition to Burundi. She was always fun, making us laugh... but deep and thoughtful and so incredibly kind, at the same time. She taught Sara and I how to cook Burundi style, how to manage an African household, how to barter and walk away until we got the best deal when shopping at the market. She graciously hosted and cooked for a crew of our expatriate friends every Sunday evening, just because she wanted us all to have a nice meal and a safe haven for a bit, and she weekly hosted and led a women's Bible study for members of our English speaking church. She talked theology issues with Seth; marriage issues with me. What more can I say? We love her!

Sara, Seth, and I are now staying in "Chez Brose" (as we have deemed the house) sans the Broses. We faintly attempt to continue the legacy they left, but we all know that something is missing. We're trying to be brave without them, telling ourselves that it is good for us that they are gone... that we will figure things out on our own and grow from that process. It will be a faith-building processing, leaning more on God and less on the Broses (not that I can compare the Broses with God... but well, they're up there!). And it's all true- about building faith and the learning and growing process. And we WILL grow in our faith and be brave and learn so much without having them to lean on (already, since they've left we are counting the "issues" that have risen in their absence.... our workers have asked for a considerable amount of money, one worker got hit by a car and went to the most expensive hospital in town, the toilets are having problems, and now there is talk of conflict breaking out again in Burundi. "It figures" is all we can think. And we laugh at the irony of it.)

And as I think about them and reflect on the four full, yet brief months living with Dan and Tambry Brose, I am so incredibly grateful for the time we got to spend with them. Maybe this is putting them on too much of a pedastel, but I think that I have never before respected a couple so deeply and so quickly, as I have the Broses. We sure love them. We miss them. Yet we are so happy for them as they begin a new phase in their journey. So, here's to the Broses!!

MOM AND DAD IN AFRICA

2007-08-03T04:50:00.000-07:00

It was both really cool and really weird to have my parents in Africa. Two worlds colliding. The new and different with the old and familiar (not that they are OLD, let's just say FAMILIAR). Me showing them around and watching out for them rather than vice versa. I loved having them here, though. They came (early July) carrying lots of goodies for Seth and I (somehow us kids still get spoiled, even when we're "grown-ups" living on a different continent!). They were accompanied by the fabulous Good Shepherd team for a work trip with World Relief. It was so fun having friends and church family with us to work, support, and experience our lives here too. And Mom and Dad remained a bit longer to hang with us.

And my parents were troopers. They asked tons of questions and were eager to learn and experience our life and work here in Burundi. They jumped in with the people and the children here whenever they could. They were brave, flexible, and eager. Mom laughed (maybe a bit uneasily) at the armed soldier who jumped in our car to protect us from thieves on a long, dark drive to our stay in Tanzania (when I thought it would worry her). She went way out of her comfort zone many times in meeting all kinds of new people at WR and shone in her niche as she taught VBS to young children in Nyanza-Lac. She hates speaking in public, and she bravely shared her testimony with a small Baptist church in Nyanza-Lac through a translator. That probably wasn't easy for her- but she did so well! And Dad (as time conscious as he can be) chilled at the border crossing when we arrived at its' closing and when it took us over 3 hours to cross. He and Troy even held hands once (as is the custom of men here), though only for a brief while. And though he is not a pastor, he preached with gusto at the same Baptist church.

They learned some Kirundi. They tried new foods without a grimace. They traveled long distances over very bumpy roads without complaint. Needless to say (and a bit weird to say as the child in the relationship here), I was proud of them. And proud to be their daughter. Those moments that resonate with shared experience, a mutual goal, and a common background. Although we're different and don't always see perfectly eye to eye, it was so good to share Burundi with them. And maybe I was a little concerned at how they would respond-- how Mom would respond to all the poverty and how Dad would flex with all the waiting that we do here-- but they rose to the occasion and responded to the nuances of life here with boldness and grace. I was proud.

OUT OF TOUCH

2007-07-26T02:34:00.000-07:00

A quick note-- more blogs are on their way! July has been crazy with 2 teams from the US, the Broses departure from Buj, the parents visit to Buj, and a week long safari with Mom and Dad. It has been a full month- with lots of pix and stories to come. Seth and I are now in Nairobi, staying with the director of WR Kenya for some meetings here before we return to Buj on Saturday. Until then...

TO SARA!

2007-07-01T03:23:00.000-07:00

A kiss at the top of Mt. Songa!

This last week, I went with Sara and the visiting crew from Mars Hill church to Gitega (I was checking out the VST schools there- see previous post- and they were leading a retreat for WR's Turame staff there- Seth stayed in Buj to work on film projects). Sar and I took them up to the top of the highest mountain in the region, Songa. And here we are at the top, posing for pictures for them, and at the end of the mini-photo shoot, I gave her a little smacker on the cheek that was caught by the guy photographing us. She deserves that kiss!!

Sara Mathews is amazing. And I would have to say she is one of my new heroes. Not only can she pull off those huge sunglasses in these pictures, she is incredible at much more!

Sara came to Burundi 2 years ago, and honestly, I don't think she initially liked it very much when she came. It was tough. But now (to employ an overused expression) she really is like a fish in water here. She drives like a Burundian- with the right combination of guts and speed and caution to survive and expertly maneuver the chaos of traffic here. She can barter for what she wants to buy with the best of them. She is a great communicator with the Burundians here-- speaking phrases in Kirundi, pulling out her French from high school, and speaking English with those who can... slowly and in a tone they can understand. She can take a team of Americans who have absolutely no clue how to function here... and lead them around this country with wisdom (in knowing what work events to plan), with grace (in having patience in answering TONS of questions and providing for their needs), with humor and spunk (they absolutely love her), and with discernment (in that she does a great job in balancing giving them necessary information but also allowing them to figure some stuff out on their own). I don't think she always feels like she does a good job with the teams... but I think (and I think the teams think) that she is a bit too hard on herself because she does INCREDIBLE. And that is not all.

Her skills also include baking the BEST chocolate chip cookies I have EVER had (imagine that, perfecting her recipe here in Africa!). And she is GREAT with children. They absolutely love her and she makes friends with the little ones wherever she goes.

And Sara is brave. She does not fear the hippos and crocs of Lake Tanganyika. She even chased out a baby croc with my flip-flops so we could all get a closer look!! She does not fear the people here that can be a bit aggressive sometimes in asking for money or invading our personal space. And she perseveres. Even when things were hard for her here, she stuck to her two-year committment. And now, she absolutely loves it here and has committed to being in Burundi for yet another year (and Seth and I are SO grateful for that!!)

Sara is also an incredible friend. To me. To Tambry. To Dan and Seth and others here. She is quick to give an encouraging word and a huge hug. She is a great listener. I have found myself dumping my thoughts, my fears, my questions about life here... on her, and she really hears me. She doesn't always have an answer for me, but she listens and responds with kindness, with true concern, and empathy. And Sara is fun- SO much fun. She is basically her own party. She does handstands and dishwasher rolls with me in Lake Taganyika on our days off. She makes jokes and laughs easily. She plays volleyball, goes for lots of walks, and is always up for an adventure.

And I love her. I can't imagine being here this first year without her. I so appreciate her encouragement and insight and friendship. And I truly believe she is a blessing and a provision from the Lord- He knew I would need a friend in her.

And I know I may have made Sara sound a little bit like a superhero. And maybe she can't fly or be invisible and she may get a bit grumpy on some days, but other than that, she is practically perfect. Definitely a superhero in my books!

VST

2007-07-01T00:11:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of new acronyms in this new world I find myself in... not the African world, per se. But the world of development work. Acronyms like VST, CMM, USAID, ADF, RFP, CNDD, FNL, etc.. It is a whole new language.

VST is one acronym that has particularly been my focus these last couple weeks:
Vocational.
Skills.
Training.

World Relief is in the beginning phases of a Vocational Skills Training Program- a school for 16-25 year olds to learn basic trades- skills like sewing, carpentry, brick-making, metal-working, etc. Students in these programs are young people who haven't been able to make a living because they were forced out of school because of the war... or they were formerly rebels and are now trying to make a go at "normal" life in Burundi... or they have families that are living in poverty that they are trying to provide for.

The program itself is actually a pretty sweet deal: the students get 6 months of both in-classroom and hands-on practical instruction, and then when they graduate, they have access to loans through our Microfinance Program (called "Turame") to begin their own businesses. And, WR is working closely with Burundi's Ministry of Education in this so that in the near future, we can hand it completely over to them... making this program something that is sustainable (not just a short term good thing brought in by people from the US but a long-term program that the country can run even after money from the US and other donors runs out).

It's another great program that WR does and that I get to be a part of. My role in it has been to help oversee it- I work with the manager of it (a cool, smiley Burundian man named Andre) and he really makes everything happen. I have been helping him in it- by working with the people who are giving us money, by writing reports, by helping things stay on schedule, and just assisting with a lot of the details to move things forward.

And, being a part of this project has taught me a lot about development work. As obvious as this sounds, I am realizing that development work is not just being in Africa and handing out food and touching those who are needy. It is not as glamorous as the pictures of Angelina Jolie in Africa make it seem. It is actually a lot of hard work that requires hours and hours behind the scenes to make the programs of WR successful and lasting. It is an interesting combination of being with the people and helping them personally, for sure- but it also includes lots of time at a desk writing, reading, corresponding, and meeting to actually make projects like the VST one happen. It's kind of a bummer because I (and most others who are in this field) would prefer to be out of the office and to be with the people as much as possible. It is why we came. However, I am realizing that that ideal isn't always realistic... we can't help the people we help without spending those hours at a desk. Therefore, my work (and others) in the office will hopefully be strategic and necessary to aide those we are helping (as tedious as it can be at times).

And fortunately, I am not in the office all of the time. Getting to work with all the programs of WR, I get to go "upcountry" (out of Bujumbura) to visit different ones at different times- so that I can understand what is happening on the ground and to help in the field as I can. This last week, I again went to Gitega to visit the VST schools... and thus the pictures in this post. Here are images of young men and women who are putting effort into making lasting change in their lives. I don't know their stories. Their families. What their hopes or dreams are. I do know that being educated in a trade can be a huge step in making a difference in the direction their lives take. And Seth and I (and Sara and the Broses and the rest of the crew here at World Relief in Burundi) get to be a small part of it.

RETURN to NYANZA-LAC

2007-06-17T08:19:00.000-07:00

The above shot was taken on the way to Nyanza-Lac- another fishing town resting on the banks of Lake Tanganyika. And I am again in Nyanza-Lac. This time for just two days— helping the crew here get some systems in place for tracking all the houses they are building for returning refugees.

I sit here in the WR compound and I listen. And I am thinking today that Africa is a place that is full of music. Of rhythm and song.

The staff here have just started singing together—deep and full Kirundi songs. That kind of soulful music that hits you in the chest— both because it is so deep that your body vibrates to it and also because it is so beautiful. I wish I could take pictures of the music, to capture on film what my ears are hearing. I absolutely love it.

And in the background, the drums and clapping and singing and yelling of the family across the street drift over the cement compound wall. They are celebrating the coming marriage of their daughter (which I know because I did a little exploring yesterday).

The celebration began last evening around 7pm. I was curious, so I poked my head out the door of the compound. I asked Antoine (a new WR staff who was standing nearby) what was going on over there… he didn’t know but he offered to walk over there with me to check it out. A bit timidly, I followed the sounds of celebration and walked across the street and through an opening in their wall. The courtyard area in front of their home was PACKED with people. In the center, several men sat, beating drums. Around them, about 20 women circled—dancing and singing, throwing their hands up in the air and shouting. It was quite a sight- they wore bright colored clothing and some danced with babies on their backs, who didn’t seem to mind the bouncing and jostling.

As it was a community event (as many things are here), others were gathered—many children and men and other women standing outside the immediate circle. They watched and smiled and sometimes danced. Antoine and I joined the group of onlookers, and a woman (a bit drunk on banana beer) came to greet us. Holding my hand the whole time, she explained to me that they were celebrating a wedding to happen on Saturday. The friends of the bride were celebrating because the groom had given a good bride price, and the bride was hidden inside the home to primp herself for the wedding day.

Soon after, a man greeted us as well and told us that the bride’s family was honored that we were visiting and that the bride wanted to meet us!! Surprised, I agreed, and we followed the man into the house. It was small, dark, and had dirt floors. In the dark, I could make out a rickety table in the corner and a wooden ladder leading to an upstairs loft. We were directed into another room, separated by a curtain, and there was the bride. She sat on her bed, facing the window that overlooked her celebration outside, a mosquito net hanging behind her. Her hair was in curlers; her nails were done; and if anyone could say a person glowed: she was glowing. She reminded me a bit of every other bride-to-be I had known (and myself a few years ago)— a bright smile, a spark in her eyes, and an excited nervousness about her.

We spent just a few minutes with her and her mother, a typical mother of the bride if there was one in Burundi. She was a robust, somewhat loud and tense woman, who had followed us into the room. At a good volume, she boisterously greeted us and enthusiastically told us again about the marriage, the celebration, and the bride price. (I think she may have had a little too much banana beer as well).

In response (through Antoine translation), I expressed my joy at their fortune. I turned to the girl and offered my congratulations and hope that God would bless her and her coming marriage. She gave me a bashful grin and a thumb’s up in response.

And this morning, as I hear the celebration continue and picture the little bride getting ready, it brings me a bit of happiness. (as cheesy as that sounds- I am totally smiling as I listen to them singing and clapping and dancing).

I again realize that this is such an interesting and complex place— contrasts of joy and celebration mixed with great sorrow and poverty and danger (that I wrote about last week). And, so. I continue to take it all in and hope that I am learning something in this process.

Danny Update: A couple weeks ago, I mentioned a little guy named Danny at the Rainbow Center— who is HIV positive and was abandoned in a garbage sack in Tanzania. This last week, I went to visit him… and he was gone! Apparently, the couple who found him have taken him in as a foster child. This means that he is healthy enough to be out of the center and is now living in a home that is taking care of him well. A definite praise!! The RC will follow-up with him: making sure the parents have enough money to feed, clothe, and care for him properly and will continue to monitor his health. And while I am bummed that I won’t get to hold the little guy anymore, living with a family (especially in a community such as this which is so family/community oriented) is MUCH better for him. Thanks for the praying for him.

REALITY CHECK

2007-06-06T09:53:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it feels like I write only about the amazing-ness of living here in Burundi. How I love the people. The beautiful smiles of the children. The stunning scenery. The amazing work that Seth and I get to be a part of. Even the snake peering out of my toilet can sound interesting and exciting (though certainly not glamorous). And all that I write is true.

However, I gotta be honest. These last couple weeks have been a bit of a reality check... and I want to be forthright in presenting what our lives are like here. It's not all cute African kids.

I think sometimes it is simply just tough to live in Africa.

(Now that's an obvious statement). Well, it's tough to live anywhere because life, simply, is tough, isn't it? But Burundi... well, is still rough around the edges. A little raw.

And there have been a few things here that have been a bit rough for me personally-- a fender bender, some street kids trying to break into my car as I'm stopped at an intersection, seeing a car side-swipe a motorcycle, my friend getting robbed of a lot of money by someone he trusted. Granted, these are all pretty minute in the grand scheme of things. And then I hear about more serious things-- another friend finding a dead woman on the beach, his friend's daughter being raped at the age of 3, Dan's friend's wife who is pregnant and currently in the hospital with malaria, an Australian woman being hit by a truck, left on the road, and eventually being life-flighted out very seriously injured. And I wrestle with it all because I don't want to complain, and my issues seem so trivial in comparison to the issues of war, poverty, inadequate health care, and an insufficient education system that people of this country have faced. And are still facing. Who am I to say that living here is "tough"? (especially for me, a "muzungu"). Obviously, as I have lived here, I am realizing more and more how incredibly blessed and well-off I am.

But I guess what has been "tough" for me, honestly, are not the events themselves but where these events have left me: feeling a bit unsafe and insecure here. nervous to drive. a little fearful and wary. And I was telling a friend today that I don't like to feel that way. I want to be brave and heroic and strong.

But that's not always reality. It's life here. Sara tells me that it is a part of living here- that we always have to be cautious and guarded and wary of people, traffic, etc. Rakel (friend, mentor, and missions guru) would tell me that this is a natural and good part of the cultural adjustment. And I realize all of that. And I agree with them. But today it still doesn't feel good. The fear is uncomfortable and makes me feel a bit like how the little girl in the picture above looks... a little confused, frustrated, and grumpy.

So, I know it's all part of the learning: about this culture. about life. about trusting God. And it's good, really. Just a bite of reality.

CHILDREN OF NYANZA-LAC

2007-05-31T13:48:00.000-07:00

They came pouring.

On their way home from school, they saw a crowd of "muzungus" (white/rich people- a term often hollered at us) and when one little guy picked up speed in our direction- running down the hill towards us at the Pentecostal church- the rest just seemed to follow. It was a MASS of children.

We had a team from the US here (a great group from MacLean Bible Church- one of WR's partner churches), and as they saw the throng of kids racing towards them, their eyes widened with a mixture of fear, surprise, and then absolute delight as they got to meet and play with their eager new friends. The team -along with Sara and I- were back in Nyanza-Lac (southern Burundi) for the weekend for the team to put on a youth rally attended by four different churches and members of the community. Although I ended up sick in bed for the morning of the rally (just a bout of the flu), it and the other ministries that weekend were successful- as they were well attended; the team did a great job at sharing testimonies, leading worship, and sharing from the Word; and friendships were established at a soccer match (US versus Burundi) following the rally. (suprisingly, at the end of the game, the score was 3 to 3!)

Now, Sara is quite the celebrity among the seemingly thousands of children there in Nyanza-Lac. Last summer, she and a team from Good Shepherd put on vacation Bible school and the little kids absolutely adored her (if you know her at all- who wouldn't?!!). She has had the opportunity to return several times, and being Sara and being white-skinned makes her very memorable. So, whenever we went anywhere there, it seemed like she was, well, the Angelina Jolie of Burundi (but not the husband stealer). The kids just couldn't stay away.

I got to hang out with some of them for awhile as well. During the soccer match, I sat on the sidelines to watch. Immediately, a crowd of probably 7 children sat around me. Here, there is no real concept of personal space, so the little girl to my right and the little boy on my left were not just next to me- but were pressing into me, as if they couldn't get close enough. And we couldn't talk- nothing, that is, past the few greetings and asking their names that I could make out in my faltering Kirundi.

So we sat there and simply looked at each other. Something that happens often here that I am getting more and more comfortable with. And then a couple of the little girls and I attempted a hand-slap game... and that didn't work so well... so we played jacks instead (using the rocks/pebbles on the ground). No gameboy or tv or whatever kids in the US are into these days. Instead- rocks for jacks, a homemade soccer ball to kick around, a wheel to roll with a stick, many responsibilities around the home, etc..

And these kids- well, some of their faces are below- are absolutely precious. One can tell by their tattered tan uniforms that they go to public school (those who attend private chool wear uniforms of various colors and are generally kept a bit nicer). And they were everywhere there- at the youth rally, watching on the sidelines at the soccer game, peering over a brick fence during the Sunday morning church service.

Seeing them and playing with them... they are definitely simpler than American children. It's an interesting dichotomy. They have a maturity and graveness about their person because of the responsiblity and weight that poverty and a long civil war inevitably bring. I absolutely cannot imagine what some of these children have been through and seen firsthand. Yet, at the same time, they seem to possess an innocence and naivete and almost gaiety- that is warm and charming and honestly confusing (because of what they have been through). It is definitely a remarkable and disheartening combination.

TEARS

2007-05-23T15:46:00.000-07:00

"Live to the point of tears."- Camus

Before I moved to Burundi, my dear friend Kristin gave me a beautifully bound quote book as a goodbye gift. Half-joking/half-serious, I asked her to sign it for me for so I would have a small token of her to bring with me. She went to the page with the above quote and signed her name at the bottom- with a little heart beside it. As I look at it now, her handwriting is a bit scrawled, but not sloppy. It is one of those elegant and messy, yet defined signatures. Like the person is signing with both a sense of purpose and flair. And my friend Kristin has both.

So. "Live to the point of tears." I am not sure of the context of the quote (due to the nature of quote books- quotes being taken completely out of context and bound together to inspire in a way probably not intended by the original author), and I don't think that Kristin would at all claim that as her life mantra. However, that quote- while, yes, it can be seen as one of those cheesy inspirational quotes an eager personality receives daily via e-mail- is inspiring to me as I live here. And my friend Kristin has inspired me by how she has lived and served and ministered to others and been a friend to me and so many... so fully and with deep love, a definite chispa, and great sacrifice and faith... that it has, at times, been "to the point of tears."

I don't know yet what it means to "live to the point of tears," if one can actually do that.

I do know, however, that here in Burundi, I have been moved to tears on several occasions: helping with the food distribution to over a thousand hungry people in the province of Kayanza and meeting an elderly woman there who had little hope for her future; talking with the young widow with three malnourished children at the goat distribution in Nyanza-Lac; and holding little Danny, one of the infant orphans at the Rainbow Center down the street.

This is Danny.

I mentioned him briefly in my last post. We actually don't know much about him- where he is from, anything about his parents, how old he is... we do know that he was found thrown out- discarded in a garbage sack, if you can believe it, somewhere in Tanzania. Apparently, a muslim couple found him and named him "Ramadan" and got him to the Rainbow Center (an orphanage in our neighborhood where our International Fellowship is also held). Being a Christian facility, the folks at the Rainbow Center have shortend "Ramadan" to simply Daniel or Danny.

The little guy has been there for over two months now. And I think he is doing OK, but not well. His health is not good- he has been hospitalized and had blood transfusions twice already and is believed to have HIV. He is still skinny and stunted from malnourishment, but he is daily receiving necessary food and medication to aid his recovery.

Of course my heart is moved by little Danny. He has become my favorite of the orphans at the center. His bright eyes that look at me kind of funny. His skinny little legs. His being abandoned in such a heart-breaking fashion. His responding to me more each time I hold him.

As in many of my accounts of people here I meet, I can't predict a bright and promising future for him. I definitely pray for his full recovery, his growth, and his future, but I don't know what time will bring. I do know that his life has touched mine. I know that, although he was literally tossed away by his parents, he is loved and valued and seen as precious to God- and to me, and Sara, and the women who care for him at the center.

And one more thing I do know, though I'm not there yet- from the many people I am meeting here, from my friend Kristin, and from little Danny- that there is something worthy and Christ-like about living with a depth and a passion and sacrifice and a love that may very well bring one to tears.

TIA

2007-05-12T13:24:00.000-07:00

The acronym "TIA"- This Is Africa- is used several times throughout the movie 'Blood Diamond' in reference to the sometimes harsh and sometimes comedic nature of life here in Africa. A flippant "TIA" meant- "What else can you expect? This is Africa."

It's a bit funny, but we've used that expression here- and I believe that acronym began here long before the movie was out.

And so, a bit inspired by the movie and in honor of the Africa I have seen in the 2 months I have been here... Here are some random shots from driving around downtown Bujumbura and some random moments of Chase style tia.

For us, THIS IS AFRICA:

* the small black snake swimming in my toilet. Tambry saying, "oh yeah. they are there all the time!"

* watching the cockroach in my shower. hoping and praying he doesn't fall.
* avacados for 25 cents each. a box of cereal for $23. the taste of fresh bananas, papayas, mango, pineapple.

* our french instructor doing a little dance during class to demonstrate a point. us laughing hysterically.
* during church service, rocking malnourished infants who were orphaned so they can get a little tlc. looking down at their confused faces as they try to figure out a white person's face.

* the faces of the people we meet: World Relief co-workers who have a common vision. people "upcountry" without enough food. beggars in the streets and in the market of Bujumbura.
* me finding the water in the house to be off after a sweaty 4-mile run. Seth helping me haul a bucket of water to improvise a shower.
* the loud, almost hypnotic rhythm of African church music: the beating of drums, the clappinig of hands.
* the constant moisture in the middle of my back from the heat and the humidity. dirty brown toes from wearing sandals in the dust.
* walking home from work in the dust and car exhaust. being asked for a plane ticket to Sweden so our new friend "Celestin" can visit his brother.
* crossing two lanes of traffic- parallel to and at the same time as a taxi, 2 motorcyclists, and a bus that I am using as a "shield." merging while trying to avoid the potholes in the road.
* laughing and dancing and singing with Sara and Tambry as we chop vegetables in the kitchen. bringing a fan into the room as we cook over the stove.
* sitting in the Broses' living room with my computer on my lap. slapping at mosquitos buzzing at my ear.

*pulling the mosquito net down over our bed. tucking in the corners. turning on the fan.

NYANZA-LAC

2007-05-02T14:22:00.000-07:00

Today my heart hurt like never before for the poor.

That's a whopper of a sentence to begin a blog with, I know, (and I realize that this may sound cliche and trite,) but I am lacking for words as I think back to the people of Nyanza-Lac that I met today.

Dan, Seth, and I got to be a part of a World Relief goat distribution in the southern part of Burundi where 38 families received dairy goats to provide protein for their malnourished children (a project that Good Shepherd specifically partnered with). This came after almost a year of WR training these families how to feed, milk, and care for their goats so that the health benefits would be long-lasting.

Before the actual distribution, I met a widow: 26 years old with three malnourished children, whose husband had been killed by the military and whose youngest was a year and a half old-- but only appeared 5 months because of his poor health. His name is "Jean de Dieu"- John of God. What struck me was that this woman maintained eye contact with me as she was talking about her life- as if she believed I could understand what she was saying as she rattled on in Kirundi- as if I could truly understand her lot in life. Her story, the eye contact, and the protruding tummies of her children due to lack of nutrition floored me, and I struggled to hold back tears for the remainder of the day.

The actual distribution of the goats (they're such funny animals, aren't they?) took place at the town health center, where these families were hand-selected because of the dire needs of their children. Most of the town congregated... women with infants on their backs and in their arms, children running around all over the place, the men of the town- of whom some, unfortunately, already had consumed too much banana beer, and the "chief" of the zone to make the distribution official.

Dan, as WR guru, helped distribute the goats, as well as Dolla (an incredible World Relief staff person who oversees this program and whose heart and wisdom I am coming to deeply respect). These two are pictured below along with the lines of beneficiaries that gathered to receive their goats:

And so today, these two children (along with 36 others) went home with goats that will provide milk for their most basic nutritional needs:

As we drove home from all this, I struggled to process all that I saw and felt today- asking myself those hard questions that anyone who sees such poverty and suffering is forced to ask. As we were talking through it, though, Dan (who has years of experience living here and has much wisdom) said that he always comes back to the fact that our God is a God of love. And that though we may not understand His ways, Dan trusts in knowing that God deeply loves each of us, each face pictured above.

And yet honestly, today it was hard for me to see the love of God.

But, like Dan, I want and need to rest in that truth.

And it makes me think of one of my favorite choruses that we sang this last Sunday in church:

The love of God is greater far, than tongue or pen can ever tell.

It goes beyond the highest star and reaches to the lowest hell.

The guily pair, bowed down with care, God gave His Son to win!

His erring child, He reconciled, and pardoned from his sin.

O love of God, how rich and pure! How measureless and strong!

It shall forevermore endure, the saints' and angels' song.

Could we with ink the ocean fill, and were the skies of parchment made.

Were every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade.

To write the love of God above, would drain the ocean dry,

Nor could the scroll, contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky.

Kayanza Video

2007-05-01T12:48:00.000-07:00

Here is Seth's video about World Relief's food distribution in the Burundian Province of Kayanza. Check it out!

A TRIBUTE TO SETH

2007-04-27T00:07:00.000-07:00

This is Seth:

He is turning 30 today. April 27, 2007.

He says that he likes that he is spending his birthday in Africa. A good place to be for a 30th celebration. So far, on this monumentous occasion (it's only 9:00am as I write this), he has had coffee with Dan and Tambry and myself, downloaded some photos for Ruthie, helped me get water for a bucket shower (no water here the last two mornings) and is now heading to the office with Brandon to work on film stuff. Tonight, he and I are going out for dinner at a hotel in town and we will return to the Broses for a little dessert celebration with 10 of our expat buddies. Celebrations are a bit more low-key here, but that's perfect for Seth.

On our personality profile that we took for our pre-marital counseling, we learned that he is "idiosyncratic"- one who enjoys and by nature thinks and acts and dreams differently than most (we knew that before, now it just has a cool name). As we have been married now for THREE AND A HALF YEARS of his THIRTY, I have come to appreciate and love the idiosncratic-ness of my husband. The many facets of his personality lend to not only incredible creativity and much variety in our marriage :), but also to him being gifted at quite a number of different things: film, writing, humor, relating with others, spontaneity, athleticism, intelligent thinking, etc.. Here are a few or the many idiosyncratic aspects of the now 30-year old Seth Chase:

Seth the film maker:

Seth the hiker:

Seth the Lover of Hot & Sour Soup:

Seth the Thinker:

Seth the Strategist:

Seth the Rafter:

Seth the Husband:

Seth the Friend of Andy (and of many):

Seth the African Film Maker:

happy birthday to seth.

UGANDA

2007-04-25T12:09:00.000-07:00

This last week, the Broses returned their two boys to boarding school at RVA (Rift Valley Academy) in Kenya via Uganda and, as "part of the fam," we had the extreme privilege of traveling with them for a bit of adventure. So, instead of giving you a play by play or a simple snidbit, I thought I might attempt to entertain you with what I learned from this trip...

THE TOP TEN WAYS TO MAKE A ROAD TRIP TO UGANDA A COMPLETE SUCCESS:

10. Don't Fall on Your Head. As Dan and his son were packing up the luggage uptop the vehicle, the rope snapped sending Dan headfirst into the cement driveway with Aaron. It was sickingly scary for awhile... but miraculously, Dan only banged up his head and injured his shoulder- much less serious than what could have been. We are truly thank to God for His protection here!!

9. Take a Land Cruiser. We packed 11, that's right 11, people (including the Broses, their friends the Vintons, Seth and I, and our friends Sara and Brandon) into a white toyota landcruiser for 2 days of driving (just to get there)... it was packed, it was numbing to our backsides :), and it was quite the African adventure.

8. Read the Road Signs. There is a high degree of comedy in African English. (Uganda is English speaking, whereas both Burundi and Rwanda are French speaking). As we drove through Uganda, we read and chuckled at a variety of signs along the road... signs that read: "Do you have a function?" "B.O. Dry Cleaners" "Groly be to God" "Bimbo SnoCones." You get the point. :)

7. Let Someone Else Drive. Traffic in Bujumbura is pretty crazy and totally without rule or organization. Kampala (the capital city of Uganda and our destination) was a complete ZOO in comparison. Cars crowded within centimeters of us, taxi motorcycles whizzed in and out of traffic, and we did some 4xing over curbs and through potholes. Brandon was the champion driver and we triumphed without a scratch on the vehicle.

6. Watch the Wildlife. We stayed at a cheap little youth hostel outside of Kampala for a couple of days, and in the grassy area surrounding the buildings we would sit outside and watch the Colobus Monkeys and the birds... all kinds! Huge ugly storks! African parrots. African eagles (that look like the American bald eagle), cranes, hawks, etc. The monkeys, as you may imagine, were quite entertaining... picking at each other, chasing one another, and scolding us as we watched.

5. Eat Ethnic. Our crew got to enjoy some spicy ethnic foods while in Kampala. Yummy!

4. Bring Pepto and ALWAYS Travel with TP. Related to #5. I don't think I need to say more, nor would you want me to. :)

3. Invite a Brit. One of the cool things about Africa is that the English speaking community is small, and one quickly meets and befriends great people from all over the world. Pat (a new "mate" of ours from London) was a friend of a friend who joined us part of the way, taking a hiatus from work to tour Africa and hopefully figure out what God has next for him . His one-liners and British humor had us in stitches... Seth and him were bantering back and forth in the back of the land cruiser for hours.

2. Take Dan Brose. Well, we are sure loving Dan and Tambry Brose and are INCREDIBLY thankful for taking us with them on this little adventure with their fam... and in how they are shepherding us as we are learning about life here. Thank you Dan and Tam! And it is simply common knowledge that any good roadtrip requires a good companion or two (or 10) to enjoy the adventures along the way. The crew we traveled with was a riot: laughter and waterfights as we bumped along in the cruiser, discussions of living by the Spirit, NT theology, and helping the poor in Africa; etc. Good fellowship, good memories, good people.

1. Go to the Bad Place. So. "The Bad Place" is the name of a class 5 rapid on the Nile River that we got to raft in Uganda. Pretty exciting and crazy times. The Deschutes absolutely pales in comparison. The Bad Place was the final rapid along a 31km stretch of class 3-5 rapids that we cruised down, our boats flipped several times, and twice I was stuck underwater a bit longer than I was comfortable with. However, it was a great adventure and very cool to be in the Nile River. Here's a few pix from it. See if you can find Seth and I (we were in different rafts):

And that's how to roadtrip it to Uganda.
We are now back in Burundi and back to work with a big project to embark on tomorrow- But more about that later. :)

Gitega

2007-04-17T10:09:00.000-07:00

Gitega is the second largest city in Burundi, about a two and a half hour drive from Bujumbura. It is a cool town- with red dirt, a market on a hillside, and a view of rolling hills of fields of banana trees and beans. And it just has a cool name. Fun to say. Gi-teg-a.

And it is a place bursting with people- families who have lived there for generations, returning refugees after the 13 year war, and former rebels and army personnel who are being incorporated back into the community.

Seth and I (with Sara) went there to learn about and film World Relief's microfinance program there. It is a pretty incredible system. There are 7-10 "loan officers" who oversee approximately 2000 clients! These clients, in groups of about 30 (for community and accountability), each receive substantial loans to start a business. For them, this is a way to get the financial means and practical know-how to support themselves and their families (many for the first time!). They learn how to sell their products-- beans, shoes, onions, flour, etc.-- as well as learn to manage their money and their business, how to resolve conflict, and other practical things to make them leaders and valuable contributors to their community. It is actually a really cool system.

The majority of the clients are women, as they tend to be more reliable and hard-working than some of the men (not all). It was a treat to meet them and learn about their lives... deeply affected by the war, poverty, food shortage, HIV/Aids, and countless circumstances and trauma that we in America can never truly imagine. While we may never understand completely their situations and their life stories, here are the faces, in black and white this time, of some of the women that we met who are part of this microfinance system... and the market in which they sell their goods:

randomness of life

2007-04-16T09:48:00.000-07:00

I am continually impressed with how different life is here than in the States. I know that is an obvious statement, but I wonder when I will finally get it. This is my life. And honestly, I think I am really starting to like it.

What I saw today:

a taxi bus so packed that a man's backside was hanging out the window (taxis outnumber regular vehicles here)

a naked boy, about three, in the middle of the road that we slowed to drive around.

two guys on a bike. the one in the back had a coffee table ON HIS HEAD loaded with medium-sized fish.

Sara driving like a pro through a crowded street, within centimeters of a passing vehicle. (she is incredible)

the bright smile of a Burundian pastor, Sophonie, who we are planning summer teams with. (what a man of insight and wisdom and perspective... and joy, after all him and his country have been through)

a church that is being rebuilt after being destroyed by the war. walls and roof are mostly there, but renovations have halted because they have no money to buy more bricks.

a herd of long-horned cattle in the road. we drove around. (quite common here in the rural areas)

a crowd of children that were curious about us. one ran away crying, afraid of white people. most liked us and wanted to touch us.

a monkey on the wall of the WR offices (he is a pet of our neighbor)

A SURVIVAL STORY

2007-04-06T00:08:00.000-07:00

After attending the food distribution last week, I wrote an article for World Relief about the woman, Katherine, I met there in Kayanza. Surprisingly, the story made front page of the WR website-- attached to it via their "stories blog." Dan and Seth thought some of you may enjoy reading it, so here it is below:

Survival. Hunger. Poverty.
Words that can stay theoretical and abstract until you meet the person experiencing them.
More accurately: Words that have stayed theoretical to me until I met someone experiencing them.

I met Katherine Nibaruta on March 29, 2007— the day World Relief distributed 35,000 kilos of beans in the northern Burundian province of Kayanza. The 1,500 people to receive the beans were all from the Kabarore Zone and came together eagerly and thankfully at the Kabarore Primary School to collect the promised food. Thousands of dark faces, bright smiles, and colorfully arrayed women greeted us. Katherine was one of them.

Here is Katherine in the doorway of her small home.

She came from a family who had lived in the Kabarore Zone of Kayanza, Burundi, for generations. It is a land of tall hills, bright green fields of tea, and stretches of wide-leafed banana trees. The land is so beautiful and so lush, one is struck by the contrast of the beauty of the land and the great poverty of the people residing in it. Katherine’s family had farmed that land for years— growing sweet potatoes, beans, corn, bananas, and avocadoes. But now, even though the land appears green and fertile, it is actually desolate. The excess rains and floods, and then lack of rains, have destroyed their crops. The soil is infertile, and they have no manure to nourish it and give the soil the nutrients it needs.

On March 29, when I met her, Katherine had no money in her small, dirt-floor home. She said money went only to the strong who can work for food. At 55, she is considered elderly by her community and can no longer work to earn money to buy the food that is so expensive in the local markets. She had no food in her home. The banana trees were too old and no longer produced fruit. The avocadoes and potatoes and corn were ruined by the rains. Only a few beans and bean leaves from her garden to sustain herself, her ailing husband, and their four remaining children.

Unfortunately (and true of many Burundian families), this was not the first time Katherine and her family have been in such a dire situation. As a child, Katherine grew up in a nearby home with two sisters and two brothers. Her childhood was filled with typical Burundian home activities— fetching water, cooking, and cleaning. As a young girl, she attended Catholic school for five years, receiving only a basic elementary education.

Katherine married at the age of 20, the second wife of her husband Juvenal. His first wife had nine children. Katherine bore eight, but only three of her own survived. The war in Burundi was the beginning of hardships for Katherine and her family. The cows that they used for milk and manure (for the soil) were stolen. The military took up position right behind her house to protect their village, but they still were forced to flee several times to Rwanda.

Katherine's husband Juvenal.

And now, with the inconsistent weather and food shortage, Katherine’s situation seems bleak. She received a bag of beans from the food distribution which she is thankful for and brings a bit of respite. 23 kilos of beans. 10 days of food— one meager meal once a day in the evening. I asked her about her future, and she said she could not really see her future. She says, “I have no hope for food, for my future.”

And Katherine is only one story— one real person that has changed my thinking of survival and hunger and poverty from a trite theory to a sad and terrible reality.

The other 1,500 people that received food that day all have stories and situations that parallel Katherine’s. They came to the school that day from nine surrounding hills, invited by the leaders of their communities including the nine local chiefs, an array of national and local security, and nine pastors who partner with World Relief to bring aid to the people. These nine pastors came together from a range of denominations— Catholic, Baptist, Pentacostal, and Assemblies of God— partnering with World Relief for the sake of their people. As the crowd gathered to collect the food, one of the pastors addressed them. He spoke about creating hope for the future and encouraged them, saying that Christians in America know of their need, have given money to help them (through World Relief), and are praying for them in their hardship. In response, the people of Kabarore were thankful. They waved and shook our hands in a gesture of gratefulness. But their struggle to fight hunger, poverty, and to survive will continue. Katherine’s struggle will continue. This is no longer theoretical.

Some of the 1500 families who received food.

Adventures in Hiking

2007-04-01T05:25:00.000-07:00

I knew hiking with the Broses would be an adventure.

We're in Africa! Of course.

The Broses themselves are quite adventurous people... they have two highschool boys... (need I say more?) But I didn't quite expect the day we had yesterday. (Expectations meet reality as Bob Maddox would say!) :)

It was Saturday. A day off to rest or explore... and we, Dan and Tambry Brose, Doug, Aaron and Austin Brose, Seth and I, and Brandon drove north to hike in what little (only 4%) remains of the Burundian rainforest. Now, I am used to hiking in Oregon... with designated trails, sometimes a map, and nice little wooden signs telling me which way to go. But that's not hiking in Africa. Here's our crew:

We took off on a nice little trail that tea growers use into a BEAUTIFUL rainforest...

and everything there was bigger. The plants, the insects, and even the earthworms: (the worm was wiggling... and Brandon caught this shot of me screaming in response. I have never seen earthworms so big).

Soon, though, we went off the beaten trail to a more obscure trail... if you could even call it a trail. We pushed through branches and vines... over and under tree limbs... went down and up uneven slopes... crawling on all fours, even, at times. We quickly got very dirty and quite scratched up. Aaron and Austin plowed through... we could hear them ahead... pushing through the brush, climbing and falling, and wiping out. There was one patch where the "trail" led through a colony of army ants (at least several yards in length). As best we could, we ran through... but we were still attacked... and stopped at the end to brush off the ants that were biting our feet, legs, back, and even our heads (they were up in the trees and bushes too... ). Tenacious and mean little buggers.

We trekked on... and as the peak mountain came into view (our goal was Mount Teza, around 8,000ft), we came across a group of guys up ahead a bit. We were a bit wary of people (we had heard that some rebel groups were in the area... but not in the specific area where we were hiking. Our security guy at WR checked it out for us). They looked like locals and were unarmed, and we waved hello.

As we talked with them, however, we learned that they were members of the FNL (National Liberation Front- a rebel group who had only recently signed a peace agreement with the government- yikes!) They did not want us to continue hiking until we had permission from their captain, and they sent one of their guys to the main camp, up the next hill, to ask him what to do with us. On his return, we learned that the captain wanted to see us... (interesting) so we went up to the camp... with FNL soldiers in front, in the middle, and behind us... to a group of armed and uniformed soldiers we could see up ahead.

It was a bit surreal... kind of felt like we were in a movie, being taken up the hill by our captors. Dan told us to walk slowly and let him go ahead, so he could feel things out and begin talking with the captain before we got there.

At that point, I was a bit nervous- going back and forth between joking with Tambry about our situation and silently praying. We got to the camp and greeted the captain, appropriate to Burundi custom. The captain was a kind and gracious man with a beautiful smile... he was surprised to see us (we were probably the highlight of his day as not many people make it up there) ... and he spoke French. Small talk about the day.

And that was that! NO problem. They let us continue, under the condition that they go with us (because apparently there were some REAL rebel groups on the other side of the mountain that they were guarding against) for our protection. Here is Seth and some of our crew with our armed FNL guards:

After a bit, we parted ways with them and we headed back through the brush to our car. Here are a few other random shots from the hike:

Disclaimer for all parents and concerned parties: Appropriate security personnel were properly consulted before our trip and knew of our whereabouts at all times. :) And we are thankful to the Lord for His continued protection of us... and we remain thankful for YOUR prayers. :)

Food Distribution

2007-03-31T10:10:00.000-07:00

The men and women of Kayanza waiting for the food distribution

Most came to the distribution without shoes:

A woman in the crowd as she waits for her allotment of beans:

A young boy picks up beans that were dropped while moving the large bags:

The brightly clad women:

Women walking home with their allotment of beans:

Friday morning. Food distribution day. Seth and I got up early, and we drove for three hours (a couple of significant detours and trekkin' on some crazy roads) with several national WR staff to the northern province of Kayanza. It is amazing... you can drive for hours here and feel like you are in the middle of nowhere, and then arrive in a town filled with people. That is what happened. In a land of large rolling hills and tea plantations, we drove into a town where approximately 2000 people were waiting for us to distribute beans. They had come from 9 different "hills" because they were selected, by World Relief, to receive the food because of their need. They crowded around our car, the women (particular to this province) wearing brightly colored fabrics of oranges and reds and yellows.

For at me at first, it was overwhelming. I have grown somewhat accustomed to the looks and stares that we always receive as white people here in Bujumbura. But in a rural area, it was multiplied. As we drove up, they literally surrounded our car, putting their hands up to the windows to peer in at us. We were quite a novelty to them... and they intently watched us and laughed at us and followed us the entire day. I wonder what was going through their minds as they watched us. :) Here I am with some of the the women who were so curious about us:

The distribution of the food was a complete success. Pierre, a local pastor and WR staff gave a short message from the Word and spoke about the church in America who knew of their need and was praying for them. Then, we (WR with money from donors and partner churches like Good Shepherd) gave over 35,000 kilos of beans to 1500 families... it was incredible to see. And amazingly, the process was orderly and efficient (there were quite a few armed guards present to keep the crowds back). Many families were SO grateful for this food. Seth and I later went to the home of one woman and spoke with her about her situation. She had absolutely no money or food in her home. The beans she received that day would last her 10 days, allowing one meager meal per person each evening. Her picture is below:

As we drove home later that day, the emotions of the this experience hit me. It was a random mix, and I'm not sure how one is "supposed" to feel about seeing those things for the first time. I was definitely saddened by the poverty I saw, amazed at their smiles and joy despite their situation... I felt guilty, a bit, for being an American and having the comforts and luxuries and material things I have access to. And more than anything else, I think I was left with more questions than answers: What hope is there for the people of Burundi? What has been the role of the Western world in contributing to their status? What is my role as a Christian (both here and when I return to the States) to live and give in a way that will help the poor and oppressed in the world? What can I do now?

And so we continue to learn. I am realizing over and over again how much we have to learn. And I am eager to know more... especially as the circumstances and the people become real to me as I meet them. It is no longer a theoretical question of how to help the poor people of this world.

Stage 2

2007-03-23T09:06:00.000-07:00

So. According to Sara, I have already graduated to stage 2 in the 3 phases of missions. Africa moves one ahead a bit quicker, perhaps. Here are the stages: Stage 1 is basic-- There is a bug in your tea... toss it all out. Stage 2-- Remove the bug, drink the tea. Stage 3-- drink the tea AND the bug. Honestly, as intense and as "cultural" I want to be, I'm not sure if I will ever make it to stage 3. Here's the low down of me graduating to stage 2: The Broses, Sara, and Seth and I just returned from a dinner at a Burundian family's home. There we were greeted warmly and with great hospitality. Lots of handshakes and hugs as we came in. We sat in a room with cement floors and open windows and sipped on Fantas. I chatted with a woman named Clare sitting next to me, who works at World Relief with us, half in her halting English and half in my even more halting French. Dinner arrived: a plateful of cooking bananas (that taste and have the texture of a potato) and two pieces of beef (very tough... it was a jaw workout for sure! All meat here is lean). As I chewed through my first piece of meat, I discovered a bug among the sauce covering my beef. And it wasn't just any bug. It was an orangeish bug with black stripes, about the length of my small pinky, with two long pincher type things at one end. Missing its' head (oooh, I hope I didn't eat it!). Now here is where one wonders what to do next. Of course, my inclination was to stop eating. All appetite was gone. However, not knowing yet how this culture views not finishing one's plate, I gulped down the beef, pushed the bug to the side of the plate, and dived into a banana. Another first for sure. :)

The occasion for the dinner was another first for us as well. It was a sort of celebration at the end of a mourning period-- the husband, a World Relief staff driver, had recently passed away. Being with the grieving family this evening and talking with the Broses has given me a glimpse of how differently (from us in the US) Burundian culture views death. At home, there is much sorrow, crying, and a grave countenance descends on all. Many of us retreat into ourselves to mourn the loss. Here, however, death is a very frequent part of life (average life expectancy is 47.6 years), and while there is still grieving and a definite sense of loss to be sure, it seems to be more "normal." And something struck me today about how RIGHT it is to be together at a time like that. We ate together. Sang. Prayed for the widow and her seven children. A few shared a message of hope from the Word. I have no huge conclusions from this, just a few observations from what life is like here that have been mulling through my brain.

And below are a few pictures (finally) of our time here. Today, we attended (and shot video and took pix) part of a three-day peace-training seminar put on by World Relief. Within the microfinance department of WR, loan officers (who oversee groups of Burundians receiving loans to begin a small business) not only get trained in money management, but also are trained in leadership, the Word, and (today) conflict resolution. Here are some shots of a swarm of children Sara and I encountered on a walk there- as well as a shot of dinner at the Brose home and flowers from Tambry's yard:

Made It

2007-03-18T02:43:00.000-07:00

Seth and I are sitting side by side at the Broses long dining room table, with our dueling laptops in front of each of us. He's deleting spam and writing e-mails and here I am, updating the blog. Internet connection is a bit slow today and going off and on, so we pause and chat between downloads and page changes. The indoor Brose temperature gauge on the cupboards in front of us reads 80 degrees and my feet are up on my chair, as I sit in a fetal position. We are warm and comfy and feel welcomed here.

The last phase of our journey to Africa was a bit more adventurous, but successful and without problem. Leaving England, we had to downsize from 2 carry-ons each to 1, but the people from British Airlines were so nice about it with their British accents and didn't charge us for extra luggage, we didn't mind a bit. (although they did lose one of our additional carry ons that we checked). We flew 8 hours to Nairobi... sleeping, watching movies, and hanging out. A Kenyan guy named John picked us up from the airport and drove us to the Mayfield, a guest house in Nairobi for missionaries. After a very unfitful night sleep (excited/nervous about being in Africa, I suppose, and I was sure I was going to get bit by a malaria infested mosquito that first night), we had a grumpy and groggy breakfast, attempting to make small talk with two happy and excited orphanage-building missionaries from Texas. Back to the airport, we were unsuccessful in retrieving our lost luggage and then were informed an additional $500 would be charged for our extra luggage! Ouch! We retreated from the line to regroup and talk through our options. That was just too much money. However, aware of no other option but paying, we sadly returned to the line to pay and get on the plane. This time however, amazingly, the cost was only $125 (not bad, considering we had to pay nothing for our extra luggage our entire trip out). Welcome to Africa, where prices and rules can be arbitrary. We paid, got our boarding passes, and ran to meet the Broses and catch our plane.

And now, we are on day three here in Bujumbura. As it is the weekend and a big adjustment for us and jet lag recovery for the Broses, we've been keeping it pretty chill.

And I'm not really sure how to describe Africa. It is so completely foreign from anything I have ever seen or experienced that I am not really sure how to think or feel about it. So here's a few initial impressions and things I've seen (I'll try to post some pix soon):
- it's beautiful. quite warm. tropical. green. (we're at the beginning of rainy season)
- there are TONS of people here. everywhere. walking. cycling. carrying things on their heads. military guys with big guns. people wearing all kinds of clothes... from suits and brightly painted skirts to Eminem t-shirts and jeans.
- hanging with the Broses and Sara has been a blast. We love them already. Lots of good conversations about life in Africa, theology and the church, hiking and travels...
- we've met some other really great people who are doing missionary work here. These are people who we've been told (from those in the States who have been here) will be our friends. Our first "predestined" friendships. :) Brandon from Canada who works with reforestation. Simon and Lizzy from England who work with youth here. Doug from Canada who is a country director for the Mennonite missionaries here.
- I had my first run in with a cockroach (above our bed, unfortunately) but survived it (he didn't)... and learned about these little black and red bugs that if they sting you, can give you that feels like a chemical burn lasting for weeks.
- fruit. I love it. And there is lots of it here. In these almost 3 days, I've eaten bananas, mango,
pineapple, papaya, and several new kinds of fruit.
- power outages can be frequent. first night it was off and on and I think part of the town is still
without power.

It's all been a lot to take in. When we drive (with lots of jolts and bumps over the roads), I just sit and stare out the window. It feels like we're in a movie, and I have to pinch myself to remember that I am really here. I think things will feel more real once I get working and meeting more of the nationals here and into a bit of a schedule. For now, it's observing and learning and just taking it all in. It is good. Really.

Yesterday, Seth and I were talking about whether or not we "feel" that people are praying for us. And, yes, we decided that we do feel the support of people praying for us back home. The ease in traveling here. The welcome and comfort we feel here at the Broses. Our ability, as we have traveled, to support and encourage and have grace with one another. Seth's foot now healing so quickly. We thank those of you, back in the States, who have been praying so faithfully for us as we have travelled here. Thanks for thinking of us and sending us e-mails (even though we don't respond right away). Seth and I still talk about how amazed we are at our team at home, and we are SO incredibly thankful for all the love and support of you guys. We appreciate it, and really, we need it. (not just the money :)… but the updates, the e-mails, and the prayers. And “need” sounds pretty strong and kind of funny to admit, but the more I think about it, it is so true). Thank you!! that sounds kind of funny to admit, but the more I think about it, it is true). Thank you!! And we'll post more about our work and pictures of what we see and do once we get a bit more acclimated and into life/work here.

England

2007-03-13T16:32:00.000-07:00

Phase 2 of our journey to Burundi: England. Seth and I have spent the last few days in England, a brief hiatus to visit our friends here and pick up some appliances for our home in Bujumbura. Our time here has been enjoyable, comedic at times, and relaxing.

Amir and Sogol (Seth met Amir in Greece several years back when Amir was leaving Iran and trying to get to England) have been incredible hosts! There have been some moments of hilarity with the crazy mix of us as Americans (and our verbage/slang) and them as Persians speaking English (they speak very well!) with British/Persian accents. I kept thinking Amir was saying "I am naked!" when he was actually saying "I'm knackard"- I think that's how you spell it. I guess it is a British expression for being exhausted. I was just glad he wasn't naked.

Amir and Sogol:

Their small, but comfy one bedroom flat in Portsmouth (south England) has been home to us, and they have treated us like royalty! Seriously. We have eaten delicious Iranian food, spent a day in the town of Bath with them, and tonight they took us to an Iranian New Year's Party (which begins late March) that involved a typical Iranian stew, jumping over a fire, and hours of good conversation around a bonfire. I spent an hour talking with a British woman who speaks Farsi fluently, formerly worked for the US embassy in Tehran, and is the widow of an Iranian military man who had been tortured and killed during the Iranian Revolution. Those glimpses into her life... how do I even express my response?...

Already, I have been amazed at some of the people I have gotten to meet... relief workers in Baltimore, our Iranian friends and their acquaintances here... and it makes me hungry for the people I will get to meet in Africa. This sounds completely cheesy and cliche, but the world is so much bigger than what I have known in Oregon. I am already feeling smaller as a person. I have so much to learn. I absolutely LOVE meeting these people and hearing their stories of such risk, adventure, suffering, and yet of hope and desire. In one sense, we are all so different with our experiences and backgrounds and cultures... yet somehow, as Sogol and I were talking about the differences between Islam and Christianity, I was thinking that we are all alike in our humanity. All searching for what is true. Desiring connection with God. Needing relationship with others. It is all pretty basic and simply human.

So, here we are with some of our new friends at the Iranian New Year celebration:

And a tangent: I did take one day to tour London (Seth's foot is still bothering him a bit, so I went solo), and my dear friend Bekah gave me a map and a list of sites to see, so I was well equipped (thanks BT!!). It was a bit of adventure... two and a half hours by bus/train each way (I love traveling that way... getting to see the countryside, reading and dozing), and a fun day to see a good part of London... but honestly, not as fun alone. London is beautiful, but it is still a huge, pretty dirty, and quite modern city. An interesting mix of rich history and 21st centure technology. I sure enjoyed my day, but it wasn't an Oxford or a Prague. Here are a few pix from that excursion:

Mostly, though, we have stayed here in Portsmouth. Lying low with Amir and Sogol. Portsmouth lies in the south of England and borders the English Channel:

Words here that I heard often:

"Lovely." "Cheers!" "Jolly."

Favorite Quote of the Week:

"The more we are, the more fun we're gonna have!"-- Amir's rendition of "the more the merrier!"

And honestly, I think we are definitely ready and eager to get to Burundi. We aren't quite rested yet, as we have been in transition and in chaos for quite some time. (Conversation today: Seth: "Tell me about the wrinkliness around your eyes." Trina: "My WHAT?" Seth: "Those wrinkles that are under your eyes. Have they always been there?" Oh dear. That's what a gal likes to hear. I wonder if this time in Africa will make me age faster? Oh well.) Anyway, rested or not, we are ready. Appliances have been bought, we have had a sweet time with friends, and while we have loved being here, we are looking forward to what is next. We leave England Thursday and fly to Nairobi where we will meet Dan and Tambry (with World Relief) with whom we will fly to Bujumbura. So next you'll hear from us... we'll be in Africa!

Thanks to so many of you who have already sent encouraging e-mails and have been praying for us as we are in route. We sure feel the love. Thank you.

Baltimore

2007-03-07T06:55:00.000-08:00

"Baltimore, the best city in the world!"- boldly inscribed on a park bench in the downtown area. Not sure about that one, but we have sure enjoyed the feel of this city and the people here (mostly from World Relief) that we have met. I walk the 2 1/2 miles to work each morning with Allison, who is graciously hosting us with her funny and kind husband Richard (he's Canadian, which explains how kind he is!). Here is Allison and Richard (we think he looks like James Bond):

We walk briskly (it's cold and actually snowing today!) through Patterson Park (pictured below... Allison walking through... and random note: it has a pagoda)

up a hill of red brick, colonial-style townhouses with white shutters, and then down into the heart of the city. For me, a perfect start to the day. My gimp husband, who is still recovering from foot surgery (but doing much better), gets a ride in with Richard.

Each day here in downtown Baltimore, at World Relief Headquarters, has been absolutely PACKED with meetings. Meetings with people here whom we will be working with, phone conferences with partner churches, informational meetings about the work of world relief, and planning meetings about details and our specific work in Burundi and the AGL. We have been a bit overloaded with all the meetings, a bit frustrated with some of the lack of specifics at times, and very much excited about the work of World Relief and getting to be a part of it. Here is Seth and I in front of Head Quarters and a shot of downtown Baltimore, near the harbor:

And some random quotes from our time here in training that I liked:
"You don't have to understand something to accept the way it is."
"The log can be in a river a long time without becoming a crocodile."
Words I heard a lot in training:
"Nebulous." "Theoretical." "Hypothetical." "Ideally."

We also got to spend a bit of time with Seth's sister Jaime and her boyfriend Adam (pix below) before heading off to the airport with ALL our stuff. Off to phase 2: England.

Goodbye

2007-03-06T17:10:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure how one properly says goodbye. Or if there is a "proper" way to do it. Seth and I have said a lot of "goodbyes" this last week, and it is beginning to feel like such a funny word. One of those words you say or look at so much that you wonder if you are spelling or saying it right. As I've been thinking about saying goodbye and leaving people I love, I have had two interesting and opposing observations. One is that goodbyes are completely awkward and awful and unnatural. As humans, it seems that we are made to be in community, made to have those deep and significant heart ties with people. In that sense, goodbyes seem horrible and even wrong. Yet in contrast, I have been thinking that saying goodbye can be an incredibly healthy exercise as well. This whole process of saying goodbye has made me realize how much I appreciate and love many people in my life and that I hadn't realized how much I appreciated them or loved them until I am forced to say goodbye. Not great timing, for sure. I am thinking, though, that we should have moments like these where we realize our deep appreciation and love of people and where we are motivated to communicate those feelings. So, nothing conclusive, really. Just some random thoughts from a person saying goodbye. Here's a pix of my fam at the airport-- the people in my life I definitely love and appreciate the most:

COMMISSIONING

2007-02-11T17:01:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, Good Shepherd officially commissioned Seth and I for our work in Burundi. Steve Keels pulled us upfront at the end of each service... and each time we were both so incredibly encouraged by the words of him, Ryan Moffat, and Jonathan Martin. And to have people like them and all the people at Good Shepherd who stood up for us that day to pray for us and the work in Burundi.... again, it was overwhelming! The time was especially significant because the pastors and elders at Good Shepherd had my parents and grandparents come up to pray, as well, and that was very special!! Overall, the weekend was rich and as Seth said in his blog, Good Shepherd has never felt so much like family. What a family and how blessed we feel to be sent by such a community! Here's the link to the video of our commissioning in case you missed the action: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9192121701640831927

XCELERATION

2007-01-28T17:49:00.000-08:00

The last roller coaster I was on was at Knott's Berry Farm this last summer with a bunch of high school students during 5-day Bible clubs. It was a hot and sticky July day in California, and there, in the boardwalk at Knott's, we were waiting in the sun for a coaster called the "XCELERATOR." The line seemed to take forever because, get this, the ride kept breaking down and they had to stop and try to fix it! Not reassuring for a ride that launches you 205 feet in the air and then drops you immediately at a 90 degree angle. We wrestled with taking our chances on the ride or stepping out onto the safety of the boardwalk, but the day was about being there with students and experiencing the rides and so we decided to stay and chance our "fate" on the "Xcelerator." It was an experience. The ride lasts only 62 seconds, and it boasts a start up acceleration of 0 to 82 mph in 2.3 seconds! I'm not usually much of a screamer when it comes to roller coasters, but as my head jerked back and I felt the pressure of the air as I was hurled forward, my knuckles whitened and I gripped the bar in front of me. And, yes, I let out a scream.

There won't be many roller coasters in Africa (although I hear South Africa has some good roller coaster rides), but I tell the story to (of course- you get this) parallel the roller coaster ride to how I am feeling about life right now. It's a bit of a coaster. But isn't it often like that for all of us?

Much has happened this last week as Seth and I are now in the LAST STAGES of our time here! It seems like we have been moving forward slow and steady since October, when we became official Global Outreach Staff and began raising support, but this last week has sprung us ahead in hyper-speed (0-82mph!!)!

Here is what is new:
* Our tickets taking us out of country have been purchased! We fly out Saturday morning, March 3.
* We will be officially "commissioned" by our church (all services) this next weekend, February 3 and 4.
* We are having a party for all of our dear supporters, friends, and family at the Newcomb's, Saturday February 24 @ 7pm. Let us know if you'd like to come!

We have been INCREDIBLY encouraged and humbled at so many people who are coming alongside us-- in prayer, in supporting us financially, in cheering us on and believing in us. It's kinda funny, because we always hear missionaries say things like that, and now that we are experiencing it, we are overwhelmed by it. I don't know how else to put it. THANK YOU to all of you who have been so kind and encouraging and helping us "excelerate" forward. :)

On the way

2007-01-10T16:45:00.000-08:00

What this is:
an "official" blog to record the happenings and ministries and travels of Seth and Trina as we work in Africa. Here is where you, if you so desire, can keep in touch, see pix, and stay updated with what is going with us "in the Buj," namely Bujumbura, Burundi, where we will living in the next while.

What we're doing:
heading to Africa to work with World Relief (a Christian NGO) to support the Church and partners stateside in administrating aid to the African Great Lakes Region (Burundi, The Dominican Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda). Seth (see pix below) will use film to record and communicate the ministry in the AGL so that churches and people in the Western world can be aware, can pray, and can give financially. I, Trina, will assist with photography and will likely work in the role of "Church Coordinator"- helping bring together the African church with its' American partners and coordinating short-term teams that come through the region.

The excitement/The Purpose:
This sounds maybe a bit trite or cliche, but Seth and I want to do what we can to help those who hurt and to simply live our lives like Christ. We believe that our giftings/interests/abilities make us conducive to living overseas and the opportunity to work with World Relief has been an absolutely amazing and incredible answer to something we have been seeking for- for quite awhile. We are astounded that we will have the opportunity to work in such a place, with such people, and in a way that so suits who we have been made to be. It really has been amazing road.

Where we are at:
still in Gresham, but hoping and praying to head out soon. We met with the Global Outreach department of Good Shepherd yesterday to discuss finances, timing, tickets, roles there, etc. Here is the current plan (which we are learning flexes somewhat):
* We hope to leave sometime in mid-March.
* We are hoping/praying that the other 5 partner churches in the States (that help support World Relief in the AGL) will help support us financially to make that departure date possible.
* We are starting to get equipment together to leave.

And now, as we prepare, we continue to be involved with Good Shepherd... I'm working with Student Ministries still and Seth is doing films and assisting in the Global Outreach Department. And looking toward what is ahead... we are definitely excited, and yes, a bit nervous. We appreciate your thoughts and prayers as we make this leap. Thanks!