And our not-so favourites?
Long flights; stolen belongings; toothbrushes crawling with
ants; cockroaches; (quite cute) lizards in the bedroom; having to simply walk
past people with terrible disabilities begging in the market.........and
‘processing’ everything now we’re back
Thursday 9th February
Jez drove us to Heathrow with our 6 huge suitcases filled
with approx. 70% of our 12 months supply of toiletries; presents (chocolate,
cheddar cheese, chocolate biscuits, marmalade, sweets); and books and toys for
Kings School.
Our flight left at 7pm, and we arrived in Nairobi early on
Friday morning, very tired, in time to see the sun rise :0)
Friday 10th February
After hanging around Nairobi airport for a couple of hours
we boarded the plane for Bujumbura (capital of Burundi). These planes are much
smaller, with just 2 seats either side of the aisle (they are not 2-seater
planes though!). The turbulence is always pretty bad, and I don’t enjoy these
planes much although the view over Rwanda is amazing. They sometimes fly
Nairobi-Buj-Kigali and sometimes Nairobi-Kigali-Buj. In September we stopped
first at Kigali, where they clean the plane whilst you wait (in your seat),
this time was straight to Buj, which I didn’t expect.
Lost and/or stolen?
Sadly, somewhere between the departure lounge in Nairobi and
Bujumbura arrivals, we had some documents and valuables stolen, which was
really not a great end to a long journey, or a great start to our trip :0( Even
more annoying is that we cannot claim for this on our travel insurance as we were unable to obtain the correct documentation for reporting the loss.
A lesson in trusting God
Our Burundian friends who met us at the airport were really
encouraging and so Godly in their response. One commented that I seemed so
calm, but inside I could feel a battle raging in my heart with God telling me I
only needed him and to keep trusting him, and the enemy undermining my
confidence and provoking feelings of guilt, shame and stupidity. Needless to
say this was really hard, although of course eventually God won, filling me
with his peace and enabling me to hold firm to his promises:
“If
I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,
Even
there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.” Psalm
139v9-10
I’m really aware how ‘religious’ this may all sound,
especially if you’re reading this and you’re not a Christian, or not sure. But
I’m increasingly finding that I have no option but to cling to God, because
there are so many uncertainties and scary things facing us as we look to the
next 12 months and beyond. The one thing that will always remain the same is
God :0) his love, mercy, goodness and unfailing faithfulness – he is totally
trustworthy!
R & R
After meeting our host, an American working in a Christian
conference centre, we unpacked and then headed to Club du Lac Tanganyika for
lunch and a swim, a very western hotel/restaurant/pool complex on the edge of
the (lake) beach (link)
Whilst we were there we were privileged to see the well
known Burundian drummers performing for some kind of official function at the
hotel. The sound they make is just amazing. Although all I really wanted was
some peace and quiet, the sound is actually really soothing.
In the evening we ate curry and traditional Kirundi food
with our lovely host and her housemate, another American girl teaching at a
local school. The boys went to bed early, absolutely exhausted and Harry quite
tearful, saying “Mummy I’m really sorry, but I don’t like Africa” (!), but I
stayed up chatting to the girls and 2 other ex-pats who came over.
Saturday 11th February
Curfew and pancakes!
We had a very lazy morning, as there is a curfew until
10.30am on Saturdays. There is no free rubbish collection, and the areas around
peoples’ homes can get quite messy. So until 10.30 every Saturday you are
supposed to clear up around your area. I have no idea how effective this is,
and Burundians and ex-pats views vary. The boys enjoyed American pancakes for
breakfast, and throughout the trip loved the amount of pineapple and mango they
were able to have – so much sweeter than what we get in the UK.
Catching up with Burundian friends and shopping for
Valentine’s Day
Our Burundian friends Dr Aline and Dr Euloge ‘picked’ us at
midday and we went back to their home, where Harry played Uno with their
2 younger sons, whilst Andrew went to the market with
their eldest son, who is 16, and the family’s driver for safety
reasons. Aline and Euloge’s eldest daughter is away at boarding school doing
International Baccalaureate as there was no sixth form education available in
Burundi until September 2011. Their eldest son's class were doing a secret Santa kind of
thing for Valentine’s Day, which was why he wanted to go to the market!
Bujumbura Central Market
Imagine a beautiful farmers market, with check cloths,
stripy awnings, beautifully hand-produced goods in stylish packaging, the smell
of freshly baked artisan bread wafting through the air.... Bujumbura central
market is about as far from that image as you could get! It is noisy, smelly,
cramped, a depository for the dregs of western charity shops (what they can’t
sell often gets shipped to the third world), and, sadly, full of people begging
– mothers with their (or someone else’s) terribly thin children, children who
should be at school (education is free from 6-11, but nothing is that simple);
men and women with debilitating disfigurements and disabilities.......but it is
also utterly fascinating and certainly a memorable experience, and you can buy
pretty much anything!
Kirundi food
We had a late lunch of typical (middle class) Kirundi food –
rice, French green beans (ie. ‘fine’ beans, not runner beans), chips, salad (shredded
lettuce in mayonnaise type dressing, tomatoes, cucumber and avocado), beef in
thick gravy, washed down with plenty of ‘coca’ and ‘marakoocha’ (passion fruit
juice). We really enjoy Kirundi food, although it is pretty much the same for
every meal. Tea/evening meal seems to be bread, ham, cheese, salad (as before),
jam and occasionally small donuts; real butter is available but quite pricey,
so people tend to use ‘Blue Band’, a margarine that is much cheaper and doesn’t
require refrigeration............It’s worth saying that the average Burundian
has one, maybe two meals a day, of rice and beans (similar to aduki beans).
Malnutrition and rickets (from lack of bone-strengthening calcium) are
extremely common, even though there is such a variety of fresh fruit and veg
available, relatively cheaply.
Dancing
In the evening we went to a folk dance (very like and
English Barn dance) organised by an American missionary couple whose blog I’ve
been following for the last few months, Paul and Rebecca. It was good to
finally meet them, and the dancing was great fun! Their French is really good,
and they’re able to get lots of practice as their children go to the French
school. Fortunately dancing instructions were in French and English, although I
still frequently found myself in the wrong place much of the time! Paul teaches
an adult ballet class one evening per week, which I am keen to find out more
about.
Sunday 12th February
Our new church
We went to Bujumbura International Community Church (BICC)
for the morning service. The service is conducted throughout in French and
English, but we also sung in Kirundi. The songs are very simple choruses led by
a worship group (vocals, keys, guitar), sung in one language and then repeated
in another. It’s great for language learning, for the words that really matter,
and, although it takes a bit of getting used to, I really enjoy worshipping
with such a diverse group of people, all praising the same God together. There
are often familiar songs, but sung in a different language.
Ananias and Sapphira – God looks at the inside not the
outside
We were looking forward to hearing Scott, a Canadian missionary, preach,
and he gave a great talk on Ananias and Sapphira. He would say a sentence in
English, and the translator would repeat it in French. Obviously it takes twice
as long, but I liked having the extra time to take in what he was saying. His
main message was that what matters to God is what’s on the inside (our hearts)
rather than outward appearances. Ananias and Sapphira sold some land and
presented what they said was the full amount of money they’d received in
payment to the disciples. They wanted to seem generous and humble, but God saw
what was in their hearts, with pretty severe consequences (the full story is in
Acts chapter 5 in the Bible).
Scott and Danica
Jez and I met Scott, his wife Danica and their two young
sons when we visited in September. They had just arrived from Canada and were
adjusting to life in a new culture. I’ve also been following their blog and, I
hope, gleaning insights into some of the challenges that we will face in
August. Danica is trained as a doctor, specialising in maternity care (I hope
I’ve got that right Danica!), and works in one of the government hospitals in
Bujumbura. The stories she tells are fascinating, and I asked her if I could share
one of the recent ones with you, where she compares women’s birth experiences
in the west with those in Burundi (think extreme One Born every Minute...)
Click here for 'Who needs an MD anyway? The janitor can do the job'
Harry makes some new friends
It was fantastic to see so many friends at BICC :0) this
will be our church whilst we’re in Buj, although we will sometimes go to more
traditional African services at Jabe church, which is part of ARM, with whom we
will be working. When it was time for the children to leave for Sunday School,
Harry was really reluctant, even though I promised to stay with him. However,
once he had been introduced to some other English speaking boys, he was happy
for me to leave him, which was great as I would have missed Scott’s talk
otherwise. At the end of church I couldn’t find him as he was playing football
(the universal language!) with his new friends, boys who will be in his class
at school.
Settlers of Catan and tea with Debbie and David
After lunch we spent a happy afternoon playing Setlers of
Catan ( a new game to us)with our host, before going to tea with Debbie and
David and their two young children. Debbie is head of Kings
School primary, and David is head of Kings School secondary (the
school principal, Andrew, oversees the whole school). I was able to give Debbie
all our toiletries to store, and she was thrilled with the books and toys we
brought for the school. Meanwhile the boys caught up on the football, and we
were able to use the internet at last.
Is it right to eat Hippo???
This was also the day when Andrew got to try hippo meat.
I’ve heard conflicting stories about whether they’re endangered or not...but
apparently it was delicious!
At bed time Harry said “Mummy, I suppose if we stayed longer
than two years it would be okay...” What a turn around from Thursday evening!
Monday 13th February
Kings School (English-speaking International school,
established to educate genocide orphans)
Debbie took us for the grand tour of Kings School in the
morning. It was great for the boys to see it all, and especially encouraging to
see how the new secondary school is getting on. The scaffolding and building
practices have to be seen to be believed, not a hard hat or high vis vest in
sight!
Amahoro Sewing Project
We also popped into Amahoro (peace), a women’s sewing
project, where they sell the most beautiful bags and all sorts of other things
made from traditional Burundian fabrics, as well as some jewellery.
Hippos in Lake Tanganyika
We headed to a very western style restaurant called Ubuntu
for lunch, where the boys enjoyed pizza. Ubuntu overlooks the lake, and we got
to see a family of hippos playing near the edge of the lake. We’ve since been
told that this is not all that usual, and there were a lot of locals standing
at the edge of the lake watching. They were far closer than might be considered
wise, as hippos are surprisingly fast, and sadly fatal attacks do occur at the
lake from time to time, but still it was awesome to see :0) We also had two
storks to keep us company whilst we ate, as you do...
On Monday afternoon we left our host to stay with Alison, an English missionary whom we have got to know fairly well since Jez
first met her in February 2011, and her extremely enthusiastic one year old
Labrador Millie :0)
It was great to catch up with Alison, and she was able to
give me lots of advice about what to expect when we move in August, and also
other people whom it would be good to link up with.
Tuesday 14th February
Valentine’s day – and our second consecutive one apart, as
Jez and I take turns to be in Burundi on Feb 14th - hopefully next
year we can spend it there together!
The boys spent the morning at the school, Andrew refereeing
football for years 3 and 4 and helping out in Reception, and Harry with year 6,
his class in September. I went to the market to buy fabric with a Burundian
lady who didn’t speak English. This meant that I HAD to speak French, and I
found that actually I can remember more than I thought, and definitely enough
to get by. However I’ve realised that I have to be prepared to be laughed at
(not unkindly) when I get it wrong.....
Worms!
Tuesday evening was spent at Aline and Euloge’s home again,
and this time we took a game called Worms (thank you Susie and Rory), much to
the amusement of our friends! We were offered tea with our evening meal, which
we politely refused (we’re not tea drinkers), leaving our friends astonished
that we were English but did not drink tea!
Wednesday 15th February
We spent a quiet morning packing, and listening in awe to
the tremendous racket made by a torrential downpour on a neighbourhood of tin
roofs, as the rainy season began.
Our flight left at 5pm (although we were advised to arrive
considerably earlier as sometimes it leaves an hour early, for no reason!!).
This time we all got a bit more sleep, and arrived back at Heathrow at 6am on
Thursday, to be greeted not only by Jez, but by Cas and Fliss too, which was
really lovely :0)
Since then...
Thank you for all your prayers and support over this trip.
Whilst the boys and I had a great time, I have found it hard being back in the
UK. Our plans are becoming more concrete, and this is really going to happen. I
frequently feel overwhelmed by how much we need to do (today I booked the
remainder of Caspar and Felicity’s vaccinations – Cas has 8, Fliss has 9), and
also by how inadequate I feel.
A friend recently shared this, which I have found helpful:
Jacob was a cheater. Peter had a temper. David had an affair. Noah got
drunk. Jonah ran from God. Paul was a murderer. Gideon was insecure. Miriam was
a gossiper. Martha was a worrier. Thomas was a doubter. Sarah was impatient.
Elijah was depressed. Moses stuttered. Zaccheus was short. Abraham was old, and
Lazarus was dead....
God doesn't call the qualified.
He qualifies the CALLED!
Thank you heavenly Father that you have called us to follow you. We are NOT
qualified and NOT perfect and yet you still call us to work with you. Thank you
for how you are working in my life. You are AMAZING God 
