Life in Africa

I thought I would begin by sharing a glimpse of what our living situation was like while we were in Africa.  It was actually much more beautiful and comfortable than what I had myself mentally prepared for.  We lived in a compound so to speak with eleven or twelve others.  A few people have their own little homes and others have dorm type accommodations.  We had our own small living space with our own bathroom.  It was perfectly fine with plenty of privacy.  Samuel's travel crib worked great too.  The building in the picture above was the main kitchen with the veranda off the back.  It also had an outdoor brick oven for cooking and grilling.  We all ate dinner out there every evening together.  

This scripture verse is etched in one of the steps.

it reads...

The fruit of that righteousness will be peace;
   its effect will be quietness and confidence forever.
My people will live in peaceful dwelling places,  in secure homes,
   in undisturbed places of rest.

That's exactly what we felt there - peace.  Life was so simple.  No TV.  Limited internet. We were far removed from so many distractions we often face. It was refreshing! The beauty of simplicity came alive.  Good rest. Good food.  Beautiful sunrises and sunsets.  Flowers. Trees. People. Relationships.  Love!  

Samuel had a big time.  He was in heaven with all the people and animals.  This is him standing on the veranda looking out across the compound.  Beyond the fence, you can see for miles.  

There were several dogs.  They're all healthy friendly dogs but great for detecting snakes and unwanted trespassers.  Thankfully we never saw a snake while we were there.  I was always scanning the ground just in case though.  The dog's are supposedly pretty good at finding them first and signaling by barking.  This dog's name was Samwise aka "Sam."  These two Sams got along just fine.  Samwise was more than patient with the other Sam as you can see.  

 I didn't do a great job at getting many pics of the group, but this little boy was a sweetheart.  His family is part of the team there and Samuel just loved him.  Their family has one other boy a little older and they've adopted a little Mozambican girl who's two years old.  Neat people who are making a huge difference in the area.  

Daddy and Samuel enjoying the cool mornings.  We were up with the sun and the roosters most mornings and went to bed rather early.  We found ourselves enjoying this schedule.  It was winter while we were there which meant it was in the high 40's at night and got up to low 80's some afternoons.  

                            Tyson is helping build a fire in the outdoor wood burning oven.

This was another great friend we made.  Her family has also been living in Africa for years doing great work.  They're getting ready to build a secondary school for the teenagers in the villages nearby.  Samuel just loved her and her family too.  We all did, but they were all so open and sweet to Samuel.  It warmed our hearts.  

This path was right next to the compound and we enjoyed several early morning walks and afternoon hikes up through there.  Tyson enjoyed jogging that trail often too.  I (Gina) hiked with a few people one afternoon to a waterfall that's a mile or two through the bush.  Beautiful!

That poor cat!  

Can you see the cat in this picture?  Hint:  Look in the green chair.  Run kitty!

One challenge we had was figuring out how to juggle caring for Samuel and managing the rest of our time.  Even though it seemed fairly safe with room for him to run around, we still didn't feel we could take our eyes off of him for long.  Watching him was constant and exhausting at times.  It was a real team effort for Tyson and me.  More than when we are at home for sure.  I captured this photo of Tyson sitting out doing a little reading because those times seemed few and far between.

There was one washer that we all shared, and we hung our clothes on a clothes line.  Don't I look domestic??   I came to enjoy hanging our clothes out.  It was quite therapeutic.  The African sun dries them quickly too. :)

This little house was for the 3 pet rabbits and several doves.  Samuel was doing his daily check on the little critters.  Between the dogs, rabbits, cats, and horses (we'll introduce them soon) there was no shortage of entertainment and excitement for Samuel.  

This was a typical seen in the afternoons just before dinner.  Dogs running around and the children playing.   Our life for that short month was oh so sweet.  It had it's difficulties and inconveniences and

challenges for sure but there was a peace and a refreshment as well.  There's more to share about the rest of our time in Mozambique but I wanted to start with where we lived and what it was like.  This was a little peek inside...