Monday, December 25, 2006
Brazil in Photos
I've posted the first round of pictures from Brazil in my photo gallery. More should come in the days ahead.
Extreme Vacations with Extreme Walkers in Brazil
Extreme Eating
In my last blog I mentioned that Micah had said the "Eating Tour of Londrina"” had started. Now I've got pictures to prove that indeed it has. With the arrival of Kim and Aaron on Thursday and Friday Micah has now gotten us on our schedule of restaurant visitations.
I've already mentioned the all you can eat pizza place so I won't mention it again.
Friday we went to a Brazilian "Pastel" place which are kind of like various types of breads stuffed with either meats and cheeses or fruits. They are then deep fried which makes them hot and crispy on the outside.
On Saturday we went to the juice shop in the mall which serves all kinds of fruit milkshakes. My personal favorite is the Mango one, but there are many other good ones. Micah's brother Aaron got a Banana and Avocado one which he didn't particularly enjoy. For lunch the same day we went to a "Salgado"” shop where you can get these ham and cheese and corn stuffed breads which are very good and also deep fried. Think of a doughnut with meats and cheeses in it instead of sweets.
On Christmas day we are going to a Brazilian Churrascaria which is an all you can eat meat and salad restaurant. The meats are all prepared over charcoal fires and waiters bring these large pieces of cooked meat around to the tables and cut you off a slice onto your plate as you request.
Extreme Travel Woes
My flights left Portland on Monday morning and I flew through Washington DC and then to Sao Paulo Brazil. Once I got to Sao Paulo I had about 1-1/2 hours to get through customs and immigration and then recheck my luggage onto my domestic Brazilian flight that would take me onto Londrina. In all my travels with Dave, I have never seen a check in line as long as the one I experienced in Sao Paulo that day. The news reports here say that it was over 1 kilometer long and took the average person 9 hours to get through it.
Fortunately, I was pulled out of the long line by the airline officials and was taken to the front since my plane was so close to departure. I ended up being 1-1/2 hours late arriving to Londrina giving me a total time in transit of around 23 hours from Portland to Londrina. But I had it really good.
My friends Aaron and Kim were 5 and 4-1/2 hours delayed respectively. Their total times in transit were around 39 to 40 hours each. They also got to stand in those incredibly long lines in Sao Paulo.
Now that we are in Londrina, Micah has been wanting us to ride bikes around the city. That's all well and good, but we've been having some major bike problems. Flat tires, broken chain derailers, broken seat posts, and broken pedals are just a few of the things we've faced. Currently we have 6 bikes out back of Micah's house and only 1 of them is working well enough to ride.
One saving grace from the bikes has been a car that we were able to borrow from one of the other missionary couples here who are gone on vacation. The car has been a life saver, but it isn't without it's problems too. It likes to die randomly in the worst places and it won't immediately start up again for a few minutes, so you just have to sit and wait it out.
Extreme Water Shortages
When you here phrases like "well, now all the toilets are flushed again" or "“we have just enough pop bottles so everybody can take a 1 liter shower" and "“save your paper napkins so everyone can wipe their dishes clean" it makes you grateful for the 'convenience'’ of running water back home.
The day I arrived in Londrina, the water at Micah and Marla's house had been shut off. It was soon turned back on for us that night, though, so we thought the worst was over. We were wrong.
On Friday morning the water was turned off again throughout the whole city. Fortunately, there is a tank on top of the house which is normally full and provides a day or two worth of water if it should happen to go out. That would be a day or two under normal circumstances, but right now we have 5 people sharing 2 bathrooms and there are extra dishes to be washed along with extra laundry. Needless to say, that reservoir tank didn't last so long for us. It is now Sunday night and we are just starting to get water pressure again. I've taken 3 showers using a grand total of 4 liters of water in the past three days.
In my last blog I mentioned that Micah had said the "Eating Tour of Londrina"” had started. Now I've got pictures to prove that indeed it has. With the arrival of Kim and Aaron on Thursday and Friday Micah has now gotten us on our schedule of restaurant visitations.
I've already mentioned the all you can eat pizza place so I won't mention it again.
Friday we went to a Brazilian "Pastel" place which are kind of like various types of breads stuffed with either meats and cheeses or fruits. They are then deep fried which makes them hot and crispy on the outside.
On Saturday we went to the juice shop in the mall which serves all kinds of fruit milkshakes. My personal favorite is the Mango one, but there are many other good ones. Micah's brother Aaron got a Banana and Avocado one which he didn't particularly enjoy. For lunch the same day we went to a "Salgado"” shop where you can get these ham and cheese and corn stuffed breads which are very good and also deep fried. Think of a doughnut with meats and cheeses in it instead of sweets.
On Christmas day we are going to a Brazilian Churrascaria which is an all you can eat meat and salad restaurant. The meats are all prepared over charcoal fires and waiters bring these large pieces of cooked meat around to the tables and cut you off a slice onto your plate as you request.
Extreme Travel Woes
My flights left Portland on Monday morning and I flew through Washington DC and then to Sao Paulo Brazil. Once I got to Sao Paulo I had about 1-1/2 hours to get through customs and immigration and then recheck my luggage onto my domestic Brazilian flight that would take me onto Londrina. In all my travels with Dave, I have never seen a check in line as long as the one I experienced in Sao Paulo that day. The news reports here say that it was over 1 kilometer long and took the average person 9 hours to get through it.
Fortunately, I was pulled out of the long line by the airline officials and was taken to the front since my plane was so close to departure. I ended up being 1-1/2 hours late arriving to Londrina giving me a total time in transit of around 23 hours from Portland to Londrina. But I had it really good.
My friends Aaron and Kim were 5 and 4-1/2 hours delayed respectively. Their total times in transit were around 39 to 40 hours each. They also got to stand in those incredibly long lines in Sao Paulo.
Now that we are in Londrina, Micah has been wanting us to ride bikes around the city. That's all well and good, but we've been having some major bike problems. Flat tires, broken chain derailers, broken seat posts, and broken pedals are just a few of the things we've faced. Currently we have 6 bikes out back of Micah's house and only 1 of them is working well enough to ride.
One saving grace from the bikes has been a car that we were able to borrow from one of the other missionary couples here who are gone on vacation. The car has been a life saver, but it isn't without it's problems too. It likes to die randomly in the worst places and it won't immediately start up again for a few minutes, so you just have to sit and wait it out.
Extreme Water Shortages
When you here phrases like "well, now all the toilets are flushed again" or "“we have just enough pop bottles so everybody can take a 1 liter shower" and "“save your paper napkins so everyone can wipe their dishes clean" it makes you grateful for the 'convenience'’ of running water back home.
The day I arrived in Londrina, the water at Micah and Marla's house had been shut off. It was soon turned back on for us that night, though, so we thought the worst was over. We were wrong.
On Friday morning the water was turned off again throughout the whole city. Fortunately, there is a tank on top of the house which is normally full and provides a day or two worth of water if it should happen to go out. That would be a day or two under normal circumstances, but right now we have 5 people sharing 2 bathrooms and there are extra dishes to be washed along with extra laundry. Needless to say, that reservoir tank didn't last so long for us. It is now Sunday night and we are just starting to get water pressure again. I've taken 3 showers using a grand total of 4 liters of water in the past three days.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Brazil update 1
I arrived in Brazil yesterday to an extra special greeting. I knew Micah and Marla would be picking me up and I figured Gwen (another missionary here) might be there to drive, but I didn't figure that my good friends the McKee’s would also be there waiting. The McKees are a family from Ireland who attended a three week long training session with me at OMS headquarters this past July. They have only been in Brazil for a little over 2 weeks now and are working at the OMS camp outside the city of Londrina. It was a great surprise to have a small welcoming party.
I managed to sleep about 8 hours of my 10 hour flight on the way down so when I arrived I was close to being right on schedule as far as sleep goes. When I arrived it was just a little past noon so later in the afternoon we decided to take the bus into town and do a little Christmas shopping at the mall. I was surprised by how much Christmas "stuff"” there was around. It'’s nothing compared to the United States, but still much more than I expected.
Today Micah informed me that the "“Eating Tour of Londrina"” was about to begin. I thought it had already started last night when we visited the neighborhood Ice Cream shop at 9pm but apparently it "officially"” starts tonight when we go to an all you can eat pizza restaurant. Micah has planned our schedule around who is available to eat at what restaurant when so this vacation should be one for the ages.
I managed to sleep about 8 hours of my 10 hour flight on the way down so when I arrived I was close to being right on schedule as far as sleep goes. When I arrived it was just a little past noon so later in the afternoon we decided to take the bus into town and do a little Christmas shopping at the mall. I was surprised by how much Christmas "stuff"” there was around. It'’s nothing compared to the United States, but still much more than I expected.
Today Micah informed me that the "“Eating Tour of Londrina"” was about to begin. I thought it had already started last night when we visited the neighborhood Ice Cream shop at 9pm but apparently it "officially"” starts tonight when we go to an all you can eat pizza restaurant. Micah has planned our schedule around who is available to eat at what restaurant when so this vacation should be one for the ages.
Friday, December 01, 2006
A Trip for Learning
Some people have asked me what my recent quick trip to Bangladesh was all about. To answer that question, I need to refer back to my Africa trip earlier this fall.
While Dave and I were in South Africa, we learned of the plans the OMS South Africa team has for establishing a micro-enterprise/credit program within the rural churches of South Africa and eventually expanding into other African countries as the program grows. The program that these men envision starting is very similar to a program that has already been underway in Bangladesh for several years now. So naturally my boss Dave suggested that these guys make a trip to Bangladesh to check it out and gather information. After discussing the dates and noting the busyness of everybody’s schedules, it was agreed upon that I should accompany the men to Bangladesh to act as the introducing party. I also got to act as the English interpreter on occasion; that is to translate between South African English and Bengali English using my American English. (They all sound different but I was the only person there who had heard all three before.)
We had three main objectives that we hoped to accomplish on this trip. The first was to learn as much about Micro-Credit and Micro-enterprise as possible. (At the bottom of this post I’ll explain briefly what these terms mean.) The second was to learn as much as possible about the leadership training programs that are taking place in Bangladesh. Finally the third was to let God teach us anything else He wanted. I would say all three goals were met.
The most exciting part of the trip for me was seeing God fulfill our third goal. While learning about the micro-credit and training programs were big on our list, the third goal was exciting because we didn’t know what form it might take. As it turns out, it involved the children.
In Bangladesh, the church has taken a huge role in educating and caring for children. They have set up many schools (116 serving 4,629 kids) and orphanages (5 serving 616 kids) all aimed at caring for the kids who can’t care for themselves. A lasting comment that was made more than once from the South African guys was the statement that they needed to go home and think more highly about taking care of Africa’s children. This is exciting to me seeing as how a huge percentage of Africa’s population is under the age of 14. (over 42% in Mozambique, 29% in South Africa, 42% Rwanda, 42% Kenya, and 46% in Burundi just to name a few!)
A short explanation on Micro-Credit and Micro-Enterprise as I understand them. These are definitely not the end all explanations, just a very simple overview!
Micro-Credit is a system of setting up small loans for people of low means so that they can better their lives by acquiring additional capital to invest in business ventures. For example someone might borrow enough money to purchase a cow and then use the profits from the sale of the milk to repay the loan over a short period of time.
Micro-Enterprise is a system of training people of low mean how to start a business and how to wisely invest in a business venture. You might train the person how to take care of the cow and how to milk it etc…
Often times, micro-credit and micro-enterprise work hand in hand and can complement each other very well.
While Dave and I were in South Africa, we learned of the plans the OMS South Africa team has for establishing a micro-enterprise/credit program within the rural churches of South Africa and eventually expanding into other African countries as the program grows. The program that these men envision starting is very similar to a program that has already been underway in Bangladesh for several years now. So naturally my boss Dave suggested that these guys make a trip to Bangladesh to check it out and gather information. After discussing the dates and noting the busyness of everybody’s schedules, it was agreed upon that I should accompany the men to Bangladesh to act as the introducing party. I also got to act as the English interpreter on occasion; that is to translate between South African English and Bengali English using my American English. (They all sound different but I was the only person there who had heard all three before.)
We had three main objectives that we hoped to accomplish on this trip. The first was to learn as much about Micro-Credit and Micro-enterprise as possible. (At the bottom of this post I’ll explain briefly what these terms mean.) The second was to learn as much as possible about the leadership training programs that are taking place in Bangladesh. Finally the third was to let God teach us anything else He wanted. I would say all three goals were met.
The most exciting part of the trip for me was seeing God fulfill our third goal. While learning about the micro-credit and training programs were big on our list, the third goal was exciting because we didn’t know what form it might take. As it turns out, it involved the children.
In Bangladesh, the church has taken a huge role in educating and caring for children. They have set up many schools (116 serving 4,629 kids) and orphanages (5 serving 616 kids) all aimed at caring for the kids who can’t care for themselves. A lasting comment that was made more than once from the South African guys was the statement that they needed to go home and think more highly about taking care of Africa’s children. This is exciting to me seeing as how a huge percentage of Africa’s population is under the age of 14. (over 42% in Mozambique, 29% in South Africa, 42% Rwanda, 42% Kenya, and 46% in Burundi just to name a few!)
********************
A short explanation on Micro-Credit and Micro-Enterprise as I understand them. These are definitely not the end all explanations, just a very simple overview!
Micro-Credit is a system of setting up small loans for people of low means so that they can better their lives by acquiring additional capital to invest in business ventures. For example someone might borrow enough money to purchase a cow and then use the profits from the sale of the milk to repay the loan over a short period of time.
Micro-Enterprise is a system of training people of low mean how to start a business and how to wisely invest in a business venture. You might train the person how to take care of the cow and how to milk it etc…
Often times, micro-credit and micro-enterprise work hand in hand and can complement each other very well.
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