Victoria Falls Trip

We know we are a bit behind in our blog posts, so we thought we should catch you up on our trip to Vic Falls which was a couple weeks ago! We had an amazing time on holiday at Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe with our team. We really were able to see & do some awesome things and relax. 

From Rundu, we drove through the Caprizi strip in Namibia and into Botswana. The majority of our drive through Botswana was through Chobe Game Park which has the largest population of elephants in all of Africa. And guess what... we were able to stop and watch many elephants from the road and keep a lookout for ones crossing the road! Seeing elephants in their natural habitat is definitely an experience to be had. They are so huge that it is hard not to be awestruck. After passing through Botswana, we crossed into Zimbabwe where along the road we were actually able to see two lions! This is truly amazing, since lions are very hard to see in nature and also while driving 80 kph. :) By far, it was the highlight of our drive! (Although, since it was dark we couldn't get any pictures... sorry to dissapoint!)

While in Zim, we stayed in an awesome backpackers hostel named Victoria Falls Backpackers. We'd suggest this place to anyone going. All 7 of us stayed in The Attic which was literally an attic of a thatch roof building. It was awesome to all bunk together and giggle into the wee hours of the night while each laying in our mosquito-netted twin beds! :) I felt like I was in college again.

 Our first full day at Vic Falls, we decided to all go to the bridge that connects ZIM to Zambia to watch the bungi jumpers. I'm sure you can guess what happened next. :) Yup, Mark went bungi jumping and conquered the 3^rdhighest bungi in the world! He was exhilerated and I was a nervous wreck. It was awesome to see... I definitely married adventure! 

BUNGI!!

Loving our day at Vic Falls

 The same day we also went to see the falls. The park throughout Vic Falls was breathtaking. Walking through the park seems like you are walking through a rainforrest (a great change from the dessert of Rundu!) You can get views of the falls from every angle... even walking up to the edge of the canyon to see the falls. The falls themselves are phenomenal and almost unimaginable. It is a place we felt so fortunate to see. And by the time you are done, you are soaked from the mist of the falls...

The beauty of Vic Falls

At The Boma

 That night we all went to a resturaunt called The Boma. The Boma is a themed resturaunt which features traditional African clothing, food, and entertainment. It was an awesome night! We got to eat wharthog, croccodile, water buffalo, & impala. (Best by far is wharthog!) We danced and played drums and even got our faces painted. It was by far the best dinner experience we've ever had and it was fun to share it with our friends.

Us with our trainer Steven and our Elephant Masuwe!

The next day Mark and I went on an interactive elephant safari experience. This is secretly what I wanted to do all along, and it was nice to get away with Mark for a few hours to experience something new together. During the safari we rode on our elephant, named Masuwe, with her trainer for about an hour. Of course I took most of that hour to get all sorts of elephant facts from the trainer. For example, did you know that elephants get 6 sets of teeth throughout their life and a female elephant is pregnant for 22 months!?! It was so fun to ride an elephant, and the funniest part was feeling the rumble of its fart underneath you. Definitely memorable. :) Afterwards, we were able spend some time with Masuwe and feed her. Elephants are truly amazing creatures.

Adam, Hannah, Jules, Mark, Laura, McKenzie, & David

 That night we had a chance to go to a lodge and go swimming (thanks Adam and Hannah!) Getting a chance to swim in Africa is a major treat and we loved every minute of it. We ate an awesome buffet, and even had a chance to take our Christmas photo! Overall, it was sweet vacation... and gave us lots of time to relax and have some fun. We were so thankful for the opportunity, and will never forget it! It was also one of our last nights with Adam and Hannah before they returned home to Canada. Guys, you are very missed and we hope you had a great 1^st Christmas as husband and wife!

The OVC Project...

Kids playing at the OVC

The Orphan and Vulnerable Children Project is located in Kaisosi village, and over the past few months has become the highlight of our afternoons on Tuesday and Friday. On those days, we all pile into the project bakkie around 2 in the afternoon and make the 6 km drive to Kaisosi from our homes in Tutengeni (an area in Rundu). Some days when we get there we are waiting for the kids to arrive, and other days they are jumping and climbing all over the bakkie before we can even get out!

Over the past month we've really tried to encourage the volunteers with bringing some structure to the project days. We have some awesome volunteers that are between 15-18 years old. Some of them just live in Kaisosi, and others were part of the project themselves at one point. They have a real passion to see the children of the project grow spiritually, educationally, mentally, and physically and we (the missionaries) are supporting and encouraging the ideas and gifts of these volunteers. The awesome part is that these volunteers have become some of our closest friends here in Namibia and we are so happy to have met them. Mark, especially, has grown fond of these guys and often goes down to Kaisosi during the week days to teach them computers, help them haul mud for their huts, play soccer, ride bikes, or just hang out.

Daniel teaching a bible lesson

The past few weeks at project have been real fun. The volunteers decided to have 3 different stations for the kids to rotate through during each project day. The first is sports. We have a soccer field that most times we play soccer on (this is Africa!) but other times we change it up and play some other games too. :) The second station is held under a big tree where the kids are taught a bible lesson. They teach it in both English and Lucazi. The last station is arts and crafts and is held in the project school room. Watching the kids color is inspiring... nothing like back home in the States! The kids are more than eager to color (because coloring is a luxury, not a daily event). It is a privilege to see their creativity and raw talent drawn out on paper...

After all the fun :) the kids line up and get ready for their meal. There are usually about 200 children at project each day and the volunteer cooks have to start cooking hours and hours before the children arrive. These women cook pap (maize meal) and usually fish for the children and are truly dedicated to their task. Right now there is a cap of children accepted at the OVC project due to funds available, so before each meal the children that are registered with the project get a mark on their hands which shows they can get a meal. Many children come to project just to play that are not registered, and therefore must be turned away when it is meal time. We all stand in a line and hand out their plates of food and usually have to help the little children find a spot on the floor away from the door to begin eating. If you don't, the little kids when handed their plate will just plop right now and begin eating among the crowd of children.

Mark leading the kids to get their meal

This past Tuesday was the last project day until the new year since the children are done with school and on their holiday. Most times these children are busy helping their families in their farms preparing and seeding their land, or visiting other family in other villages. We had a small Christmas celebration and the kids got to eat rice, cabbage, and potatoes – a treat! This project day we had 50 additional children come that were not registered, and we were going to feed them but didn't have enough food. It was so horrible looking into their eyes and trying to find the words to say sorry. Some of the volunteers stood by the doors because the children were trying to run in to eat off of the other kids plates. We could only hold them back for so long before they pushed through the doors to come in. I had to run up and rescue 3 little toddlers who had gotten pushed to the floor and were getting run over. Watching these children scramble for food was something I cannot describe and will never forget.

Mark and I have really grown to love this project and the children here. This Wednesday, Mark took 24 guys from Kaisosi in the bakkie to Mavanze village to play soccer with another OVC Project. They wanted to gain some insight and ideas from another project nearby. This project, unlike Kaisosi which is supported by the local church, is funded by a Namibian diamond mine. Mark said you could see the difference because the Mavanze team was playing in uniforms and all had soccer shoes. Our team was playing in regular clothes, some barefoot, and some even playing in their boxers because they didn't have shorts. Even though the Kaisosi team lost 4-2, Mark said they had the better team :) and Mark even scored the only Kaisosi goal in the first half! Mark said on the drive back all the guys were yelling 'hey hey hey' and Mark felt like he was in college again. :)

Berta and Maki

The same day, I had two girls from the project over our house to celebrate their passing of their grade this year. Their names are Maki (13) and Berta (12) and they are some of the cutest girls I have ever met. I met them after work at the local grocery store. They came to our house and we made PB&J for lunch- their first time ever eating it! The girls taught Laura and I how to make pap, and we taught them how to make brownies. It was so fun to have innocent, curious, and giggly girls running around our house! We sang songs and danced and even taught them how to do jumping jacks – yes, it was a random day. :) The girls even took showers (a major treat for them since they live in the village). You could tell it was not a daily activity for them because our bathroom looked like a whale was splashing around in there! I told the girls that and they couldn't stop giggling. It was a great day all around. It got Laura and I thinking about maybe starting up a bible study/hang out time with girls from Kaisosi that are around that age. There is a huge need for mentoring that age of girls and we'd love some prayers for that as we see how it might play out.

Tomorrow our team is heading to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe! We are all so excited to have a few days to relax and have some fun. Please pray for our safety during our travels. We look forward to sharing our experiences when we return!

Throwing Mud!

Mark shoveling mud with Kahilu

 Our friend Ernest, who lives out in Kaisosi village, has been working hard building his own mud hut. When we heard, we all eagerly volunteered our services to help in any way possible!! So, one day this past week Mark took the project bakkie out to Kaisosi and helped Ernest load the truck with dry mud to use for his hut.

Laura and I stomping mud!

 Then a few days later, we all made the trip out to Kaisosi to help mud his last wall! First we unloaded all the dry mud onto the floor of the hut in a pile. Then Ernest added a whole bunch of water to it and then...us girls jumped in and began mixing it with our feet! (I felt like I Love Lucy in the episode when she stomps grapes!) Then, when it was the perfect consistency, we all grabbed piles of it and molded it into nice snowball sized mud balls. Then, we pushed them down inbetween the sticks and molded them into place. The best part was at the end when you have to “fill in the gaps” of where air and light were getting through. 

Mark and Laura working away! :)

 Ernest made a thinner mud and we just grabbed piles of it and threw it onto the walls! Ernst, Kahilu, Dockie, Maki, Laura, Hannah, Adam, Mark and myself were all inside at the same time throwing mud – it was somewhat chaotic and of course messy, but an absolute awesome time! It was so refreshing to be involved in doing something important, but knowing that you couldn't do it wrong... if there was a hole or a big gap... just throw mud at it! :)

Ernst's finished hut

The entire afternoon was so fun. We've really grown to love these guys and are enjoying our friendships with them too. While standing in Kaisosi village covered in mud, I couldn't help thinking that it's a great feeling knowing you might not totally fit in and you stick out like a sore thumb, but you do belong and are 100% welcomed.

Ernst, Mark, Julie, Kahilu, Adam, Hannah, and Laura

Cluck Cluck & Cock-a-doodle-doo!

Our photo with the rooster!

Much has happened in Rundu since our last blog entry, Thanksgiving being one of them! We definitely missed our family and friends on Thanksgiving and had many thoughts of being home wearing a cozy sweater and eating warm pumpkin pie but no worries!! -- we probably had one of our most memorable Thanksgivings yet! Any guesses? Well, our entire missionary team decided since we are in Africa we might as well eat like Africans and kill our own chicken and rooster for Thanksgiving dinner. 

We realize that our current environment is much more like how God intended it to be, and if you would eat meat it would not be as frequent or as simply accessible as how it is in the western world. Living in the States makes you so detached from where your food comes from, and it was so refreshing to know exactly where it came from this Thanksgiving!! (The makers of the doctumentary Food, Inc. would be so proud!)

McKenzie and I plucking the rooster

Our Thanksgiving celebration began Saturday morning when our rooster and chicken arrived on bicycle. :) McKenzie and our Namibian friend Earnest showed up from the village with our dinner gracefully hung off the handlebars... and Kado, McKenzie and David's dog, was wrapped on McKenzie's back like a baby! It definitely was worth a few pictures! Soon after we began our preparations. First we made a fire and boiled two big pots of water. Then, bravely our culinary expert McKenzie killed our rooster. She tried to mimic to the best of her ability the method shown in Food Inc. by hanging it upside down from a tree and slitting its throat/neck. I give her a lot of credit because I couldn't have done it. After seeing that method, we thought it took too long and didn't actually seem as humane as chopping its head off with an ax (which is more common). So, Adam killed the chicken next using that method. All I can say is seeing a chicken running and jumping around the yard with its head chopped off is something we all will never forget... and we have the video to prove it (with our screams and all!)  

Ernst, Alysse, Mark, & David plucking away!

After all the excitement, we dunked the chickens in the pot of boiled water and then right after de-feathered them. This was the process Mark and I did and I have to say, it was not as bad as I envisioned. After the de-feathering, gutting, and cleaning, our chickens looked just like they do in the store! (Which reminds me of something funny a kid here told me a few weeks back. We were talking about skin color... and he looked at me and said “You look like a raw chicken you buy at the store.” --I took it as a compliment!)

I cooked the chicken in our oven while the rooster was being cooked next door, and we all made our favorite Thanskgiving fixings... including homemade pumpkin pie made from a blue pumpkin! It was a great day and one we will never forget. Mark and I are truly grateful to be here and Saturday was no exception! :) 

McKenzie and I with our squeaky clean chicken!