MozamWeek

Thank you for paying your taxes. Thank you for allowing your tax money to fund projects in Africa. Thank you for publishing 18 little stories that are given to kids in many schools in Mozambique. Did you know that your tax money is helping to teach teachers to teach kids to read in one of the poorest countries in the world? This is what I would do if I had more money, contacts and influence here. Congratulations! Please be careful about asking your government to stop providing aid to foreign countries to keep the money at home. I know people in America need help, too. You live next door to them. Do something about it. Respectfully, Jeni... a missionary living down the street from starving families in Africa.

All of the traditional titles of our children's books have been welcomed in Nyungwe communities. We now have new parable books to share in churches, but some traditional stories have also been used to introduce Biblical lessons about loyalty and compassion and friendship. All except for one Little Zebra story. "Ona Ico" has been a little bit of a tough seller for schools- a violent ending. The message is great and the illustrations are modern and clever, but getting this Nyungwe story used is difficult. Until now... God is good... and Chris Nalls puts it to good use in his ministry here with Nyungwe believers. The message of "not going it alone" because we leave ourselves exposed to all kinds of dangers comes through.  This little book is being used to encourage new believers to meet together and grow in faith. How wonderful to see God orchestrate meaningful use of a tricky little storybook. We are reminded of that very lesson the story teaches: we do better ...

I have been a frustrated literacy specialist for about 15 years. I'll just admit it. I haven't ever taught anyone to read. I never have claimed to teach, but to train trainers and develop materials and to research how two very different languages can be used in education of some very special people in a very difficult situation. Now that it is out in the open, I can get on with it. I believe that my impact on a community can only make a difference if I can replicate my initiatives. I talk a lot about literacy and materials in Nyungwe and about using Nyungwe to teach reading. I believe that we only learn well when we can relate new information to something we already know. Theories sometimes describe these as hooks or scaffolding to connect new info with our own experiences. On Monday, I stepped into a Mozambican classroom in a Mozambican school with Mozambican students for the first time. I am grateful for a school director and a district administration that trust me with a...

I have a hard time keeping up the pace of "real" work when my kids are home from school. This past week was their half-term break. This coincided with the national elections in Mozambique, so there was plenty of reason to leave paperwork behind and find something else to do together. I have a good friend here in Tete who is blessed with a Mennonite background (like mine) and an air-conditioned kitchen (unlike mine). So when I got a text asking if I wanted to "do donuts" during half-term break, I knew it would be a great chance for some healthy mom-and-kid activity. (In my childhood dialect of northern Indiana, "doing donuts" can refer to "cutting kitties" -- spinning cars around on icy parking lots or the like.) She suggested  this recipe  which she has used in the past. I've not made donuts since I was a little girl in Indiana, as far as I can remember. At least not any that were as memorable as grandma's. Here is my photo documentat...

lufoyi... love...  penu ndiribe lufoyi... but if I don't have love... ndine lini cinthu... I am nothing... I Corinthians 13... the famous Love Chapter that is read a weddings all over the world, every week... is translated into Nyungwe. The consultant  check  is underway for Paul's first letter to the church at Corinth. Things are going well. There were a few days when the team stayed to work through just another verse and spent an extra hour discussing it. Chapter 7 was tough. Chapter 14 can get tricky. Chapter 13 is pretty much done, at least the first seven verses I begged Mikael to share with us for this post. Here are maybe the most quotable parts... 4  Love is patient,   love is kind.           4  Lufoyi limbapirira, lufoyi limbakomera m'tima.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.       Lufoyi liribe njiru, limbasamwa lini ayai limbadzikuza lini.  ...

The the past few months, we have been experiencing unexpected blessings. First came the lasagna. A visitor decided to fill his luggage with boxes of lasagna noodles when I mentioned that the local cost of lasagna runs about 6x the price of other pasta. So we just don't buy it. When he came with 10 lbs of extra weight to fill, and we had no better ideas, He filled it with lasagna!  Then came the Cheerios. There have been Cheerios and other cereals in Tete for years, but at nearly $10/box, we just skip over them. Suddenly the corner store was filled to overflowing with HoneyNut Cheerios... and they were selling for $1/box! So, we stocked up. Felt blessed to have an alternative to the usual toast or corn flakes, and moved on. Next came "Pie Apples"... now apple pie is always a treat, but "pie apples" are never part of my usual shopping list. They are canned apple slices... they are unsweetened. So they are sort of like chunky applesauce ...

In the two previous posts, I mentioned how  RED ZEBRA BOOKS   can improve literacy skills in general and how  RED ZEBRA BOOKS  are helping teachers improve comprehension skills in particular. This is my last post about why I love  RED ZEBRA Project . What more can I say? Well, RED is my favorite color... and I think it is becoming very popular with young readers!  RED ZEBRA BOOKS   are incredibly well-received. I have a long list of stories about how I see children and adults turn on to reading when they actually understand the content. It makes a difference, you know. What is reading for if there is no message in the words?  Very early on, I found that I needed someone to get behind the distribution in a way I can't. That is where Veronica comes in. She's now  distributing  RED ZEBRA BOOKS   and she's a real powerhouse! Veronica is 24 years old with a high school diploma. She works for a Christian ministry as a cook...