Razor Wire

My time has here, as you may have noticed, has not been without frustration. I believe any missions situation comes with a certain level of frustration. I hate my human nature; to dwell by default on things that are not so good. Unfortunately, I tend to use my blog as a mild form of venting, which I think is therapeutic for me, yet at the same time is all that people who read my blog know, and I wish this were not the case. I apologize for that. There are many things that happen in a day which are good. Perhaps this is why you typically see long term missionaries as couples and not as singles. One can lean on the other and lift him or her up when they are frustrated. Yesterday I suggested a team coming and teaching a basic accounting course. I was serious, yet I have not asked to see what system they have in place and put the cart before the horse because I am sure that they have something of that nature. I have had delinquent bills before, and I don’t have 60 children to look after, so I apologize if it seemed harsh. It is simply a reality. I do not wish to portray anything that happens here in a bad light, yet because of my frustration it seems to be that way. This orphanage is constantly growing and changing, and many changes have been made; many changes will also be made in the future. It is not right for me to highlight weaknesses for the world to see, only to help them strengthen those areas. The work that Christian Life Ministries is doing here is wonderful.

The last few days when I have glanced out the window to see what was happening in the mornings, I have seen some of the mums outside with their hoes. They have been doing small amounts of work around the orphanage. They have noticed the retaining walls, and the places where I want to fill and have been caring for them. It makes me very happy to see them taking ownership. Yesterday I had a conversation with them about burning garbage. They were burning a large pile of garbage just a short distance from the houses. I mentioned to them that from now on, it would make the orphanage much more beautiful to burn the garbage outside the gate. The mums all agreed. Hopefully this is the last garbage heap that will be burned inside.

When I went to clean up the termite mound that was inside Home 8, I noticed a large pile of dirt right next to their garbage mound and asked if this were from a termite mound. Mum Tabitha told me that this was the dirt from the termite mound in home 8. The mums had gone in and dug it out before I could get to it! 

We have reduced the number of workers today due to the small portion of wall remaining to be built. There are 5 Masons, and 8 helpers, with a total of 13 workers instead of 29. I paid the workers that we did not retain and went to double check my numbers. Still there were problems with workers not being marked on Henry’s roster. They would say they had worked for 3 days, yet the roster showed 2. I recognized the people that were saying this and agreed with them. I have seen them for the last 3 days. When I got these issues sorted out, I went to make sense of the money on paper.

I was looking in my bible for the proverb that talks about money sprouting wings and flying away like eagles. I found it, it is Proverbs 23:5. I read on and saw a few rows down, “Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless, for their Defender is strong; he will take up their case against you.” There is no need to worry. If our neighbors have done any wrong against this place it is on their own heads; having God to answer to. God is perfectly just, and if he is the defender, then we are fortunate indeed. I was thinking of ways to encourage myself. And had an idea. I erased my blackboard, and started writing verses that I would come across in my bible that made me feel happy. I moved in no particular order, but found many verses that gave me strength. I asked some of the children and mums what their favorite verses were, and wrote them on the board. Standing back and looking at the board I started to notice a theme to the verses. Each verse reminded me of an event that took place here in the last 2 months. God is good. 

I worked a lot on the water tanks today. The bottom tank was so disgusting; when the water was off, the children were leaning down in with their buckets to get water for washing their clothes, dropping things in while at it. Many of the boys seem to have a thing for throwing garbage into holes. I saw this a few years back in Seta for the water collection system. I removed the drain plug on the lower tank, and got a broom. slowly as it drained, I began sweeping the gunk from the sides of the tank. The water was black with debris as the muck swirled around in black clouds. The broom would vanish in the darkness immediately after setting it in. It was hot and smelly inside. As the water got lower, I put Henry’s pair of rubber boots on, and squeezed my body down into the tank, being careful not to touch the sides. My broom had removed most of the gunk, but was afraid of what might still be living on the surface. When the water drained to the level of the intake for the pump, I noticed something sticking out of the pipe. At first I thought it was a piece of mosquito netting, I had seen some in the tank before. I built up some courage and using only my pointer finger and thumb, pulled a bag out of the pipe. Inside the bag were four AA Batteries; nice and corroded. I thought to myself, “that must have been a very logical decision by some child; to discard their old batteries into the water that everyone drinks.” I grabbed some of the hose that we had been using to move water on the construction site and created a siphon in the tank; vacuuming all the sediment. When I finished it was as clean as it could get. Jumping out of the tank I cut an old mosquito net and created a screen which I duct taped to the top of the tank, then closed the lid and screwed it shut. No child is going to open it again. No frogs, no mosquitos, no batteries, soap, sticks, rocks, mosquito netting; nothing is going to get in. I drilled two very tiny holes using self tapping screws just below the lid so that when the tank was full you would see a tiny spout of water coming from the side of the tank. I did this to the top tank as well so that as it fills, the water does not come raining down on everything as an indication of it being filled. 

After the lower tank was filled, I started back to work removing construction debris from the orphanage. I take old and broken bricks to low elevation spots and fill. I backfill my retaining walls with excavation dirt, and collect garbage. Henry worked with Walter and Bonny installing razor wire. I am very excited to see the razor wire go up on top of the wall. This signals the end. It is the final touch on the wall. The orphanage will now be protected. As I cleaned up debris, Mum Unice came out to help me remove the rubble from in front of her house, and the chicken coop. Then the rain came, and I filled everyones buckets with the tiny little water bottle gutters.