A Cultural Experiment: The Hiss

Ginger and I got in a conversation the other day comparing the way our neighbors get people's attention versus the typical way Americans grab attention. I'm talking about the moment when you see someone you know across the street or across the park or when your  friend is leaving and you need to tell them something you forgot. How do you get them to look at you? What kind of sound do you make? Do you make a sound at all? Do you yell their name? Do you flail your arms in the air? Are there more appropriate ways to grab attention? Are there certain sounds you avoid? All of these questions may sound funny, but they do make a difference. I've got a cultural challenge for the vast array of readers (all two of you) here at chajila. For the next week, when you want to catch someone's attention try it northern MZ style: hiss. That's right, I want you to hiss like a snake. The sound is very effective...it will turn heads. But what will be the reaction? Post your observations...I'd love to hear them.

The Deaf Hear

I wanted to give a quick conclusion to our sign language program here at MGK. We spent some time discussing the difficulties of not speaking for a whole week during our work. It was often a very frustrating experience. No one seemed to understand what I was trying to tell them and I never understood them:) No it wasn't that bad, but it definitely was difficult. For some members, they had trouble coping with the silence and stress and finally resorted to speaking. For others, the silence was so overwhelming they resorted to yelling gibberish....just so that they could hear their voice. Even though we couldn't speak, we could still hear the birds chirping and the scraping of our hoes against the ground. Osias couldn't hear any of it. We reflected on Mt when some of John the Baptists crew comes up to Jesus inquiring whether or not he was doing God's work. Jesus responded by pointing to the people around him and showing how the blind could see and the deaf could hear. I suggested that if someone where to come to the center and ask whether they were doing God's work then they could respond in the same manner as Jesus. The deaf can hear us. I'm so proud of these folks here at MGK. They took the time to learn as much as they could handle and today Osias can communicate with them. Before sign language classes, Osias was completely deaf because we couldn't understand him and he couldn't understand us. Today he has a voice because we have equipped ourselves to hear him. In the end, we were the mute and deaf. We were incapable of hearing or speaking to our brother. 

Observing the Signs

These past five weeks the community here at MGK has been working on something profound and of utmost importance. One of the members of our group here, named Osias, is deaf and mute. He has been that way since birth. He has been with us here in Nomba off and on for close to a year now. For the past couple of months he has become an integral part of the community, yet he has always been on the margins. He works with us day in and day out. He eats with us. He sweats with us. But our conversations over work and food were never heard by Osias. Our meetings regarding sanitation, the scriptures and our lives never touched the mind of Osias. It seemed that we were indirectly marginalizing Osias by our inability to communicate. So we've been trying to do something about it for the last five weeks. Each afternoon we have been sitting together and trying to learn a rudimentary sign language. Osias and a trained teacher from town have been teaching us.

We started the program out by having a quick reflection from the sacred scriptures...the good samaritan with a twist. We acted the parable out for each other. Osias was the man beaten and left for dead on the side of the road. The three men who passed by were a pastor, an imam, and a normal bloke. Each person didn't have the time to stop and try to understand a deaf man until the third took the time to stop and try to understand what a man with no voice has to say. The skit ended, and the question was asked, "Interpret this story!! What does it mean?" The response was precise, 'We must take time to understand what a deaf man has to say.' The verbal prayers of a pastor or imam who doesn't take the time to understand the situation and language of people are cheap. 

One of the most significant times during our study was when all of has had adequately learned the alphabet and Osias read all of our names for the first time. Many people were talking quietly or laughing while each person stood up and wrote his/her name in the air. But Osias' gaze was unbroken with each person. A look of intense attention and interest was plastered on his face. After all this time of being with us, this was the first time he learned our names. It was a beautiful thing to see him teach us his language. 

This past week, we asked Osias to bring some of his other deaf friends from town to the center so that we could also meet others within his network. We conversed with a group of ten people. We tried our best to describe the work we do at MGK. We spent the whole afternoon going around the center and trying to communicate with all of them. Each member of MGK tried to talk about the work they do in sign language. Many were nervous, but all did well. At the end of our time together, we tried to tell all of them that they now know us. Anytime they see us in Lichinga, they should talk to us and know that we wanted to be their friends. It was a wonderful afternoon. 

Next week, we will have our final sign language test. For the whole week, none of us will be allowed to speak. We will only be able to speak with our hands. 

SOAP BOX WARNING (I'm climbing up onto my soapbox now, so for those of you that try to avoid such tirades stop reading here) 

Many of our friends who know Osias are struck by his plight. How difficult it must be to live in this context and not be able to speak or hear!! I strongly support all governmental programs to help educate the deaf teaching them sign language and helping them get integrated into society. But what if society decided to integrate themselves into the deaf world? What if the rest of the auditory world decided to stop and sit in silence learning a muted language? Wouldn't that be something close to what we call the kingdom of God? What if the world paid attention to the marginal people of the world? As we struggled to communicate with Osias and his deaf friends last week, I was astonished at the beauty and sacredness of the moment. I know plenty of people in this country as well as in other places who don't want to learn a non-verbal language. They just want to walk by in the name of Jesus and heal them of their useless language. I don't need to stop and take the time to know your plight or your unique visual way of thinking. I just need to take that away so you can speak to me in my language. I know I might sound a bit critical, but I really think the kingdom of God is like the third man in the samaritan story. Helping people begins by taking the time to understand and communicate. Love of this kind is only born from a slow process of working towards understanding and friendship. Showing the love of God involves a certain timeline longer than a prayer or a spiritual rally. I think if God would have shown up at MGK during that afternoon, God would have been deaf too. What a beautiful couple of weeks.

I'm working on a photography documentary of Osias and his life. I hope to publish this on a website that gathers such work in a week or two. I'll let you know when I do so. I would love for you to know more about Osias. 

Mesi, Moringa & Martin

As many of you know, we are promoting, planting and eating the Moringa tree. When we talk about Moringa, we mainly speak of it's amazing nutritional value. Eating the leaves of the tree is like taking a multi-vitamin. When I talk about the properties of Moringa with our communities, I always try to mention Moringa's capabilities in purifying mesi (water), but the concept has seemed remote and unsatisfactory...until now. Most of the literature I have read concerning water purification using Moringa goes something like this: Take the husk off Moringa seed. Inside you will find a soft kernel. Pound this kernel into a powder and store. In order to purify it, get 20 liters of water and add a spoonful of Moringa powder to the water. Next, (here is the unsatisfactory part) stir the mixture in the water for fifteen minutes. Yeah right!! Who in the world is going to stir 20 liters of water for fifteen minutes everytime they want a drink of water? I'd rather drink dirty water and then eat some papaya seeds to clean me out:) This is where Martin Page comes in.

I met Martin for the first time this year in the Chicago area. He's a guy that has dedicated his very smart brain to understanding global problems with water and ways to solve these problems. Martin just received his Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering and much of his research has involved Moringa. Back in the spring of 2009, at a Starbucks oddly attached to a Target, Martin explained to me (he had to repeat numerous times) how Moringa seed purifies the water and how he is combining two water technologies into one. 

First, Moringa seed purifies the water because it is a coagulant. Through photons, torpedoes and charged ions, Moringa seed can attach itself to various impurities. This is the reason why one needs to stir the water for so long. After the water has been thoroughly stirred, there is a waiting time for all of the Moringa and nastiness it has attached to, to sink to the bottom of the water. The problem is that this just isn't practical or sustainable. One of the rules I have here is that if I'm not willing to do it, why should we promote it??? 

Well, Martin has combined the power of Moringa seed with Bio-Sand filters. Bio-Sand filters have been around for awhile. The main purifying ingredient is the bio film that is created on the top of the sand. Unfortunately, there are many good models for Bio-Sand that are also too expensive for poorer populations. Martin suggests combining a pinch of Moringa seed into the water that is poured into the filter. From his research, this process purifies 99.95% of all harmful viruses. In other words, this water be clean for drinkin'!! 

Martin has been with us for the last couple of weeks. He brought a small laboratory with him and has been testing the water and working on the Bio-Sand/Moringa method. On Tuesday, all of MGK had a meeting with Martin and he was able to explain what he has been doing (my head hurt after trying to translate words like 'micro-organisms, virus, bacteria and charged ions' into Yao!). He also walked us through three water purification techniques. After the tour, Martin wanted to know what everyone thought in order to provide ideas, critiques and further ways forward. From the meeting, we decided to experiment with the basic techniques and specifically continue to work out a good proto-type of the Bio-Sand/Moringa method for here in northern MZ. Hopefully, by the end of the year we will have a purification kit using the Bio-Sand/Moringa technique that is very cheap to make and can be used during the Jan/Feb time when water-borne illnesses are at their worst. I'm excited about the further partnership we will have with Martin and his emerging non-profit group SPOUT.   

Bono's Sermon

I normally don't post this kind of stuff on our blog, but this seemed to deserve an exception. Bono said some poetic words. He's right to boot. Now, I'm not sure I'm as optimistic, but that's just because I've lived here for more than a couple of months:) 

At times, the work we do here feels important, yes, but so small. It is good to hear that the rest of the world is still talking about AIDS and malaria. I planted four new Artemisia plants yesterday. As I planted them, I wondered how many lives those four seedlings could save from an early death due to malaria. So much suffering could be addressed in this world if we would merely take off our Sunday clothes and get our hands dirty. Peace be with all of you today.

Working with Parables

Yesterday, we went out to a new emerging community in ceNtoto. This group came to us about a month ago and said they wanted to learn more about medicinal plants. In the last couple of weeks we have been meeting with them on a weekly basis in order to get to know them and start working with them. Last week we had a lesson on Artemisia. We talked about how it healed us of malaria and how to make the medicinal tea. Afterwards, we planted Artemisia in their garden. 

Anyway, we discussed Lemon Grass. We talked about it's benefits such as: helping reduce fever and its diuretic properties making it a good tea to drink whenever one is sick. As we talked about the plant they affirmed that they knew the plant but weren't aware of some of the medicinal properties. In fact, the family even has the grass in their yard!! As we drank the tea, I was reminded of a small parable. I told it like this:

There once was a women who went out to hoe in a field nearby a village. The field was overgrown and hadn't been farmed for generations. As the woman began to clear the land, she came across a hard substance in the dirt. She picked up the substance and saw that it was gold. Immediately, the woman ran to the chief of the village and told him that she wanted to purchase the old field. The chief agreed and that day the woman, despite her poverty, purchased a seemingly worthless piece of land. As the days passed, however, the woman lived abundantly off of the land. 

After I finished the parable I asked what this story meant. After some thought, one of the women said, "We are like that woman. We have found gold today in our field. We have something of worth in our home." I agreed with her and looked down into my cup of tea. The color of the tea was golden. "Look," I said, "We are drinking gold!!" We discussed how are lives are like the field of gold. We gave thanks to a God who puts gold in strange places and talked about how we could continue to use Lemon grass. 

I think this is a good example of the power of sacred stories. A seemingly normal plant can be transformed into a gift of gold. 

Rendezvous with a Stork

Well, the time is come for our colleagues Rusty, Ann and Hallie to head off to South Africa in order to meet up with a scheduled stork that will be arriving sometime in November. As  many of you know, storks are highly unreliable and arrival time is always a large estimate. If it hadn't have been for the union and political clout the company has in D.C., storks wouldn't have been able to maintain their monopoly of specialized cargo and would surely have gone bankrupt the minute Fed-Ex came upon the scene. Nevertheless, all of us wait with anticipation for the large bird to arrive so that we can welcome a new Caldwell into the world. Rusty left on Monday and Ann and Hallie will be flying out on Thursday. We will miss them, but we are really excited for them. Check out their blog (http://kujilana.blogspot.com) for further updates, ETA's, and weather reports. Stork's fly in any weather, but the rains in South Africa are about to start...we don't want any delays:)