Angola Update - May 2008

Dear friends,

I’m writing this from Lynnes apartment in Luanda, I arrived last Friday after a 13 hours on the road, a tiring but pleasant journey. The road is once again showing signs of wear and tear despite all the hard work done by the Chinese road builders but it is still relatively pot hole free so not too bumpy and it was lovely to see the countryside – very green and refreshed after all the rain. We passed a couple of groups of construction workers who were doing things with measuring equipment so we are hopeful that more substantial repair is planned for that road. If they don’t then one more rainy season and it will be back to how it was before.

All the villages we drove thorough had produce for sale, and there was plenty to choose from - sweet bananas, plantain, sweet potato, yam, onions, cabbage, peanuts, tomatoes, pumpkin (which makes delicious soup) and oranges and lemons. The oranges never look particularly good but are usually sweet and juicy. I brought some for our driver which he took home to his family and he told me that his 3 year old son thought it must be his birthday!!! He doesn’t get to eat oranges very often!

I came down to Luanda because I thought I might have to attend the annual IEBA Executive Committee meeting, but they decided that I didn’t need to be there. I wasn’t disappointed to miss it. So I’ve been spending my time stocking up on a few essentials – long life milk and shampoo for example and tomorrow (Mon 9th ) I go to the vehicle licensing office to see if my car documents are ready. I have everything now except the ownership papers which seems strange bearing in mind that the car has been in my possession since last August but that’s how it works out here – normal rules do not apply! When I submitted the documents back in January they assured me that the process would only take a month, so I’m hopeful that when I return tomorrow everything will be completed and in order. Then again I recently spoke to a friend who’s been waiting 3 years for his so perhaps its better not to count the chickens before they’re hatched. Having said that his car was second hand and mine is new so maybe the process is less complicated…….. we shall see.

Before we return to Mbanza Kongo we have some mosquito nets to collect. We have been given 400 of them by a charity here in Luanda and we are planning to distribute them in a town called Sumpi. We have a clinic there which went through a rough patch but seems to be progressing nicely now. Although it is a relatively small number of nets, we are hoping that it will still be an encouragement for the community there. Everything is a learning curve and I hope that we have learnt from the mistakes we made with the last net distribution so this one is being planned like a military operation. The town is divided into neighbourhoods and each one has a chief who is responsible for general order and mediating in disputes etc. We have arranged a date to meet with these men to explain how the distribution will take place and we are also going to ask them to help us collect data for a small survey. Nothing too technical, we just want to know the age range of the children, most common illnesses, how many children have died in the last two years and how many women have access to ante-natal care. This will give us some idea of how to approach health education in the months to come. We are also going to be working alongside an organisation called MENTOR who specialise in education regarding prevention and treatment of malaria. They are going to do some community education for us before we hand out the nets. I don’t want it to go well just from an organisational point of view although if I’m honest that is important to me too, but I want us to get the message across to the people that using the nets would make a positive difference in their lives. Please pray with me that that the distribution will go successfully, with the minimum of chaos and that the church will use it as an opportunity to witness and demonstrate Jesus love for the people of Sumpi.

This is the time of year when once again I start on the renewal of the work visa. Usually this all takes place in Luanda but I have been informed by the gentleman who runs the visa department and is also a church member in Mbanza Kongo that it is possible for it all to be done there. His actual words were “no problem”. This should put my mind at rest but it doesn’t because I’ve heard those same words on many other occasions and in many other situations, all of which have invariably gone ‘pear shaped’. I am not exactly worrying, that comes later, at the moment I am fretting, and wondering whether it wouldn’t just be easier to return to Luanda where the system may be very long winded but it does usually get done. This however would be very time consuming and even more costly and it would be much better if I can do in MK. Please pray about this too.

Enough ramblings. I will write again next month.

God bless, Joanxxx