Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

Well! There are some more big changes happening for our family. As if adopting 3 children wasn’t enough! Many of you who receive this letter already know about our plans, but there are some of you – especially our Christmas card recipients – who may not yet have heard. So, let me start at the beginning.

Seven years ago Lois went with a medical team to Haiti for 2 weeks. During that time, the team saw hundreds of patients, some in desperate need of medical care of one sort or another. This was a moving experience for Lois (and terrifying for me since I didn’t know what was happening and I couldn’t contact her) and since that time Lois has wanted to do a longer term medical mission. However, first there was Min Joo and then Von and Nu Ella which kind of put the medical mission idea on the back burner. Not only is it now on the front burner, it’s about ready to serve.

I slept and dreamt that life was joy.
I awoke and saw that life was service.
I acted and Behold, service was joy.

About 4 months ago, Lois applied for a position as a medical missionary with the UCC (United Church of Christ). She was accepted and has been assigned to a 3 year term to Lesotho, Africa. We will be leaving for Africa on January 5^th, 2000. Yes, that’s right folks – I said 3 years, Africa and Jan 5^th, 2000.

So are you nuts or something?

So now all those questions are coming into your mind. I’m going to try to answer them. The first question, of course, is "Are you nuts?" Missionary work is a call from God and Lois has indeed heard the call and has answered it. I haven’t heard the call as directly and am still wondering why we can’t do mission work in Austria or Belgium. Then again, I am still wondering why we can’t adopt a 30 year old Japanese executive who makes a ton of money and believes in taking care of his parents in their old age. (You can probably tell that I haven’t quite adjusted yet). Which all goes to say that "yes indeed, we are quite nuts".

Is your local community church sending you?

Yes and no. The national UCC organization has a missionary arm. They are the ones sending us and providing the financial support. The local church has given us emotional support but can not directly support us financially as it is against the national organizations rules. Lois had a wonderful commissioning service at our church performed by our pastor Carol Meredith and attended by many of our friends, both local and distant.

Where the hey is Lesotho?

The Basotho (Ba-soo-too) live in Lesotho(Le-soo-too) and speak Sesotho (Se-soo-too). Say that 3 times fast and click your ruby slippers together and --- uh, wrong dream. Anyway, Lesotho is a small country about the size of Maryland totally surrounded by South Africa. It is in the southeastern part of South Africa bordered by the South African states of Kwazulu – Natal and the Free State. It is a former British protectorate that became independent in 1966. It is a constitutional monarchy whose young king (King Letsie III) is getting married next February. We will be there for the festivities. Lesotho is peopled by the ethnic group of about 2 million Basotho. There are about 3 million Basotho living in South Africa. There are about 3000 non-Basotho living in Lesotho. About 1500 Asians and Indians – and about 1500 Europeans and Americans. The offical languages are English and Sesotho. Sesotho, also known as southern Sotho, is a Bantu language.

Are you going to live in a mud hut or something and have you read the Poisonwood Bible?

Not exactly and no (Lois read it though). We will be living in the capital city, Maseru which is about the size of Manchester NH (150-200 thousand people). The church will provide a housing allowance that should be enough to get us a small 3 bedroom house. Maseru is right on the border of South Africa. We will be 5 minutes from the border and also the American Embassy and 15 minutes from Ladybrand, a small town on the South African side of the border. Maseru has a couple of first class hotels and has recently opened its 3^rd Colonel Sanders (Kentucky fried goat?). We can get cell phone service immediately but regular phone service can take as long as 18 months depending on where you live in the city. We can also get the South African version of DirecTV. That’s the little satellite dish you can get to bring in TV channels directly rather than via cable. So have no fear – we will not be far from our American cultural roots since we can still get Sabrina the Teenage Witch (Von’s favorite) and The Simpsons. (Hmmmm, maybe we should move out to the bush, after all).

What is Lois doing to do there?

Lois will work for CHAL (the Christian Health Association of Lesotho) as an administrator. CHAL is an ecumenical organization that administers all of the Christian hospitals (8) and clinics (about 60) in the country. There are 6 different Christian religions that have set up hospitals and/or clinics in Lesotho. (Lesotho is 80% Christian) A number of years ago they realized that they were duplicating effort since they had similar goals (e.g. Aids education). They got together and formed an association to develop health programs and provide coordination and administration for all of the hospitals and clinics rather than continue to have each organization develop and implement their own programs. This organization is now known as CHAL. The board and the executive director of CHAL will determine Lois’ exact duties. Although, Lois will work for CHAL, she will not be paid by them. Her stipend will be paid by the missionary arm of the UCC. She will have 2 bosses, the executive director of CHAL and the African Director of the UCC missions back here in the states. Her day to day activities will be directed by the CHAL boss, but she will have some obligations to her stateside boss.

Where will the girls go to school?

The girls will attend an international school operated by the Brits and run on the British system. You know – uniforms, kids in rows, real math, grammar, and probably a battle ax schoolmarm with a big wooden paddle, etc. – none of that touchy-feely stuff we have in America. (Just kidding – but they will need uniforms). This is a private school and it will be paid for by the UCC. Many of the children of the foreign diplomats and expatriate community go to this school as well as some of the wealthier locals. School starts January 10^th. Von has been emailing about 10 kids at the school and they are looking forward to meeting her. This has helped a great deal with Von’s adjustment to the coming adventure. (Favorite food of everyone – Pizza!!! – That was a big load off her mind.) Von’s current 6^th grade teacher plans to keep her class in touch with Von via email. He hopes to have Von send pictures and tell them about life in Africa and they will keep her informed of what’s new at home.

What will pz do?

Eat bonbons and drink Lowenbrau (or the Lesotho equivalent – yes they do have beer!!). Actually, I expect to be Mr. Mom for at least 6 months until the kids get adjusted. Beyond that, who knows? Work visas are impossible to get in both Lesotho and South Africa so I guess I will be doing volunteer work at the school and/or at CHAL. Also, we are told that this is society where you can expect to wait a lot for things like drivers licenses etc so someone has to wait in the lines. (hey – it sounds like New Mexico).

What about your house in Deerfield?

We are planning to rent it. We are currently packing up our household goods and storing them in the barn. We are also planning to lock up one room in the house for things that don’t do well in barns like appliances and upholstered furniture.

What are you taking with you?

Not much. We can each take 2 pieces of luggage free plus 2 additional pieces of luggage at $150 a piece. We are taking some clothes, some pictures to make the place feel like home, some small kitchen utensils, books, CD’s. We are each taking personal things for emotional support. Stuffed animals for Min Joo, computers for pz. (Hey, we gotta have computer games, right?). Everything else we will have to buy. Basically, we will have to furnish our house from scratch, beds, furniture, dishes etc. We also have to buy a car. All of this is out of pocket. C’est la vie.

It Tastes Just Like Chicken

My niece plans to open up a restaurant with this delightful name. I thought I’d use it for the section of the newsletter where we will be describing the various things we will be putting into our mouths in Africa. Since we haven’t left yet we don’t really know what to expect, but my guess is that we will find that it is very similar to the US and there aren’t going to be too many exotic items.

However, just in case, we are going to practice with the things residing in (and in some cases, living in) our pantry. Since everything must go before we move, we decided to make hors d’oeuvres for our New Year’s Party out of the stuff that we have left in the pantry. How about "wieners in Jello" or stuffed lentils (slice a lentil in half, stuff with one piece of rice and – the hard part – seal with a toothpick), or cheerios a la tuna fish. We also have a number of items in the pantry that look like they came from Area 51 in Roswell, New Mexico. These should make delightful party treats. No worries. It tastes just like chicken!

Hakuna Matata

This is the Alfred E. Neuman, "What, me worry?" department. In case you don’t have children, hakuna matata is a song from the Lion King – (sing) "It means no worries – for the rest of your days. It’s our problem free, phil-os-o-phy – hakuna matata."

We had a number of logistical concerns about our trip. We often felt that we were going into this blind. Hence, hakuna matata!

For example, the travel agency for Mission Central (my term for the national UCC missionary organization that is sending us to Lesotho) booked us on a United Airlines 19 passenger "puddle-jumper" from Boston to JFK and then on a real plane from JFK to Johannesburg. It turns out that a family of 5 moving for 3 years has more boxes than there are seats on the plane. We contacted United and they rebooked us on a real plane the night before and we will stay at an Airport Holiday Inn in NYC for a night.

Although excited about the coming great adventure, we began to get bogged down in planning for basic logistics of the move. We didn’t know what we were going to do for temporary housing, later permanent housing, getting a car, getting furniture, registering the kids for school, etc. Does not the Lord provide for the birds of the air and the beasts in the fields? Are you not more important than these? Well, sure Lois and the kids are, but I’m not sure I really want to know where I am on the Lord’s list.

Anyhow, the Lord did provide in the persons of David and Roxi Owen. David and Roxi are UCC missionaries who have been in Lesotho for 11 years. They have three kids. They have also taken us under their wing. They have arranged for us to stay at an Airport Holiday Inn in Johannesburg. (Airports and airport hotels are like a culture in an of themselves. You could visit just about any country in the world and the airports and hotels are all the same.) David will meet us at the Johannesburg Airport with a car and a trailer for our luggage, take us to the Hotel, and drive us to Lesotho the next day. The drive should take about 4 hours. Roxi has found temporary housing for us until February in a house of another missionary (not a UCC missionary) who is back in the states until February. Roxi will register the kids for school and help us find permanent housing. She will take us shopping for the essentials so we can survive for the first couple of weeks. After that, hakuna matata! (I’m sure David and Roxi will be helping us find a car and all that.)

What about culture shock? What are your concerns?

Well, the Number #1 concern is where can I get fresh Mozzarella. Man does not live by bread alone, you know. Fresh Mozzarella is vital.

Actually, we have learned very little about the culture and the day to day stuff. Mission Central did not have any formal orientation to living in Lesotho. Most of what we know we learned serendipitously from folks who have been there dropping bombshells in conversation.

One Day

"Don’t bring new clothes into the country", says they. "Why not?", says I. "You will have to pay a duty on them", says they. "If relatives send clothes", says they, "Have them take off the tags and wash them so they looked used. You can avoid paying the duty that way", says they. This is important stuff. The last thing you want to do is buy some new African Wear (you know, the light khaki things with a zillion pockets and metal rings and clips for holding cell phones, GPS receivers, and snake bite kits) and then pay outlandish duty on them because you haven’t worn them yet.

Two Weeks Later

"I hear crime is a problem", says I. "No worries", says they. "But the US Embassy calls it a critical crime threat post", says I. "Just be careful and use common sense", says they. "Like what", says I. "Well", says they, "I was in a parking lot when a soldier started shooting so I threw my kid down and got on top of her", says they. "Aaarrrgg!", says I. "No worries", says they. "The church will pay for any security you think is necessary", says they. "Like what", says I. "Like bars on the windows of your house", says they. "Like Brooklyn?", says I. "Some people a have night watchmen", says they. "Others have a panic button which brings five guys and dog to your house in ten minutes", says they. "And Mission Central pays for this?", says I. "Yes", says they. "Anything you feel is necessary to make you feel secure", says they. "What about a battalion of US Marines", says I.

Three Weeks Later

"Men don’t where shorts in Lesotho", says they. "They don’t?", says I. "It’s considered impolite", says they. "I’ll roast!", says I. "Tough noogies", says they. "But I just bought 25 pairs of shorts from Eddie Bauer – you know, the light khaki things with a zillion pockets and metal rings and clips for holding cell phones, GPS receivers, and snake bite kits", says I. "Return them", says they. "But I already ripped off the tags and washed them", says I. "Hakuna Matata", says they.

Contact Information

We all have current email addresses that I hope will not have to change. That is, I am going to try to connect to my current mailbox from Africa.

Pz mailto:pz@minjoo.mv.com
Lois mailto:lois@minjoo.mv.com
Von mailto:von@minjoo.mv.com

We also have this newsletter which will go to all those on our newsletter Listserv.
To get on the Listserv send email to
mailto:listserv@minjoo.mv.com
in the body of the message write
SUBSCRIBE AFRICA

This will put your email return address on the listserver and you will then get future newsletters automatically. (If you received this one via email and were bored silly send to the listserver and in the body write UNSUBSCIBE AFRICA)

p.s. for you newbies to email the word mailto and the colon are not part of the address.

The End

All joking aside, we are all very excited about our big adventure. We know it will be a wonderful and enriching experience for all of us. We pray that the God of all will watch over us in Africa as he has watched over us here.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Millenium
Pz, Lois and the goils

Von
Min Joo           Nu Ella
October 1999

updated 12/30/99
Ferguson and Pezzano Home Page

*Scatterlings of Africa-I got this from a song title of a song by Johnny Clegg.
I heard it on the Rain Main Soundtrack. (Okay - I spelled it wrong on the original page)