Neo:
Neo has been adopted!!! There have been two volunteers who have spent considerable time at Beautiful Gate teaching our staff baby massage. Because of her delayed start in life, my little Neo was often used to demonstrate the techniques of baby massage. One of the volunteers, a woman from America, came to fall in love with her little demonstration girl, and after about five months and some discussions with her husband they applied to foster Neo pending the lifting of the adoption moratorium.
They were approved, but the really exciting news is that although the adoption moratorium is not officially over, the court order they were granted was an adoption order. So last Friday, April 11, Neo joined a family. In addition to her new Mom and Dad she has two active brothers aged 2 and 4. Yes, it is not quite the same going to the baby house and not having my Neo to take for a walk but oh, how I rejoice that she has a family!
Farewell Neo!The utilities at Beautiful Gate continue to be a source of testing and of learning patience. Yes, we did get connected to the municipal water supply, but now there are problems with the water lines in our area and the pressure is down to just a trickle. The pressure is woefully inadequate to fill our storage tanks, so we again have the added expense of having water hauled to our site. The price of hauling increases the costs fivefold. And the best answer we get from the water authority is that the lines will be repaired, maybe next week or the week after that, or maybe next month. This is the same authority that has been promising for the past five months to provide us a quotation on the costs to rectify our sewer disposal needs.
Then there is the electricity. Yes, our own faulty assumptions delayed the process by a couple of months, but now we are following the correct process. However, a very slow process it is. It meant repeated calls to the building contractor to arrange for an inspection by the electric utility. The preliminary inspection revealed many, many deficiencies in the “new” installation. Then it was waiting, waiting for an electrical sub-contractor to make repairs. The next two inspections still revealed that the installation was not up to code and more waiting for repairs. It has been about eight weeks and we still have not passed the inspection, and that is but the first step in obtaining a connection.
So the utilities have been a trying experience for us all, causing us to come before our God and ask what it is he is trying to teach us. It is trying, especially for the bo-m’e working at night with a generator which provides insufficient electricity to power the electric heaters and which goes off at 9:00 p.m., so the nights are dark and cold as winter approaches.
Micro Finance Projects:
In a recent entry I noted that the pig raising enterprise encountered some health problems, and turned out to be a really tough year. So we are looking at “next year country”. However, Ntate Kuena has been working diligently in his fields and is hoping for some good results and some income from his maize crop. He had also planted some beans this year and this crop is showing promise.
The second enterprise started off with great promise, however it too has encountered some setbacks. A very good return was realized on the first load of goods delivered to the mountain village and on the sorghum brought back to Maseru. However, distance and transport are such big challenges. Before a second trip could be made to bring the remaining sorghum to the city, it was invaded by insects. To salvage the remaining sorghum it was distributed in the village for little return. However, the initial return was sufficient to continue to plan for future trading trips to the village. And,...
The "entrepreneur" who is trading in his home village has started a couple of others in business. The two were former laborers at BG during the construction phase. Their little businesses are very simple, basically roadside sellers of miscellaneous dry goods, but they are proud that they are doing something rather than simply waiting and hoping for some other job.
So as a financier, my results are certainly spotty. But always looking for opportunity, I have a request from one of the bo-m’e at Beautiful Gate that I will be investigating further. I was also encouraged by a note from friends and former colleagues now working in Romania who reported on the progress they saw people making after a year or two. So I need to remain optimistic and be patient.
The Khasapanes, our adopted family:
I continue to enjoy our interactions with this family. Sunday, April 13, we took them all out to Thaba Bosiu. Even the grandmother wanted to be there. So we all, seven of us, piled into our car and off we went. The grandmother showed her tenacity and vigor on the ascent. I was so impressed. She actually did better then the youngest girl.
A view from the Thabo Bosiu plateau.
A view from the Thabo Bosiu plateau.(Photo by Jared Fath)
We explored the sights and history once on the top.
The grave of King Moshoeshoe (Photo by Jared Fath)
Interesting landforms.(Photo byJared Fath)
Ruins(Photo by Jared Fath)
Thabiso and the oldest girl, Mabeta, continue to search for a better place for the family to live. Wendy and I have committed to help them with any additional rent costs. The nights are getting colder and with the draughts they are less able to keep warm at night. In addition, it seems that with the cold the mice want to move in, and are causing problems. I pray they will soon find a larger, warmer, and more vermin resistant place.
That’s it for this entry. Wendy continues to love her students and is planning to again convert the house into a home theatre for about 20 of them on Friday. And me, my joy continues to be from the relationships I am sharing with those that God brings into our lives. It is good to be where we are.
In His love,
~ Benno ~
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