The Toilet Hunt

Work at Ombili is progressing nicely. Most of the inside windows are finished, all security gates have been made and one is hanging this afternoon. Three of the workers primed about three quarters of the outside of the building. Over the next couple of days they will finish plastering the remaining part of the building and the two inside rooms. The remaining security gates will be hung as well. Monday we should start painting for real.

Time for games...

A family from the Kavango region lives next door to the church. Today they were all outside in the sun playing one of the traditional African games. I am not really sure of the name; it seems to be called something different by each tribe. This family calls it "calculation". One of the ladies in this family gave birth to a baby boy a few weeks ago. We had asked her what she was going to name the baby when it came, and she said, "If it is a girl, we will call her Fredna, and if it is a boy we will call him Pastor Brown." Well, it was a boy, and when we asked what she named the child, she said, "Pastor Brown, just like I told you!" Now she is not really going to name the baby Pastor Brown, I hope, but it seems they don't get in any hurry about naming their children. She persists that they will call him Pastor Brown until they actually give him a name. So, Anna and little Pastor Brown are doing well and enjoying the game of calculation in the sun!

Toilets...

I walked around the area today investigating different toilets. You see, the toilet facilities at Ombili is a challenge! Do you realize how good it is to have running water? Or sewer? Neither of these are available in this area. It seems there are various ways to approach this issue. Some folks have dug a hole in the ground and let everything run into that. Others have dug ditches from their toilet to the street and let it run there. The really fancy toilet in this area (only a kindergarten and a beer joint have them) is called an "air toilet". A pit is dug, and a toilet is built over it. A 35 gallon plastic trash can is placed inside the pit, just under the toilet seat. This trash can has holes drilled all in it so the liquid can run out, and only the solid material remains. Yes, it runs out on the ground just like every other type toilet. Just typing this makes me shudder to think that a bio-chemical, haz-mat, team would have us thrown in jail in the United States. Decisions, decisions... such is the life of a pastor! By the way, you will never guess how these toilets are emptied. A crew comes around about every 6 months or so. They reach down in the pit with a long hook and grab the handle of the trash can then lift it out. It is loaded on a trailer and taken to a nearby field and scattered for fertilizer! Yes, folks, they really do this!

Birthday...

Today was Erastus' birthday. Fredna got a cake and we took a few minutes to celebrate with him. He turned 34 and probably had his very first birthday party ever! Everyone was so happy to get a piece of his birthday cake.



Just a thought... statistically, he will probably only live another 15 years or so. Average life expectancy here is only 49 or 50 years. About 1 out of every 4 people are infected with the HIV/AIDS virus. That means that out of the 14 workers I have presently, 4 or more of them are HIV positive - statistically speaking.