My grandmother wrote the following article after coming to visit us in May 2006. I thought you might enjoy reading some of her thoughts regarding her trip!
South Africa and Mozambique—2006
A year ago I said I would visit my missionary granddaughter and her family in Portugal where they were spending about nine months in language training, but that I would not go to Africa. However, 2006 found me making plans to accompany daughter Carol and her husband Randy on their trip to that continent. Randy and I would be home in less than two weeks, but Carol would be staying four.
We flew out of Evansville, IN May 8, 2006 for our connection with South African Airways in Atlanta. What a LONG overseas flight! The first leg of seven hours was to Sal Island off the west coast of Africa where we stopped to refuel and change crews. The next leg was nine hours to Johannesburg, So. Africa. We went through customs there, and then caught another flight on to Nelspruit, which is near Kruger National Park. Robin, Esperansa and Josiah were to meet us there, since Robin had a dental appointment and Josiah had two appointments. However, Robin was not there yet. We finally learned what had happened. The small mission plane she was coming down on had run into unusually strong head winds and she was to be three hours late! She was able to reach Dan and have him call the resort spot, Bundo’s where we were to stay, and someone picked us up. It was long past dark when Robin finally arrived in the rental car from the airport, and we were relieved to see her.
The following morning Carol went with Robin and the children for their three doctor’s appointments, while Randy and I stayed at the resort. This was an interesting place, but unfortunately there were lots and lots of steps and I was not feeling well, so I couldn’t walk around the way I would have preferred. Randy looked around a little and saw two zebras. I was able to bird from the balcony of our cottage unit, which worked out well since I was at tree top level. We finally got on our way shortly after noon and headed for Kruger National Park.
Kruger Park is enormous with nine or ten gates where one can enter, all many kilometers apart. I wasn’t able to find out how many square miles would be involved. There are 10-12 “camps” where one can stay, make purchases, or visit a restaurant. Ours was at Berg-en-Dahl where I had rented a two bedroom cottage with living room/kitchen which also had two bench beds. Robin and Josiah slept there with Esperansa on the floor. (She was a good traveler!) I had rented this several months ago for 1080 rand which is about $172. One must also pay a conservation fee upon entering which was 540 rand (about $72) for four adults and one child. The fee for international travelers is four times that So. African citizens are charged. One must be within your camp by 5:30 p.m. at this time of year and you cannot get out of your car when driving around. Actually, it was nearly dark at 5:30, for it is winter there at this time, and is about 25 degrees south latitude. It is quite cool at night but pleasant during the day. In the summer it is miserably hot. Robin had met someone who was driving around near the end of the day when they had a flat tire and stopped under a tree. They looked up and saw the carcass of an impala high in the branches! That was the quickest tire change in history. Actually, there are not many big cats. We talked to one guide who had been there for many years and had only seen them a few times.
We only had a couple of hours to drive around that first day, but it was great. We were just ready to enter the gate when a whole herd of elephants crossed the road ahead of us. There must have been 10-12, including some babies. Josiah had just fallen asleep, and try as she could, Robin wasn’t able to wake him. Later he was thrilled when we pointed out piles of elephant poop in the road! We didn’t see any more the next day when we drove around all day, although the evidence was everywhere. The birding was great and we stopped over and over again to study them. We also saw many impala, water buck, water buffalo, wildebeest, warthogs, and a giraffe right by the road, pygmy mongoose, and a tree squirrel. One should really be there at least three or four days and take advantage of some of the activities that are offered—night drives and such. But we were so glad we went there.
That evening we stayed at an apartment owned by Mercy Air. That was a delightful spot too and in the morning a troop of 14-15 monkeys was in the trees outside. Mercy Air is one of the companies which ferries a lot of the missionaries around. There are a lot of missionaries in Africa, many from other sponsoring groups, not just the Good News for Africa Mission, of which Robin and Dan are a part. We were supposed to have a charter flight from Nelspruit to Nampula in northern Mozambique, but we had learned the day before that it was cancelled. It seems that they could no longer get av-gas, the type of fuel the little planes use, in the northern part of the country. So they planned to send us in a larger plane could carry extra av-gas. Then they discovered a propeller was cracked that they had to send it in for repair! Anyway, they kept working on it, and we ended up taking the little plane (which one entered crawling over the wing) to Maputo in southern Mozambique and taking a commercial 737 from there. I was certainly glad to have Robin along at the Maputo airport with the confusion of getting the visas and going through immigration, etc. all of which took about two hours. I was more than ready to sit down. We finally arrived in Nampula and met up with the rest of the family in the afternoon.
As we drove through Nampula we noticed a type of market along the sides of the road, but it seemed to be mostly clothing that was pinned on racks. I’m not even sure if it was new clothing or used. The streets were always full of pedestrians and bicycles and they paid little attention to traffic. At the edge of town we turned into a dirt street. Not only was it dirt, but it was full of holes, most of which were about two feet in diameter and up to many inches deep. By the time we got to Dan’s and Robin’s house, the street was narrow, but at least the holes had disappeared. Everywhere were closely spaced huts with thinly thatched roofs. Some of these huts had electricity, but not nearly all. None had indoor plumbing. We stopped at a closed gate which was opened by one of their guards. There are also two big dogs which are there simply for their ability to bark. Their house is made of concrete with a tin roof and another house is built right up against it. There is a spare bedroom there, plus another room which Robin uses for the school room. After Randy and I left, Carol moved into this bedroom. The surrounding grounds are possibly 1 ½ acres. They have a yard worker in the daytime and two guards at night. They have house help most days. There are several fruit trees on the grounds, but the yard is mostly dirt with little grass. One does not see gravel anywhere: it is dirt. There is a big elevated water tank which is essential since the water periodically goes off for days at a time. All water used in cooking or for drinking must be filtered. Asher got dysentery once because he drank from the outside faucet. They recently got a new filter which not only removes the big particulate matter, but makes it safe to drink, though I never could get used to the taste of it.
While Randy, Carol and I were there, we stayed a short distance away at the compound of another missionary family who had a rondovel within their grounds near their house. It was a round concrete building with a living/sleeping area and private bath. There were curtains separating the beds so there was some privacy and it was really quite comfortable. We shared it with an occasional little lizard, but those are welcomed since they keep down the insects, such as cockroaches. We each paid $50 total to stay there five nights! We slept beneath mosquito netting, though I hardly saw a mosquito the whole time we were there. That was one advantage of being there in the autumn. But it was warmer there (south latitude 20 degrees) than it had been in So. Africa.
I wore slacks every day I was there except Sunday, though I didn’t see another woman in slacks anywhere. The women wear a long skirt called a capalana, which is really just piece of colorful material they wrap around themselves. Most of these were really lovely. At no time did I see anything grotesque as you sometimes see in pictures of African nationals. They carried everything on their heads from bundles of firewood or charcoal to large sacks of something and all sorts of containers. I noticed that the women seemed more skilled at this than the men. They would walk along as though they hardly knew it was there. Most of the men who carried something on the head usually had a steadying hand on it.
Dan’s work consists of teaching the nationals how to teach the Bible. One of the pastors who had been in his classes wanted him to visit his church, so Sunday we planned to do this, then go on to Nacala to a resort on the shore of the Indian Ocean for one night. Dan didn’t know where this church was located, but they were waiting along the highway and directed us back along a path into the bush for probably a half mile. Although there was a building there, we met outside under a tree. Robin and Dan took along a camp chair for me; Carol had a stool; everyone else sat on the ground or on some tree limbs. They sang and clapped a welcoming for some time, and then Dan preached in Portuguese while the other minister translated that into the Makua dialect. There were probably 25 people there but as yet only a few are believers. Many wore cords around their wrists which in witchcraft are supposed to protect them from various evils. Since Dan was in charge of the service, it didn’t last too long, fortunately. They wanted to do something for us, so they presented us with a bowl of corn meal, peanuts, both shelled and in shell, some squash and a live chicken. Inasmuch as these people are so poor, this was a touching gesture. They tied the chicken on top of the car among our trunks. Many miles down the road we stopped at a roadside vendor and traded it for a melon, which unfortunately turned out not to be ripe. One was rarely beyond sight of people walking along the highway, but there were few cars. Vendors held out containers of cashews they had picked and roasted. We continued on to the resort where everyone enjoyed the ocean, although I never made it out of the beach chair. We stayed overnight here and went home the next afternoon.
Most people of Mozambique are unbelievably poor, even more so than Haiti. Life expectancy is 37. The few people who learned my age were amazed. One has very mixed feelings. I am very glad I made this trip, but Randy and I were glad to come home. Carol is staying another two weeks, but to enjoy her family, not Mozambique.. Since we left, the electricity has been off 12 hours and the water for five days straight. They have also caught two rats. I know it is difficult for Carol and Randy to have them so far away, especially being away from the children. They will probably not have a furlough for another two years. But Robin and Dan really feel that this is where God wants them to be, and they have faith in Him, so should we.
Written by Billie Rakestraw, a few days after returning from So. Africa and Mozambique where she visited her granddaughter and her husband, Dan and Robin Been, and their four children. The Beens are part of the Good News for Africa Mission.
