South Africa tomorrow...............
...............still thinking about what else to write!!
Friday, 19 August 2011
Wednesday, 17 August 2011
Working Again!!
All done – I think?!
Internet’s working, files are all there, cabling finished.
I’ve been teaching lessons in the suite all week, everything from 3rd grade to 12th grade - science, computing, maths etc. Nothing pre-planned, just
“Can you teach my lesson on………?”
“Yes, when is it?”
“next period - half an hour’s time”
So lots of “off the hoof” lessons, but the students seem to be enjoying it. I’ve also had some good conversations with the students. It’s interesting how they have the same worries and concerns that children in the UK have. They have the same basic needs.
It’s been good to work with some of the teachers here too. I also appreciate how much we have in the UK, good resources and tools to do the job. I’ve really had to think about teaching the same things but with less, especially when it comes to supporting those students who need the extra help. It really makes you think about your job and what it is you’re trying to do. The teachers have been good to work with - they really appreciate the input the chance to talk about the students' education.
I’m conscious that tomorrow is results day in the UK. I do really pray for our youngsters and hope that the decisions that they have to make are made thoughtfully and not as a kneejerk.
Trust – that was a word that was a turning point for me as a Christian and has been over the years. Whilst I’ve been here I’ve had to do a lot of things that I never thought I was capable of, technically, but people have trusted me to do things that really have scared me half to death – eg networking 3 operating systems. We can only be effective as a family if we trust each other and believe in each other.
I’ve also had to surrender my independence to a certain degree in that I’ve not had the freedom to come and go as I please. Although, Kyla and I have tried to escape from time to time!! I’ve had to rely on others for things I would normally do myself. Surrender doesn’t have to be a bad thing if the person you surrender to is trustworthy and loves you unconditionally.
As I come to the end of my time here, I hope that I have left something which people can use and build on. Seeds sewn in love, and I pray that they produce a bountiful harvest. There’s a good work happening here and I see people who are surrendered to doing their very best and fulfilling their calling.
As always the last few days will probably be a bit of a rush (and a bit sad) but I really can’t wait to hear an English voice. Even some of the Mozambican kids here speak with an American accent – Americans, they’re everywhere!! Hopefully not in South Africa (joke!!)
The above - grade 12's using MS Access to solve a murder mystery on the ski slopes - my idea of cross culture. The victim was an American - lol. The president won't be asking me to tea!!
Monday, 15 August 2011
Monday
Cold, wet & no power!!
My house was fine but other houses on the site have no power. In school we had power for the computers but no lights (odd!!) There was an electrician on a ladder with his head in the ceiling all day - but still no lights.
So I taught grade 9-11 in semi darkness. The students seemed to enjoy the lesson, no complaints. They take these things in their stride - power/water cuts. One of the teachers here did say that you do adapt. She did also tell me that where she last lived in Mozambique, she had to live without water for 3 months. Now that takes some adapting!! My students best think again before they start moaning about printers or things being too slow!!
I can also see why people are more neighbourly & friendly here, life for the average Mozambican is hard. Will I continue to appreciate the things I have when I return to the UK? I hope so. Do I realise how blessed I am?
Slowly sorting things out after the power surge on Friday. We're probably where we were last Monday. Hopefully, we'll have the students work back and some sort of network services by Wednesday or Thursday. I did say that the only reason that this has happened is so that I can show the staff here what to do if it happens when I leave. Just a learning curve.
Tomorrow I'm teaching grade 12's and grade 7-8's. I'll try and get some pictures of the suite with the students.
Good to hear about Soul Survivor. I pray that God continues the good work that he has begun in all of you. Not sure when you're going to do your feedback, but I hope I'm back in time to hear it.
Looking forward to seeing Alan in Jo'burg. Although, it's very. very cold in Jo'burg (about 17C).
Love to you all
My house was fine but other houses on the site have no power. In school we had power for the computers but no lights (odd!!) There was an electrician on a ladder with his head in the ceiling all day - but still no lights.
So I taught grade 9-11 in semi darkness. The students seemed to enjoy the lesson, no complaints. They take these things in their stride - power/water cuts. One of the teachers here did say that you do adapt. She did also tell me that where she last lived in Mozambique, she had to live without water for 3 months. Now that takes some adapting!! My students best think again before they start moaning about printers or things being too slow!!
I can also see why people are more neighbourly & friendly here, life for the average Mozambican is hard. Will I continue to appreciate the things I have when I return to the UK? I hope so. Do I realise how blessed I am?
Slowly sorting things out after the power surge on Friday. We're probably where we were last Monday. Hopefully, we'll have the students work back and some sort of network services by Wednesday or Thursday. I did say that the only reason that this has happened is so that I can show the staff here what to do if it happens when I leave. Just a learning curve.
Tomorrow I'm teaching grade 12's and grade 7-8's. I'll try and get some pictures of the suite with the students.
Good to hear about Soul Survivor. I pray that God continues the good work that he has begun in all of you. Not sure when you're going to do your feedback, but I hope I'm back in time to hear it.
Looking forward to seeing Alan in Jo'burg. Although, it's very. very cold in Jo'burg (about 17C).
Love to you all
Sunday, 14 August 2011
Rested...........
Friday morning, packed and ready to go.
The journey to Xai Xai is about 3 ½ hour drive. Most of the road is quite good, not dual carriageway, but reasonably wide. The landscape is much greener and the vegetation more tropical. Also the homes, are more like traditional homesteads, straw and fewer brick houses. Most of the brick buildings tend to be public/community buildings. Produce is sold by the roadside, everything from cashew nuts to oranges. They rely on people stopping to buy and for most it’s their only source of income. Some will try and barter, but naturally for any car full of white people, the price will start very high!!
On our way out of Maputo we passed a beautiful new stadium, complete with athlete accommodation alongside. Apparently it was built for the World Cup, but it’s too small(?) somebody got the size wrong and FIFA said no. I was told that it was built by the Chinese and there are a number of “Chinese type” structures around the building – so I can’t be sure, but surely somebody must have measured up first?? The greatest sadness is that there is so much poverty around and they have this structure that must have cost millions and so far unused.
We passed a number of schools and some of the rural schools were quite tiny. All the schools have the Mozambican flag flying outside. For many communities the schools serve several purposes and students attend in shifts, with the younger ones going in the mornings and the older students going in the afternoons. Consequently, the buildings are very functional. In fact they look like the old/original Butlin’s accommodation blocks, two storey with staircases either end, no playground as such or outside equipment. I would like to spend time in a community school. This was one of the new schools, recently built, these signs of improvement are more encouraging.
Xai Xai is a typical of all the towns we drove through, all the shops are along the edge of the road. They don’t have streets off the main road as such, they’re more like dirt tracks which lead to people’s houses. I wonder what would happen if they ever built a motorway??
The house we stayed in is right on the beach. In the photograph below we occupied the ground floor. Obviously, like all big kids the first thing we did was go down to the beach. It was so good to just sit and watch huge great waves.
The path goes right along the edge of the beach. We went for a walk - just to see were it went. We met some witch doctors with their band of "followers". Lots of prayer needed for that conversation, Ephesians 6 coming to mind. We met the family below as we left from watching the sunrise.
Saturday morning, just had to get up to see the sunrise. Only problem we didn’t know what time the sun came up. So to make sure we didn’t miss it we were up at 4.45 (just in case) It was actually about 6!! Having said that, it was amazing looking at the stars, listening to the roar of the ocean, just waiting for the dawn. You couldn’t help but be amazed at God’s creation. And why? Why did He do it? Well I know what I think.
We were so exhausted that we just had to spend the day on the beach. Then because we’d seen the sunrise, what about the sunset?
The rest of the day – at the beach, but this time whilst the tide was out we walked along the reef, looking the rock pools – some amazing creatures. Even saw a blue jelly fish, the blue bottle.
The evenings involved the obligatory card games and difficult questions. I mean really difficult questions. I’m going to save them up for life group.
It was brilliant to get away, lots of fun and silly stuff. Coming back was just like the return of any break away – we left sunshine to return to dark clouds.
Unfortunately, when we left on Friday, there was a bit of a disaster. The electricity company were doing some work about ½ mile away. Supposedly routine but they connected the wires to the wrong ones, sending power the wrong way and causing a power surge at the school. It took out several thousand £ of equipment including the PC which acts as a server and the backup in the computer suite. All the teacher’s resources that I’d created were on there as well as all the student/teacher work from last year. I’ve got some of the original resources on a pen drive. Unfortunately, most of them have changed because I had to change them to apply this culture. I so wanted to leave them with an up and running suite and do some more lessons this week but we need to get a new computer, set it up as a server and then try and re-establish folders, resources etc. It may also mean re-mapping the other computers etc. which took such a long time because of all the different settings.
This is now priority. Please pray for us that everything comes together quickly and smoothly.
This is clearly money that was not budgeted for. I asked a silly question “will the electricity company pay?” It seems that you can write to the government and ask, but nothing will happen and you can’t insure against it because power surges and cuts in service happen all the time.
The journey to Xai Xai is about 3 ½ hour drive. Most of the road is quite good, not dual carriageway, but reasonably wide. The landscape is much greener and the vegetation more tropical. Also the homes, are more like traditional homesteads, straw and fewer brick houses. Most of the brick buildings tend to be public/community buildings. Produce is sold by the roadside, everything from cashew nuts to oranges. They rely on people stopping to buy and for most it’s their only source of income. Some will try and barter, but naturally for any car full of white people, the price will start very high!!
On our way out of Maputo we passed a beautiful new stadium, complete with athlete accommodation alongside. Apparently it was built for the World Cup, but it’s too small(?) somebody got the size wrong and FIFA said no. I was told that it was built by the Chinese and there are a number of “Chinese type” structures around the building – so I can’t be sure, but surely somebody must have measured up first?? The greatest sadness is that there is so much poverty around and they have this structure that must have cost millions and so far unused.
We passed a number of schools and some of the rural schools were quite tiny. All the schools have the Mozambican flag flying outside. For many communities the schools serve several purposes and students attend in shifts, with the younger ones going in the mornings and the older students going in the afternoons. Consequently, the buildings are very functional. In fact they look like the old/original Butlin’s accommodation blocks, two storey with staircases either end, no playground as such or outside equipment. I would like to spend time in a community school. This was one of the new schools, recently built, these signs of improvement are more encouraging.
Xai Xai is a typical of all the towns we drove through, all the shops are along the edge of the road. They don’t have streets off the main road as such, they’re more like dirt tracks which lead to people’s houses. I wonder what would happen if they ever built a motorway??
The house we stayed in is right on the beach. In the photograph below we occupied the ground floor. Obviously, like all big kids the first thing we did was go down to the beach. It was so good to just sit and watch huge great waves.
The path goes right along the edge of the beach. We went for a walk - just to see were it went. We met some witch doctors with their band of "followers". Lots of prayer needed for that conversation, Ephesians 6 coming to mind. We met the family below as we left from watching the sunrise.
Saturday morning, just had to get up to see the sunrise. Only problem we didn’t know what time the sun came up. So to make sure we didn’t miss it we were up at 4.45 (just in case) It was actually about 6!! Having said that, it was amazing looking at the stars, listening to the roar of the ocean, just waiting for the dawn. You couldn’t help but be amazed at God’s creation. And why? Why did He do it? Well I know what I think.
We were so exhausted that we just had to spend the day on the beach. Then because we’d seen the sunrise, what about the sunset?
Sunday, we’re getting the hang of the sunrise bit, so didn’t get to the beach until 5.40. We watched the sunrise and then did “church” on the beach. Just us, creation and God. The photograph was a spot of ingenuity, the camera is at the end of Philip’s feet.
The rest of the day – at the beach, but this time whilst the tide was out we walked along the reef, looking the rock pools – some amazing creatures. Even saw a blue jelly fish, the blue bottle.
The evenings involved the obligatory card games and difficult questions. I mean really difficult questions. I’m going to save them up for life group.
It was brilliant to get away, lots of fun and silly stuff. Coming back was just like the return of any break away – we left sunshine to return to dark clouds.
Unfortunately, when we left on Friday, there was a bit of a disaster. The electricity company were doing some work about ½ mile away. Supposedly routine but they connected the wires to the wrong ones, sending power the wrong way and causing a power surge at the school. It took out several thousand £ of equipment including the PC which acts as a server and the backup in the computer suite. All the teacher’s resources that I’d created were on there as well as all the student/teacher work from last year. I’ve got some of the original resources on a pen drive. Unfortunately, most of them have changed because I had to change them to apply this culture. I so wanted to leave them with an up and running suite and do some more lessons this week but we need to get a new computer, set it up as a server and then try and re-establish folders, resources etc. It may also mean re-mapping the other computers etc. which took such a long time because of all the different settings.
This is now priority. Please pray for us that everything comes together quickly and smoothly.
This is clearly money that was not budgeted for. I asked a silly question “will the electricity company pay?” It seems that you can write to the government and ask, but nothing will happen and you can’t insure against it because power surges and cuts in service happen all the time.
Thursday, 11 August 2011
Cansado
So tired today - as Dave says, I need a bit of God with skin on. Scrambling under too many tables, tugging wires, loading software etc. Tomorrow lunchtime 5 of us will be heading about 200km north, to Xai Xai till Sunday night, I'm really looking forward to it. Then it's the homeward stretch. I've enjoyed it here and it has been a challenge, but I'm missing the familiar faces. That's the hard part of being on mission by yourself.
Today I installed the computers & printer in the library, then I worked with the teachers. It was quite strange thinking about KS2 work. It seems such a long time since I did any of it. I kept saying, "I remember this" or "this is so good, you really must try this". It's really sweet because some of the teachers keep asking me to stay. I promised to help with their lessons next week after that I don't want to see another computer suite or lesson plan for a couple of weeks.
Elvis is one of the teacher's working here, he teaches grade 4, and it was good to share some the stories about his past students. Students whom he taught in rural schools in Zimbabwe and now have master degrees and doctorates. You never know what seeds you sew.
What's left to do? - I think, the cable ties to tidy up the suite, check stability (so far - ok), then the office needs installing and the security cameras (another first!)
Ongoing - resources for the teachers, as they ask, I try to respond.
Today I learnt two new words cubeta (bucket) and cesta (basket) - I think that's how you spell them. I was having one of my conversations with Alzira. Goodness knows what she thinks, this crazy white lady trying to speak Portuguese.
Time for tea - tempo means time and chá means tea (to drink) but I don't think it's simply a case of putting them together.
I checked out the Soul Survivor diary on-line, looks good
love
Today I installed the computers & printer in the library, then I worked with the teachers. It was quite strange thinking about KS2 work. It seems such a long time since I did any of it. I kept saying, "I remember this" or "this is so good, you really must try this". It's really sweet because some of the teachers keep asking me to stay. I promised to help with their lessons next week after that I don't want to see another computer suite or lesson plan for a couple of weeks.
Elvis is one of the teacher's working here, he teaches grade 4, and it was good to share some the stories about his past students. Students whom he taught in rural schools in Zimbabwe and now have master degrees and doctorates. You never know what seeds you sew.
What's left to do? - I think, the cable ties to tidy up the suite, check stability (so far - ok), then the office needs installing and the security cameras (another first!)
Ongoing - resources for the teachers, as they ask, I try to respond.
Today I learnt two new words cubeta (bucket) and cesta (basket) - I think that's how you spell them. I was having one of my conversations with Alzira. Goodness knows what she thinks, this crazy white lady trying to speak Portuguese.
Time for tea - tempo means time and chá means tea (to drink) but I don't think it's simply a case of putting them together.
I checked out the Soul Survivor diary on-line, looks good
love
Tuesday, 9 August 2011
Quick update
Hi teaching again today - can't have been that bad yesterday, they all came back.
Tomorrow and Thursday, I'm doing the teacher training, so that will be fun. The suite is mostly stable, I just seem to be chasing a gremlin and I really need to get my head around it.
On a different note I need wisdom, lots of it and I'd really appreciate your prayers, something tricky. If I get time I'll publish another post.
Hugs
XX
Tomorrow and Thursday, I'm doing the teacher training, so that will be fun. The suite is mostly stable, I just seem to be chasing a gremlin and I really need to get my head around it.
On a different note I need wisdom, lots of it and I'd really appreciate your prayers, something tricky. If I get time I'll publish another post.
Hugs
XX
Monday, 8 August 2011
Further reductions in the lizard population
Not sure how it happened – but this morning I was greeted with my second dead lizard. This time squashed in the front door!
Busy day today – Alzirar came to clean the house. More opportunities for me to make a fool of myself in Portuguese!! I don’t have to but I like trying to communicate.
I also had a visit from the electrician. Him, I didn’t try to talk to, far too dangerous. He was changing a ceiling light, from a strip light to a light with a fan, but without turning off the power!! Standing on a step ladder playing with live wires – only in Mozambique!
Computer suite had its first test today with grade 7(ages 12/13) and grade 4 (aged 9/10) students today. I did some desk top publishing in the morning and surveys, charts etc in Excel in the afternoon. On the homeward stretch as far as the suite is concerned now. Just some issues to do with file sharing across the 3 operating systems. The rest should then be fairly cosmetic – cable ties, tidying bits away etc.
Currently reading Max Lucado, “when God whispers your name”. It’s very appropriate just now and very encouraging. Not quite as encouraging as the nick-name I’ve been given. Philip, some young whippersnapper calls me “the queen”. I hope it’s because I’m the only Englishman(woman) here. I shall have to start calling him the president, but I think he might quite like it.
Love to all you Soul Survivors – have a great time & don’t forget the welly boots.
Stephen, don’t forget to feed the cats!! Thank you for cleaning the car – enjoy it while you can, I’ll be home sooner than you think!
Sunday, 7 August 2011
Sunday
Rain, rain & more rain- something's not quite right,
We didn't get to the village church. We went to a memorial service for a ministor who had rcently died of cancer - Sammy Gumbe. He was clearly well loved by the community and had impacted people across Africa and the States.
Afterwards we went to a chicken restaurant were we had - chicken!
The rest of the afternoon was quite quiet. Although I did have to deal with some dead wildlife. What's worse than a lizard in your bathroom? A squashed lizard! I closed the door on it - lovely.
This evening we're watching Shrek Forever.
Tomorrow, the teachers start their week's training and preparations for the new school year. Hopefully the suite will be ready for training. Then next weekend we're going to go up the coast to Xai Xai for a bit of chill out time. Check it out on the Internet. Some of the beaches look good. Of course I'm missing you all - lots
We didn't get to the village church. We went to a memorial service for a ministor who had rcently died of cancer - Sammy Gumbe. He was clearly well loved by the community and had impacted people across Africa and the States.
Afterwards we went to a chicken restaurant were we had - chicken!
The rest of the afternoon was quite quiet. Although I did have to deal with some dead wildlife. What's worse than a lizard in your bathroom? A squashed lizard! I closed the door on it - lovely.
This evening we're watching Shrek Forever.
Tomorrow, the teachers start their week's training and preparations for the new school year. Hopefully the suite will be ready for training. Then next weekend we're going to go up the coast to Xai Xai for a bit of chill out time. Check it out on the Internet. Some of the beaches look good. Of course I'm missing you all - lots
Saturday, 6 August 2011
Frio e muito vento
We've had a very windy cold front come in. When I got here 2 weeks ago I wondered why there were large blocks on the roof. Last night I found out why. It stops the roof from blowing away!! The house has a tin roof so you can imagine the noise.
Today has been very overcast. We took a drive up the coast along the ocean to take in the sites. It was interesting to see the huge houses, oh how the other half lived. Most are embasy staff and large corporates. It's one of those difficult anomalies rich living so close to poor almost as though the other didn't exist.
I'm beginning to recognise streets and landmarks, the odd tree or coloured wall. There's no such thing as street signs and names, so that's quite impressive, so long as they don't chop the tree down! Tonight we're watching "The Interpretter" and the opening scene is just down the road from here. It looks just the same except no broken vehicles and trucks outside.
The pictures are from our drive out and Cooper, the soppy lab, he was rolling all over my feet - must smell nice!. Tomorrow I'm going to a village church which I've been told is "traditional". I'll post you. I'm not sure if it'll be in Portuguese or a local language. My Portuguese vocab is improving but it's very like an infant's. I know words but putting sentences together is tricky. I told Alzira that I liked sandles - gosto de sandles, I actually meant I like your sandles, but people here are so tolerant and always try and help you out.
Although, it's been cold today (21C) yesterday was quite warm (29C) and saw an increase in the mosquito department. Gary is modelling the latest anti-mozzie tool. Looks like a tennis racquet but it has a zapper in the middle, Some of the up-market versions have lights on them so that you can use them in the dark.
Postings have been tricky for me too. I'm not sure why, but I do appreciate your comments and it's good to know that I'm in your thoughts and prayers.
Praying for Soul Survivor, all my love to Katherine and Stephen. I hope you have a great time next week & drive safe. Love to George too, hope you enjoy your time at Soul Survivor too.
I'm on Mozambican time now and somebody needs to tell my dear husband that he needs to slow down.
Today has been very overcast. We took a drive up the coast along the ocean to take in the sites. It was interesting to see the huge houses, oh how the other half lived. Most are embasy staff and large corporates. It's one of those difficult anomalies rich living so close to poor almost as though the other didn't exist.
I'm beginning to recognise streets and landmarks, the odd tree or coloured wall. There's no such thing as street signs and names, so that's quite impressive, so long as they don't chop the tree down! Tonight we're watching "The Interpretter" and the opening scene is just down the road from here. It looks just the same except no broken vehicles and trucks outside.
The pictures are from our drive out and Cooper, the soppy lab, he was rolling all over my feet - must smell nice!. Tomorrow I'm going to a village church which I've been told is "traditional". I'll post you. I'm not sure if it'll be in Portuguese or a local language. My Portuguese vocab is improving but it's very like an infant's. I know words but putting sentences together is tricky. I told Alzira that I liked sandles - gosto de sandles, I actually meant I like your sandles, but people here are so tolerant and always try and help you out.
Although, it's been cold today (21C) yesterday was quite warm (29C) and saw an increase in the mosquito department. Gary is modelling the latest anti-mozzie tool. Looks like a tennis racquet but it has a zapper in the middle, Some of the up-market versions have lights on them so that you can use them in the dark.
Postings have been tricky for me too. I'm not sure why, but I do appreciate your comments and it's good to know that I'm in your thoughts and prayers.
Praying for Soul Survivor, all my love to Katherine and Stephen. I hope you have a great time next week & drive safe. Love to George too, hope you enjoy your time at Soul Survivor too.
I'm on Mozambican time now and somebody needs to tell my dear husband that he needs to slow down.
Friday, 5 August 2011
Trabalho Fixo
Hooray - it works
Thanks to Margaret and a huge answer to prayer.
The network cards needed reconfiguring. Go on - you all knew that, you just wanted me to discover it for myself.
Phew. It set me back a few hours but I am richer for the experience. Next step is file sharing across the 15 computers. Surely after this that has to be a piece of cake!!
Not a job for today though. Time to go home. Spicey chicken and games night tonight.
Thank you Lord (and MW@SHSB)
Thanks to Margaret and a huge answer to prayer.
The network cards needed reconfiguring. Go on - you all knew that, you just wanted me to discover it for myself.
Phew. It set me back a few hours but I am richer for the experience. Next step is file sharing across the 15 computers. Surely after this that has to be a piece of cake!!
Not a job for today though. Time to go home. Spicey chicken and games night tonight.
Thank you Lord (and MW@SHSB)
Slight improvement - I think
Now both sockets on the RJ45 work - left & right but only if one cable is plugged in. If both plugged in, the cable that was connected second can access the Internet, the first one can't.
Really confused. Clearly the socket is only taking data from one of the connections. What do I do to see both. Is there a crosstalk setting?
On the router there are 16 ports but the dual socket shows up as the same port number - if that makes sense. Basically, irrespective of which of the two ports I plug into, the same light comes on, on the router.
Really confused. Clearly the socket is only taking data from one of the connections. What do I do to see both. Is there a crosstalk setting?
On the router there are 16 ports but the dual socket shows up as the same port number - if that makes sense. Basically, irrespective of which of the two ports I plug into, the same light comes on, on the router.
Thursday, 4 August 2011
Help - Techie question
All computers in. Windows 7 can see the Vista computers, XP not tested yet.
Internet is working - in fact I'm blogging from one of the suites computers, but I don't understand the wiring!
The router has all cables connected, lights flashing appropriately. My problem comes whenI plug into the wall. The cable points are dual ports but only one of them coincidentally the leftmost is seen. If I use the rightmost or have two cables plugged in (left & right) I get the ethernet/cable unplugged error message from Windows.
If I plug into the leftmost port only I connect fine. I am using CAT5 cables.
What have I missed? Switch, cabling, router. I am now at the boundary of my knowledge.
Answers in detail please - make it idiot proof
Internet is working - in fact I'm blogging from one of the suites computers, but I don't understand the wiring!
The router has all cables connected, lights flashing appropriately. My problem comes whenI plug into the wall. The cable points are dual ports but only one of them coincidentally the leftmost is seen. If I use the rightmost or have two cables plugged in (left & right) I get the ethernet/cable unplugged error message from Windows.
If I plug into the leftmost port only I connect fine. I am using CAT5 cables.
What have I missed? Switch, cabling, router. I am now at the boundary of my knowledge.
Answers in detail please - make it idiot proof
Wednesday, 3 August 2011
lavo meu pés
Last week I learnt the word for wash and although I think I may have the Portuguese wrong, all I seem to do is wash my feet! I know why the Romans used to have slaves to wash their feet.
Today was spent sorting out software, cables, etc. All computers work, we now have to get them to talk. I've got masses of resources together and a mini program of study. I've become quite protective of the computer suite. I won't let anybody dump stuff in there and anything that's not needed is getting chucked out. "não em aqui, obrigada" which I think means, not in here. Either way it seems to work.
The photograph below was a must. Yes the worker is wearing a santa hat.
Natal feliz. Whenever it gets cool (today was 26C) people wrap up and he puts on his santa hat.
Today we've also been unpacking the removal trucks. The furniture, books etc have all been moved from the old school to this new site. There have been a few desperate moments (or in some cases hours) were the trucks have got stuck in the sand outside the drive.
Emptying the truck was my "weight/strength" exercise, for cardio, I took the laziest pooch for a walk.
We can't leave the compound (safety - although it's 11 years since the last missionary was killed!!) but it does take about 15 minutes to walk around the perimeter. Chesser and I did a couple of laps and the last bit I thought we could run. I was dragging this beast because she didn't want to run and she's strong. She's only about 4 or 5 years old!!
I've been teaching the twins some songs with actions. I forgot how small children like the same song over, and over, and over..........again.
It was good to get your posts. Ann, Jacky am pleased to hear that you had good holidays. I bet you haven't got any pictures of lazy dogs or workers in Christmas hats.
Katherine, I'm excited to hear about the hall. Keep up the good work.
How's the sheepfold? I could lend you a dog, but I don't think she'll be chasing any wolves. Although having said that, she was going crazy last night barking at something - so maybe.
lots love
XXX
Today was spent sorting out software, cables, etc. All computers work, we now have to get them to talk. I've got masses of resources together and a mini program of study. I've become quite protective of the computer suite. I won't let anybody dump stuff in there and anything that's not needed is getting chucked out. "não em aqui, obrigada" which I think means, not in here. Either way it seems to work.
The photograph below was a must. Yes the worker is wearing a santa hat.
Today we've also been unpacking the removal trucks. The furniture, books etc have all been moved from the old school to this new site. There have been a few desperate moments (or in some cases hours) were the trucks have got stuck in the sand outside the drive.
Emptying the truck was my "weight/strength" exercise, for cardio, I took the laziest pooch for a walk.
We can't leave the compound (safety - although it's 11 years since the last missionary was killed!!) but it does take about 15 minutes to walk around the perimeter. Chesser and I did a couple of laps and the last bit I thought we could run. I was dragging this beast because she didn't want to run and she's strong. She's only about 4 or 5 years old!!
I've been teaching the twins some songs with actions. I forgot how small children like the same song over, and over, and over..........again.
It was good to get your posts. Ann, Jacky am pleased to hear that you had good holidays. I bet you haven't got any pictures of lazy dogs or workers in Christmas hats.
Katherine, I'm excited to hear about the hall. Keep up the good work.
How's the sheepfold? I could lend you a dog, but I don't think she'll be chasing any wolves. Although having said that, she was going crazy last night barking at something - so maybe.
lots love
XXX
Tuesday, 2 August 2011
Tuesday
Hi - short blog tonight
Well the Internet man arrived today. He should have come yesterday, but hey-ho, today is close enough!!
So we have Internet into the school, we just now need to do the rest. The furniture and books are in the school. So it's getting closer.
Went to Matola to collect some chickens (dead) from a family who run a small chicken farm business for local people.
Also took Chesser (the ridgeback) for a walk. Not sure who was walking who - she's strong, but not very fit. I did a short jog with her and she stopped after about 3 minutes!!
Bible study group tonight. Hope your BBQ is good and the weather is kind.
I've given in to demands and a simple piccie, waiting in line to do my little bit at Kongalate. I wasn't really grumpy!!
Keep blogging. I know some have found it hard to update, but it is really encouraging to read your comments. I'm beginning to reach that mid-point. You know when you can't see either end. Praying for holiday club. Hope your first day went well.
Good to Skype the family - hope the washing machines OK, If any want to chat "r.n.moore" I think??
Well the Internet man arrived today. He should have come yesterday, but hey-ho, today is close enough!!
So we have Internet into the school, we just now need to do the rest. The furniture and books are in the school. So it's getting closer.
Went to Matola to collect some chickens (dead) from a family who run a small chicken farm business for local people.
Also took Chesser (the ridgeback) for a walk. Not sure who was walking who - she's strong, but not very fit. I did a short jog with her and she stopped after about 3 minutes!!
Bible study group tonight. Hope your BBQ is good and the weather is kind.
I've given in to demands and a simple piccie, waiting in line to do my little bit at Kongalate. I wasn't really grumpy!!
Good to Skype the family - hope the washing machines OK, If any want to chat "r.n.moore" I think??
Monday, 1 August 2011
oops
Hit publish before I'd uploaded the other pictures.
Kongalate pre-school
The Well!!
prayer ministry in the church
Golf!!
Then just for the twitchers
In all seriousness there are some amazing birds here.
I've spent the morning trying to update this blog and chatting to the Myers family. Just finding out about life here. There's also another opportunity in a school further north, but my time here just won't allow it. Maybe next time.
Then just for the twitchers
I've spent the morning trying to update this blog and chatting to the Myers family. Just finding out about life here. There's also another opportunity in a school further north, but my time here just won't allow it. Maybe next time.
Week 2
Friday evening.
The day finished with a bonfire and toasted marshmallows. I found a very odd looking packet in my kitchen cupboard, still in date, but nevertheless odd looking. Toddled off to bed, only to be woken by a very loud party. Decided to investigate but was stopped in my tracks by a largish lizard running across the floor. Apparently they’re ok because they eat the mosquitos. Another creature I might come across is the a lizard but it’s head is blue and like a chameleon it can change colour.
Saturday
Today we went into the city to a craft market which was interesting. Some of the pictures I’ve uploaded today are from that visit. There’s a lot of poverty and living conditions are very poor. You will notice that there are a lot of half built walls or stacks of bricks outside the homes. Bank accounts and savings are unusual here, mainly because people just don’t have any money, it’s very much subsistence living. However, when they do have extra money, they buy bricks which they save to use to build their house or toilet etc. So bricks are like savings.
In addition to going to the market we also went into a shopping mall, it was noticeable just how empty it was and the few people who were there were white. The pictures of the rubbish are typical of what you see everywhere.
It was good to get off the compound because you can become a little isolated here. The new building is ready to receive students and they’re due to start here next week. I can see how easy it would be to live and work here without any real need to leave the site.
The sandy road is also quite typical of what you face when you leave the main roads. This picture was taken on the way back to the compound. I’ve also included some pictures of transport. It’s not unusual see open back trucks packed with people, all standing up. We even saw one truck that was packed with wedding guests.
There are also a lot of people with missing limbs. Some are as a consequence of the civil war and some are from contracting Polio. For some this will mean that they can’t work and so can’t earn. One of the visions for OMS is to use part of the school for teaching adults new skills so that they can make things to sell. Another is for wheelchairs, to supply and/or repair wheelchairs. Again this could be part of the skills workshops.
The windows are in the computer suite now and the office equipment has been moved from the old school to here. Hopefully, work can start on the network. I have done most of the resources for the high school kids, just the younger ones to do next. It’s hard because the American Curriculum is quite different from the English Curriculum and their understanding of “computers” is very different to what we teach in ICT. The expectations are quite different. Plus on top of that I’ve still to find out exactly what the students can and can’t do.
Sunday
Went to a church in Kongalate which is about half an hour’s drive away – mixture of tarmac and sandy roads. It’s an interesting church because it was a church plant supported by OMS. Most of the people living in Kongalate moved there after the floods of 2000 and OMS helped giving practical support. They have a large site with a church, a preschool, a kitchen and a well! The church leadership is mainly Mozambican and they’re now starting to reach out to the community. The preschool and the kitchen help to serve the local people and the well is a source of income because they charge people to hook up to the water supply. It’s quite a lively church with a small group (about 15) children. As I sat there I couldn’t help wishing that I could spend more time in the church. Lots of “if onlys”. If only I spoke the language better, if only I had more time. Do you know the first song I would teach them, complete with actions? “My God is a great big God”. Followed by “My God is so big, so strong and so mighty”. With that in mind, I really pray that Holiday Club goes well. Kind of wish I was part of it this year, but having it here instead. I think next time that’s the kind of mission I would like to do, amongst the people.
the church
the kitchenThe service was in Portuguese and translated into Shang an (a local language) so I didn’t understand much. I got the Bible readings, so pretty much had to meditate on the word myself. I had to do a brief introduction again. It’s common in churches here for them to invite all newcomers to the front where they have to say a little something and then everyone waves at them saying something which I think means welcome – (hopefully not go away).
One of the pictures has a great line of people standing at the front. They’re all people who wanted prayer. That was before the message. The other thing that is interesting is how they view the collection. I knew that they danced to the front with it but they also count it during the service and announce how much was collected. To which everyone then gives a loud shout and claps.
We drove past a school – the equivalent of our primary school. It was huge, but it was row upon row of what looked like rusty barracks, like a prison camp. I found it hard; I could have wept, it's the poverty of opportunity. I guess it’s the desire for all children to be valued and be able to have an education. It must be the teacher in me.
Something funny – Philip (one of the missionaries) teaching one of the guards to play golf. Unfortunately we don’t have much of a green, but plenty of rough and sandy bunkers.
Tonight, had tea with Sharon, Melvin and the twins. I’ve been kicked off tea making. The first time I used the wrong teabags and the second time right teabags but the wrong orders and too milky. This is why I don’t do tea in church.
I’ve also included a picture for Trevor, the weaver bird. It’s bright yellow and its nest hangs down from the branch much like a Christmas decoration.
Quite a long blog because the Internet has been down and communication has been difficult. However, the powercut seemed to fix it!!
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