Work Day 5

Today was a lot more of the same in terms of work.  Jon, Adam and Bill worked with Anco on the water tower.  They built additional bracing and a ladder.  Anco started working on the piping for the 2nd tank.  Steve and Chris continued working on removing the roof and ceiling of one of the classrooms.  Jason, Andy, Larry, Rachel, Ewien and I continued digging.  We finished another trench and worked very hard at digging under the roots of a big tree near our trench because Anco told us yesterday to not cut through them, but put the pipes under them.  This was pretty time consuming.  Today he came by and said to remove the tree.  We all gave him a look of shock ,and he smiled and said "plans change."  He has said this so much during this trip that I'm thinking about changing the title of this blog to "plans change!"

Removing the tree was interesting (and not yet complete).  Several of the guys worked on cutting off branches and some of the roots.  Anco wants the entire tree pulled out of the ground so that he doesn't have to try and dig up the stump.  Ewien brought over the truck, and some guys tied a chain around the tree, attached it to a rope and attached the rope to the truck.  We all knew where this was headed, but we went along with it. As expected, the rope broke.  So, we've worked on digging out more of the roots and will try again on Monday.

Oftentimes, when we are working, the Malians will stare at us, especially at the women (Rachel, Ewien and me).  Ewien said many of the Malians do not think white people know how to work and that women in general don't do hard labor.  There are times when we feel like a zoo exhibit.  Daniel said at dinner tonight that we work like men...(not sure if that was a compliment...ha!). While Rachel and I were shoveling today, we were given African names by Samuel (one of the Malian workers at Bethel -- he may work for Anco all the time--I'm not sure).  My name is Domalis, which means bean eater (???).  Steve was also given this name by a Malian last time he was here.  I'll add Rachel's name later..I can't figure out how to spell it!  Larry was given the name Keita last time he was in Mali, which means king (Larry is extremely tall). I think Bill was given a name on this trip as well.

During lunch (leftovers today) Anco told us some interesting information about some of his work.  Several men work for him.  If he has someone who has worked for him for awhile, is a hard worker, is open to change and willing to learn, he helps them buy their own land.  Anco will buy the land, put it in the worker's name, helps the worker get the appropriate equipment and teaches the worker to use efficient farming techniques.  Then, that worker pays Anco back, which usually takes about 3 years.  Anco said it costs about $2200 (US dollars) for 15 acres of land.

Towards the end of the conversation, Jon picked up some peanut butter and put a big spoonful on his plate to eat with crackers.  Anco's eyes got huge, and he shook his head.  He doesn't understand how we eat so much peanut butter.  He said a spoonful of peanut butter would be the same to him as eating a spoonful of mayonnaise!

Dinner tonight was hosted by Daniel (director of Bethel Bible College), two other teachers at Bethel and their wives.  The women sat at one end of the table and the men at the other.  Also, there was a little tub to wash our hands before we went up to get our food.  We had a banana entree (fried bananas--not sure what it's called), rice and peanut sauce (Steve is right -- peanut sauce is good!), chicken, and potatoes. It was a very good dinner, and there was very interesting conversation.  Daniel started out by thanking us for our work, telling us how much they appreciate it as well as the partnership with Christ Community Church and that they were showing their love by giving us a dinner.  

Steve asked Daniel what his vision is for Bethel, and he said he would like to increase the capacity to having 50 students in a session.  Daniel said many people are not well educated, so the first year of the program (4 year program) is spent learning general subjects.  They also spend time teaching the students more efficient ways of farming. He said it's difficult for people to become pastors because they are typically only paid about $10 (so 5000 Francs) per month by the church, so they must also have an additional job (usually growing crops).  He also said that there are many churches in need of pastors, so he would like to make the program be 3 years instead of 4.  Each year consists of 6 months of education.  He'd like to change it to 8 months in order to make it be 3 years so that there are more pastors in a shorter timeframe.  It costs each students $100/month to be in the program (they are provided family housing while they are in the program), and $60/month consists of the program fees.  The students have a hard time earning enough money to sustain them while they are not in the fields. Someone asked if Christianity is growing quickly in Mali, and Daniel said the Muslim population is growing much faster.  He said many people see what has happened in Afghanistan and Iraq and aren't happy with white people's actions (invading, etc).  They see white people as Christians, so they decide to be Muslim.    

Daniel is a very happy man and laughs a lot.  We all love his laugh and enjoyed him very much even though we didn't understand him (Anco and Ewien translated).  He has great passion for his vision and wants to train the best pastors and many of them!  He is committed to spreading Christianity and Bethel Bible College is an amazing program.

We had two rounds of tea while there.  Everyone here drinks tea.  Someone often brings us tea a couple times while we are working during the day.  Anco said that most people have 3 rounds of tea a day, and each round consists of 3 small glasses of tea, so 9 glasses total each day.  Everyone shares glasses, so we're probably lucky more people haven't gotten sick on our team, especially since a few of us have already been sick while here.

Oftentimes, the pattern of the conversation is how important it is for people/pastors to learn about farming (we've been told this several times).  I mentioned earlier that Rachel and I weeded a garden.  This garden was started by Ewien and Anco as a test to show the people the efficiency of drip irrigation.  Their garden uses drip irrigation and is doing very well.  Anco said that you can't tell people how to do things in Mali.  Instead, you must show them for them to believe it.  

Tomorrow is a day off! We need it! We are all so exhausted.  Jon is making some of us get up early to go running, so we can say we went running in Mali :)  Angela told him her typical running route (she runs 3 days a week and Ewien often runs with her).  

Please continue to pray for our safety and health and pray for Bethel Bible College.  Daniel said that once they build up their capacity, he is depending on God to send him the students.  Anco and Ewien have gone a long way in helping build their capacity for more students.

Larry got the jackhammer stuck in the dirt

Andy cutting limbs

Failed attempt at pulling the tree down

We started cutting down the tree before Anco told us to dig up the roots and pull the entire tree out.  After our failed attempt, he told us to dig out roots (he is shown on right showing us how to dig around roots)

Steve

 Chris

 Anco, Olivier, Adam

 Erin and Rachel digging

trench

People would often get in the pool after a hard day of work.  Someone donated this pool to the mission compound a few years ago, and Malians actually hand dug the hole for the pool.