Naomi's "Kid's Guide to Sierra Leone and Kabala"

A brochure Naomi recently completed.  I was impressed that she included an apostrophe in the title.  The debate in the Ringma household has been about whether or not the apostrophe should be before or after the 's' because even though the brochure was produced and belongs to one child many are being invited to 'make it their own'... Yes, we also still word-goalie each other too.

The #1 animal is depicted on the cover, along with many versions of the flag.

See title on bottom right. Very helpful if you've ever been to Kabala - and even if you have not.  My favorite place is "some ware", smack dab in the middle of the page.  All stores are named relative to what we purchase there (water store, egg place, 'good' store=has lots of stuff and the owner is friendly, Chocolate Mana=type of cookie available there)

"Quik" Trip to Bo.

I spent some time in Bo last week, helping lead sessions on "Reformed Worship" and "The Sacraments: Baptism." 



Travel by road in Sierra Leone has its own pastoral beauty/danger.  Yes, that is the equivalent of Highway 16/1/your local interstate.

One of the biggest blessings about the trip was that it was a veritable "United Nations" of brethren with whom I travelled.  Zambia, Nigeria, Liberia, United States, Canada, Sierra Leone (both Kuranko and Mende) - all these nations were represented on the journey.  It was amazing to rub shoulders with these men and soak in God's goodness at placing us together for this time.  Let me introduce them in some word/pictures:


Amara Fefegula (left), a native son of Bo, currently residing in Kabala, led devotions and translated our sessions into Krio and Mende (the native language in Bo).  Morris Sonie (right), of Liberia, is in training in Kabala as a potential church-planter in the CRC SL.  He translated one of my sessions into Krio.    We enjoyed each other's company and were all bounced around together in the back of the Landcruiser on our trip to/from Bo.



In the pink shirt on the left, John Phiri from the Reformed Church in Zambia, is worshipping.  He later led the session on "Holy Communion".  Zachary Adams, from the 3rd Denver CRC, is on the far left.  He led a session on writing and reporting.  There were 31 participants, far exceeding our expectations.



Belalie Koroma, of the Koinadugu district, our able driver is a gentle spirit, faithful disciple and extremely able guide throughout SL. He has matching shirt/shoes and he is also nicknamed, "Temperature."

Rev. Ezekiel J. Sudu leading a session on "What it Means to be Reformed."  That is Bo Pastor Gabriel Mattia interpretting on the right.



Naomi is 'walking' the gift given to us by Amara's parents when we visited them in Bo.  This is a tremendous show of respect and honour, especially if you consider the limited means of many in this culture.  We named him "Monday" because Monday would be his last day.  He was killed this morning (a few tears were shed ...), but most of us are looking forward to Monday dinner.

The group shot.  The photographer wasn't familiar with iphone cameras.



The exterior of the church building in Bo, where the sessions were held.  Clearly my apologies are necessary:  The family photographer did not take the trip, so instead of Ella's pictures, you have mine.

One of the simple pleasures of life in North America, chocolate milk, I am unable to enjoy in the same, full fashion in Sierra Leone - in part because cold, fresh milk is not readily available.

This is the chocolate powder available here.  Like so many knock-off brands here, it attempts to mirror a familiar Western brand name.  The hospitality demonstrated by our hosts, even in their efforts to provide special food for us, was in itself overwhelming.  In fact, the day we left we actually had to have two lunches within an hour of each other, otherwise we would have offended both our church hosts and the lady who housed us! 



Update. Assorted Pictures. Letters.

Here's a brief update so you know what we have been/are up to and where you might remember us in prayer:
- We just completed two days of workshops with the CRC SL staff in Kabala on the topics of Being Reformed, Reformed Worship, Baptism, Communion and a practical workshop on Writing. I led the sessions on Baptism and Reformed Worship.
- We are taking this 'show' on the road. We will be travelling to Bo, the second-largest city in Sierra Leone, which is about 6 hours by motorcar. We (John Phiri, Ezekiel Sudu, Zach Adams and I) travel on Thursday and return Sunday. I suspect I'll be preaching on Sunday. Ella and kids will remain in Kabala. You won't see anything on the blog until sometime next week.
- It rained last night for the first time since we've been in Sierra Leone. A nice, refreshing thunder shower. The kids enjoyed running around, jumping in puddles and having a warm shower. It is certainly warmer here than when we first arrived. We notice it the most in the evenings and at night as we try to fall asleep whilst perspiring.
- We are all relatively healthy right now: Thanks be to God!
- The kids haven't been in classes the past two weeks, as it has been revision and exam weeks, which can be fairly slow-moving, especially from a North American perspective. They've been doing some work at home and helping Ella organize the library. They've also been writing tourist guides to Sierra Leone, which I hope we can post some pictures of here.
- Today marks the midpoint of our stay in Kabala.
- Because of the speed of the internet (as Jacob succinctly put it, "horrible"), Maria, Jacob and Naomi are unable to access their email accounts (they often fail to load completely) and class blogs, so they have had limited communication with friends in this fashion. But below are some notes to neighbours/friends from Maria and Naomi.

Kabala School Sports Day.  CRC school is next week Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  Yes, it's a big deal!

Just a little fire behind our house.  Right behind our house.

Friends of ours (the Hill family, working with Missionary Church of Africa) had a pet monkey.  They have two boys and a girl who are similar ages to our children. 

Name that flower.  And is it indiginous to Sierra Leone?

(From Naomi)

Jacob's Class Letter.

Here is Jacob's letter to his class.  The pictures will, again, best be viewed as a slideshow.  The subject matter overlaps with Maria to a certain degree ...

Dear: class

How are you? I am going to tell you some Krio I say and what people respond.
(I say) kushe (hi)
(person says back) how de body (how are you)
(me) tell God tanky (really good or awesome)
(me) lef me (leave me alone)
(Me) go clam stick (go climb the tree)
(person says back) you first go clam stick(you climb the tree first)

On March 12, 2012 out of the blue our Paddy (friend) yells CHAMELEON !!

And points to the tree by the vehicle we use often.We all go closer to the tree and sure
enough there it was although we could only see the green tail.
I ran inside to my mom and told her there was a chameleon outside and to take photos.

We saw It change color. It climbs so slow and has three claws it uses to grab onto

leaves and branches.

Today is March 14, 2012.

My mom made a solar cooker.

Sorry I can not contact you much. It's because we have horrible internet access.

It takes hours here to do something it takes 15 minutes to do were you are.

From: Jacob Nicholas Ringma
P.s. What are you doing in art class (explain how to do it)

Maria's Class Letter

With the limited bandwidth we have here, I took screen shots of Maria's letter.  It doesn't do justice to some of the pictures but, barring a 4G revolution in Kabala, it will have to do for now.  For best viewing, I suggest clicking on the first 'image' and watching as a slideshow. 

Adama's Family Farm

Adama and her mother at the farm.

We had an opportunity to visit the family farm of our "stewardess", Adama.  Adama does lots of work for us. Chores that are a lot more "automated" in North America often require a bit more elbow grease in Sierra Leone. So Adama helps with laundry, cooking, cleaning and 'planting' the girls' hair. She wanted to bring us to her family farm to meet her parents. It was a privilege to do so and Adama was proud to 'show us off'. 

Adama planting Ella's hair.

Maria and Adama doing laundry on the veranda.

Taking the trail to the 'swamp' (field).

Trailing behind Adama.

Not a colour we see everyday during dry season!

"Swamp."

Cooking hut.

Tree trunk growths and moss for Ella's Dad.

Beans (pronounced 'beanch' here) drying in the sun.

"Banga" - palm kernels, which are sometimes chewed for a snack and otherwise utilized for palm oil.

Better view of the swamp.

In the middle of the Casava garden on the hillside.

Adama with her nephew, who was absolutely petrified of us t'baboos (white men).

Maria, Jacob and Naomi are on break from school this week and next week as it is review week followed by exam week.  They are busy doing home-schooling math and making brochures for travel to Sierra Leone.  By popular demand, their work will be featured here again as soon as we are able to upload it.  Ella continues to work with teachers at school in the mornings while the kids are at home with Adama.
JR

From Frenetic Freetown to R&R @ River #2

Downtown scene in Freetown.

Market.  That's Mayonaise in the jars ...

 

"Swamps" (gardens) right in the middle of Freetown with garbage dumps nearby.  Children are sifting through both.

They even support BC hockey in Freetown, Ryan Roseboom.

Now showing at the Terrace-Not-Paris film festival ... 

If you were ever wondering how to support a concrete structure under construction in Freetown, here's lesson #1.

You can spot mangoes, melons, bananas and pineapples ... if you look closely.

The "Bandstra Tranportation Systems" of Sierra Leone.  I would pay to see more "Bandstras" pushing their trucks with bare feet.

 

Here's a [Insert-Latin-name-here-to-impress-inlaws-and-insure-I'm-in-the-will] tree.

After meeting with Dr. Jo Kuyvenhoven (Calvin College, working in SL with, amongst other organizations, CRC School in Kabala) for breakfast, we quickly changed our plans to come to River Number 2.  We were happy we did!

Maria was happy we came.

  

Jacob was happy we came.

Naomi was happy we came.

There are, apparently, usually plenty of people here on the weekend.  We saw very few people.  (If it weren't for the sun, temperature, miles of sand, sunscreen, warm water, big waves and a few other details, we would have thought we were on a quiet beach near Prince Rupert.)

We visited Dr. Jo and her daughter, Jessica, at their place near River No. 2.  It was incredible!

Not a bad view from the porch ...

Beachcombing.

Excellent body surfing.

Zach Adams, making a pertinent point.

We hope to return ...