Sunday 12 December 2010

Mutton Sandwich

I have found this great sandwich here in town that is sold by a handicapped person down at the bus station. He starts with lamb meat rubbed with his special rub and skewered with bicycle spokes over a charcoal stove. He then has French baggette bread that he puts the meat into. Then, he adds onions, tomatoes, oil, more of his "special rub" and then wraps it in cement bag paper that he has just hit with his hand to get the rest of the cement off of. It reminds me of the movie "Princes Bride" when Billy Crystal talks about his "mutton, lettuce, and tomato sandwich." It is a great sandwich. The problem here is that they don't know germ theory. Last week, the guy ran out of oil that was in a small plastic bag as he was squirting it on one of the sandwiches, so he grab another bag and BIT the corner off of the new bag and kept on squirting on the oil. Ed, Dan and I laughed and said that is something you don't see in America. We ate the sandwiches and they were good (we didn't get sick either). If you can get them hot, that's just a special bonus.

Friday 3 December 2010

Big Advances





Our third building is really taking shape. The color is being put on and the final cement work is being done. We are working hard on the electrical, tile, and plumbing. We have a work team from Southgate coming in January to help with the plumbing. This is the dream team of plumbing and we are really looking forward to their arrival. The "Ronald McDonald house" as I call it is almost finished. I only needs the color put on. When I say "the color put on" I mean that color is added to the crepisage or stucko. Its the final coat of cement added to the buildings. Next in line is a new concrete incinerator. The old one has a metal chimney and roof. The metal only last about 2 years and needs replacing. I want something permanent that will last as long as the other buildings so we are making everything we can out of concrete and fire brick.

We had a golf cart donated to us and it is a huge time saver. Our complex is big and I would spend huge amounts of time walking from one project to another. Now, I just jump onto the cart with the person and we drive to where his project is and then I can return to what I was doing in a short amount of time. Huge blessing. It has a rear seat that turns into a work bed so we can haul things also. When I am not using the cart, the other guys are transporting things to and from the workshop. You ought to see the looks of the Africans when I drive by them. I have been asked, "what it is?" I try to explain golf to them and why people use a vehicle like this to play. They just don't get it. Then I tell them that it is just a small car. Then the light pops on. I had one guy say "why would anyone want to hit something and then go chase it down?". I understand the thinking. Cultures are different that is for sure.

We hope everyone has a great Christmas and New Years. I hope to be posting more now that teams are not here until mid January. Thanks to everyone for your prayers and support. We love you all and will miss you this Christmas season.