April 25th Football, Bishop, and the Market

Saturday April 25, 2009

This morning the men started their football (soccer) game before 6:30. They had a referee and are quite skilled in both individual skill and team work. The pitch here is about the size of a U10 field but much wider. The goals are under trees and on the east end there are two large Neem trees in the field. Because the field is all sand there are no lines. The referee stood at about center and on the south side and whistled from there. I sat on the front step, drank my morning tea and watched. I shagged the few ball that came my way. Two days ago I tried to run to shag a ball from a kids game and realized that running with a bruised thigh on one leg and sore knee on the other did not work. Today it much better and I can actually jog a few steps. The bruise has turned a nice greenish purple but is much smaller than I expected.

Today is cleaning day. Some of these rooms have not had a good cleaning for a while. I man from the Deaf Center is here doing a good job. The big bedroom has not been used for a long time. The dust is thick as he sweeps the walls and window screen. The wind is blowing the dust back into the office/living/dining room that he has already cleaned. I took this picture as he was cleaning.

While he was cleaning, Bishop Edward Ishaya came over. We had some of my sun tea I made on Thursday with honey from Bali and talked. He related his first encounter with snow in St. Louis. He said the night got dark and then it got light again. He looked at the clock and it was still night so why was it so light out. He looked out the window and the ground was covered in snow. He went out and picked it up and it turned to water. The next winter he transferred to Luther Seminary in St. Paul. We mostly discussed farming. I learned that while he did grow up in Yola his father farmed several places as what we would call a share cropper. He had a plot that is now part of Yola Airport, another on the edge of the river and a third one outside of Yola. Today Yola has grown out past all the places his father used to farm. I gave him the 5 DVD set on Farming God’s Way and the information the catalogues from Luther Seminary bookstore.

In the afternoon, I trekked down the road and found two cleaners. The more expensive will have my clothes back by Tuesday. The cheaper one was not sure it depends on when they have power. I took the more expensive choice and came back with some laundry (N9.27833,E12.449907). I will have to wash my own socks and underwear. Later I trekked to the Market (N9.27674, E12.43682) about a kilometer down the road and found a small black pot that will fit nicely in my solar oven I am making with cardboard and aluminum foil. The first vendor I found wanted 800 Naira. I continued on and found the same pot for 350 naira. I got three carrots and some eggs I will hard boil. Tomorrow if it is sunny I will set out the bowl with rice, carrots and onions and some spices to bake in the sun before I go to church. For that last several years they have been building a new market. It is suppose to be done but no body is moving in. The rent is too high for the merchants. I will have to shoot some pictures so you can see the old market. (the Google Earth Photo of this area shows the old market in 2004 across the street. That was torn down and new one constructed the vender are all over the street and across the street from the old market back two blocks.)

I met with the Secretary and Treasurer of the Bali Committee and discussed several things. They would like to establish a health clinic and missionary center in the Bali area like the Catholics do. I told them that they need to talk with the LCCN Medical Board and the local government. I told them how the LCCN Medical Board has been cooperating with local governments to get medical clinics built and maintained with funds from the LCCN and ongoing staffing from the local government. They then told me that the Governor of Taraba State is from Bali and is a member of the LCCN. I told them that we should use those connections. They gave me a new listing of income and expenditures and we discussed how I would present the check on Sunday May 3rd. They liked the idea of scanning the check and making a big version on cardboard. After they have their special offering I will present the check.