Busy times in Botswana and Canada

I realize that it has been a very long time since we posted a blog. The only excuse I can come up with is that it has been a very busy time.


After we left for White Rock, BC Gert left early and a few days later left for The Netherlands, Zambia and Botswana. The visit to Apeldoorn was nice and he was able to spend some time with his mother, visit his father in his new home and was able to see most of the rest of the family while there. After two days it was on to Zambia where Lucinda and Humphrey were waiting for him at the airport. After one night at Kapingila the following day was spent in the office of Every Orphan's Hope before heading on to Botswana where Richard Wheatley from Flying Mission picked him up from the airport.


Once in Botswana he got pretty quickly into the swing of things and was able to get a good handle on the financial issues that Flying Mission is facing. It was clear that the organization needed some help in getting their financial processes and reporting improved. After having made recommendations for improvement the time is now to implement many of these activities. All in all it has been a very busy and intense time and with about another week and a half left things are coming to a close. A lot of handover will take place during the remaining days as well as talking to people to make sure they understand the importance of having good financial and operational reporting in place.


The weather in Botswana has been all over the map. From very hot and dry to very wet and cool. For a period of almost two weeks we had almost every day a significant amount of rain. Botswana and in particular Gaborone needed the rain badly since the lake that supplies water to the city was down to less than 10% of its capacity about a month ago. Due to all the rain there were also problems with the electricity supply. According to Botswana Power Corporation due to the rain the coal that is used in the generation stations got too wet to burn properly combined with technical issues (a couple of boilers not working) resulted in frequent power outages. The difference with Zambia is that in Zambia most of the outages were expected and scheduled whereas in Botswana it was a matter of luck whether we had power or not. The good thing was that at the Flying Mission Services hangar at the airport the electricity was almost always on. If not, they have a sizeable backup generator to keep things going. For the last week, the weather has improved again but it is cooler than it was the first couple of weeks. While Canada is heading towards Spring and Summer Botswana is heading into Fall and Winter which means cooler weather and less rain. It will be dry again very soon and then it will not rain until late in the year. So it has been a very mixed bag of weather but clearly easier to handle than the weather back home in Acton.


In the meantime Machteld has been very busy back home. After spending another few weeks in BC she came back to Acton just before it was Anneloes' birthday. A couple of days later it was Gert's birthday and another few days later it was Elise's birthday. So enough things to do and celebrations to keep you busy. It was good to be home again and to enjoy some new (lazy) furniture that we bought just before we left for BC. Machteld also started working at the Holland Shop again for a few days and that is something that she really enjoys. Connecting with people is one of the things she likes to do most.


In about two weeks Gert will meet up with Lucinda in Zambia and they plan on taking some time off together and to have a short vacation in Livingstone. During this time Gert will also spend a few days with Flying Mission Zambia and review their finances as well. He plans on staying at the Esther School with Lucinda for a couple of days before they head out to Livingstone and meet up again with the children and mamas of Every Orphan's Hope in Nyangwena. It will continue to be a busy time for the next few weeks but by the middle of April Gert will be heading back to Canada and about a month later Lucinda will come home. By that time everyone will be home in Acton again and getting ready for the next big event; the wedding of Elise with Jeff Becker.


We have a lot to be thankful for and want to praise God for His goodness. Thanks also to all our family, friends and supporters since without the support we received things would be much different. But above all we thank and praise God.


Blessings to all.

Heading for BC and Botswana

After our last blog post we spent a lot of time discerning what God's plan is for our future. Although it was clear that our work with EOH was done, we are still waiting for the "bigger picture" but for now we feel that God is calling us for the short-term in different directions.


Machteld is in White Rock, BC to spend time with our good friends John and Rita. She will spend there about a month and will come back to Acton after that. Gert spent a week in White Rock as well and is now back in Acton to prepare for his departure for Botswana next week. He will be working with Flying Mission in Gaborone, the capital of Botswana, for about two months helping them to improve their financial accounting and reporting. On his way to Botswana he will stop in the Netherlands and visit family for a few days and after that fly on to Lusaka and the next day to Gaborone.


While in Lusaka he will meet with the staff of EOH in the office and maybe even meet up with Lucinda who has been in Zambia for almost a month now. She has had some difficult times with the huge storm that ripped the roof partially off the preschool building and some flooding. EOH lost the roof of homes 3 and 4 and the chicken run collapsed as a result of the damaging winds. It is heartbreaking to see the damage to the buildings but we are thankful that nobody from the Esther School or EOH was injured like some others in the village.


Gert will have to transition from nice and sunny weather in BC (8C) to cold and snowy in Acton (-5C) to a cool Apeldoorn (8C) and then a warm Lusaka and Gaborone (30C). It seems that the rainy season finally started in Gaborone with now almost daily thunderstorms. They really needed the rain badly since the water supply to the city was almost completely out. The whole city of about half a million people depends on rains for the water supply that is captured in a lake. By the end of November the lake was done to about 10% of its capacity and left water for about 2 months remaining. Hopefully there will be enough water when Gert arrives.


Please keep us in your prayers as we travel and are separated for a few months. Thank you for all your support and we hope to post another blog soon.


Machteld and Gert