Monday, 1/16/2012

Dear Family and Friends,
The time has come to start applying sunscreen as the temperature has risen from the eighties to the nineties.  We are waiting for the day it hits 100 degrees.  I feel like I found my place here but I am still struggling with the language.  My team is hoping to make a move into a house in a week two or when it empties out.  This should help us feel more like we have a home to live in.  I will be happy that I do not need to walk a quarter mile to eat breakfast or go to bed at night.  I have given up any hope of being completely clean during my time here especially if I continue walking to my room after I take shower.

If we strictly ate the diet here we would be eating rice for breakfast lunch and dinner with the exception of occasional sandwiches or squash soup.  We eat American style at breakfast and dinner, around the table with separate plates. Lunch however we cook on a charcoal stove and eat out of a bowl on the floor.  Lunch it the meal that we invite the local people to come eat with us and cook with us.  We cook a pot of rice and another pot of sauce to put on the rice.  The sauce is definitely what makes to meal but fortunately you can throw whatever you want in it taste great if you add enough seasonings.  Usually we have a combination of vegetables by themselves or with tomato paste or palm oil.  We also have fish a few times a week.  My personal favorite to make and eat is cabbage, onion, garlic, peppercorn and lemon.  This may not sound good but is very delicious, the team would agree.  I found this combo one day when we had nothing else and I thought it would taste better than plain rice.  Our first few times cooking on our own were most frustrating.  We had trouble starting the fire and keeping it going.  It appearing that we were eating almost as much ash as rice and sauce.  The first week it took us an average of four hours to make lunch which now take about three, what we expected.  Thankfully Terianne and Alyssa are creative when it comes to cooking so most dinners taste like home.  And breakfasts are pretty amazing.  We have all the ingredients to make pancakes and French toast.
I am a teacher assistant in preschool.  To be honest I don’t know how much of a help I am because I do not know the language.  My first day there I took one look at the kids before class and told the team “ there is no way I can sit be around all these kids with snot hanging out of their nose” so I took out some tissue.  All twenty-eight kids lined up to have their noses wiped.  After a day or two I got over that phobia. I am learning to be an assistant despite the language barrier.  I figure the most help I can really be is help keep order in the classroom.  Class is just crazy, as the teacher told me, the children listen only when the teacher beats them but since he doesn’t the class is out of control.  The kids run around and scream and yell and beat on each other.  When a child is completely out of control the teacher throws them out of school.  The child always throws a tantrum, banging his head on the concrete.  At first I was upset at the teacher but now I understand that is the only way to keep a small amount of order. I find it challenging to know how to interact with the kids.  They are used to adults and older kids beating them so they expect the same from me.  When I get close they used to wince and pull away but as they get more familiar with me they start expecting hugs.  There are a few children who come for a hug, wrap their arms around me but suddenly will suddenly just punch me.  They are slowly trusting me more and punching me less but even so it takes so much patience and love.  I am learning the meaning of love and compassion.

Main transport here in Guinea-Bissau is vans passing between villages along the highways.  You step out on the road and hold up your hand to get a ride.  I really think transport is the most dangerous thing I will encounter while I am here.  They load the vans double plus the capacity with passengers and pile the roof as high as the van its self.  They put three wooden bench seats the long way in 12 and 15 passenger vans so they can fit more people in.  Mini vans have three seats squished in or two seats with some buckets or large containers to sit on.  Last night I was in a 15 passenger van with 35 people in according to my count but there could have been more that I did not see.  There is certainly no personal space available.  You are crammed, squished in there like there is no other van in the country.  A few weeks ago Alyssa and I rode home from the market in a minivan with 14 people and the roof stacked with items people had just bought.  The van windshield was so cracked it looked like a piece of art.  The whole van including the windshield had reinforcement bars holding it into place.  Every time we bounced over a bump the van squeaked and threatened to crumble, honestly I am surprised the bars held.  My knee was jammed into a bar so hard I knew it was bruised before we got home.  There is always a chicken tied up and squawking somewhere under a seat.  A few weeks ago four goats were hoisted onto the roof of a van we were riding on, though I have yet to see it they are known to load up a cow and take it to make market.  I admit although it is dangerous and quite painful at times I still enjoy the adventure of it all.

Short distance transportation is by bike.  Biking may sound easier than van transport, however consider riding is skirt that are not designed for such an activity.  The bikes we have available and are almost too big and are sightseeing, boardwalk bikes.  I travel out to villages each week via bike.  The first time out a village was four miles of paved highway and two miles of traitorous sandy embankments.  I never thought I was going to make it home without some type of major injury.  My guide, a local here, was fearless, the only reason I continued pushing my way forward.  I kept telling myself to relax.  It would be more painless that way when I did crash.  I tried to follow his tire track exactly, less I end up catching something with my foot peg causing a slide down the embankment.  Not sure if biking through the embankments and drop offs were worse than the marsh though.  The path through the marsh was about a foot wide, if you steer too far you can be sure you will end up in the marsh three feet below (my teammate would know).  The following week I was either more comfortable with biking or the trail smoothed out, even so it can still be quite terrifying.

This past month was eye opening to the culture.  There were some frustrating moments.  They told us at HDC, you will see things you think you can change but you can’t.  Child abuse is one of them.  As much as we want to intervene it would only cause more problems.  The way we can make a difference is to be an example in how we live and treat each other and the locals.  Please pray for the team, that we can leave a godly example to these people especially how we love them.  Pray that I could love and patience with these kids and they would recognize me as a safe person.  Also pray for the clinic, and a more economic supply source.  Thank you for your prayers and support.

God Bless,
Sharon Honigmann

Saturday, 12/17/11

Today I went over to local woman to learn how to cook African food. So far the team has been eating American style but we want to transition to the culture. I thought we were cooking beef and rice over the charcoal but I found out later it was really rice and gazelle. It did taste like beef but as I was eating it I tried to eat around the meat just in case. As I sat down around the bowl with them they handed me a spoon but I declined because they were eating with their hands. I made such a mess. We laughed together but they talked in Kiriol and I talked in English. I will need a few more lesson before I feel comfortable enough to cook on my own.

The windy season is starting here. At night when we walk back to our room we see so much dust in our head lamps. Dust in my light kinda reminds me of snow falling. Andrew told us it is dust coming from the Sahara Desert. Before we go to bed we can barely see the moon but as the night progresses we can see the moon more clearly.
I am happy to be here but I do miss miss people from home. Emails are welcome.

Thursday, 12/15/11



Dear Family and Friends,
Its has been almost two weeks since I left.  Only thirteen days, but I feel like if I was to come home today I would be a different person.  I enjoy this new home.  From the start of the day till I fall asleep at night I am learning something new.  New faces and new names to remember.  A new language to learn.  A new way to cook and eat.  I am enjoying my time here so far.
 
Travel went very well, better than expected.  Just after the plane took off I looked at my team leader and he said "there is no going back now."  I teared up because I realized at that moment I would not be be in the US for a long time. We landed in Dakar at 6:30 in the morning, took taxis to the port and hung out there till 6:00pm when we boarded the ferry.  The ferry was an 18 hour ride down the Atlantic Ocean.  Fortunately no one got seasick, actually most slept the whole time.  We arrived with all our luggage, which I think was a miracle because we had so much not only for ourselves but also for the clinic.  
 
I think being able to spend the first day hear in Africa observing the culture from the port of Dakar was valuable.  As I sat there on the bench or at a little table in the shade eating my breakfast and lunch I realized how real this place is.  These are real people with real lives.  So often I heard stories about this place.  But that's all they were to me.  Here I was watching life take place in front of me and it was no longer a story to me.  This is where I would be living the next seven and a half months.


 
I share a small concrete room with my two other female teammates.  It is a small walk from the church and mission base where we eat and spent the majority of our day.  My team, I feel, is very independent of each other as we go about our day. We are to be back at the base for meals and team time.  I like this better than having a set schedule.  We all enjoy doing different things so this allows us to make our own friends. 
 
The mission here purchased a cashew plant close by where we are moving the medical clinic to, prior was in a small room here.  They are hoping with time it may develop into a hospital.  Despite the looks and trying to set up, Sean and Terianne have been busy with patients pretty much from day one.  I am down there most days cleaning and white washing the walls.  One day I had locals watching me so I pretended I was Tom Sawyer.  Sure enough they thought I was having so much fun they wanted to join.  I was very impressed how much was done with team effort, though not all the white wash ended up on the walls.  We were splattered from head to toe.
 
I love waking up in the morning to the sounds of roosters and other critters.  I think it is so beautiful here.  I love the palm and fruit trees towering in the sky line.  I even like pumping the water out of the well when I need some, don't worry, I drink filtered water.  The food here is not as good as at home though.  At home I eat because the food is good but here I eat because I need to.  I am proud of myself for eating some stuff but its not as bad as it could be.
 
Despite all the beauty here there are some sad things as well.  Most of the kids here have large round tummies with the belly buttons sticking out.  Its the cold season but very few of them have sweaters to wear in the morning.  We treated two little girls at the clinic with burns.  Both bad, but the worst was a seven month old.  She had reached into a pot of boiling water.  Almost all the skin on her right arm was burned off along with a patch on her chest.  She was brought into the clinic two days after it happened.  Her burns were covered in rabbit hair put on by a local healer.  I stood behind them as they worked on her getting, cutting what they needed.  We had to boil and cool water to use on her.  They had to wash the burns and try to pull all the rabbit hair off of her.  We did not have the dressings we needed for the burns.  Her cry was weak.  They did the best they could and gave her mother antibiotics.   We had them come back every day to change the dressings.  One day the mom handed me the baby and I held her while they changed the bandages.  As she screamed and twisted in pain I kept praying Dear Lord take this pain away and heal this child.  The nurse walked into the supply room in frustration because we did not have bandages that kept skin on when they came off.  She came back out and said "Sharon look what I found." She held up bandages for burns we knew we did not have because we searched for them several times and never had any but here they were.  The bandages fell off the next time we changed them, however the little girl is still has some infection.  Please pray for her, for her pain and that she would be healed.
 
I think my team is adjusting well to the culture and we started language class yesterday.  So far I do not know much else than the many greetings.  Trying to understand what people are saying is exhausting and we are slowly catching on, maybe.  The people have been very welcoming and want to be our friends.  I feel so blessed to be here living among them.  Please keep my team and the people of this village in your prayers. 
God Bless,
Sharon Honigmann

Thursday, 12/1/2011



Dear Family and Friends,
Training has ended and my new journey is about to begin.  I am so amazed at the provision in my life over the past few months. Training has been a wonderful experience, a great place to meet my teammates.  I had an amazing time of growth in my relationship with God.

During training we were on a busy schedule, mornings we had sessions till lunch. Afternoons was a time to do community outreach. My team had community outreach at three locations, my favorite is feeding the homeless, but we also volunteered at a city garden/farm, and helped with construction projects at a low income housing facility. Evenings we had a time of cultural study and language sessions. HDC has the only yard within a few blocks of where we live so we allow the neighborhood kids to play here during the day till we close the gate at night. I enjoyed hanging out with them when time allows, asking them what they learned in school that day, and listening to their stories.

My team has bonded week over the past few weeks and I feel like I can trust each one.  My YES team is made up of 5 people, however we will be traveling and living with two other EMM participants on GO assignments. The team leader, Andrew and has spent the past two years in Guinea-Bissau. The rest of my team members are Alyssa, Peter, and Derek. The GO participants are Terrianne and Sean who are both healthcare professionals and will be working in the village clinic.



A highlight during training was the four day hike on the Appalachian Trail. It is a planned event for the YES teams to see how well we work together when things do not go as planned, we are uncomfortable, out of our comfort zone, and we do not have the modern conveniences around us. In other words, do we bond or end up strongly disliking each other. It was raining the first two days so things started out very uncomfortably. The first day was also the worst part of the trail to hike and my pack was too heavy. By day two the trail was nicer although it was still raining some. We started day three out by reading the Bible and singing a few songs on top of an overlook. The trees had just started turning colors and there was a lake at the bottom the valley. It was so beautiful, and was the highlight of the hike for me. By the last day the trail was a little rougher but we had eaten all our food so the packs were comfortable. I was kinda sad when our guide told us we reached our destination (but also relieved). My team helped each other out and grew closer till the end.



Although Andrew is taught us some language, he does not expect that we will be speaking much Creole till we get there. Once we are immersed in the language we should learn a lot faster. We will have a language tutor living with us for the first three months. Andrew also introduced us to some cultural concepts, we need to eat with our right hands because we use the left to go to the bathroom with, etc. The assignment description he gave us is mostly to focus on relational ministry. He also wants us to encourage believers in their faith, and share our faith with those who have interest. Alyssa and I will be hanging out with local women in the community and let them teach us how to cook and anything else they want to teach us. We also want assist them in agricultural and business development, construction projects, teach English, and computer to the local villages.

I want to thank each one of you who made this possible for me. Thank you for your prayers and the time you took out of your schedules to help make this possible for me. Please keep my team and I in your prayers as we travel today and tomorrow, also prayers that we adjust well. We have a team blog you can follow my team on. We should post thing weekly and have pictures. The blog address is http://gbteam11.wordpress.com.  Thank you again for all your encouragement. I look forward to seeing everyone in July.

Blessing,
Sharon Honigmann

Saturday 10/29/2011

Dear Family and Friends, I have some great news! All my funds have been raised! The fundraiser meal completed the funds I needed to raise yet. Thank you for your generous donations. I really did not know if it would be possible to raise so much money but decided if God wanted me to go I would get the funds. I am so blessed to have so many people in my life not only supporting me financially but also affirming me in what I am doing. I am currently in training at Harrisburg Discipleship Center (HDC). We have a busy schedule here. Mornings we have sessions till lunch. Afternoons is a time to do community outreach. Evenings we have a time of cultural study and language sessions. I enjoy it. Some days it feels like I am in a little bubble because we rarely get much farther away from HDC than walking distance. There are 25ish people living here at HDC. The food is good, even the foreign food. My team has to make breakfast for the everyone twice a week.

Sincerely,
Sharon Honigmann

I have been invited to join the YES team traveling to Guinea Bissau.  Guinea Bissau is a a small country on the west side of Africa and is one of the poorest countries of the world.  I will be living there for 8 month in guest rooms in the mission house without the American conveniences of plumbing and electric.  My team and I will be involved with Jesus Film ministry,  agricultural projects, organizing sport projects, and teaching at local schools.  I'll also spend a lot of time with people in the village, building relationships, doing discipleship, learning the language, culture, and walking to the city for food:) 

Prior to traveling to Guinea Buissau I will be in Harrisburg at Harrisburg Discipleship Center (HDC) for cultural and discipleship training.  Here I will meet my team members which is made up of four young adults and a team leader.  Training starts September 12, 2012 and continues till the week of Thanksgiving, when I come home for a week.  I will then return to HDC until December 1, when I leave for outreach.

God Bless,
Sharon Honigmann