Where?

The three birthday girls at special lunch

We live in a land without street names, without house numbers. People don’t have proper addresses here. Some places have fixed names, but many stores and businesses don’t have any signs and/or change their names on whims. Sometimes this causes confusion.

• When new people join our English library the first thing we ask is: “Write your name, address and phone number.” But ‘address’ always gives them pause. What do they put? When we see them hesitate, we reassure them, “Just put the name of your neighborhood.” With a look of relief they write it down. 
• Recently I was helping an island friend to fill out an application to attend a training course abroad— it asked for a variety of different addresses but if someone lives in the same neighborhood that they go to school or work, then the addresses are the same. There are no house numbers here, no street names. It is possible to rent a PO box and have a proper mailing address, but I personally don’t know of anyone that has one (except for other foreigners and organizations).

  

  Our daughter turned 10!

• This week a friend was trying to explain where he was going to start a satellite location of his school. We knew the neighborhood he was talking about fairly well, but it was still difficult to figure out where exactly it was. He took several minutes explaining the streets we would have to go down and how we would have to turn. Now we think we know where it is…maybe.
• While orienting new teammates it can be hard to explain where things are without showing them every single place. We come up with our own lingo, creating new landmarks in areas where all there is is small shops and homes. So among ourselves, we talk about the “white shop”, the “orange store”, the container shop, “the snack” shop, the “tan shop” and the “corner store”. Last week the “orange store” repainted. It is now pink! So the problem is now, do we rename it or call it “the store previously known as the orange store.”

It is not like every place here is nameless. Towns have names. Neighborhoods have names. Some big neighborhoods are split into sub-neighborhoods. There are named landmarks— schools, certain businesses and offices. It also helps if you know everyone. Then you can talk about the house next to the shop that is owned by so-and-so’s uncle’s wife (which always clears things up for us).

But usually if you really want to know where something is then someone has to take you there the first time. Only then will you really know. For some journeys you need a guide.  Thankfully, islanders are usually more than willing to take you.

Birthday hike up river

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Our daughter turned 10 years old today! We are very thankful for the kind and beautiful person she is becoming. Two of our teammates celebrated birthdays this past week too! We were very happy to be able to celebrate with them. One of our teammates had to travel to Kenya— we are thankful that her travels went smoothly and that there are people there to welcome her. The English Conference on the big island went well. Three of our teammates traveled over for it and we’re thinking we may have to do one on Clove Island too! Megan’s headaches have resolved— seems like it was some kind of virus going around.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Friends (from another African nation) who are fellow-workers on the small island had their passports seized by police this week. Apparently there is a court case forming against them as well. Pray for wisdom and favor for them. This is a first (that we know of) on the islands— islanders have had issues with the police/courts before but never foreign workers.  Scrutiny on the small island has increased in the past year or more, pray for all those living and working there. No news of our co-worker waiting for visa approval, keep praying. Another group on Clove Island will be welcoming a new family soon— pray for their transition to island life (which is always more challenging with children) and for easy adjustments to the climate, culture and language-learning. A colleague set to return to Clove Island had stomach pain  that ended up being a tumor. The tumor has been removed and they are waiting for test results on it in their home country. Pray for health and that they would be able to return to Clove Island soon. Continue to pray for the flare up in Megan’s back pain that it would get under control quickly. Pray for our teammate in Kenya that her time there would be helpful and restorative.