Open Swim

Beach at low-tide near our house

I’ve always loved the water. We never had a pool, but my childhood summers were filled with multiple weeks of swim lessons. I loved it, but I can’t say I was ever in love with the chlorine pool. As a kid my family camped several summers in the Sierra Nevadas, usually alone with our friends by a high mountain lake. It was usually very cold, but swimming in nature added a peaceful and relaxing quality not found in the pool. As a teen, our youth group had an annual summer tradition of living on houseboats for a week on a lake in northern California. I remember waking up when the water was still completely smooth and cutting through the water with my arms, swimming across to the other shore and soaking in the stillness around me. In college, I worked my summers at a camp on a small lake in Maine where my love of water quickly led to me teaching almost all water-based activities— swim lessons, kayaking, water-skiing. Camp could be exhausting, but anytime spent swimming in the lake was restorative. Even after camp, the water was part of my life. Camp had trained me as a lifeguard and I ended up working as a part-time lifeguard right up until leaving for Africa in 2007.

So I love the water. Swimming is my favorite form of exercise. Our island has no maintained swimming pools, but I love swimming in nature, so you would think I would be all set. In 2010 I wrote a blog about the disappointment of coming to the islands and finding that there wasn’t a good way for a woman to swim regularly at the ocean. Naked men often bathe among the ocean rocks and trash clogs the beaches and sometimes the water (depending on the tide). Islanders will descend on the nicer beaches on the weekend afternoons, but usually the beaches are pretty quiet except for the always present small group of naked boys who gather around any foreigner as if magnetically attracted, as well as the often sketchy man who is lingering on the beach, making you wonder if he is a little crazy or just up to something.

So even though I love the water, I’ve always had to admit (with a sigh of regret) that I wasn’t comfortable swimming regularly on the islands.

Megan heading out on swim

Then a couple months ago, I had a new idea. It was a bit of an epiphany. What about point-to-point swimming! I’ve always imagined swimming for exercise to be staying at one of the local beaches and swimming back and forth, doing laps in the ocean. The problem is that trash collects at the beaches and if (as a foreign woman) I stay at a single beach I risk catching the attention of lots of naked boys and strange men who can just watch and wait for me to get out of the water. Point-to-point swimming means that I start at one beach and swim away, away from people, away from the trash and end up getting out at another beach. I can swim along the coast faster than someone can scramble along the rocks so no one should be ready to bombard me as I get out. In one flash of an idea, I’d canceled out the objections to swimming for exercise on the islands that I’d carried for years.

Point-to-point swimming has its own complications. What about safety? Oceans can be dangerous and people can overestimate their swimming stamina. Thankfully the islands are surrounded by coral reefs that make the ocean near the coast calm and safe (outside of storms we don’t usually even have waves of any size).  But still, what if I got into trouble? Inspired by tow-floats you can buy abroad, Tom drilled a whole in a kick board and we attached it to a flag-football belt. Now I’d be able to rest if I got into trouble and I’d have increased visibility. In addition, we’d start with swims only on really calm days and shorter distances, and I’d hug the shore.

The other complication of point-to-point swim is clothing. I can’t walk around the neighborhood without at least flip-flops and the traditional toga-like wrap over my swimwear. That means someone has to both see me off for my swim and meet me at the other beach. But part of the epiphany was that we live near a beach (a very trashy one) and every Saturday my family goes to lunch at the hotel near the nice beach down the way. It would be convenient and easy!

So for five different Saturdays so far, I’ve swam to Saturday lunch instead of walking! My family says goodbye near our house and carries a towel and change of clothes to the hotel. There they pick me up and I head into the bathroom, change and eat lunch! It’s working!

I think I’ll always prefer the glass-like stillness of a freshwater lake on a summer morning, but getting to exercise with tropical fish flitting amongst the coral under me and the green hills of our island home rising above me is pretty awesome too. 

Tom & kids at beach for his birthday

PRAYERS ANSWERED

The consultant checking has been going well, it continues this week. Keep praying!  During a training this week, an islander on our island accepted the good news! We are so thankful! Megan is happy to have the chance to swim each week. Now the kids are asking if they can join her someday! Tom had his birthday on Friday, we are continually thankful for him and that we are blessed with such a wonderful husband, father, friend and team leader!


PRAYERS REQUESTED
Tom has been frustrated to learn that the man he has studied with for two years is still not ready to commit. He knows and understands so much, but is still afraid to apply it. Tom isn’t sure how to proceed, pray for wisdom and discernment. Ma Imani is still in Madagascar for medical treatment but we’ve had word that she is doing much better and is waiting for final follow-ups so she can be cleared to come home. Pray that she would not have any lingering health complications. Pray also for her two daughters who are missing her. We continue to pray for those islanders who have recently accepted and for more! This coming week Tom and our teammate will head to the big island for the annual English Teacher Conference, pray for all the logistics of that weekend and that our English teaching would continue to open doors to deepen relationships.

Sharing New Ideas

Making a new little friend

If you want to see real change in a community or country then it has to be passed on. If you share a new idea or even life-changing information, but it stops with the people that you shared it with, then your impact is minimal. Only those people who have direct contact with you can be changed by what you have to share. But if a desire and ability to share is transmitted with the new information, then it has the chance to be passed on and your impact has exponential possibilities. Every person you have direct contact with can represent countless others among their families and acquaintances.

On the islands, we’ve seen lots of isolated individuals who welcomed new ideas for themselves but never passed them on to others. Usually fear held them back. New ideas aren’t always welcomed in traditional, homogeneous societies like the islands. They fear rejection and being ostracized, so they keep the newfound information to themselves.  Some of these same people have lamented that they feel alone but we always push back and ask about if they have shared with anyone.

Playing on the porch

So it is with great joy that for a second week in a row we have celebrated news of new people accepting and embracing new ideas.  Not because of outsiders making new contacts among islanders, but because islanders themselves have felt burdened to reach out, share and encourage other islanders.

Last week it was a wife of a man who has been alone in his ideas for a long time. (Truthfully, we wonder if he has truly really embraced these ideas).  But Island women came to his house and met with his wife. She seemed to think that these types of ideas weren’t really for women to think about, but seeing a group of women who embraced them opened her eyes to the way that they might apply to her.

This past weekend it was three more women hearing and accepting.  Again it was islanders sharing with islanders that have led to these exciting developments.  Two of the women were accepting for the first time and one who had lost her way and is now, we hope, back on the path. One of the women is the wife of a man who had already accepted these new ideas. It is exciting! 

Now some cynical part of us always pushes us to curb our excitement. We weren’t at these meetings so we don’t know how much was explained. It is possible these four women don’t fully understand what it is they are embracing. But then we push back and silence our own cynicism— Even if these four women aren’t changed yet, it is the fact that other islanders are the ones sharing with them that is exciting. Even if their information was incomplete, other islanders are rejoicing that their loved ones have begun to hear and accept.  Islanders are catching a vision for sharing with more and more people.  So we are thankful, we rejoice, and we look forward to more!

Lost another tooth

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We are very grateful for the news that three more women have embraced good news. Our kids are feeling better and are back to school. We’ve heard that one of our colleagues is going to get the medical clearance to return to the islands (she has had health concerns and we’ve been praying a lot for her)!

 

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray that more isolated people would share with their close family and that we would see more couples and families embracing new ideas together. Pray for these four women who have made decisions, for their growth and protection. The translation project is doing long-distance consultant checking this week. Pray that the logistics of the technology would work well so that the work can go well.

Watch Them Grow

Himu leading the Club

Most of our English students are young adults.  When we first arrived we barred kids from our classes because English was already being taught by islanders in schools and we weren’t looking to compete with them. No one was teaching adults and many wanted to learn. But realistically older adults have a harder time learning language and are already established with jobs and families so they have less time or inclination to learn. So it’s not a big surprise that a majority of our classes over the years have been filled with people from 18-30 years old.

The one place where we haven’t put any restrictions was on our English Club. If someone could speak English well enough, they could attend (with kids, their parents need to know they are coming and approve). Over the years we’ve had a handful of kids come, most for a week or two and then we don’t see them again. It is intimidating to be surrounded by adults and trying to speak a foreign language, not to mention the club is at night.

"Himu" has been an exception. I think he must have been 12 when we met him. We saw him go through levels 1,2, and 3 of the English curriculum. He was quiet and a little shy, but obviously smart. He came weekly to our club, attentive and dedicated.

At some point we met Himu’s dad. He sells phone credit on the side of the road near a shop we frequent. They have the same smile. Meanwhile Himu faithfully attended our club, week after week, month after month.

Himu giving his speech

A few years passed and Himu had a growth spurt. His voice deepened. His father was worried he was getting drawn in with the “bad kind of friends” and asked Tom to talk to Himu on his behalf.  Tom sat down with Himu and encouraged him to keep up with his studies and stay out of trouble.  His dad was pleased.

A few years later, Himu took the teacher training course with Tom and started teaching classes with one of the local programs.  He’s only sixteen, but he’s taking the job seriously.  About a month ago that kid that we still think of sometimes as being 12 years old volunteered to lead the English club—and did a great job.

Some people only look to us for English. That is what they want from us and nothing more. But some are looking for mentors.  They look to us for advice and guidance. They watch our lives. Sometimes we don’t really realize that we’re mentoring someone until we see them modeling some of their decisions and behaviors on us.

A few weeks ago Himu stood in front of a crowd and gave a speech in English. He thanked us and talked about learning at our club to be a leader and about giving back to his country.  He’s a young man now. Where did that little kid go? After his speech, Himu proceeded to hand out certificates to his class of English students. We were proud of him.

Himu likes to joke around and call Tom “My grandfather.” Tom doesn’t feel that old, but he understands that there is a compliment behind the joke.  Ultimately, we hope that Himu. will learn more from us than just speaking English or being a good teacher.  But for now we are thankful for the opportunity to play a part in his life and to watch him grow.

First mangoes of the season!

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We’ve had good news today. Our island sisters got together to study and ended up shepherding a new sister into the family!  May it lead to even more growth!  Megan’s back has continued to improve after her setback last week, and she was feeling well enough to do another point to point swim.  Our oldest son is feeling better and went back to school.  Tom was able to meet with a few of his study friends.  We had a visit from our friend and boss this week, which was a definite blessing.  Ma Imani has started treatment in Madagascar and her family says she has already made a marked improvement (though we’re still confused about what exactly wrong). Our country came and visited this past week— it was a joy to have her!

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray for our new sister, that she would be guided and encouraged in her walk and she would be one of many to join our family.  A Clove Island brother is going to the small island tomorrow to encourage brothers and sisters there. Pray that he could spurn them on to greater growth. Our older son is feeling better, but now the younger one is coughing and sniffling.  Pray for healing.  We are still searching for workers to join our team in 2020.  All our leads seem to have dried up for the moment.  Pray that God would send the right people! 

Innovation

English club being encouraged to apply!

I spent three hours yesterday filling out an online application. Not for myself, for an island friend. This is not the first time I’ve helped someone fill out this same application.  I did it for someone else just last week, not to mention last year or the year before that or before that.  Every year 2 or 3 lucky islanders are chosen to go to the States for 2 months of study, joining hundreds of other young African leaders from all over the continent. The selection process is very competitive and every year friends and students come by the house asking for help with the long and difficult application. 

We are happy to help.  But that doesn’t mean it is easy. The questions are written by North Americans but the people answering them are islanders— the process gives insights into both cultures.

Take a relatively simple question like, “Talk about a mistake you’ve made and how you learned from it.”  This is a very challenging question for islanders and I have yet to see anyone answer this question correctly without help!

To begin with, islanders don’t talk about their mistakes.  Mistakes are something to be covered up and hidden.  To admit your mistakes and failures is to shame yourself.  So who wants to do that?  Right from the start, they are not inclined to answer this question.

Several of our English Club members are applying

Moreover, there seems to be a general problem, no matter what the question, that islanders do not see the importance of actually trying to answer the question that is asked.  Something I say again and again to the applicants is, “You have not actually answered the question.”  They often stare back at me like I am crazy.  Haven’t they written ten sentences in response to the question?  How can I say they haven’t answered the question?  Isn’t saying something enough?  Not in America it’s not.  We expect people to answer the question that was asked, and failure to do so could be reason to immediately reject the application.  So it is with no pleasure that I find us deleting their answer and starting again. 

Another thing I find myself saying again and again is, “You need to be specific.”  Questions like, “What have you achieved in the past year?” are the sorts of questions that island applicants think they can answer well, but Americans would see their answers as just fluff and not meaningful.  Here’s a sample of what they might say, “In the past year I have achieved many great successes in my life that have allowed me to see great things and have benefited many people in my community.  I have learned many new things that have helped me in my work and now my work is going very well and people are so appreciative of my hard-working excellence in what I do for them.”  To island ears, this sounds like an excellent answer.  It talks of achievement and hard work.  Yet, I know that most of you reading this will say, it’s all a bunch of empty talk .  Once again, I hit the delete button and see my island friends wince. 

But the last, and possibly saddest part of this process, is the overly apparent lack of initiative and innovation I see among islanders.  Again, there is a large cultural bias in play.  Volunteering is not something many islanders do nor are they encouraged to do.  Many times, the part of the application asking about volunteer work is left blank.  What about innovation —starting something new at school or in your community?  This is not only rarely done, but may even be viewed negatively.  Who are they to start doing things differently?  Applications have places to list your rewards and achievements, but Islanders don’t do this.  I don’t know of anyone who has ever received an award or been acknowledged for an achievement.  Americans value new and original ideas.  Islanders generally do not.  So every applicant has the same dream:  to start an English school. But rarely do their dreams look any bigger or different than the English schools that already exist.

Could she be a future innovater?

How do you teach initiative and innovation?  Where does it come from?  By valuing these things so highly in the West, do we underestimate the importance of other things?  Could it be that islanders lack initiative and innovation but have a bounty of networking, interconnection and safety nets?  Or is this lack of ideas a result of poverty and a belief that nothing can change?  Could it be the result of ethnocentrism and isolation?  I don’t know the answer, but it makes me wonder.  Do the islands need a Renaissance?  Could it even happen here?

Sometimes it only takes a spark.  But it will take people with initiative and innovation.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Elewa is back from her travels and is almost done with the treatment for an infection that looks like it was the cause of her pain and troubles. She is already feeling better but will have to wait to see that the pain doesn’t return (which would indicate a different culprit). Ma Imani was able to make it on a plane to travel to Madagascar for medical treatment— it was unclear whether she would have the strength to make it on the plane so we are thankful that she made it. Megan threw out her back this past week and spent a couple days in bed, but is already feeling much better— we are so thankful for a relatively fast recovery (compared to months of pain other times). Our Brazilian doctor friend and former teammate had his exams in mainland France and feels like they went well, also they’ve had news that the hospital on the French island is signing a new contract to have them for another year.



PRAYERS REQUESTED
Continue to pray for Ma Imani that she would find good medical treatment and healing in Madagascar! Pray for Megan’s back—even as we were encouraged that she has been recovering so quickly, it was discouraging that she threw it out in the first place. Pray for wisdom as we consider whether she needs to avoid completely some island-normal activities that bother her back. The two island translators are back from traveling— pray for a good recommencement of their language work. Our country leader and friend is coming for an official visit this week, pray for uneventful travels (the local airlines have been having issues) and a good time connecting with everyone on our island for her. May it be encouraging all around. One of the main guys that Tom studies with has been approached by a teacher of the local faith and asked about his studies with Tom— pray for his interactions with this teacher and that he would come to a clear personal decision of what path he wants to take in the future.  Our older son stayed home from school with a fever for the past two days and our daughter have been having lingering congestion/respiratory problems. Please pray for health.