Finishing Strong and Loving the Work

Remar sewing project

Sister Biven, Elizabeth & Elizabeth Batista

This project was with our dear friends João and Elizabeth Batista, who run the Cabo Verde Remar organization.  Remar is in 78 countries, many of them African nations. Remar works to help people caught in addiction, as well as others who have lost their way.  Their goal is to help people recover and rebuild their lives.  Elizabeth wanted beds for the women’s portion of the Remar facility, and a sewing machine so the women can sew.

The Two Elizabeth's

And what a lovely tender mercy, Elizabeth is currently working with a beautiful young women from California, also named Elizabeth, who.......speaks California English (oh, it was good to hear “how are ya?”)  Thus, training on the sewing machine could be done in English!!

Vidativa Women's Shelter

Vidativa Inauguration

Work was completed on the women’s shelter here in São Filipe, Fogo, where they painted and rehabbed the bathroom and bought some new beds.  We had an opening ceremony, with food.

The Unveiling

A big moment was the unveiling of the new Vidativa sign, but later a few short speeches were given, with Sister Biven speaking five minutes for LDS Charities (in Portuguese!) on LDS Charities and the importance of the strength of women. 

Vidativa Volunteers and Dignitaries

Relva Community Center

Wood Being Cut

One of our last two projects is tables and chairs along with two new computers for the Relva community center.  Relva is a small agricultural town where it is difficult for youth to find opportunities for good things to do.  However, and amazingly, a new LDS chapel is under construction in Relva for the faithful members there.  They have sent also out a handful of extraordinary young missionaries.  We wanted to help invest in Relva, and are happy to partner with the Associacao Juvenil Comunitaria de Relva.

Wood Pieces in Front of the Carpenter's Shop

We worked with Henrique, a carpenter from Relva, to purchase lumber in São Filipe and then to have it cut into pieces for the tables and chairs.  The pieces were then transported back to Relva for assembly and finishing.

Young Missionaries

As we approach the close of our wonderful adventure, serving as senior missionaries in the Cape Verde Praia Mission, our hearts are full with love and gratitude for the young missionaries who leave their interesting lives that include cell phones and fast food, and who put in papers and go wherever in the world they are assigned to go to bring others unto Christ.  It is so humbling to be a missionary and serve the Lord alongside these young people.  Here are a few photos

Elder Adriano

Elder Adriano, from Angola, served on Brava and in Pedra Badejo in the Assomada Zone.  We saw him last week as we inspected the Assomada apartments for the last time.

Elder Nelson

Elder Nelson, from Salt Lake, who is a Fogo Zone Leader, is talking and playing with a young boy in the Fogo airport as we await flights.  We have served three transfers with Elder Nelson.  We work closely with our Fogo zone leaders, they are in charge of the work here, we are just support.

Elders Mugimbo and Jones

Elder Mugimbo, from Angola, and Elder Jones from Utah.  We saw them out working as we drove through their little community of Patim on our way back from the other side of the island.  We had also seen the Cova Elders out working as we drove through their area.  These good young people are amazing, they work very hard in difficult circumstances.  It has been a privilege to serve with them.

Final Zone Conference

Pudding Queijos

Thursday Will be our last missionary zone conference.  We love conference and attended Assomada conferences when we lived on Santiago.  It is a time for nurturing and inspiring missionaries.  Elder Rasband attended our first Zone conference on Fogo! 

The couple that preceded us on Fogo served breakfast to the missionaries before conference.  We have tried to carry on that tradition, with a menu of fruit, boiled eggs, some sort of carbohydrate, and fruit juice.  For our first conference Sister Howard made her amazing rice pudding, that was so good!  

This conference Elder Biven sourced cheese tarts.  Made with Fogo goat cheese, which has a mild flavor, these are kind of like little cheesecakes but not so very sweet.  The amazing thing is how the tarts are made, in a large cement wood-fired oven in a garage down near the ocean, Maria Augusta's Padaria.  No sign out front, you have to know where it is, but the big stacks of wood are a clue.  You show up in the morning and tell Maria how many you want (50!) and then you come back in the afternoon and you can smell them..... and there they are.  Whoops, we forgot to bring a bowl to put them in when we picked them up so we had to grab a taxi and run back to the house....... Here they are.  We will keep them in our fridge and they will be ready for tomorrow's conference.

Final Projects

Projects!

As we enter our last six weeks of missionary service we are opening just a few small projects, and trying to close, close, close things down.  

Vidativa

Volunteers Painting the Vidativa Women's Shelter

We are doing a project to help a woman’s shelter just blocks from our apartment on Fogo.  The project will refresh the shelter's interior and exterior, update the bathroom, provide new beds, and provide kitchen equipment.  The organization has years of service assisting women and children who have experienced domestic abuse.  It was a fun project, as we were able to visit the site each day as they transformed the facility.

Helper Painting the Inside of the Women's Shelter

Mosteiros Community Health Project

Casal Biven with "Sunday" a Red Cross Volunteer

While in Mosteiros last week we met with Sunday who is one of our partners in the community health project.  He reported that training continues as individuals needing help are visited.  We were very excited for the ongoing project success.

Relva Community Center 

Sr. Andrade - Associacao Juvenil de Relva

We met Sr. Andrade, the president of the Associacao Juvenil de Relva, in a somewhat miraculous way.  When we arrived 16 months ago there was a proposal waiting for us from the Associacao Juvenil de Relva.  It was outside of the scope of what we could do at that time, but we attempted to contact the organization repeatedly when we traveled to Fogo.  Then we gave up.  A month ago we were sitting in the Mosteiros chapel foyer during a district meeting, answering humanitarian and medical calls and a man walked in and introduced himself.  It was Sr. Andrade!  He addressed us by name.  He found us!  And we agreed to meet him in Relva the following week.

We traveled to Relva and learned more about his organization.  They have been working with youth to expand their horizons and help them grow personally and vocationally.  Relva is a small agricultural community with little employment, so the mentoring provided is invaluable.  Here is Sr. Andrade is in front of the community center which was built by local volunteers.  They have asked for tables and chairs to be used for classes to be taught by volunteers, and two computers for their ongoing effort to expose the youth to technology.  These will also give youth a place in Relva where they can do homework.  This was one of the first projects we encountered upon arrival, and it will be the last new project we submit.

Fogo water project closes!

Sr. Rodrigues - Chief Engineer for Agua Brava

Finally, through successful management of the accounting and final training efforts, we have managed to close the five year old, very large, Fogo water project.  Wow.  Before we left the Provo MTC the water specialist on this project drove to Provo and asked to meet with us.  "Can you please find a way to get the Fogo water project closed?" he asked.   It took diligence and patience, and reviewing lots of old and perhaps somewhat imprecise reports.  But we got it done!  Here is Elder Biven shaking hands with Sr. Rodrigues, the Chief Engineer of Agua Brava, the main partner on the project. This was a good project, providing water to over a thousand households.