Beds, Basketball, and Fishermen

Beds for REMAR

REMAR Bunk Beds and Mattresses

Last week we traveled to Praia for humanitarian work.  We visited our partner, Remar, where LDS Charities recently provided beds for their women’s facility.  We are pleased with how beautiful and strong the beds turned out to be.  We are grateful to Remar as a partner, because they do all the “legwork” on our projects, running around Praia finding the things they need and then submitting “proforma facturas” with pricing information we use when we submit the project to Germany.  If the project is approved, implementation is easy because we’ve already got the resource lined up and ready for purchase.

Elizabeth Baptista - REMAR

We have grown to love our partners Elizabeth and João, who work so hard to help those entangled in addictions and bad behaviors.  It has been wonderful providing a little help.

São Filipe Basketball

Searching for Steel with Bila & Blick

Basketball is a newer sport here.  While soccer is very common and there are soccer fields EVERYWHERE, there are fewer basketball courts.  We have worked with our partner Bila Santos to help him as he organized a youth basketball club in his community of São Filipe.  Since basketball goals are difficult to find, Bila enlisted a welder to help him build two goals.  We were really excited when we found basketball rims in a local sports store, so the possibility of building the goals became real.  We then visited a steel store with Bila and Blick the builder/welder.  The basketball goals are to be complete a few days before our departure.  

Calheta Fisherman

Sister Biven and Sr. Francisco
 da Silva

We went shopping with the president of the Calheta fisherman’s association.  He wanted fishing line and wet-suits to help improve fishing productivity in Calheta.  The theory behind the wet-suits is that fishermen can get in the water and look for the fish.  Perhaps in another world the fisherman might request fishing radar.   It in this low tech world, where cooperative work is so valued, giving a fisherman the role of looking for the fish in the water was the proposed solution.  So we went to the fishing store at the port, and then we went to a sports store in one of the wealthier parts of Praia to find the wet-suits. We were so touched when, upon completion of the sales, this good man, a fisherman, president of the local fisherman in his community, pulled out his organization's rubber stamp and stamped the receipts we received, and signed them.  He was our partner.  We were doing this together.

Elder Biven with Sr. Francisco da Silva

Pro-Pesca

Casal Biven and Fishermen

Today we went down to the port to meet Pro-Pesca’s fishing boat.  The boat and it’s motor were part of a project with a local fishing coop who works with individuals to train them in fishing and give them an opportunity to have more food for their families.  

Dividing the Catch

The Pro-Pesca boat is a little smaller and takes four fisherman.  They went our for a few hours but the water was very rough so the catch was small today.  We have seen more on our other visits, and heard of more on other days.  the fish were divided into four piles, and each participant chose a pile to take home.  It was sobering to think about how much work, today, anyway, yielded a small dividend.  Fishing, and eating fish, is the major source of support for many families in Cape Verde.

Berthing a Boat

While at the port we learned more about how the port works, with all the fisherman present stopping to help pull an incoming boat up into the dock.  That community spirit is present in other aspects of Cape Verdean life, where people are often willing to help others in need.

Moving a Missionary Apartment

Moving an Apartment

We have inspected every missionary apartment on the southern Cape Verde islands at one time or another during our mission.  That’s a lot of inspections, and some apartments are better than others.  You want the missionaries to be safe, that is the first concern, but you also want a clean environment.  We have seen some difficult situations, and we have been so pleased to see many of those difficult situations changed.  We were especially grateful to go to Mosteiros today and help the Fogo zone leaders move the Mosteiros Elder’s apartment.  What  great activity for out last week.  It was work!  But the Relva Elders came and helped.  That area was closed last transfer, but it will be re-opened
tomorrow with the arrival of some new Elders, 
who will get a brand new apartment!

Relva Elders, Slater and Nicholls