Oftentimes our blog showcases the fun or exciting bits
of life here in Mozambique… the wildlife, the exotic places Dave flies, or the
seemingly strange differences in culture.
But more often, we are just living normal life and dealing with all the
little things that come up. There is
always something broken that needs fixing, rigging, or replacing around
here. The washing machine won’t complete
the cycle, the gate opener quit working, the water pump stopped, the sink is
leaking, or the car is making a funny noise.
Oftentimes the parts that are needed to fix things properly aren’t
available here in Nampula so we are looking for a quick fix to get us by until
we can find a way to get it here from South Africa. Other times, we can find parts after shopping
at several of the small shops here, but often we end up buying a square peg to
fit in a round hole. I am so thankful to
be married to such a handy guy, because living here would be hard without
someone who is a jack of all trades when it comes to fixing things!
Our most recent project has been replacing the gates at our
house. The wood planks were in such bad
shape that it was affecting the security of our house. It is also the only barrier keeping Lobo and
Charlie from scaring the neighbors. We decided
to replace the wood with metal sheets which required some welding work.
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| Our gate before the fix... |
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| Isaac helping Dave while welding |
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| Vicious dogs scaring the neighbors |
Not only does Dave get to play the part of pilot and
airplane mechanic, sometimes he gets to serve other missionaries with his
handyman gifts. Recently Dave did a
supply flight to some missionaries that live in a rural area. Their son had malaria and the district they
live in ran out of malaria medication. The
husband was out of the country and their car battery had gone bad so the wife
had to jump the car every time she needed to drive. Fortunately a new battery was on the flight
as well. Despite the tight flight
schedule that day, Dave was able to install the new battery for her before he
left.
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| Dave changing out the battery |
Recently the guys completed a big inspection on CMQ which
required quite a bit of disassembly. The
poor airplane looks a bit sad without its tail fin!
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| Dave L. working on CMQ |
When they were putting it back together, there was
difficulty getting one nut screwed back on as the bolt was difficult to reach
and all of the guys hands were too big to reach it. I got to escape from the office for a little while and be an honorary airplane mechanic cramming my slightly smaller hand into the tight space.
