Late Christmas and New Years Note

Hi Everyone,

I am sorry for not gettting to this update a little earlier. It has been on my agenda to do for a couple of weeks now but for some reason it kept getting pushed to the back burner.

Highlights of the Last Month...

School finished on December 17th. It has been a great first 10 weeks. Hard to believe how the time has flown.

I spent both Christmas and New Years at Tchincombe Ranch with my aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents. We all had a wonderful time. It was my first Christmas away from Mum and Sara and Daniel so that was a little strange but I am so thankful for all the wonderful friends and family that the Lord has surrounded me with.

On Saturday I left for Windhoek, Namibia. Tammy Goertzen and her son Matt came with me.Their family are missionaries with Mission Aviation Fellowship in Lubango. They had to come to Windhoek to renew their Angolan visas and Matt has a few doctors appointments. They very kindly offered me a place to stay with them while I am in Windhoek so we are all staying together at the house of a friend of Uncle Peter and Aunty Shelley.

Mum arrives next Wednesday here in Windhoek and then we will drive up back to Angola. Until then I will be shopping and running errands and also preparing lessons for school when I get back.

Praise and Prayer Items:

Praise: School ended on a high note! Students and parents are excited about how it is going and coming back next year. They keep telling their friends and I am having to turn people away until I can get some help i.e. another teacher and our own facility.

Praise: Safe travels to Namibia this past weekend. The car ran very well and the border crossing (which can be very stressful) went very well.

Praise/Prayer: ISTEL has said that we can continue to use a classroom on their campus(YEAH!!!) however they have to move us to another classroom and this one is smaller. Please pray that we can figure out how best to work with our circumstances and what we have. We really need to begin building or setting up on our own. Please Prayer for guidance and wisdom as to what our next steps should be this year.

Prayer: Mum and I will be traveling back to Lubango next week. Please pray for traveling mercies.

Thank you once again for your love, your prayers and your support. I know that I couldn't be here without you all!

In Him,

Helena Foster Fabiano

Contact Information:

Blog: helenashappenings.blogspot.com

Phone number: +244936896649

Mailing Address: Helena Foster Fabiano

C/O UIEA

CP 33

Lubango, Angola

Via Portugal

Little Bites

Here are a few of short snippets from my class…

“Miss Helena, Miss Helena, Miss Helena, Miss Helena, Miss Helena, Miss Helena, Miss Helena, Miss Helena, Miss Helena, Miss Helena, Miss Helena, Miss Helena….” And on and on it goes…

One of my little girls comes up to me, “Miss Helena it is plopping on me.” Talking about the rain drops that she felt shaking off the tree that she was sitting underneath.

“Miss Helena, Marson is not making a good choice.” When Marson chooses not to put his head down like the rest of his class mates are. I hadn’t realized that I had been talking so much about making choices.

“Miss Helena, please push me!” Shouted across the playground at me from three children at once, apparently it carries more weight if everyone asks at once instead of just one at a time.

“Criss-cross, apple sauce” I hear across the classroom where I am teaching art to my older students. I look up and there all lined up and sitting criss-cross are my younger students with one of the older girls sitting in front, “reading” them a story. After the story she stops and they all do “head, shoulders, knees and toes” another game that I have taught them and what we do when we are sitting criss-cross. It was one of my favorite moments of teaching.

A phrase that I have to repeat many times in the day and mostly to the same student is “Stop eating Miss Helena’s pencils.” Apparently I have some very nice tasting pencils!

I usually put my pen or pencil behind my ear because I don’t always have a pocket that I can put it in to. The other day I looked at my student, who was working at their desk coloring a picture. They had put their pencil behind their ear just like mine, except that their ears are a little bit smaller so it was mostly falling out but they were very proud of their accomplishment! They say imitation is the best form of flattery!

“You know that it is a lot easier to read the book if it is open, and if you are planning on trying to make me think that you are reading but aren’t actually going to read then you should at least have it open and be looking at it even if you aren’t reading it.” I tell one of my older students who comes in the afternoon, who is just sitting there at his desk staring into space. He smiles at me kind of sheepishly and then opens the book.

I have just answered the call from one of my girls to “Please push me!” and I am walking back to my spot where I can watch everyone and make sure that they aren’t doing anything that will get us in trouble when I look at my two five year old boys and I was stunned for a couple of seconds by what I saw. There are my two boys facing each other with about four feet in between them with their pants down trying to pee on each other! I told them to pull up their pants and then march over to near where I sit and to have seat. They both headed over and they had to sit there for five minutes and at the end of the five minutes we had a little “chat” about where and who you can pee on. It was one of the funnies things that I have ever seen and I had to wait until the end of the day to really laugh about it. I had several students that wanted to know why the boys were sitting down and not playing and all I could say was that they were being punished because if I tried to explain it I would burst out laughing. I have asked both boys why they decided that this was a good idea and neither one have given me answer yet.

At the end of the days as the students are leaving to go home, one of my girls comes over and gives me a kiss on the cheek and says “See you tomorrow, Miss Helena!” It was a very sweet, unexpected end to the morning. I love my job!!

A Dream Coming True...

A Dream Coming True…

The first day of school dawned bright and clear. I left the house at 7 am even though class was not scheduled to begin until 8am. On the Friday before when I had been at the classroom setting up the desks had not been brought to the room yet, and they assured me that on they would be there by Monday morning so I wanted to get there early to have to time to find desks in case they were not there. I walked in and there they were! It was a very exciting moment; to walk into my first classroom for the first time on the first morning of school. I could hardly believe that it was happening. Walking in on the first day.

I had a couple of Brazilian missionary kids, who are now my students that lived next door, and they had driven to school with me and they had been a tremendous help setting up the room the week before. We spent the rest of the time before the other students arrived arranging the desks and doing last minute preparations.

By 8:30 every one had arrived and we began our first day. I had ten students that day with various levels and knowledge of English but it worked out and it was a typical “getting to know you” day. We went through names, classroom rules, learning to walk in a line and etc. All in all it went well and the students all had a good time.

Class was over by 12:30 and most of the kids were picked up by then. I then ate a quick lunch at my desk and then got ready for my afternoon group of students that were to arrive at 2pm. I only had 5 that first afternoon but by 4:30 when school was finished I was exhausted but thankful that it had been a good first day.

update!

Dear Friends,
This is just a quick note to catch you up on what has been going on for the last month and a half. It is so hard to believe how quickly time flies and how much has happened. Last time I wrote was right before Grandma and Grandpa arrived and I was helping Uncle Stirling and Aunty Donna get the house ready for them. They arrived August 19th with no problems and have been adjusting to life at the Ranch very well. (For those of you who would like more details about their trip and their life here I will include more in my official update, which will be coming in the next couple of weeks.) Since their arrival I have been back and forth from Lubango to the Ranch to help Aunty Donna with baking and cooking and taking Night Duty for her while they found a team of Angolans to help.
Apart from helping with the adjustments here at the Ranch as best I can, I have also been working to try and get the school going as soon as possible because I have some very anxious parents who would like their children in school now. The church leaders have been very supportive and been helping me as best they can get ready. They have mostly been away for the last month in meetings and conferences all over the country but they said that I can go ahead and make whatever arrangements I can while they have been away.
The exciting news is that the seminary where my mom works (ISTEL) has a classroom available and they said that it is no problem for us to rent it to use for the school for the time being. I took an official letter from the church to ISTEL a couple of weeks ago and the director told me last week that I can start whenever I would like to and they will work out the details when the Pastors are back from their meetings. They will need the classroom at the beginning of the next school year which begins in January, but it is at least a place to start.
I have had to help out at the Ranch this week so that Uncle Stirling and Aunty Donna and the family could go away for the week so I haven’t been in town to really get things going but my plan is to try and start school towards the end of next week. We won’t be doing much school work per say but we will be getting to know each other and figuring out how exactly it is going to work for the first few weeks.
I would really appreciate your prayers this week. I have a parent/teacher meeting with as many parents as can make it on Monday night. Then I will be setting up the classroom and finding materials and curriculum on Tuesday and Wednesday and I am hoping to be open on Thursday.
I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am that this dream is finally taking shape but there is still so much to do and I am feeling kind of overwhelmed by all the details. So if you would please pray for me to feel God’s peace and presence throughout these next few weeks that would be wonderful. I know that I cannot do it on my own and I am so thankful that the Lord is with me and will be helping me through it all. I am also so thankful that He has brought each one of you on my support team.
I will send pictures and a detailed letter and update in the next week or so.
Thank you once again for all your support. Once again please feel free to email me any questions or comments you might have. I love to hear from you.
In Him,
Helena Foster Fabiano

Pictures of Angola So Far...

Off Like a Herd of Turtles Part 2

June 2^nd-Day Three

Location: Somewhere over the Atlantic-Dakar-Johannesburg

The plane landed in Dakar at 2am our time and 5 or 6 local time. The now sleepy children and their mother got off and some other adults that were not nearly as entertaining took their places and the journey continued.

We were given breakfast about an hour after we took off from Dakar and after breakfast, Sara and I were both able to sleep a little.

The plane landed at 4:47pm South African time and our flight to go on to Windhoek was to take off at 5:45pm. It took awhile for us to get to the gate and being at the back of the plane meant that we had a ways to go in a short amount of time. We grabbed our stuff and got off as quickly as we could. Due ot the fact that we were technically in transit we had to go through the transit line which only had one person working it stamping passports with a transit stamp and then you have to go and get in the security line and get another stamp that says that you are no longer in transit. However by the time we got through both the lady checking boarding passes looked at ours and told us that our flight was already boarding and there was no way that we were going to make it. She told us to go stand in the SAA ticket line in the transit lobby.

So we got back in line and waited and waited. We finally got to the front of the line and got rebooked on a flight the next morning at 6:05 which would mean getting to the airport very early to check in because he couldn’t print our boarding passes until the next morning. He told us to be there right at 5:00 because that was when their desk opened and the flight was going to start boarding at 5:35. Sara and I went and got a room at the airport hotel, and relaxed and got a little bit of sleep before it was time to go stand in line again.

Day Four-June 3^rd

Location: Johannesburg-Windhoek

We got to the SAA ticket counter at 4:55 just to be sure that we were not going to be late and it would give us plenty of time to get our boarding passes and get to the gate. However, the SAA people did not get to their desks until 5:10 and only one lady was working and she was working on the business class passengers. Finally at 5:25 Sara and I were called up to the desk and printed our boarding passes and told to go immediately to the gate because there wasn’t much time. (Really? Like we didn’t know)

We got to the gate 2 minutes before the bus was loaded to go out to the plane.

The rest of the trip went very well apart from the fact that our bags did not make it on our flight but they did come on the next one and they were actually delivered right to the guest house where we were staying.

The rest of the day is pretty much a blur and kind of boring. We lazed around and did not do much of anything. My uncle and his son drove down from Angola to pick us up and they arrived that evening after driving for 18 hours. We all turned in pretty early because we knew the next day was going to be VERY busy.

Day Five-June 4^th

Location: Windhoek

We all got up early and Uncle Stirling had a quick breakfast and then went to go and drop one of the Landrover Defenders at the off-road workshop to have some work done on it so that we could drive it to Angola on Sunday. While he was out with the car, I called the airline to see if Tiko had arrived at 5am like he was supposed to. The conversation went something like this…

Me: Good morning, I was just calling to see if my dog has arrived from Frankfurt on the flight this morning?

Man on the line: Is this Miss. Helena?

Me: Yes it is.

Man on the line: Yes he is here and he looks very sad and neglected. You need to come and get him immediately.

Me: Oh okay. I will be there as soon as I can. Is all his paperwork in order?

Man on the line: Yes, yes, everything is in order. You need to come quickly, he is very sad. I have been trying to play with him and talk to him but he is very sad.

Me: Okay. Thank you so much. I will be there very soon. Thank you.

So as soon as Uncle Stirling got back we drove out to the airport which is a thirty to forty-five minute drive one way. We went to the office and sure enough, as soon as he heard our voices he started crying and barking. Everyone there was very nice and we got through the paperwork quite quickly considering they had to go and pick get one form from another part of the airport. They customs lady that cleared us had actually gone to university at Campbell University in North Carolina so she knew where Greensboro and Raleigh were. So we had a nice conversation with her and we were very thankful that the Lord put her in our path because I think that helped speed us through the process although all his papers were in order and I had about three copies of everything. Tiko was VERY HAPPY to see us!

After picking Tiko up we went back to Windhoek and Uncle Stirling dropped us off at the guest house and he had to run out and do more errands. At 1:30, Uncle Stirling and Jeff went off to go and get Daniel and his friends from the airport. They arrived with no problems and then Uncle Stirling and I went to go fetch the Landrover that he had dropped off at the shop earlier because it was ready.

That night we all went out to a restaurant called Joe’s Beerhouse. They serve the best game meat for a really good price and it is one of those places that is really cool to look around so you go for the experience as much as the food. We all had a fun time and I don’t think that we frightened the guys too much.

Day Six-June 5^th

Location: Windhoek

We spent Saturday running around Windhoek taking care of errands for all of us. Uncle Stirling had to buy things at a couple of different places around town and the boys had to get their bus tickets for South Africa and Sara and I had to get a few household items for Angola.

We somehow managed to get it all done and get the car all packed and ready to go by 9:00pm. Daniel and his friends wanted us to take their big suitcases so they would only have their backpacks in South Africa. Both cars were packed pretty high but we did manage to get it all in. We all turned in early because we were going to be up at four to leave by 4:30.

Day Seven-June 6^th

Location: Windhoek, Namibia-Tchincombe Ranch, Angola

Four-thirty-five am found us in the cars and on our way out of Windhoek heading north. The roads on in Namibia are very good paved roads so apart from driving on the left side of the road the driving was pretty easy although both Uncle Stir and I both were very, very tired and we kept having to stop every couple of hours to stretch and wake up a little.

We finally made it to the border around 3pm and were across by 4ish. Which is very good time by the way. The border post that we went through is one that is kind of out in the middle of nowhere but it makes it easier because there is less of a crowd and Uncle Stir knows most of the people that work there.

The roads/tracks through the bush on the Angolan side were more of a challenge to drive. We finally reached the ranch around midnight after stopping for a quick bite to eat and another stretch break although it was easier to stay awake! There were a couple of times that I was pretty sure that there wasn’t a real road and that Uncle Stir was just driving blind.

We finally got to the ranch and got some dinner and then on to bed.

Day Eight-June 7

Location: Tchincombe Ranch

Sara and I woke up late and showered and headed over to Aunty Donna’s kitchen for a cup of coffee and lunch in an hour. We had a lovely lunch and a very restful afternoon just hanging out and visiting with cousins and friends. Sara and I went on a walk with our 10 year old cousin Meghan and we helped her plan out her play “town”. Then we got back to the house and helped with dinner and found out what the plan for the next day was.

The plan it turned out was to drive in convoy with Uncle Stir again to Lubango so that he could fix Mom’s Landrover Discovery so that I would have a car to drive.

That evening we hung out with the cousins and watched Star Trek and basically got packed up and ready to go again. Breakfast was planned for 6:45 so that we could leave by 8ish. Sara and I were both pretty tired from the trip still and decided to head over to bed relatively early. (we stayed in another house about a 1km down the road.)

Day Nine- June 8

Location: Tchincombe Ranch-Lubango

Sara and I arrived for breakfast at 6:50 and everyone had already started (when they say 6:45 they really mean 6:45). After breakfast Aunty Donna typed up a document saying that I was allowed to drive their car, just in case I was stopped by the police. We loaded up the car and off we went with Uncle Stir leading the way. It was a pretty uneventful trip. The off road part wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been coming up from the border. We did have to go through a control where the authorities were checking passports and making sure that everyone has their documents. Uncle Stir was in front and I could see that he was gesturing towards our car and making sure that they knew that we were with him. One police man came over and asked for our documentation. We handed him our passports and just then the other policeman waved Uncle Stir through and told us to go as well. He gave us back our documents and off we went. From there it was only another 45 minutes to an hour until the city. When we got to the city traffic was crazy, which is the normal state of events now. I stayed right behind Uncle Stir so that I wouldn’t get lost and so that I could see how he drove in a place where the driving rules are slightly different from what I am used to.

We arrived at Mitcha right before lunch. We unloaded and unpacked and decided to spend the rest of the day visiting and not doing much of anything. It was so nice to finally be here and realize that this is now home.

Off Like a Herd of Turtles...

May 31^st-Day One

Location: Greensboro, NC

It was finally time to go. When we started planning it seemed like our departure date was so far in the future but all of a sudden it was time to make sure that we could actually pick up and carry our carry-ons and that our suitcases were not over-weight, (Something that I had been working on for a week by the way). Our departure time from Piedmont International Airport was 3:03pm so we loaded the cars with our five suitcases and two carry-ons each.

We got to the desk to check in and we noticed two problems immediately; our plane was delayed with no departure time listed yet and the family in front of us did not speak English and they looked very frustrated. So Sara and I got in line behind them and practiced our waiting skills. There was only one lady behind the desk and she was just as frustrated as the poor people that she was trying to help. Eventually another man came back from his lunch break and he just asked for our names and our paperwork and he stared and typed away at his computer for about half an hour and then he looked up and said that there wasn’t anything that he could do for us because our plane was delayed in Chicago and hadn’t reached Greensboro yet so that meant that we were going to miss our plane to Johannesburg and because our tickets were booked through South African Airways he said that he couldn’t get in to change them. So our next step was to call our travel agent who said that South African Airways wasn’t open because of Memorial Day and that we should just wait and call first thing the next day.

Slightly disappointed but trying to see God’s hand in the situation we went home unloaded the cars and then my cell phone started ringing and it was our travel agent. He said that he had been on the phone with SAA and they said that the airline was absolutely responsible for making sure that we reached our destination even if it meant going with another carrier and that we were to go back to the desk and make them put us on a plane and get us to Namibia, no matter what. If they had a problem with anything we were to call him and he would put them through to SAA who would make sure that it was done.

After hearing these inspirational words we all loaded everything back in the cars and sped back to the airport, which is all of five minutes from our house. Fortunately the line at the airline desk had lessened somewhat and we were able to go right up and explain our situation to the same, still somewhat frazzled lady behind the desk. She immediately went to work figuring out how to get us to Windhoek, Namibia. There was no way for us to leave that day but she was able to book us through Raleigh (about an hour and a half drive from our house but it was where Tiko was booked out of so it made it more convenient for Mom and dropping him off) early the next morning and get us to Dulles with several hours to spare as we waited for the flight to South Africa and then from there we would catch our flight directly to Windhoek.

Once again the cars were loaded and we went home and had ice-cream and a cup of tea, or for those who needed something a little stronger, i.e. me, a cup of coffee. In the end we spent a nice quiet evening at home just relaxing and not doing much of anything. Sara and I went to bed early so as to be mostly alert for our early check in and departure time.

June 1^st-Day Two

Location: Greensboro-Dulles-Somewhere over the Atlantic

“Is this Ms. Fabiano?”

“Yes it is who is this?”

“This is Ron (*aside* I don’t actually remember his name) from Continental. The flight that you booked your dog on has been cancelled.”

At this point my heart thudded down to my feet. Not what I wanted to hear right then. How was I going to fix this? I was supposed to be boarding the plane to go to Dulles in about 15 minutes.

“Oh, so what now?” I tried to ask in a somewhat calm voice although that was far from what I felt.

“Well, we have a flight at 11:15 and another at 3:15 that we could put him on, do either of those work for you?”

“The 11:15 would work out perfectly for me. I am getting ready to board my flight and my mom is going to be dropping him off in just a few minutes then. Thank you.” Thank you, Jesus.

“Thank you and have a safe flight.” Click.

I frantically called Mom and she had to turn around and come back to the airport ASAP. She thankfully was not too far and was able to turn around and bring him back and get him all taken care of just as Sara and I were getting ready to take-off to go to Dulles.

Apart from that slight moment of excitement/panic the rest of the day/traveling was largely uneventful. Sara and I found our gate and then walked and found something to eat and then sat at the gate and read until it was time to board.

The flight was its usual long ride. Sara and I were sitting the middle section towards the back of the plane and there was a seat between me and a rather large man so I was able to stretch my legs out a little bit. The one highlight of the trip was three children from Senegal who were absolutely thrilled to be flying. I am not sure if it was their first time on a plane but they had a great time and they really had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. It was so refreshing to watch them see things for the first time and really get excited about the roar of the engines or the shape of the wings or the fact that they had their own personal televisions. So often we take the fact that we can fly across the world in relative comfort and in a relatively short amount of time for granted when in actual fact it is totally amazing that these machines can take us across the world.

More to follow...