Nuusbriewe uit Madagaskar – Page 4 of 8 – NG Kerk Groot-Brakrivier

26 Maart 202425 Maart 2025

Sendingnuus Madagaskar: The week 17 March 2024

We once again have a working kitchen and bathroom on the boat. Dries connected the boatyard’s water supply directly to the boat. So running water all around! The toilet flushes and is connected to the drain which Dries and Norbert finished this week. We had to buy some new batteries and the solar panels do their job which means lights and cold water in the fridge. It took a lot of scrubbing and manoeuvring in a small space and it feels as if I still smell of bleach. I am beginning to think that living on the boat might be more comfortable than our house. Now we just have to get the rest of Gabriel in the same shape.

21 Maart 202425 Maart 2025

Sendingnuus Madagaskar : Update

I clearly lost a couple of weeks!

We have been working hard at the boat and I have to keep up with the Ranger lessons and meetings. As is so often the case, things break when it is least convenient. My quad is waiting for a part which we had to order from Taiwan and the Land Rover has parts coming from Antananarivo. The Landy is still going though, but the quad is out of commission for now. I have to take six different tuc-tucs to get to and from school. I still have trouble walking and doing everything at at a slower speed, is frustrating for me.

5 Maart 202425 Maart 2025

Sendingnuus uit Madagaskar- The week 25 February 2024

I asked Dries which of the following scenarios he would choose: a – to be in urgent need of medical care and end up in a very bad hospital b – to be put in prison because of a false accusation

Let me just clarify, both prison and hospital on our island are indistinguishable from one another when it comes to hygiene and care. He struggled to choose between the two and opted for the hospital one where I leaned towards the prison what-if.

28 Februarie 202425 Maart 2025

Sendingnuus uit Madagaskar: Lynette skryf vir ons oor die Week 11 Februarie 2024

I have wondered this week if the constant smell of rotten fish can cause permanent damage to one’s sense of smell. The fact that it rains often, leading to the drying process to start all over, adds to the stink.

17 Februarie 202425 Maart 2025

Sendingnuus: Madagaskar – Massage your troubles away

I fell a week ago. Not heroically, ‘in the line of duty’ as Dries did, but I simply got up from my chair too quickly, became dizzy and found myself on the floor with my right foot in agony. I bandaged it up and hopped along the next couple of days.

10 Februarie 202425 Maart 2025

Madagaskar Sending nuus: The week 28 January 2024

Madagaskar Sending

Rather late than never they say.

The week has been filled with a variety of tasks as the full focus on the boat during the last couple of weeks, put other things on hold.

Dries and Norbert removed the outboard motors from the boat as well as all the batteries which need to be checked and charged. Dries went to school to see how the roof has been replaced and he was not happy, because much of it was not done straight. It is one of our continous struggle; to get people to deliver good work. Dries could not be there to keep an eye on the roof job, with the result that the one side has basically been botched and looks like giant sharks teeth, zig-zagging along instead of lined up and straight. That doesn’t seem to bother anyone and all the classrooms are up and running. Dries would have to replace the gutter system and do some work on the Land Rover, therefore much of February will be spent on that and Gabriel will have to wait.

29 Januarie 202425 Maart 2025

Sendingnuus: Madagaskar – The week 21 January 2024

We are enjoying the third day of uninterrupted sunshine. Everything, from carpets, walls even the Land Rover needed to be dried out and aired. We are very thankful for this respite of sunshine in the midst of the rainy season, because Gabriel will be moved to its ‘parking spot’ tomorrow. We spent Saturday morning on the boat, mostly drying and airing and the mud in front of the boat was not yet completely dried out.

25 Januarie 202425 Maart 2025

Sendingnuus Madagaskar: The Week 14 January 2024

And then it rained…and rained some more…

Usually we have a week or two in February where is rains non-stop, but it came early this rainy season. There has been flooding on the island and Gabriel cannot be moved to its ‘parking spot’ before the weather clears, because of the mud. The weather forecast shows this to continue until Thursday.

17 Januarie 202425 Maart 2025

Sendingnuus Madagaskar: The week 7 January 2024

Dries and Thomas have just left to move Gabriel to the north of the island and not without the usual bit of drama. The rain came down heavily as Dries headed out to the boat. We don’t have a dinghy anymore and the kayak was not really made for more than one person or luggage. Anyhow, they made it onto the boat just as the sea turned a bit rough and had to wait a while for the weather to improve before they set off.

13 Januarie 202425 Maart 2025

Sendingnuus Madagaskar: Step by Step Page by Page

Dries, Norbert and Antonin started on Vola’s classroom today. It had the least damage and was the logical first step. Norbert and Antonin accomplished a lot yesterday by removing all the corrugated sheets that were folded over as well as the wood that it was attached to. We should be able to re-use most of the sheets, but many of the beams snapped like twigs.

9 Januarie 202425 Maart 2025

Sendingnuus Madagaskar: The Week 1 January 2023

2021-12-28 Madagaskar Lynette en Dries

The first week of 2024 went by quietly. My new diary for this year was inaugurated by filling the next week with loads of ‘to do lists’. On Friday, we paid a visit to the boat yard to make sure that everything will be ready for Gabriel’s move onto terra firma. Please make a note in your diary for Tuesday 16 January. The tide will be at its highest at about 7:30 local time and therefore the best time for the move. We are still trying to decide how we’ll organise ourselves to go and live on site while we work. It was decided that it would be best to dig a French drain and use that with the onboard toilet. There are no other facilities and I definitely draw the line at going local and finding a suitable spot on the rocks at low tide. There are limits to roughing it….

7 Januarie 202425 Maart 2025

Sendingnuus uit Madagaskar: Lynette: The Week 24-12-2023

The last blog post of the year. As Dries and I reflected on all that came to pass during this year, we were in agreement that a lot of things came together right at the end.

28 Desember 202325 Maart 2025

Sendingnuus uit Madagaskar: The Week 24 December 2023

Dec 24

The world has managed to remove the simplicity as well as the profundity from Christmas. It has been reduced to nothing but ‘Happy Holidays!’ It is about the party, not about the Person. The spirit of Christmas is for most nothing more than having a ‘party spirit’. So, what is the true spirit of Christmas?

16 Desember 202325 Maart 2025

Sendingnuus uit Madagaskar: Lynette: The week 3 December 2023

he date for Gabriel to be taken out of the water has been set for 14 January. Our rainy season started earlier this year and yesterday evening we had a storm with heavy wind. So the sooner we can get the boat on land, the better. We visited the boat yard up in the north of the island on Monday and the owner, Bruno, was very helpful. He knows more than a thing or two about boats and offered his expertise as well as a good spot for Gabriel. There is a workshop, running water as well as a generator available, should we need one. All of this does not come cheap, but at this point in time, one cannot measure the peace in Dries’s heart about how it has all worked out. He does not have to build a trailer and the burden of the removal of the boat, does not rest on him solely. You can rejoice with us as God has supplied the funds for Gabriel’s resting place for the next 6 to 8 months. We have seen once again that when God is at work, we should expect that He moves in ways beyond our human expectation.

6 Desember 202325 Maart 2025

Sending Madagaskar: Lynette skryf vir ons oor: “Giving Thanks”

I pondered upon the Scripture about the ten lepers in Luke 17:11-19 during the week. What I found so profound once again, was verse 14.

“So when He saw them, He said to them, ‘Go show yourselves to the priests.’ And so it was as they went, they were cleansed.”

4 November 202325 Maart 2025

Madagaskar: Lynette se Nuusbrief 1 November 2023: Finally!

After almost a month since my last post, I finally sit down to write. For the most part, I have been spending time with my mom in Moorreesburg. She had to move house a few months ago and it was difficult to adapt to life in town compared to a more rural environment. It helped that we were able to go away for a couple of days. The Cape is still beautiful and my favourite place. Moorreesburg is a small town where the pharmacy sells firewood and the printing shop offers you coffee.

30 September 202325 Maart 2025

Madagaskar: Weeklikse nuusflits vanaf Lynette: Die WEEK – 17/09/2023

The Cape of storms! My first week in South Africa and spring was nowhere in sight. Thankfully, I was supplied with warm clothing and I did pack my rain jacket at the last moment before I left Nosy Be. I am grateful for the warm welcome and hospitality wherever I go.

16 September 202325 Maart 2025

Madagaskar: Nuusflits vanaf Lynette: Die WEEK – 3/09/2023

The new school year got underway without problems. I missed a lot of the first week, because I had to make sure that the teachers will have two month’s worth of lessons for Royal Rangers. There remains also a lot to do before I leave on Saturday morning.

8 September 202325 Maart 2025

Madagaskar: Lynette se weeklikse nuusflits: DIE WEEK – 24/08/2023

“Mauvais état”, those were the two words the policeman said after we were pulled over and he had a walk around the Land Rover. Dries was not happy to be told that his precious Landy was in a ‘bad state’. I started wondering if Madagascar jumped on the bandwagon of clamping down on old cars or probably just charging a special tax. I replied that the ‘heart’ of the Landy was in perfect condition and that the outside was just because it was a vehicle that worked hard. The policeman let us go. I said to Dries that might explain the looks from other foreigners when they passed us on the road; sympathy or disbelief? As a reply, I got the same look as the policeman received moments earlier…

31 Augustus 202325 Maart 2025

Madagaskar: Lynette se weeklikse nuusflits: Die WEEK – 20/08/2023

We have been so busy the last couple of weeks. School starts on the 5th of September and the teachers will return on Monday. Work at school never really stopped during the holiday. The two new floors look amazing and when Euphrasie saw it for the first time, she commented that the classrooms appeared bigger in size. The new grade 5 classroom is way behind schedule as we wanted to use traditional material for the floor and there was none available. So we have to go the proper foundation route which is probably better, but takes more time and is way more expensive. There are many other projects that have to be completed before the rainy season in December. All of them to keep the water at bay.