Summerland Rotary Gets Into Wood Turning!



President Doug Carnegie presents Rotary donation to Rick Cogbill & John Topham

 A big thank you to the Summerland Rotary Club for donating $3,000 towards Mercy Tech Mission's Woodturning Project in Mozambique. We so appreciate the support of our community!

The General wood lathe (pictured below) has already been modified for European voltage requirements and is currently en route to Mozambique, scheduled to arrive around April 25th. Rotary member John Topham will be travelling to Mozambique for the month of May to teach woodturning skills to some of the local men at the SAMM mission base near Chimoio.

General Wood Lathe

John demonstrating cutting techniques to Brad Denesiuk (L) and Bob Denesiuk (R)

John with some cutting tools he will bring to Mozambique. Behind him are
some of the artistic wooden bowls he is well-known for creating.

John is a master craftsman, and his famous exotic wooden bowls are popular items in art galleries around the Okanagan. We are thrilled that John is making himself available to not only arrange for a hi-quality lathe to be shipped to Mozambique, but to travel there himself to personally teach students on the proper care and use of the machine.

Pindurai, one of the young men we hope to train
for the wood lathe

If you would like to contribute to this or other Mercy Tech projects, please visit our website at http://www.mercytechmission.com/.

Mercy Tech Mission: Changing lives, one skill at a time.

A New Day in Africa...

Today I wake up to the morning sounds of birds and insects in Mucombeze, Mozambique, after spending our first night in this beautiful country.

Time to begin the work that we came to do.

Getting here from South Africa was an adventure in itself, but thanks to some wonderful people - like Joao who met us at the Maputo airport and got us to our overnight accommodation, and like the sisters Evangeline and Juanita who put us up for the night (after an amazing meal!) and who got us to the airport early the next morning - we finally arrived in Chimoio. What a relief to see the familiar face of my niece Keren, along with Jeff and Dwight, who came to claim us and bring us out to the Farm ASAM where we will live and work for the next 28 days.

But the fun begins even before we reach the farm. Here we stop to see the progress on a new clinic being built by volunteers from the US, only to discover that their Honda generator has quit.

Dwight and I try to get it going, but there is no spark - I suspect a problem with the module. So after bringing out a replacement generator, we haul this one back to the farm for further investigation.

Today, however, I'm introduced to Izzy, the 2001 Isuzu truck that has major wiring issues - power windows don't work, AC has quit (not even a fan...), the door locks have a mind of their own, running lights acting strange...all this from the results of mice chewing through the wiring harnesses. Should be fun to get into, provided I can find enough of the proper tools and - of all things - get some fuses. Apparently they're not easy to buy locally...

But it's the people, not the equipment, that makes this place so unique. As we sat through the morning devotions with all the workers and volunteers, we were reminded that one of the key features of true Christianity is that we are all equal in Christ, and that love for one another is to be our major focus, whether we're fixing a truck or dressing wounds.

What a privilege to be a part of something that has eternal value...kind of like dust with a purpose.