Year in Review Part II (Sept -Dec 2006)

While waiting for our work visas we had to renew our visitors visas every three months which came due in September - also just in time for our 7th anniversary. We headed south to Namibia and spent a couple of days at a place called Onguma near Etosha National Park in Namibia. We did receive new visitors visas and so returned to Angola within the week! Praise!

A hidden lionessDining area at Onguma
Wildlife at Chudob - a waterhole - in Etosha
A picnic lunch in Etosha

Lubango, Angola, the site for the Evangelical Medical Center. A beautiful city and famous along with Rio de Janeiro and Lisbon for having a Cristo Rei(Christ the King) statue.

The Emergency Room entrance of the Evangelical Medical Center of Lubango. In Portuguese it is the Centro Evangelica de Medicina de Lubango or CEML. We arrived back from Namibia with our renewed visas two weeks before CEML was to open and spent those two weeks cleaning, sorting and arranging items in preparation for opening. We would never really have been ready so eventually THE day - October 16th, 2006 - arrived and we are still trying to catch up and be ready!
The Operating Room block. The delivery room entrance is the last door on the left.
CEML's first patient!

The crowd on opening day!
Registration
Adolfo, the main lab technician

Me(Shelley), Angelina and Amy a pre-med student from Canada

The staff on opening day.
Dr Steve Foster - the medical director of CEML

The next big event after the opening of the CEML was the arrival of our container of all our "worldly" possessions including our vehicle. Unfortunately, I didn't get a photo of our vehicle in the container, but all the rest of the stuff was packed behind this "wall"

Offloading the container from the truck. Fortunately we had already removed the vehicle so it wasn't quite so nervewracking to see just one cable lifting the container!

Our freshly removed Jeep in front of our house!

In case any of you were worried that all we do is work, work, work these next few photos will help you understand that there is plenty to do for fun here too! Angola has something for every type of adventurer or relaxer! Below is our little Jeep trying to keep up with the "big boys".
We did not get stuck!

Beautiful mountains....

stunning views where the central plateau drops 5000 feet to the coastal plain....


any rock climbers or hang gliders out there?!

Then there is the deserted beach and literally you are in a desert!
but the fish don't know that!

You do have to bring everything that you need including fresh water and fire wood!!!
Peter is still the reigning pancake king - even at the beach!
And the sunsets never fail to disappoint if you prefer the quieter form of relaxation!

November brings Thanksgiving for Americans even in Angola! We went to the Tchincombe Ranch, run by Shelley's brother and sister-in-law, Stirling and Donna Foster. This is their house, quite literally in the middle of nowhere - but a very restful oasis!

Stirling and Donna Foster
Thanksgiving Dinner! We even had turkey and pumpkin pie!

Stirling and Donna left in December for several months of visiting friends in the US and Canada so they left their furry children with us to look after. Maddy is the Jack Russell and Ebba is the German Shepherd. They have fit into our family very well and we will miss them when Stir and Donna come back to claim them!

Robert and Beth Riviello - doctors at the CEML for the past nine months - lived with us and also bonded well with all the pets! We all miss them!


December found us heading to Namibia to renew our visas again as the three months had expired. It was also the highlight of the year to have our daughter, Jasper, come to visit! We went quad biking in the dunes on the Namib Desert in Namibia while we waited for our visas to come through.

Warm hugs!








A chilly picnic in Swakopmund, Namibia.

Ruacana Falls - the border of Namibia and Angola - our visas came thru just in time to get back to Angola for Christmas. Thanks again for praying for us!