Mozambique, Mosquitoes and the Mark of Den

Firstly, apologies for the poor (and non-sensical) alliteration. All will be revealed...
Everything here is going great-work is continuing well, I’m still doing the saem stuff as in my first week but getting into more detail and arranging meetings with people to talk about how we can partner-I’ve a meeting with a City of Joburg regional authority representative on Thursday to talk about how we can partner with them in their environmental projects in Cosmo City. It feels weird to have responsibilities like meetings-but I’m really enjoying it too.
Last week after a tough first two weeks I went on holiday to Mozambique (admittedly the first two weeks weren’t quite tough enough to warrant a holiday but still) with Jon and Beatrice who I work with (some of you may know Jon). The journey involved a VW Polo, incredibly pot-holed roads, a flat tyre and sleeping in the car, but the less said about that the better-bear in mind though it turns out you should never trust an African who says he can fix tyres with twigs (email me if you want the full breakdown-or I’ve told Mum and Dad). Once we got there (and it stopped raining-yes, there were points in the holiday when I was just as disbelieving as you are right now) it was really beautiful but as with everywhere in Africa the country is full of so much poverty and people are so desperate. We didn’t really do anything during the week but relax on the beach and get bitten by mosquitoes (ten bites on one foot was not good). Someone we know from the UK who works for Oasis Mozambique also stayed with us for the weekend which was good fun-and nice to get to know someone new! The journey home was a lot less eventful thankfully and this time we decided to stay somewhere other than the car over night.
Just a quick something before I finish-you may have heard about a small shindig happening in Copenhagen starting next week with a few people from around the world. It’s being trumped by some as the ‘last chance’ to save the world from climate change, and I have to say I agree. Working in the project I do, and particularly coming back from Mozambique last week, one of the countries that could be affected hugely by climate change, I’ve come to learn what a big deal these talks are for a huge proportion of the world-the proportion that’s poorest. If no deal is reached then it’s countries like South Africa and Mozambique that will end up paying hardest-economically and socially. I’m not telling you to turn off your standbys and use less stuff (although it’s all good) but if you could take the time to email Gordon Brown here:
http://act.christianaid.org.uk/ea-campaign/clientcampaign.do?ea.client.id=48&ea.campaign.id=4128
or go to The Wave in London on Saturday-because we have to have a partnership of responsibility with government to tackle this huge issue (more info on christian aid website). For more information I recommend the Christian Aid or Tearfund websites.
If you pray please pray for:
Me as I continue work-that I continue to build links and find out what’s right for us here in Cosmo City.
The talks in Copenhagen-that negotiators will come with open minds and that God will be present in the outcome.
Hope you’re all well-will update you all sometime before I go away for Christmas in 2 weeks time!