While we were all engrossed by the men breaking into the apartment and the ladies cooking, this young man was downstairs fixing a broken umbrella. The umbrella is one of the most important possessions of a street vendor. No umbrella, no shade!
While he worked with the spokes, we had no idea what he was making or doing. They looked like a mess of broken spider legs. Then it all came together in the end.
These happy children surrounded me this afternoon while we were in this Port Bouet neighborhood. I love the late afternoons here when people are out and about and the children play. This is a simple good life and I am happy to be here.
These cute girls were helping in a ladies shop, selling lotions, skin and hair care products.
These boys were doing the rooster dance!
I love laundry hanging in the warm sun. I love the work it represents and the memories it brings of my own childhood clotheslines in our backyard.
I’ve shown this photo twice already–once to show where the women worked to prepare their food up on the top floor, once to show the man below fixing the umbrella, and now so you can pay attention to the laundry hanging from the apartments. This is real life here.
My new friends:
Today while the men worked on entering the neighboring apartment, I visited with these beautiful mothers who were busy preparing food for this evening. When I saw the amounts they were preparing on their small stoop outside their apartment door, I asked them how many would be eating. “Ohh, BEAUCOUP, BEAUCOUP!!” they told me (many many!). I learned that they were cooking food they would sell down on the street this evening to people passing by. They had a little street restaurant and every evening, starting at 6:00 they feed passersby.
One mama was preparing a huge pot of rice. She used some oil, bullion, onion and salt, cooking the dry rice over the fire for awhile before adding a bucket of water.
The other mama was pounding cassava (manioc) to make foutou. First the pieces of cassava are steamed or boiled, then any dark parts were trimmed off before the pounding. She pounded small amounts at one time, until the cassava was a sticky paste.
After the cassava was pounded, she brought out a pot of already pounded plantain. These two were mixed together and pounded some more until they were uniformly mixed.
Then this foutou was formed into smooth balls, ready for someone’s meal. The first customer of the evening (I later noticed) was an older lady. She ordered 4 of these balls, covered with sauce and a piece of tripe, and she ate them all herself!
These are the beautiful children who were helping their mothers. They remembered the missionaries who used to live next door and they were looking forward to their return. They will be disappointed the missionaries won’t be moving back here.
Besides the huge pot of rice and the foutou, the ladies were cooking two large pots of sauce. One pot had meat in it–boef feet (cow), tripe and fish. The other pot had mostly pureed vegetables–eggplant, tomato, onion and peppers. Customers can choose what they’d like served over their rice or foutou. the meals cost between 4,000 and 7,000, depending on what combination they order.
Here is the fish that went into the meat pot.
The children showed me where their mothers’ restaurant was down by the street.
This is the dishwashing area.
The tables and benches were locked up with a chain and padlock until it was time to set things up.
The family restaurant waiting to open!
Before 6:00 the women started carrying down the dishes and serving ware.
Unlocking the tables and benches.
Then the hot heavy pots of food were carried down the 4 flights of stairs.
We had to leave before things got really busy down here on the street. Watching these women work and visiting with them was my favorite part of the day. They were lovely and the children were delightful. It’s easy to make friends here. I was sad to say goodbye to these women this evening. They work so hard to provide for their families. I hope everyone enjoys the food!
Here is the apartment building. The ladies were cooking on the left side at the top of the stairs behind the board.
Here’s what happens when an apartment was evacuated because of COVID (probably in March 2019) and then forgotten for more than a year! This apartment was in the Abidjan West Mission back then, then it was moved into our East Mission when the Grand Bassam Stake was re-organized a few months ago. Today we went to have a look.
The apartment keys were stolen last week when Fr. Oro’s car was broken into, so we had to hire a hit man (hit the lock until it broke). It took about 30 minutes to break and pry through the iron gate, and then to break down the wooden door with the deadbolt.
We finally got in! This is Fr. Oro, our Mission’s physical facilities man. He takes care of all of the apartments and what’s in them. It’s a huge job.
The beautiful view to the east from the apartment:
Once inside, we could see that the apartment was actually quite occupied all this time–by MICE!!
The kitchen has a lovely view of the ocean and the breeze from the windows was better than AC!
After the inspection we left instructions for someone to come install a new lock on the door to keep the things inside safe until we move them out. We took the fridge, stove and a few things with us today. We’ll be saying goodbye to this apartment. There were just too many holes in the roof and too much mold. The neighbors are so sad the missionaries won’t be returning here.
You can learn more about these kind neighbors in my next very interesting post!
Yesterday there was trouble in Bamako. We are still in Abidjan. We’re not sure if this will affect our return to Bamako next week or not. We hope not.
Here’s an interesting look at how often governments in Africa change:
From Church Security:
Mali’s interim vice president, Colonel Assimi Goita, confirmed on Tuesday, May 25, that he had seized power on Monday after the transitional president and prime minister failed to consult with him about the formation of a new government. Goita also led the August coup in 2020. This latest takeover occurred when two of the coup leaders were dropped from their government posts in a cabinet reshuffle. Goita has said that elections will be held next year as planned. President Bah Ndaw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouana were taken to a military base outside the capital on Monday evening following their arrests.
The coup has met with swift condemnation from the UN, EU, and regional countries. There is fear the situation could worsen instability in Mali, where Islamist groups with links to Al Qaeda and Islamic State control large areas of the north and center of the country. The militant groups stage frequent attacks on the army and civilians. (Reuters)
CSD Comment and Analysis:
Based on reports from sources in Bamako [that would be the reports we shared from Anounou an Sekou and Abram], the situation has remained peaceful with the population waiting to see what will happen. The U.S. Embassy in Bamako urged U.S. citizens to remain indoors as the situation clarifies. CSD recommends that missionaries continue to shelter in place through Tuesday and reassess the situation on Wednesday. Any significant fighting or violence is unlikely at this point.
It’s so fun to see the progress on the temple here. We are still far from completion–they’re saying maybe April next year for a completion date. Every day a little bit more progress is made. Here’s what it looks like today.
More and more of the stake center parking lot and grounds are fenced off. I have to hold my camera over these tin walls to take these pictures–I can’t see what I’m taking until afterwards!
This is the Distribution Center next to the Stake Center.
And this last shot is the view from our apartment window in the evening. We love seeing Moroni heralding the people of Cote d’Ivoire.
Tuesdays are District Meeting days. Everyone in the mission meets with their district to review their week, their goals, and their experiences. These meetings are always fun and interesting. Today we attended our Cocody District with the office Elders.
We had a great discussion about PMG ch. 6 focusing on love and charity for all.
Here’s our neighbor district. They met across the hall from us.
The missionaries are really excited about the EnglishConnect program that was rolled out last zone conference. Everyone can take up to an hour a day to study English. When they come to the church, they can download the lessons and assignments in their phones.
Playing the “telephone” game after their district meeting.
Heading back to the office.
The Bendixsens always meet with the office Elders after district meetings to go over the coming week.
Yesterday some of my favorite children sang one of my favorite Primary songs for me. I love singing this song in French with my young friends. Below are the words to the English version.
All over the world at the end of day,
Heav’nly Father’s children kneel down and pray,
Each saying thank you in his own special way,
Saying thank you, thank you in his own special way.
“Gracias.” “Malo.” “Wir danken dir.”
All over the world tender voices hear.
Some say “tak,” others “merci,”
“Kansha shimasu,” we thank thee.
Our Heavenly Father hears them;
He understands each tongue.
Our Heav’nly Father knows them;
He loves them, loves them, ev’ry one.
Words: Peggy Hill Ryskamp, b. 1949. © 1975 IRI
Music: Beth Groberg Stratton, b. 1944. © 1975 IRI
Next week everything on this board will change, but for today, here’s what it looks like. This evening John and I slipped over to the office to surprise the Bendisxens by helping to organize the transfer board for them. John’s really good at keeping track of every single missionary and every single area and with transfers coming up, the board needed to be re-organized so it matches what’s in the church computerized system called IMOS (Internet Missionary Operating System).
It’s also important to see what areas in the mission have been on hold without missionaries while our numbers have been fewer, and what areas need to expand as missionaries return. John is a mastermind at mission organization and the logistics behind what goes on here. He’s been a huge blessing to this mission. His mind is filled with maps and spreadsheets and details and a vision for the future. He really helps keeping things running smoothly here.
Here are a few pictures from the Grand Bassam Stake Conference today. Elder Martinez, our Area President, was our visiting authority.
We arrived 20 minutes before 10:00 and the entire stake center was already filled and everyone was waiting quietly.
A young adult choir:
The missionaries always get to sit in the back on the stage.
Below in the left corner is my good friend, A. A. Christ. Watch for an article about him in an upcoming Friend magazine.
I counted 38 buzzing ceiling fans between where we were sitting and the pulpit up front. And the speaker system wasn’t working in the back, so we weren’t able to hear much, but it was good just to be here with the missionaries and these beautiful members.
During a rest hymn, I went to find the children. When we arrived they were all in this big room that was later turned into an overflow room for adults. The children were re-located in 3 other smaller rooms during the conference.
These 3 smaller rooms were divided by age groups.
The children in this youngest group were singing Primary songs, one at a time, someone came up, told a favorite song, then led the rest in singing it. When I arrived, they were singing “Away in a Manger.” It was so sweet to hear their voices.
Here are some of our faithful friends and Saints in pics taken after the conference ended.
This is Sylvie Mel, Eveque Mel’s wife and son.
Eveque Mel and his beautiful family:
This is my good friend, A. A. Christ. I learned that this week there was a fire in his home and all of his clothes and things were burned up. He is faithful and true, no matter what.
Above is Christ with his father and below is his sister, our former Soeur Ahoulou, who served here in this mission.
The beautiful family of Kouakou Kouame Serge Arnaud (Imperial Ward) with their 3.5 month old twins.
These are a few of the choir members.
Several of the wards arranged transport for the members to come.
This is Francois Mpinga and his family. He’s the one who helps the mission with the farewell scarves given out at each departure.
This looks like a ward council meeting happening.
How wonderful to see Elder Amani, who returned home a few months ago!
This is Stake President Koffi’s wife with one of their children.
Squeezing into the car for the drive home!
And our dear Eveque Mel and his family saw us off as we were leaving.
The highlight for me today was being with these members and feeling their love for the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is such warmth and light in their faces and in their hearts. I love it here so much. How will we ever pull ourselves away when this mission ends??
Our Cote d’Ivoire Abidjan East and Bamako, Mali Mission 