|
Photo Gallery #48-Meet the Szobody's, Part I
In
August, after nine months of being the sole American within
an
80km radius, Paul & Theresa Szobody, and their children
returned to
Gaya, their home for the past seven years, after 15 months
in France.
Part
II
Click any of the thumbnails to
see a larger version in a separate window
| |
Theresa
and Paul. Paul is a Lutheran pastor, and teaches at
the theological seminary, while Theresa takes care of
the house, and raises/home-schools their 8 (of 12!)
kids who live here.
|
Samuel
(unfortunately I couldn't find another photo of him) is
#5, the oldest here at the moment, at 17. He's the family
handyman, as well as carpenter, electrician, and plumber.
The other four kids, Benjamin, Joseph, Nathanael, and
Charity are back in the US, either in college, or working,
with families of their own. |
|
| |
Next
is Andrew, 15 years old, who raises a horse (and regularly
goes out at 4:00 AM with Liva to find food for her), and
is also my French tutor- after a year in French public
school, he tries to help me make sure my French doesn't
sound too Chadian. |
After
Andrew is Patience, 13, who often takes care of Micah,
the youngest of the Szobody's children.
|
|
| |
Next
is Mercy, 11, a great writer, and always ready to help. |
Phillip,
9, is the oldest of the 'little kids,' and master of both
the guava orchard, and the grill. |
|
| |
Mathias,
who at 7, is full of questions, and always seems to have
something important to share. |
Finally,
five-year-old Titus, and Micah, who just turned two. Titus
is always running around, playing games, or drawing pictures,
and Micah keeps himself busy toddling around, and exploring
everything and anything he can reach (not much, when you're
two feet tall). |
|
|
The
Szobody's life a lifestyle which is definitely not Chadian,
but isn't exactly American either. Their house is certainly
a step up from mine, but hardly a palace, either. |
| One
of the big advantages they have is full-time electricity
and running water, courtesy of solar panels, and barrels
that work as water towers. When the village runs out of
fuel for the generators (at least once a month), they've
been incredibly generous, and allowed me to charge my cell-phone,
and my computer, making this website possible. |
|
|
The
original missionaries here, the Duncansons, lived in this
small house before building the main place in the 1960's
or '70s. Mr. & Mrs. Robert and Joan Duncanson lived
here for almost 50 years, founding the theological seminary.
After Robert was murdered in Cameroon in 1998, Joan returned
to the States, and Robert was buried in Gaya, as he'd requested. |
| The
Szobody's third son, Nathanael, built this hut, which he
lived in before leaving Gaya a few years ago. |
|
|
Part
of the family's water system, using pumps, barrels, and
siphons, which collectively allows them to take actual showers,
and run a washing machine. |
| The
grill, Phillip's territory. |
|
|
A
few weeks after returning to Gaya, Paul took a day trip
to Pala, along with some of the kids, to stock up on supplies-
I went along as well. Must be nice to have a car.... |
| Lutheran
Bretheren Missions... It seems a bit strange, but the LBWM
(the mission) has missionaries in Japan, Taiwan, and Chad,
an unlikely combination. |
|
|
On
the way to Pala. |
Part
II
|
| |
|
|
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)