Le Grand Tour du Vélo!

7 weeks till Madagascar! 

Before we share about our weekend, a quick fundraising update, we're now almost 3/4 of the way there!!!  We are so thankful for the outpouring of generosity and partnership!

If you want to help us reach our fundraising goal, click here

Last week was the final week of school, not for us, but for the students who started in September.  

We had a long weekend so that the staff could have a much deserved break.  We threw around a few ideas for inexpensive travel options, and decided to do bicycle adventure!  Here's where we went:

Day 1:  Gerard dropped us off at a mountain pass called Col du Frêne.

 We biked down the pass, through the valley, and up a backbreaking pass called Col de Leschaux.

The first part of our bike trip was many kilometers of beautiful downhill road leading through pastures and mountain villages:

Nick found an off the beaten track swimming spot. The water was so clear, and cold!

Then we started climbing...

 And we continued climbing for several hours...lots of cyclists passed us...it took us a long time to get to the top of the mountain with all our camping gear, but the views were incredible!

We met a farmer on the road, and he gave us permission to camp in his hay field for the night.

The town of Saint Maurice happened to have a festival that evening- they had some great food, dancing, friendly locals, and a really huge bonfire!

Day 2: Down from the mountains to Annecy and biking along the lake

Day 2 we got to enjoy the downhill side of the mountain we worked so hard to climb.  There also happened to be a triathlon on the very same route we rode up the day before.

Seeing the cyclists working so hard made us feel better about ourselves- we made it up that hill with all our camping gear! :) 

 

 

There were some beautiful views of Annecy Lake on the way down the mountain!

 Campground near the lake for the night...

Day 3: Biking down the lake and back home to Albertville

 We found our favorite picnic spot ever! :)

One last jump in the lake before heading back towards Albertville

If you look closely, you can see the paragliders.  Annecy is one of the most popular/well known places in the world for paragliding.  

    On the bike path back to Albertville!

The bike path between Albertville and Annecy used to be train tracks, so it's nice and flat.

  

We made it back to Albertville!

3 days and 46 euros later, our first trip by bicycle was a success! 

Just two more weeks of class left before our final exams- things are wrapping up quickly here in France.

9 weeks till Madagascar!

Hello from Albertville!  Just wanted to share a few updates from the last two weeks...

Fundraising update:

Still right around 33% of our funding for Madagascar- 

if you feel led to help us reach our fundraising goals, click here!

Thank you to all the people who are praying for us and supporting us in this!

Madagascar:

This week Mercy Ships added a photo on Facebook of Hôpital Be, the location where we will be teaching! They will be doing some there renovations before we arrive and start the program.  Here's what they said:

It might not look like much now, but we can't wait to show you the finished project. Mercy Ships is not just about changing lives, but about transforming nations. During our second year in Madagascar, Mercy Ships Capacity Building Programs will transform the country’s healthcare system by renovating this building into an orthopedic clinic, which will treat club feet in children for years to come.

We can't wait to get started teaching here, and partner with the local healthcare providers to correct clubfeet together!

Some Malagasy culture...

 I (Suzanne) found this video recently- it's a Malagasy singing group out of the capitol, called the Tana Gospel Choir.  Can't wait to experience more music and culture in Madagascar!  I especially love the song starting around 2:00 in the video...so joyful!

This week for us...

In class:  One of our in class assignments was to write a TV ad.  This is Nick and one of our classmates presenting their advertisement for the worlds best soccer ball...theirs was the most entertaining :)

Outside class...

Lots of studying...which is always better with coffee with whipped cream. Some of what we are studying at the moment is the subjonctif and gérondif and how to use lots of pronouns.  
If you want to know more about why we are going to so much effort to become French speakers, click here for a quick visual on how much of Africa uses French.  (As you will see in the photos below, we do love the cheese and the beautiful mountains here in France, but that's not actually why we are here) :)

Taking exams...in the English language...

I (Suzanne) took the train to Grenoble last Friday to take the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) exam.
Long story as to why I needed to do that, but it's related to visas/working as a nurse in Australia.  I need to prove that my English is "superior"- and as easy as it sounds to take an exam on how well you speak your mother tongue...it was a really long and draining academic test (was sort of like taking the SAT or ACT in the states), and I wouldn't be too surprised if I had to do it again. Oh the irony. :) But, I need a close to perfect score.  
Anyway, it gave me some good perspective on what international students go through in order to study in America!

Sunday afternoon, our friend Gerard took us along with his family up into the mountains to visit the town of Beaufort.  Beaufort is known for its amazing cheese, and we got to see a bit of how the cheese is made.  We also said hi to some cows who help make it :)

Gerard grew up here in Albertville, and he's shown us some amazing places we never would have found on our own.  He also understands my love of taking photos, and stops his jeep so I can get out and capture the beautiful surroundings :)

We're going to miss the cheese when we leave here.  :)


Prayer requests remain the same:

- That we would make the most of remaining class time.  

- The groundwork is being laid for the Ponseti (Clubfoot) Program in Madagascar!  Please pray that God would prepare the hearts and minds of the local healthcare workers who we will work side by side with all year.  

- That we would continue to make progress towards our goal of being fully funded for the Madagascar outreach

- That we would find an opportunity for Nick to finish his continuing education (for keeping up his USA physio license) in the midst of all of our travel

- That Suzanne's nursing license would be approved in Australia! (this is a really long process, which we started last June, and we're waiting for a final decision) 

Thanks for the prayers!!!

the months ahead

Quick fundraising update- we're at 33%!  If you are interested in helping us reach our funding goal, click here!

Support raised as of June 8, 2015:

Thank you for helping us get this far!!!

The months ahead:

Lots of people have been asking what the next few months will look like...so here's a quick look at what is in store for us:

July 24th- Last day of French Class

July 26th- Our first wedding anniversary! (Just had to throw that in here) :)

Late July- First weeks of August: Helping out at a kid's summer camp here in France- an awesome opportunity to be truly immersed in speaking French all day every day for a few weeks.

August 6th- Nick flies back for a quick (work related) visit in Brisbane, and Suzanne stays at the camp in France.

August 18th- Nick and Suzanne arrive in Madagascar!  We'll stay a few days in the capitol for some meetings with the ministry of health, and then head to the ship (8 hours by bus from the capitol, Antananarivo, to the port city where the ship will be, Tamatave) On the ship we will hit the ground running and get the Ponseti Clubfoot program started! 

It's going to be a busy couple of months!

About Madagascar:

We've also had quite a few questions about Madagascar itself.  Honestly, I (Suzanne) don't know all that much about it as a country (except that they have some really unique plants and animals there) but I can't wait to get to know this place!  

I do know that it is a whole lot bigger and more populated than I thought...

22.8 Million People = Close to the same population as Australia!

And just to get an idea of how big this island really is, here's what it look like next to the UK and USA: 

In the meantime, we are still loving our time here in Albertville, tucked in the French Alps.  

Now that it's warm outside, we can enjoy the big porch outside our building...here are a few views of our campus and our surroundings.  I took these just after a storm this week, the sky had such a cool pink color:

Here's the old house on campus- the vines covering the walls back to life and I think it looks like something out of a fairy tale. 

We're also enjoying our time with friends here in this community- it's a real bonding experience, learning a language and living alongside other missionaries. 

The Kendall family arrived in January along with us, and we've been so blessed to live and study alongside them the last months!  They'll be heading to Togo with their 5 kids, we're hoping that we all get to meet up again in West Africa someday! :)

That's all the updates we have...

Thanks for reading our blog and keeping up with us!

Fundraising, French, and Further Updates...

We have been so encouraged and overwhelmed with generosity in the last few weeks- thank you so much for helping us get this far with our fundraising!!!! 

We are 1/3 of the way there!

(Click here if you want to help us reach our goal!)

Some french school updates:

- We are still making progress!
-Nick and I have both taken turns leading the morning class devotional in French

(You will still find Nick here, faithfully in his study spot, every day after class)

- I have moved on to some more challenging reading material than the Tin Tin books I was reading a couple months ago :)  Being able to understand them is a really good feeling; reading helps me realise that we really are progressing. 

- Lately, we've been learning lots about French pronouns, words used in the Bible, and several new verb tenses.  We don't have verb tenses in English like they do in French.  If you want to feel overwhelmed along with us...click here

-Nick also reads in French every day- he reads me a bible story out of this book every evening! :)

-This photo is a little outdated now, but this is our class!  We are blessed to be learning French along with such awesome people.  After they finish studying, they will be headed to Togo, Cameroon, Senegal, France (to be pastors here), and several other countries.  Can't wait to see what God does through each of them!  

Some things we would love prayer for:

- That we would make the most of our last 2 months of class time.  Can't believe it will be June in a few days!

- The groundwork is being laid for the Ponseti (Clubfoot) Program in Madagascar!  Please pray that God would prepare the hearts and minds of the local healthcare workers who we will work side by side with all year.  

- That we would continue to make progress towards our goal of being fully funded for the Madagascar outreach


- That we would find an opportunity for Nick to finish his continuing education (for keeping up his USA physio license) in the midst of all of our travel

- That Suzanne's nursing license would be approved in Australia! (this is a really long process, which we started last June, and we're waiting for a final decision) 


Thanks for the prayers!!!

we're off to Madagascar...

We are headed back to our favourite floating hospital this August!

Mercy Ships has invited us to return to run a very special program- clubfeet!

The ship is currently docked in Tamatave, Madagascar.  Turns out, the need and opportunities for partnership in this area are so great that the organisation has decided to return for a second 10 month outreach starting in August of this year.

During Mercy Ship's first visit to Madagascar they found a great need for clubfoot treatment, and there is still a very long waiting list of kids. 

A few clubfoot kids in Madagascar

Nick has already taught the Ponseti method in Guinea, Togo, and Sierra Leone.  (But this will be the first time it is his full time job on the ship)

We have the opportunity to help meet this need in an awesome way!  The healthcare professionals at the local hospital in Tamatave are very eager to learn how to manage clubfeet in their own clinic- and we are eager to teach them!  The two of us will run a training program together, partnering with a local clinic and training a group of healthcare professionals on the Ponseti method.  We will run a conference, mentor the clinic staff, and treat patients alongside them for the full 10 months.  Nick will be the Ponseti Program Coordinator and Suzanne will be the Ponseti Program Assistant.  We are so excited to work together!

If you want to know how it is possible to correct feet with the Ponseti method, check out this short video clip:

A few facts about Madagascar:

- Two official languages:  Malagasy and French

-4th largest island in the world (592,800 square kilometres/ 228,900 sq mi)

-Population of over 22 million

 -0.16 Physicians per 1000 people (America has 2.45 per 1000, Australia has 3.27 per 1000)

-Over 70% of the wildlife species and 90% of the plant species found in Madagascar are found nowhere else in the world!

We are very excited about this amazing opportunity to return to work with Mercy Ships, work together as a team, and use our new French language skills.

Want to help us out?

We really appreciate everyone who has partnered with us in the past- we couldn't do this without your support in prayer, encouragement, and financial help.

We need to raise enough financial support to cover our ongoing service with Mercy Ships.  If you feel led to help us out financially, click on the "support us" link at the top of the page.

Our fundraising goal: 

23,500 USD / 30,000 AUD

for the 10 months in Madagascar

Support as of May 15th:

Thank you for being part of this journey!