(Thursday, Oct 1) The experience at the market is definitely hard core. To say the stall owners are aggressive is to use the most extreme understatement. They never let up. Good deals can be had but you have to put up with a lot of hassle. Even after we had finished shopping we were hounded by the vendors. They make the vendors in Mexico look like they are on prozac. I hope the Mexican vendors never meet these guys. We were able to get a few postcards which I will write tonight and send tomorrow on the way to the airport. We were also able to get stamps at the post office which was only about a block away from the market. The tourist policeman directed us to the post office. I guess they are there to make sure the tourists don't get too harassed.
We returned to the hotel and had dinner at the snack bar of the hotel. Mostly hamburgers and large sandwiches. After dinner we headed for town and had ice cream at the Cream Inn, one of several eating establishments in the same building and all with the word Inn in the title of the eating establishment. A quick trip back to the hotel and we got packed for our trip back to Harare tomorrow.
(Friday, October 2, 2009) I got up this morning to take a few pictures of the hotel and then go to breakfast. Another great spread. The hotel is full of a convention of The Sabbeth Keepers. Luckily we got in for breakfast before they hit the line. Breakfast is a very nice buffet, with eggs, meats, fruit, breads and fruit juices, including mango and guava. After breakfast we checked out and loaded the cars for the airport. We had to do two trips to get everyone and their luggage to the airport. On the way we were able to drop off our letters at the post office.
(Saturday, October 3) Today we traveled to Mutare to visit the Mutare School of preaching. The town of Mutare is on the border with Mozambique. It is located in a valley surrounded by hills. It is really quite striking. The town is of good size and had a bustling market and bus station both of which we passed on the way to MSOP. Coming into town we went through Christmas Pass, a winding pass reminiscent of passes in the state of Washington. We were dropped off at the school by Washington and Alice while they went to visit Alice's mother who lives about 30 km away.
The MSOP is situated on a hillside and we got a fairly complete tour by the staff, including Lawrence, the acting principal and Ella, the school secretary. I do not remember the names of the staff except that the librarian had a name like Theo and one of the teachers had a name like Bamo. I believe that Sue got them to write their names so that we would have the correct spellings. We saw the bore hole and tank they had built and saw the two burned out pumps that occurred because of the erratic voltage levels they have. A three phase voltage regulator solved that problem. The tank is in need of some repair to keep it from leaking and a float shutoff valve to keep the pump from working too hard and wasting water by pumping when the tank is full. The other problem they have is that the bicycles they have are completely useless since no one knows how to perform basic bicycle maintenance. Mostly flats are the problem and bolts that are jarred loose by the bumpy roads and lost. No tools are around to fix the bikes. Also the bike components are of inferior quality and in many cases break easily because they are made of plastic. Things like pedals and brakes seem to break easily but most of the bikes could be fixed easily with little effort by someone interested in bicycle maintenance.
We also saw the computers there and a similar comment can be made. The computers have been there for over a year and are still sitting in a room not connected. No one has checked them to see if they work. Again, they need someone at the school to take responsibility for routine maintenance. This might be helped by using some of the capability at Nhowe School. Washington was going to check on this.
We visited most of the facilities of the school, including the dining hall, the school office, the library, the dorm for single men, the chapel and assorted other smaller buildings. Almost all of the structures were constructed quite awhile ago. After having lunch with the staff we discussed some of the issues surrounding the school. Washington and Alice then returned and we resumed our trip to Mozambique. We navigated through a large line of fuel trucks on either side of the road on the Zimbabwe side waiting to get their paperwork done for crossing the border. Then we had our visas stamped for leaving Zimbabwe and entering Mozambique. We then met Owen and Eunice and a few other relatives including Owen's father and one of his brothers. We then drove to Manica, (about 20 km from the border) and had tea and biscuits at Owen's fathers house. We them proceeded on to Owen's house in Messica, a much smaller town about 18 km from Manica. We were greeted at Owen's house by a few members of the Church congregation. I began to understand that a considerable number of the people in this area speak Portuguese, unlike my impression from doing a little reading about Mozambique. Mozambique is about twice the size of California.
We also began using mosquito nets over our beds at night. This area is definitely a malaria area. We are taking our pills but really have seen few mosquitoes. I guess the nets are doing their jobs since several people have heard mosquitoes buzzing around the nets at night.
It is amazing to watch Eunice cook a meal. It is all prepared outside over a charcoal fired cooker. Eunice puts in a very long day. They have a well for water which they boil for most uses but have no running water in the house. All water is brought up by bucket. Similarly only the toilet and the shower drains work. All waste material is flushed down the drains by using a bucket.
(Sunday, October 4) Today after breakfast I rode to church and Sue walked with Owen and Eunice. The current church is a wooden small structure. They are currently building a new structure of brick right next to the old church. The church was filled to over flowing. Washington Mhlanga gave the lesson in the first hour of the service. This began the practice which consisted of sequential reading and translating in English, Shona and Portuguese. I gave the short lesson during the regular service. I spoke on the parable of the Good Samaritan. Evidently it was well received since several church members mentioned the lesson to me over the next couple of days. The singing of the Shona Hymns proved uplifting as usual led by a very energetic song leader. We learned a few things by talking to the church members after church and all members of the church were involved in a serpentine hand shaking exercise which took a while to complete. During the service some of the young people of the congregation professed the desire to be baptized. Shortly after visiting outside the church we all walked to a flooded stone quarry where two young men and two young women were baptized, complete with the singing of Shona Hymns.
We then walked back to Owen's house where we had dinner. I downloaded a video of the baptisms from Sue's camera to Owen's computer and compressed the video so it would play without halting on his computer. It seemed to work well and the quality was OK. After a bit of visiting with some church members we shuffled off to our nets and another mosquito free sleep.
(Monday, October 5) The next morning after breakfast we set out to see several members of the congregation in their own homes. We ended up passing through the Messica Musika, or market. It was quite warm and I was feeling a little sluggish and I think I got dehydrated. When we got back I passed on lunch and consumed lots of water. I was fine for dinner. More church members came to visit after dinner and one of them brought some bread which we would have for breakfast the next day. It was quite moving to see the degree of commitment of Owen and Eunice in performing their duties as well as the genuine acceptance and caring shown by the church congregation for Owen and Eunice.
Once again we crawled under the nets to protect us from mosquitoes. Seems to be working
(Tuesday October 6) Today we were to set out for Chimio ( the provincial capital where the governor lives) It is a fairly good sized town with lots of commerce going on. We had come to see if Owen could retrieve his check which we sent to his father's account. This was not successful since the deposit had not arrived, but we determined that the best way to send him money is by Moneygram directly. He only needs the code number which we can supply him and some ID. We cover the sending fee in the US, so he gets the money with no decrement.
We then set off for the border to cross back to Zimbabwe. After about an hour plus we got to the border and let Owen and Eunice off. They will take the bus back to Messica. We had the hassle I predicted we would have due to the error of the Immigration clerk when we took the 1 day trip to Botswana. Washington was able to talk them out of charging an additional $30 each to get back into Zimbabwe. Once we crossed the border we stopped at a shop in Mutare owned by Alice's sister and brother in law. We then took off for the house of Alice's mother, who is not felling well. She has liver cancer I believe. She lives in the Eastern Highlands, not far from Mutare. This is a beautiful part of the country with a lot of mountains and forests. After stopping for tea we headed off on our return journey to Harare. This was an extremely beautiful drive with windy mountain passes and lots of hills and rocks. We took as many pictures as we could until we ran out of light. In a little while we were able to take pictures of a fire by the side of the road. It was a long ride in the dark to Harare with several disabled vehicles by the side of the road. They mark this by using branches instead of flares. Washington said that there were fewer broken down vehicles than usual.
A quick dinner and a little TV watching and we climbed into bed with no nets this time.
(Wednesday, October 7)
Today we headed downtown for a few errands by Alice and Washington. This was followed by Washington driving out to the orphan project at Chivero. This was on the road to Bulawayo. We saw several of the White Farms which were taken from the farmers. A number of these were turned over to government cronies like the governor of the reserve bank who has an enormous farm. The Chivero Orphan Project is on one of these farms. They are one of 80 tenants on the farm. They have been deeded the land. They are doing quite a good job at Chivero with several buildings built or in process of being built. They have a clinic that is about to open. They are also planning an orphanage which is partially built. The church is built but not completed as are some dwellings. They also plan a primary school. They have a large field where they raise crops to feed themselves as well as to sell commercially. They are currently in a lull as they are awaiting additional funding. This definitely seems like a worthy project but quite a bit too ambitious for us alone. Perhaps some teaming agreement can be reached.
We returned late in the afternoon and had a short bible study followed by dinner. Washington once again told a number of stories concerning his adventures traveling for the state run metals company of Zimbabwe. The man has way too many stories but they are very entertaining.
Tomorrow will be our last full day in Africa. In some respects the time has gone too quickly. On the other hand we have done so much and been so many places, I am amazed that we did all that we did. It has been a very worthwhile trip. We have learned the kinds of things that you can only learn on the ground and by asking lots of questions until a consistent story emerges. We shall not soon forget the experiences, the places and most of all the people of Africa. I await our next trip.
(Thursday, October 8) Today we set off to see a few locations and meet a few people in the Harare area. Washington drove us to an area called Caledonia. It is named after the farm which used to be there but was confiscated by the government. A few years ago it was the dumping ground for a group of people who were living in shacks and selling out of small stands in the vicinity of Harare. They were removed from where they were living, rounded up and dumped at Caledonia as part of the campaign to "get rid of the filth" - a Zimbabwean Urban Renewal Program.
A small community has developed in the area now and some farming is done on the land but it was set up as a tobacco farm and the land is not well suited for growing maize, which is what the people are choosing to grow. There is a small congregation of C of C there. We visited a tent which they use for gathering. Washington told us the story of how they got the tent in South Africa on a trip to get one of the Nhowe vehicles repaired. While they were there they were robbed and beaten by a gang of South African thugs. It was a costly experience. As we left the Caledonia area and were on the highway again we encountered a brush fire burning right by the side of the road. The heat was quite intense for a short distance and the smoke was thick.
We next took off for the Chitsungwira area, which is where Washington's sister lives. This was the black township where all the black workers lived back in the days of Ian Smith's Rhodesia. It is located south of Harare. The area has continued to grow and today housed about 150,000 residents and has its own industrial base. Washinton's sister served us cokes and home made buns. Quite good. We headed back to town and met Alice at the Avondale Church where her office is. There were two bible studies (one for the men and one for the women) for about an hour. We picked up some chicken take out at a restaurant on the way home and had dinner and tucked in for our last night in Africa.
(Friday, October 9) Well the final day has arrived. We have had breakfast and are packed. We are awaiting the arrival of 3 members of our original group at Nhowe Hospital. They remained at Nhowe when we went off to Mozambique. We are on the same flights to Johannesburg and Atlanta. There is about a 4 hour loayover in Jo'burg. I am hoping I can get on line at the airport and post this last entry to the blog. If the speed is OK, I will try to at least post some pictures. The videos will have to wait since they require extensive editing. I just have fragments right now.
Are you back in the states now? Thanks for the journal entries...I look forward to hearing more in person! We've missed you.
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