The pictures of LaRochelle that are linked to this blog aren’t necessarily current. The house and grounds are now owned by the National Trust for Zimbabwe (in fact, it may be the only property that they own ...) and like so many other historic preservation groups money is hard to come by. There has been a woman from the National Trust in the UK staying to take a survey of needs and to offer advice for grants and other sources of funding. The grounds are still gorgeous and many of us took the opportunity this morning for a walk around while it was still cool. There is an orchid house, lots of "intentionally naturalized" landscaping, and trees from all over the world.
Of course it quickly became too warm (read HOT) to wander around so we retreated to the lounge and the veranda to drink oceans of iced water and to rest. Cedric (one of the AU workers – he’s an electrician) was here for a bit to show us the soapstone carvings that he makes. One of the other guests brought out a sculpture that he had purchased from someone else and Cedric quickly identified exactly where the stone came from!! The soapstone is found in all sorts of different colors but apparently different colors come from different locations.
Mary Beth and Dona Lou returned just before lunch. They had a wonderful time with Lovemore and Julie and their family (including Dona Lou’s namesake Dona Lou!) at the Murehwa Mission. There is a school there with 1300+ students – they even have a class for special needs children. The station also has a hospital and a nursing school.
And then it was time for the party. We had sent invitations to all of the AU students who are attending with the help of scholarships from Indiana Conference UMC or from Indiana UMC churches. They arrived in one of the mini-buses driven by Douglas and accompanied by Sharai and Susan from the AU Information Office. Moses (AU alumnus) and his wife Pamela, and Hazvinei (another AU alumnus) were also on-board. Simon and his posse set up a barbeque out on the lawns and we had a Braai – a picnic or barbeque. We started by pairing each of the nine students with a team member for individual conversation and then gathered everyone together for introductions. There are actually 11 students with connections to Indiana but two of them are on attachment (internship) and were unable to come. Then we descended upon the buffet and the conversation continued – between bites and later between raindrops! We finished our meal on the verandah and in the lounge when we started getting seriously wet. Then before dessert we continued with the introductions and had a chance to hear from each of the students why they chose Africa University.
It was interesting that they all mentioned in some way that one of the things that they have appreciated is the cross-cultural environment. So many of them said something about how they had never met someone from a different country until they arrived at AU; that they were glad to learn about all of the diversity in Africa – not just the languages (remember many arrive speaking neither English nor Shona) but the customs of their fellow students. Of the nine students we met tonight we had kids from Zambia, Liberia, Mozambique, DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo), Nigeria, and Angola.
They were also very eloquent about why they wanted the education from Africa University. Some planned to join an NGO to help their country, others plan to teach, some to contribute through public health initiatives, and others through the church. All of them were appreciative for the VIM (Volunteers in Mission) teams that they see at AU, across the valley at Old Mutare Mission, and in the various mission stations where many of them grew up or attended school. Some amazing stories.
We had a wonderful time. The students were pretty tentative at first but once the conversation started flowing it was hard to shut it off – even when the lights went off (electricity is fairly reliable but every now and then it just shuts off!). But part of the party favors were glow stick bracelets so when the lights failed you could still see Moses gesturing with his hands while he continued what he was saying. Just a wonderful chance to get to know a few students a little bit closer. A true blessing for all of us.
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