Well this morning started with great excitement. Some guests at the resort left their door open and a troop (is that the right collective noun?) of baboons came in and started to rearrange things!! (and, no, it wasn't one of us leaving the door open!). Just shows you that even on your worst day THAT wasn't something you had to deal with!!
We spent the morning packing up and getting ready for the trip back to Harare. Time for a short shopping trip in Victoria Falls to buy a few more trinkets ... although judging from the size of the trinkets that Dona Lou and Patricia had to carry all the way back on the plane, trinket may not be the word we are looking for.
The trip back to Harare was without incident ... Air Zimbabwe has really good cabin service. The flight takes just an hour. Once we got on the ground again, however, we ran into trouble. No bus from AU to ferry us back to the Holiday Inn. Turns out there was a schedule mix up. So after a number of phone calls we hopped into three taxis and tore out of the airport. And away we went. The shocks in at least one of the taxis probably haven't worked since independence in 1980.
But we made it back, retrieved the luggage that we had left behind in the storeroom at the hotel and started the process of rearranging and repacking. Many of us left our big suitcases behind at AU for students to use so now we have to share out the space. And, of course, there seems to have been a lot of economic support of local industry that happened while we were here!! (i.e., shopping).
We have had a wonderful trip. The wheels are already starting to spin about what comes next ... presentations to various churches and groups, articles to write, contacts to maintain, people to nag and so on. And the joking, teasing and laughter continues -- we've really gotten to know each other well in these weeks together. But now it is time to go home. We've accomplished what we set out to do and then some. We will leave a bit of ourselves in this place (to say nothing of several suitcase of stuff!!).
Blessings to all and to all a good night!
Monday, November 7, 2011
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Sunday, November 6
Sometimes you have no words to describe the beauty and wonder of God’s creation! The morning started with 7 or 8 warthogs gamboling across the lawn beside the open-air dining room while we were eating breakfast!! And then we spent the day at Chobe National Park in Botswana. http://www.chobe-national-park.com/
The difference between the landscape on the eastern side of Zimbabwe and the western side of Zimbabwe is rather startling. After two weeks we had gotten used to seeing mountains and green foliage. The soil was very red – not clay but a very arable, rich red soil. It was dry, yes, but you couldn’t imagine things looking any more alive. Over here on the west side of the country it is very flat and brown. Most of the trees are without leaves – the rainy season is about a month late here and they are anxiously awaiting spring. As we said yesterday the Zambezi River is low so the falls are not so dramatic (but dramatic enough!!). The contrast between the two sides of the country is very noticeable.
Victoria Falls is very near where four countries come together – Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zambia and Namibia. We had to drive into Botswana to go to Chobe. And right there at the border crossing we saw the first evidence of how very different things can be. The Zimbabwe border post is older and run down. We went through the departure process there (the first form to be filled out) and then had to walk through the gate into Botswana where we had to disinfect our shoes (against foot and mouth disease) and then present our papers to the officials there (second form of the morning). Everything was cleaner and brighter from there on – roads were vastly improved, road signs were newer, vehicles were newer, buildings in better repair.
Botswana was never a colony the way Zimbabwe was – it was a protectorate so it has always had majority rule. And it is still part of the British Commonwealth of Nations. Zimbabwe, on the other hand, was a British colony and remained with minority rule until 1980 when it gained independence. Botswana is a republic with a pretty stable immediate history. Zimbabwe is a socialist country struggling with a multitude of problems.
Anyway, we drove on to the Chobe Safari Lodge where we boarded another pontoon-y river cruise boat. Those warthogs at breakfast were only the start of the catalogue of animals that we saw today! Chobe National Park is a vast place that sits on the Botswana side of the Chobe River. Namibia is on the other side. In the middle of the river is a very long island – nice and green and full of wonderful grass for grazing. The elephants are able to swim across the river to get to the island. And we saw hundreds of elephants of all sizes (the park has the largest concentration of elephants in the world). Did you know that elephants are either right or left “handed”?? We noticed that many of them had shorter tusks on one side of their trunk than the other side. Our guide told us that they have a dominant side – thus being right or left “handed” – and that they tend to wear out or break the tusk on the dominant side. We saw them in bachelor groups and in maternal groups, taking mud baths, drinking water, swimming and dusting off.
And lots and lots of birds – Egyptian geese, storks, ibis (sacred and not), bee-eaters, plovers, snake birds, and herons.
And hippos, warthogs, a variety of antelope, and a several crocodile. The animals roam free in the park and on the island. Poaching is rare but it does occur.
The three hour cruise brought us back to the Chobe Safari Lodge where we cleaned up and enjoyed a buffet lunch – with pitchers of iced tea and lemonade on the tables! After the meal we boarded two Safari Land Rovers – open-sided, covered, 4 wheel drive SUVs with four rows of seats behind the driver. This area is sandy so you have to have something that can negotiate not only the ruts but the sand as well. This time we saw the wildlife from the land side – up close and personal. More elephants, warthogs and antelope but now add giraffes, sables, bush bucks, cobu with their corkscrew horns, and even more birds including a pair of African Fish Hawks. No cats or wild dogs or zebra – wrong time of the day.
We were all pretty worn out by the time we got back to the lodge (two more forms -- one to leave Botswana and one to enter Zimbabwe) – it had rain at some point and there was a rainbow over the Falls. We had a quiet dinner and retired to our rooms for a good nights rest. The day was absolutely amazing. God is good – all the time!!
Saturday, November 5
We were up and running by 5:30 this morning – already to get going and then things screeched to a halt. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 7 so we dutifully got up and ready, grabbed the packed breakfasts that they had ready for us, and boarded the AU bus so that Douglas could get us to the airport on time. Airport is some way out of Harare (so the smog isn’t quite as heavy!). So we get to the domestic terminal, unload people and belongings and scurry into an empty terminal. Hmm. Seven o’clock flight? Oh no, there is no seven o’clock flight!!
And the wait began. Domestic terminal is pretty bleak so we wondered over to the international terminal where we found a café (oh good – tea, coffee and hot chocolate) and numerous shops with handicrafts and such like. So we sort of spread out and morphed from one grouping to another. Some in one terminal, some in the other. Watched videos on computers, read, shopped, and THEN FINALLY we discovered that we were booked on the 11:30 flight. Yippee!!
We were ushered through a rather cursory security check and then given complimentary drinks. Things were looking up. Then they called our flight and out the door we go – past the nice shiny 767 that was parked RIGHT THERE and to the 737 out beyond. But once we were on the plane and in the air we had really good service … sandwich lunch, plenty of tea and coffee and soft drinks. Needless to say we were slightly awash by the time we got to Victoria Falls.
Now the problem was that we were scheduled to check in to the hotel and be at the Falls themselves at 11 and then back to the hotel for a sundown cruise on the Zambezi River at 4. You will remember that we were on the 11:30 flight which arrived in Vic Falls at 12:30. But our ever resourceful tour guide, Andrew, had a plan B. Go straight to the Falls. Do not pass go, do not collect your breath.
The Falls are amazing. Think Niagara Falls only more so. We are not yet in the rainy season so they weren’t as overwhelming as they can be but trust us they whelmed!! Rather than starting at the top and working our way down, Andrew had us start at the bottom – the bridge that crosses into Zambia (which is where the bungee jumping takes place. Dona Lou spun us this story about the jump being free if you do it naked. None of us was willing to strip or shell out $100 so we continued on our way). We slowly wound our way along the path on the rim that is across from the actual falls. There are 16 overlook spots but we only stopped at 6. Learned that the Rainbow Falls are the tallest. And tried not to get the cameras wet in the spots where the spray was especially heavy. At the top of the falls was a bigger than life statue of David Livingstone who “discovered” them (like no one knew they were there before that).
After all that oohing and aahing we headed for the resort – the A’Zambezi River Lodge http://azambeziriverlodge.com/ . This place has been recently renovated and reopened and is winning all sorts of travel awards. We were greeted at check-in with a cool glass of mango juice and then escorted to our luxurious rooms. But no time to dally – we needed to be onboard the boat at 4:30. These pontoon boats (slightly bigger than what we would normally see) headed north towards the Falls (but not close enough to make one nervous in anyway) around a long island and then back south to the other end of the island and then north again ending up back at the resort (which is a good thing since that was where we wanted to end up). The cruise takes place an hour or more before sunset – and you see all sorts of animals and birds. We saw crocodiles (one really big and two cute little young ones), ten or more elephants, hippos (a mother with a couple of babies), a bush buck or two, and a large quantity of birds … cormorants, bee-eaters, lilac breasted rollers, egrets and so on. And a beautiful sunset.
After all of that we cleaned up a little and loaded onto the bus again to go to dinner at the Boma Restaurant http://www.thebomarestaurant.com/ . This is a restaurant that provides a cultural evening – African food, music, and décor. Dinner started with a wonderful butternut squash soup served in a little cast iron pot. And the rest was on either a hot or cold buffet. The cold buffet included salads, breads, crocodile tail, impala terrine, and smoked guinea fowl. At the hot buffet you could have things grilled to order – stir-fry, warthog, oxtail, eland, ostrich, chicken, and beef. And you finished the dinner at the dessert buffet – chocolate cake and pudding, cream puffs, fruit salad, and cheesecake. Wonderful!!
Throughout the meal there was entertainment -- singers, dancers, drummers, and a fortune teller. And then they passed out drums – one to each diner – and we had a drumming lesson. Lots of fun.
Today had its challenges but we had plenty of opportunity to share more details about our work at AU and our time in the Mutare area. We are drawing this trip to close on a high note!
Friday, November 4, 2011
Friday, November 4
Travel day today. We packed it up and moved it out down the highway to Harare. Picked up the sleepover girls, Dona Lou and Margaret Tagwira, at the Tagwira Farm and then drove to the Halfway Inn, had a quick lunch, and then completed the trip to the Holiday Inn at Harare. We did have a quick restroom break at a casino -- but since Dona Lou thought we were stopping at a girls school we're going to go with that story!!
Checked in to the hotel and then spent a couple of hours recuperating, repacking and getting ready for dinner. Dr. Tagwira met us at the hotel and then we went out to dinner at The Fishmonger Restaurant in the Avondale section of Harare. We were joined by the Tagwira's daughter and son-in-law (both doctors) and another former student and her son. Had a lovely dinner and then back to the hotel for bed. (Photo is the view from one of the hotel rooms).
We are off to Victoria Falls in the morning -- 7 a.m. flight so we are to report to the lobby at 5:30 a.m. Not sure what sort of internet access we will have ... so we may not have a blog entry for a couple of days. Don't worry -- we sort of move as a large, loud herd so anything untoward will probably make international headlines!! And if we don't tell you about the naked bungee jumping you won't have to worry, right??
Checked in to the hotel and then spent a couple of hours recuperating, repacking and getting ready for dinner. Dr. Tagwira met us at the hotel and then we went out to dinner at The Fishmonger Restaurant in the Avondale section of Harare. We were joined by the Tagwira's daughter and son-in-law (both doctors) and another former student and her son. Had a lovely dinner and then back to the hotel for bed. (Photo is the view from one of the hotel rooms).
We are off to Victoria Falls in the morning -- 7 a.m. flight so we are to report to the lobby at 5:30 a.m. Not sure what sort of internet access we will have ... so we may not have a blog entry for a couple of days. Don't worry -- we sort of move as a large, loud herd so anything untoward will probably make international headlines!! And if we don't tell you about the naked bungee jumping you won't have to worry, right??
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Thursday, November 3
Very cool and rainy again today ... in the mid-60s. Everyone has hauled out the sweaters and jackets. Just caught sight of the nighttime security guard and he has a quilted winter coat on!!
Our final trip to the university this morning. Most of us headed for the main lecture hall where we listened to a lecture about War, Conflict and Peace in Africa. The lecture was part of a course that is required of all students at AU. The course is called African Studies which is a survey course that looks at the pan-African experience. This lecture was about how war and conflict have been dealt with on the continent and the lessons that can be learned. The lecturer used a PowerPoint presentation and included time for questions and answers and discussion.
La Donna had an appointment at the library so she missed the lecture (but found it interesting to listen to who heard what and who missed what ... and wondered if they attended the same lecture!!). Anyway, she and the bibliographic services librarian, Nevermore Sithole, discussed collaborating on a paper for publication, and then discussed the Multi-Media collection. They are wanting to expand and develop the collection. The video cataloguing that she did will be used as a template to provide better catalogue records for the audio-visual materials. They also discussed some projects that she can do from home by logging in to their cataloguing software from the US ... provided that they can figure out how to do that!!
The Jerrys went straight to the farm for more egg washing and equipment repair. Jerry Jo met the farm manager while she was washing eggs. Jerry Jerry (as Bonnie calls him!) did more in the mysterious realm of electricity – must be a union secret because he didn’t elaborate!!
After the lecture, Dona Lou and James returned to the Intensive English classes to work with the students and the rest of the crew headed for Old Mutare Mission. Patricia needed to give the last of the photographs to her class of students. They were so excited to have a picture of themselves – for some of them this was the first photo of themselves they had ever had!!
After that the group headed up to the Fairfield Children’s Home to deliver some things and to shop at the little gift shop that they have in the office. (We seem to be doing a lot of shopping!). Jeanie bought a book called "Dare to Live Completely : A Memoir from Zimbabwe" by Janine Roberts – and the author was there and signed her copy! She is a young woman from the US who came to Zimbabwe to work at Old Mutare and has come back time and time again for longer periods of time to work for the children at Fairfield. You can read her blog at http://www.hopeofzim.blogspot.com/ amazing stuff!
They left Fairfield and went to Joyce and Webster Katsidzria’s home to pick up some batiks that various of us had ordered. Joyce and her daughters do absolutely beautiful work! Of course the visit included a tour of their garden and home and a zillion "photo ops" (we’re getting good at that too!)
One more chance to have a pile of sudza (remember sudza? white cornmeal mush-like stuff ... and still no syrup!!) in the dining hall and then we all gathered (after a detour to the bookstore ... shopping again!!) at the Information Office to say good-bye and thank you to Sharai and Susan. They did such a wonderful job of organizing us – even when we reorganized their organizing over and over!! Neither of them was particularly gray haired nor did they display any disturbing twitches or anything after two weeks of shepherding the now infamous Indiana VIM team!!
On the way back to LaRochelle we stopped at the front gate to take group pictures at the big gate heading into the university (poor Douglas not only has to drive us around put he has to learn to operate all the many and varied cameras that we shove at him during our photo ops!).
Then we headed to Mutare to "take tea" with Patrick Matsikenyiri. who was the first choir director at AU and was responsible for forming the choirs that toured the US in the first decade of the university. He is now working on an African hymnal. On Saturday he is having a workshop where choir people from all over will present hymns native to their culture. The songs will be videorecorded and then Patrick will transcribe the music. Remember that each of the Wednesday chapel services we started with songs from different cultures ... first from Congo and then this week from Mozambique. This is part of the project too. Patrick retired in 2002 but he still lectures and helps with the chapel music. What an amazing wealth of stories shared while we had tea, scones and popcorn!
Dona Lou is spending the night with Margaret Tagwira – they say they are having a sleepover!!
On the way home Douglas parked the van outside of a supermarket so that some of us could spend some time seeing what was on offer. The store is open in the front – no windows just straight open out to the pavement (i.e., sidewalk). The row of registers stretches all the way across the opening so you really can’t get out without paying. They found a good variety of items and the shelves were well stocked. Prices? Liter of milk for $1.25, eggs were $4.95 for 2 ½ dozen (remember yesterday Jerry Jo reported the wholesale price was $4.50), large jar of Nutella was $12.35, a single-serve container of apple juice for $.95, and package of biscuits (i.e., cookies) were $2.39. Very few things came in jumbo size packs – biggest package of diapers held 20.
Then back to LaRochelle for a final dinner. Bad news is that we have limited water – the well needed repair and the glue used won’t be dry until 3 a.m. (if electricity is a mysterious realm then plumbing is a complete unknown). We have buckets of water in each of the bathrooms to use to flush the toilets, and there is plenty of bottled water to drink but we won’t be having a bath until morning! Good thing we don’t have to leave for Harare until 10:30 or so!
Our final trip to the university this morning. Most of us headed for the main lecture hall where we listened to a lecture about War, Conflict and Peace in Africa. The lecture was part of a course that is required of all students at AU. The course is called African Studies which is a survey course that looks at the pan-African experience. This lecture was about how war and conflict have been dealt with on the continent and the lessons that can be learned. The lecturer used a PowerPoint presentation and included time for questions and answers and discussion.
La Donna had an appointment at the library so she missed the lecture (but found it interesting to listen to who heard what and who missed what ... and wondered if they attended the same lecture!!). Anyway, she and the bibliographic services librarian, Nevermore Sithole, discussed collaborating on a paper for publication, and then discussed the Multi-Media collection. They are wanting to expand and develop the collection. The video cataloguing that she did will be used as a template to provide better catalogue records for the audio-visual materials. They also discussed some projects that she can do from home by logging in to their cataloguing software from the US ... provided that they can figure out how to do that!!
The Jerrys went straight to the farm for more egg washing and equipment repair. Jerry Jo met the farm manager while she was washing eggs. Jerry Jerry (as Bonnie calls him!) did more in the mysterious realm of electricity – must be a union secret because he didn’t elaborate!!
After the lecture, Dona Lou and James returned to the Intensive English classes to work with the students and the rest of the crew headed for Old Mutare Mission. Patricia needed to give the last of the photographs to her class of students. They were so excited to have a picture of themselves – for some of them this was the first photo of themselves they had ever had!!
After that the group headed up to the Fairfield Children’s Home to deliver some things and to shop at the little gift shop that they have in the office. (We seem to be doing a lot of shopping!). Jeanie bought a book called "Dare to Live Completely : A Memoir from Zimbabwe" by Janine Roberts – and the author was there and signed her copy! She is a young woman from the US who came to Zimbabwe to work at Old Mutare and has come back time and time again for longer periods of time to work for the children at Fairfield. You can read her blog at http://www.hopeofzim.blogspot.com/ amazing stuff!
They left Fairfield and went to Joyce and Webster Katsidzria’s home to pick up some batiks that various of us had ordered. Joyce and her daughters do absolutely beautiful work! Of course the visit included a tour of their garden and home and a zillion "photo ops" (we’re getting good at that too!)
One more chance to have a pile of sudza (remember sudza? white cornmeal mush-like stuff ... and still no syrup!!) in the dining hall and then we all gathered (after a detour to the bookstore ... shopping again!!) at the Information Office to say good-bye and thank you to Sharai and Susan. They did such a wonderful job of organizing us – even when we reorganized their organizing over and over!! Neither of them was particularly gray haired nor did they display any disturbing twitches or anything after two weeks of shepherding the now infamous Indiana VIM team!!
On the way back to LaRochelle we stopped at the front gate to take group pictures at the big gate heading into the university (poor Douglas not only has to drive us around put he has to learn to operate all the many and varied cameras that we shove at him during our photo ops!).
Then we headed to Mutare to "take tea" with Patrick Matsikenyiri. who was the first choir director at AU and was responsible for forming the choirs that toured the US in the first decade of the university. He is now working on an African hymnal. On Saturday he is having a workshop where choir people from all over will present hymns native to their culture. The songs will be videorecorded and then Patrick will transcribe the music. Remember that each of the Wednesday chapel services we started with songs from different cultures ... first from Congo and then this week from Mozambique. This is part of the project too. Patrick retired in 2002 but he still lectures and helps with the chapel music. What an amazing wealth of stories shared while we had tea, scones and popcorn!
Dona Lou is spending the night with Margaret Tagwira – they say they are having a sleepover!!
On the way home Douglas parked the van outside of a supermarket so that some of us could spend some time seeing what was on offer. The store is open in the front – no windows just straight open out to the pavement (i.e., sidewalk). The row of registers stretches all the way across the opening so you really can’t get out without paying. They found a good variety of items and the shelves were well stocked. Prices? Liter of milk for $1.25, eggs were $4.95 for 2 ½ dozen (remember yesterday Jerry Jo reported the wholesale price was $4.50), large jar of Nutella was $12.35, a single-serve container of apple juice for $.95, and package of biscuits (i.e., cookies) were $2.39. Very few things came in jumbo size packs – biggest package of diapers held 20.
Then back to LaRochelle for a final dinner. Bad news is that we have limited water – the well needed repair and the glue used won’t be dry until 3 a.m. (if electricity is a mysterious realm then plumbing is a complete unknown). We have buckets of water in each of the bathrooms to use to flush the toilets, and there is plenty of bottled water to drink but we won’t be having a bath until morning! Good thing we don’t have to leave for Harare until 10:30 or so!
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Wednesday, November 2
Apparently it LOOKS like the rainy season but it isn’t. Temperature is down to 60F and it rained most of the day. But it is probably a false start. So don’t plant the maize quite yet. Sometimes they have these short rainy periods and then it dries up and heats up and before you know it you have to replant your fields. In case the weather really fascinates you here is a link for weather in our immediate area: http://foreca.com/Zimbabwe/Penhalonga
We started the morning by attending the chapel service. The congregational song this week was "It is the son of God" in Xitsula – a language from southern Mozambique. The AU choir sang "Soon and very soon" ... WOW!! Then we had a short memorial for Bishop Duecker. And then the new AU Drama Group presented a drama titled "True Worship" – which everyone enjoyed. A very nice weekly worship with lots of involvement.
Back to the university this morning for our penultimate work day. The Jerrys went back to the farm ... Jerry Jerry fixed some electrical wiring that the pigs rooted up (no electrical tape but strips of plastic bag apparently work just as well) and finished working on the chicken cages. Jerry Jo washed more eggs and then watched them load 272 dozen eggs onto a flat bed truck. She is sure they will be delivering scrambled eggs – the roads to and from the farm are not exactly smooth. By the way, the wholesale price for a flat of eggs (2 ½ dozen) is $4.50 USD.
Jeanie went back to Hartzell to do another art lesson – she showed them how to use "found" items as a drawing medium ... flowers, charcoal, sticks, stones and so on. The teacher has really appreciated these crafts that she will be able to replicate without cost. Jeanie also delivered the remaining beads and pipe cleaners from the candy cane project that she used with the kids earlier (check out the photo!). The teacher, Catherine, is going to take them to her UMW/RRW meeting on Friday so that the ladies (150 women in her local unit at Old Mutare UMC!!) can make the candy canes for the children at the Fairfield Children Cottages.
La Donna and Mary went back to the library for more DVD cataloging (8 today!! – personal best) and spreadsheet typing. Ron started out with them in the library and then hung out at the student union watching NASCAR on the TV in there! He just loves connecting with the kids!
Gene and Bonnie went with Hazvinei to visit her family in a high density area of Mutare. They met her mother, sister, aunt, 2 nephews and 1 niece. They enjoyed visiting, seeing the house and garden (complete with chickens), and her mother fixed them a really nice lunch (chicken, coleslaw, greens, rice with a vegetable curry sauce).
James went into Mutare to visit the Museum and get a feel for the city. He even managed to get a haircut! Mary Beth spent an hour and a half with the Dean of Students talking about the counseling that takes place o the campus. And Patricia visited with students and put the finishing touches on her project tomorrow with the class at Hartzell.
After lunch we meet at the agriculture building for a meeting with the Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and the head of the Dream Farm project (also known as the Small Farm Resource Center). This is a project that has been ten years in the making and has had strong support from Indiana. The university has set aside 10 hectares (look it up!) to develop a model farm with the emphasis on practical demonstrations of farming techniques for a small holding. They have built the house, drilled the wells (12 meters ... and one is dry already),
and are about to embark on the fencing. Once the site is fully established they will install a resident farmer/caretaker and start the farming.
We drove to the farm in the rain ... and only needed a little push to get unstuck!!
We had dinner guests this evening ... Shirley and Ted DeWolf. She teaches at AU in the Institute of Peace, Leadership and Governance ... and leads a class called "The church and social transformation." He is deputy headmaster at a local private school. Her parents and grandparents were missionaries at Old Mutare, and Shirley and Ted have lived in Zimbabwe their entire married life. Turns out she went to college with Jerry Jo! We had a fascinating conversation before, during and after dinner all about Africa University and what they see as the needs for the future. It has been interesting to get all these sorts of perspectives!
The rain has stopped but it is still cool. Our time is running down and we’re beginning to worry about getting our photos labeled, our belongings packed, and our university work done. But we have indeed been blessed yet again!
Just to give you an idea of the scale of Africa ....
We started the morning by attending the chapel service. The congregational song this week was "It is the son of God" in Xitsula – a language from southern Mozambique. The AU choir sang "Soon and very soon" ... WOW!! Then we had a short memorial for Bishop Duecker. And then the new AU Drama Group presented a drama titled "True Worship" – which everyone enjoyed. A very nice weekly worship with lots of involvement.
Back to the university this morning for our penultimate work day. The Jerrys went back to the farm ... Jerry Jerry fixed some electrical wiring that the pigs rooted up (no electrical tape but strips of plastic bag apparently work just as well) and finished working on the chicken cages. Jerry Jo washed more eggs and then watched them load 272 dozen eggs onto a flat bed truck. She is sure they will be delivering scrambled eggs – the roads to and from the farm are not exactly smooth. By the way, the wholesale price for a flat of eggs (2 ½ dozen) is $4.50 USD.
Jeanie went back to Hartzell to do another art lesson – she showed them how to use "found" items as a drawing medium ... flowers, charcoal, sticks, stones and so on. The teacher has really appreciated these crafts that she will be able to replicate without cost. Jeanie also delivered the remaining beads and pipe cleaners from the candy cane project that she used with the kids earlier (check out the photo!). The teacher, Catherine, is going to take them to her UMW/RRW meeting on Friday so that the ladies (150 women in her local unit at Old Mutare UMC!!) can make the candy canes for the children at the Fairfield Children Cottages.
La Donna and Mary went back to the library for more DVD cataloging (8 today!! – personal best) and spreadsheet typing. Ron started out with them in the library and then hung out at the student union watching NASCAR on the TV in there! He just loves connecting with the kids!
Gene and Bonnie went with Hazvinei to visit her family in a high density area of Mutare. They met her mother, sister, aunt, 2 nephews and 1 niece. They enjoyed visiting, seeing the house and garden (complete with chickens), and her mother fixed them a really nice lunch (chicken, coleslaw, greens, rice with a vegetable curry sauce).
James went into Mutare to visit the Museum and get a feel for the city. He even managed to get a haircut! Mary Beth spent an hour and a half with the Dean of Students talking about the counseling that takes place o the campus. And Patricia visited with students and put the finishing touches on her project tomorrow with the class at Hartzell.
After lunch we meet at the agriculture building for a meeting with the Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and the head of the Dream Farm project (also known as the Small Farm Resource Center). This is a project that has been ten years in the making and has had strong support from Indiana. The university has set aside 10 hectares (look it up!) to develop a model farm with the emphasis on practical demonstrations of farming techniques for a small holding. They have built the house, drilled the wells (12 meters ... and one is dry already),
We drove to the farm in the rain ... and only needed a little push to get unstuck!!
We had dinner guests this evening ... Shirley and Ted DeWolf. She teaches at AU in the Institute of Peace, Leadership and Governance ... and leads a class called "The church and social transformation." He is deputy headmaster at a local private school. Her parents and grandparents were missionaries at Old Mutare, and Shirley and Ted have lived in Zimbabwe their entire married life. Turns out she went to college with Jerry Jo! We had a fascinating conversation before, during and after dinner all about Africa University and what they see as the needs for the future. It has been interesting to get all these sorts of perspectives!
The rain has stopped but it is still cool. Our time is running down and we’re beginning to worry about getting our photos labeled, our belongings packed, and our university work done. But we have indeed been blessed yet again!
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Photographs
Finally have a few pictures loaded -- you will have to go back through the posts to see where they have been added!!
Tuesday, November 1
Back to work this morning – but at least the weather has cooled down and there is a breeze. It was nice all day!
Interesting tidbit about the weather and the wildfires. Several stories about the fires. One is that the older, traditional people burn off the grass believing it will build up or seed the clouds – the more fires the longer the rainy season will last. Another is that the fires are started to flush out the small animals so that they can be hunted for food. And of course if there are lots of small fires the brush doesn’t build up and they don’t have one huge fire that covers the entire country. The answer is probably "all of the above".
Anyway. Back to AU this morning to report to our work assignments. We started by dropping Pat, Jeanie and Bonnie at the Hartzell School. Pat distributed photographs to each of the kids in the class that she has been working with, and Jeanie continued with the art projects for her class. Today they made candy canes out of pipecleaners and beads (and gave the kids real candy canes so they knew what it was they were making!). And Bonnie was there to take pictures of the school.
Mary and La Donna were back in Technical Services in the Library. La Donna cataloged more DVDs and Mary completed a spreadsheet for books to be sent for rebinding. And Gene, Mary Beth, and James returned to their painting at the faculty duplex. Ron was back at the peace pole holding court and talking with the students – he saw most of the kids that were at the Indiana Scholar Party on Saturday. Dona Lou was back to work in the Intensive English program.
Jerry and Jerry Jo put together a tractor. They thought they were going to help with the harvesting of the wheat. The AU farm has to take turns to rent a combine (hint, hint ... anyone know where they can get one of their own?? Real cheap ... free?) and their turn came sooner than expected. By the time we got to campus this morning the wheat had been combined and they were baling the straw (square bales in case you are wondering). So instead the Jerrys repaired a tractor – had to put the radiator on and a few other bits. Even used the heavy metal clamps that we ferried over here in Dona Lou’s weirdly shaped suitcase (long story – it was sort of shaped like a bag for a sousaphone). Several of the tractors on the campus are from the Tractors for Our Daily Bread ministry out of Manhattan, Kansas – http://tractors4bread.org/_wsn/page4.html – cute little grey and red tractors.
After lunch we returned to LaRochelle. Mary Beth, La Donna, Dona Lou, and Jerry Jo had another appointment with the gardener – this time to go through the greenhouses. There are LOTS of orchids ... not many in bloom ... and Nicholas is repotting them right now so that they can sell them as a fundraiser for the National Trust. He also has lots of bromeliads, ferns (including some HUGE staghorn ferns), a very large shrimp plant, a gorgeous amaryllis with a half dozen large (LARGE) blooms, and lots of other bits and pieces. There are 6 or 8 greenhouses. He also showed us a big stand of Indian bamboo – stalks are probably six inches diameter. Nicholas is just a delight – so knowledgeable ... Latin names, common names, colors, blooming times, and just loves what he does!!
And tonight at dinner time the rain started. Lots of lightning and thunder in the distance and a gentle rain here. The wind died down and the temperature cooled off enough that some of us put on long sleeves and even jeans!
Another day of blessings.
Interesting tidbit about the weather and the wildfires. Several stories about the fires. One is that the older, traditional people burn off the grass believing it will build up or seed the clouds – the more fires the longer the rainy season will last. Another is that the fires are started to flush out the small animals so that they can be hunted for food. And of course if there are lots of small fires the brush doesn’t build up and they don’t have one huge fire that covers the entire country. The answer is probably "all of the above".
Anyway. Back to AU this morning to report to our work assignments. We started by dropping Pat, Jeanie and Bonnie at the Hartzell School. Pat distributed photographs to each of the kids in the class that she has been working with, and Jeanie continued with the art projects for her class. Today they made candy canes out of pipecleaners and beads (and gave the kids real candy canes so they knew what it was they were making!). And Bonnie was there to take pictures of the school.
Mary and La Donna were back in Technical Services in the Library. La Donna cataloged more DVDs and Mary completed a spreadsheet for books to be sent for rebinding. And Gene, Mary Beth, and James returned to their painting at the faculty duplex. Ron was back at the peace pole holding court and talking with the students – he saw most of the kids that were at the Indiana Scholar Party on Saturday. Dona Lou was back to work in the Intensive English program.
Jerry and Jerry Jo put together a tractor. They thought they were going to help with the harvesting of the wheat. The AU farm has to take turns to rent a combine (hint, hint ... anyone know where they can get one of their own?? Real cheap ... free?) and their turn came sooner than expected. By the time we got to campus this morning the wheat had been combined and they were baling the straw (square bales in case you are wondering). So instead the Jerrys repaired a tractor – had to put the radiator on and a few other bits. Even used the heavy metal clamps that we ferried over here in Dona Lou’s weirdly shaped suitcase (long story – it was sort of shaped like a bag for a sousaphone). Several of the tractors on the campus are from the Tractors for Our Daily Bread ministry out of Manhattan, Kansas – http://tractors4bread.org/_wsn/page4.html – cute little grey and red tractors.
After lunch we returned to LaRochelle. Mary Beth, La Donna, Dona Lou, and Jerry Jo had another appointment with the gardener – this time to go through the greenhouses. There are LOTS of orchids ... not many in bloom ... and Nicholas is repotting them right now so that they can sell them as a fundraiser for the National Trust. He also has lots of bromeliads, ferns (including some HUGE staghorn ferns), a very large shrimp plant, a gorgeous amaryllis with a half dozen large (LARGE) blooms, and lots of other bits and pieces. There are 6 or 8 greenhouses. He also showed us a big stand of Indian bamboo – stalks are probably six inches diameter. Nicholas is just a delight – so knowledgeable ... Latin names, common names, colors, blooming times, and just loves what he does!!
And tonight at dinner time the rain started. Lots of lightning and thunder in the distance and a gentle rain here. The wind died down and the temperature cooled off enough that some of us put on long sleeves and even jeans!
Another day of blessings.
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