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 ....

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.

Friday, October 28

Our ranks have thinned out today (thank heavens something is thinner – the food at LaRochelle certainly isn’t to be missed so no one here is "slimming"). This morning we sent Dona Lou and Mary Beth off to Lovemore’s mission station (Murewha).  Dona Lou wants to see those choir robes that she carried over the ocean!!  Michael the driver was charged with keeping them safe and returning them to us tomorrow. So now we are ten.

And last night Gene came down with something – Bonnie thinks flu from the flu shot he had just before we left. Whatever it was the community advice was to stay in bed and take any of a number of remedies. Not sure who he listened to (but we’ll say it was Bonnie) but he stayed at LaRochelle and slept. By the time we came back he was better – sore throat but not so sore that he couldn’t make jokes. Simon made sure he had some chicken soup at dinner so the cure may be complete.

So nine of us headed for our morning’s work. We dropped Jeanie and Pat at the Hartzell Central Primary School (to give it it’s proper name) at Old Mutare Mission. Jeanie was to give her 3^rd graders an art lesson. Yesterday on our way back from the tour of Maria Humbane’s ministry we stopped at a stationer’s shop and she purchased paper and ink pads. The project was for them to make pictures using their thumbprints. Jeanie said that even the teacher wanted to make a picture!! Pat ran into a bit of a problem. The printer that was printing the photos blew a fuse (or something horribly technical) six photos short of completion. So while she is looking for a solution to that problem she continued to observe the class and share with them about life in America. She says that the teacher has used the promise of the photos as an incentive – they were getting a bit lax in completing their work and he has said that if they do their work they might get a picture of themselves!

We stopped at the bishop’s house to let the workers know that Gene and James wouldn’t be there to work but that Bonnie and Jeanie would be there later (after the art lesson). Then on to the campus. James went to work with the Intensive English students. Conversation is the best way for them to learn – both the students and James!! He is really enjoying the interaction with the students. So is Ron – he holds court with the chess board and learns all sorts of things in the meanwhile. There are benches in a little garden area around the peace pole and that is where you will find Ron.

Jerry and Jerry Jo headed for the farm again and Mary and La Donna went back to the library. Good to know that we are all accomplishing good things!

After a pit stop at LaRochelle so that we can pick up the gift bags (prayer calendars and Aldersgate tapestry bags) and Jerry Jo could change out of her ... umm ... chicken clothes we headed for Mutare and the churches where we were to attend UMW (called RRW here ... Rukwadzano Rwe Wadzimai) meetings. UMW/RRW units all over the district meet at the same every (yes, every) Friday from 2-4. Jeanie and Jerry went back to Hilltop UMC for the meeting there, Bonnie and Mary attended the meeting at Stream View UMC, and La Donna and Pat were at St. Peters UMC. The meetings include sharing testimony, singing, praying, sharing news about those who need assistance, and lessons and discussion about how to live a Christian life. We delivered greetings from UMW of Indiana and presented each of the units with the gift bags. We also presented a UMW Assembly Bible for the district president.

While we were at the meetings the guys (James, Jerry and Ron) went with Douglas to visit the shops. They were amazed at the number of electronics shops – none of which had the thing they were looking for! Some experiences (like technology deprivation) are universal!

Now we have had another wonderful dinner (Simon’s daughter Courtney and her friend Michelle made a lovely glaze for the ham tonight), devotions, and we are watching a DVD of "The Number One Ladies Detective Agency." The night critters are singing and we need to get to bed. Tomorrow we have the day off but we do need to get ready for the party. What party? We’ll tell you all about it tomorrow!!

Thursday, October 27

We are right on the edge of the rainy season and this really hot weather is too hot even for the local people! We now have a smoky haze on the mountains because of the controlled burns. They clear off land in the spring by burning the grass – similar to the burning of the prairies in the US. And then everyone is hurrying to get the burning done before the rain starts (usually about the first of November). So today’s photos are going to be a bit dull.

Back to work this morning! Our official team project is to paint the interior of the new faculty house that has been built with funds from the African bishops. The duplex faculty homes are essential to the compensation package that the university is able to offer. We left Gene, James and Bonnie there to do the actual work – after we looked it over really well. Jerry Jo and Jerry went back to the farm washing eggs and re-working the chicken cages (and no chickens died in the process today) (couldn’t say that yesterday!). Ron spent the morning on a bench with a chess board and talked with lots of the students.

Jeanie and Pat headed over to the Old Mutare Mission for their projects at the Hartzell Primary School. Jeanie is working with a 3^rd grade class and today she taught them some songs – "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes", "Jesus Loves Me", and "This Little Light of Mine" were some of the songs on the hit parade. Pat is taking pictures of the 52 5^th graders in the class that she is helping with – she is printing those pictures as we speak.

Dona Lou spent the morning with the Intensive English class – "taking" (i.e., teaching) two classes. The group that worked at the library went right to work in the technical services area. La Donna passed her cataloguing test and has been asked to "consult" about the multi-media collection. Today she catalogued five videos!! And later will look at some of the older catalogue records to see how they can be improved. Mary Beth typed a list of books being removed from the collection – and did it so quickly that the assistant who set her the task didn’t know what to have her do next!! And Mary cut apart sheets of barcodes – and wondered what sorts of books they would be attached to in the future.

After lunch (do you need to know what the menu was???) we came back to LaRochelle to leave our bags and then back into the van for the trip to Mutare. We were expected at Hilltop UMC where Maria Humbane has established an after school program called Ishe Anesu (God with us) (http://www.isheanesu.com/) for what we would call "at-risk" children. The kids that she works with wouldn’t be at school if it weren’t for the program. The kids are supplied with uniforms for whatever school they attend, given a meal both directly after school and before they return home in the evening, get homework help, learn about the Bible, get rudimentary health care, and receive love and hope.

They had a program prepared for us. Several songs, accompanied by the drums, and then dramatizations of the story of the Ten Commandments and Jesus’ childhood trip at Passover to Jerusalem. They did a wonderful job! And then Maria gave us a tour of the facilities used by the program and shared the dream they have for the future. There is a need for orphanage facility and they have the land and plans for 8 cottages but not the funding. They managed to get one of the cottages nearly finished and the money ran out! The project is an Advance Special (http://new.gbgm-umc.org/advance/projects/search/index.cfm?action=details&id=3015297&code=13071A in case you need a suggestion!!).

Another wonderful dinner (bread pudding for sweet tonight!!), a glimpse of a glowworm in the garden, a team meeting with a wonderful reflection about what our feet would say about our day. We have been greatly blessed!!

Tuesday, October 25

Work began in earnest today. We had folks working at the farm, some at the library, others went to the Intensive English class, and another group went over to the Hartzell Primary School.

The group that helped at the farm had a look at the cattle trough that John Huie's family built a few years ago – it still holds water!! They also watched a couple of women winnowing beans (watched by seven men ... hmmm) just like you’ve seen in the movies (both the winnowing and the watching). At the dairy they watched the souring and packing of milk that is sold for yogurt making. Their main task was to fix some of the cages for the laying hens. Jerry Jo helped Mary (one of the farm workers) count, pack and wash eggs – Mary processes 96 dozen eggs each day!

Don was able to have a conversation with the new Dean of Agriculture. The Dean will be in Indiana December 9 through 18, primarily to coordinate research between the two universities but also to speak at local churches (he will be at Scott UMC in Indy on December 11 at 5 p.m.).

The library crew had a wonderful tour of the library and the archives. The archives have a great collection of photos and historical documents from the founding and early years of the Old Mutare mission, the Methodist church in Zimbabwe and southern Africa, and Africa University. And the library looks just like any other academic library – the security guard at the gate in case you "forget" to check your books out, the reading area around the periodicals, the study carrels and tables for groups, the shelves of books, and the students navigating through all the resources. After the tour they were sent to the technical services department to begin work. The cataloger in the group was given two books to catalogue – she will know tomorrow whether she has passed this "test"! The others in the group were given some book processing to do.

The group that helped in the Intensive English class presented the department with the infamous overhead projector that caused so many packing problems! They were able to do some small group conversations with the students. Students who don’t know English spend their first year taking these Intensive or ESL classes. Of course they have to learn to speak, listen to, read, and think in English quickly!!

Two of our teacher-types went over to the Hartzell Primary School at the Old Mutare Mission Station across the valley. Fifty kids in the same class room!! They taught the kids some English songs and then this afternoon drafted the rest of us into remembering the words to songs they wanted to use later this week!! We’ve all had a memory exercise!

After lunch at the dining hall (same menu ...) we headed back to LaRochelle. Webster, a friend of Bonnie and Gene’s ran some errands with James (he was looking for a preaching shirt – he is preaching at the chapel service in the morning) and then came back to show and sell. His wife and daughters make beautiful batiks – tablecloths, skirts, and wall hangings. Guess what everyone is getting for Christmas!!

Simon, our host, showed us some of the stars after dark. Beetlejuice and the scorpion, the Milky Way but no Southern Cross ... wrong time of year. Then another magnificent dinner and coffee and tea and team meeting in the lounge. We’re starting to get a pattern established. Don and Eleanor leave us in the morning headed for Victoria Falls, a visit with Ken Vance in Zambia, and then on to Kenya. We will miss them!!

Another warm day – didn’t hit the 107 degrees that was predicted but the 91 or so was plenty warm. But in spite of the heat it was a great day. Our love and blessings to all who are following our adventure.

Monday, October 24

We have had a wonderful day! Weather was beautiful ... sky was clear, humidity was low (lower! Everything being relative!), and temperature was ... somewhere in the 90s. We started in the morning with an orientation tour of the farm and then the university. The campus looks like a typical university campus ... college students fretting about the paper they should have turned in on Friday and just remembered, the teaching assistant who didn’t show up for a French tutoring session, the crush and hurry in the dining hall.

We started in at the farm with Larry Kies as our tour guide. He told us that the farm raises most of the eggs and milk used in the dining hall on campus. The farm is self-supporting – they sell to the dining hall at market prices and also have a produce shop. Most of their work is providing training for the agriculture students at the university (they all have chores) and demonstrations of small scale commercial operations for farmers in the region. Zimbabwe has a two crop season – if you can irrigate during their winter (which is just ending). The farm is about to harvest the irrigated wheat that they grew, the field of potatoes are flowering, the maize has been harvested and the vegetable plots are flourishing. They also have pigs (farrow to finish), a dairy herd, broiler and laying hens, and goats.

After the farm tour and our presentation of gifts to the farm management team we took a general tour of the campus and then went to the dining hall for lunch. The menu was sudza (a white maize/corn dish – like cornmeal mush or polenta that hasn’t been fried) or rice with chicken or beef and a cabbage and kale vegetable dish. Apparently sudza is the staple zimbabwean diet. Jury is still out. (Although frying it and loading on the maple syrup would be great ...)

After lunch we greeted our drivers (Douglas and Mike) and boarded our trusty buses and headed to the Old Mutare mission station across the valley. You can get the story of how the mission station and later Africa University got started by reading the history section of the Wikipedia article on AU http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa_University    The mission station is amazing – a 70-bed hospital, a ward for HIV/AIDS patients located in the former Babyfold Orphanage, the Fairfield Children’s Home (formerly Babyfold) (Advance special #11713T) with it’s cottage system homes for 80 children, Hartzell Primary (600 students) and High School (900 students), staff homes and so on. Didn’t see everything so we will have to go back. Two or three of us will be working with a couple of the primary school teachers tomorrow (they have 40-50 kids in classrooms that couldn’t possibly hold that many!!).

Then back to LaRochelle and another wonderful dinner from Simon and his crew.  Someone might tell you the rottweiler story -- beware! Then tea and coffee and a team meeting to sort out work assignments for tomorrow and now time for bed! God is indeed good!!

Bougainvillia in the foreground, jacarunda in the back -- blooming really well and smelling really sweet!