Time to do a little bragging!!!!
It only occurred to me after the event, but last week an astonishing thing happened … Willow Park Camps successfully purchased its first product (for many years) from revenue created from camps. This is a momentous occasion. I know the items don’t seem that great, but as small as they may seem, it is still quite the achievement for Willow Park. Ohhh, I have just realized, I have not told you what we purchased … a 5 litre tin of gloss paint, two paint brushes and an industrial bin … things are a happening here at Willow Park … I have some more exciting news to share in weeks to come … so stay tuned.
Time to Renew our Visas
I have a confession to make … it is hard to admit, but I think I am becoming more and more zimbabean each day I am here … the true test was when we went over to Botswana last week. On the way over we had to queue for at least an hour to get through the Botswana immigration, then on the way back we had to queue in the Zimbabwean immigration for more than 2 hours … all this was done without complaining and just standing patiently … You see, queuing is the national past time for the average Zimbabwean. Zimbabweans have to queue for money at the ATM, queue for bread, queue for mealie, queue for cheap petrol (when it is available) and when there is no queue people just queue for the sake of queuing. Now for people who know me well, I was never one to queue patiently, I didn’t care much for queues and definitely didn’t like just standing around … times are a changin’. Jodi on the other hand has not quite adapted to the Zimbabwean culture … “little miss impatient” is most likened to an over fizzed over shaken coke bottle … you don’t really know what is going to happen until the lid is taken off and then out comes a HUGE explosion … Jodi had to have a little “time out” when queuing at the Zimbabwean border (and that’s all that needs to be said).
The reason for our trip over to Botswana was for a little bit of RNR, to purchase some products for our new house (things are getting VERY VERY expensive here in Zim) and most importantly to renew our visas for another 3 months. All of the above was done with success. I have to admit, in the 3 months we have been in Zim I had almost forgotten what a “real” shop looks like, having fully stocked shelves with a wide variety of brands to choose from …WOW. I think one of the highlights was seeing packets of Tim Tams on the shop shelves, but the price was astronomical … $10 AUD wowza.
Our New Fridge
Well … with a new house comes a new fridge … well maybe not a BRAND new fridge but new to us. Just to give you an idea of how ZAINY the prices are here in Zimbabwe, the fridge cost $15,000,000.00 (zim). I have included a couple of photos of the money I used to purchase the fridge … when piled up it was higher than a 300ml coke bottle and my wallet for the day was a box. Only in Zim … only in Zim.
Take a look at this!!!!!
Well, Jodi and I have finally found a house of our own … well not really ours, but we have found a house to rent. Rentals are a very rare commodity here in Bulawayo and we are soooo glad we have found this one. It is not too large and has all the things which we need (and want). The inside is a little worn and tired with HUGE cracks in the walls and VERY dirty walls, but the gardens and pool have been very well taken care of and it makes up for the inside. We have a nice sized main bedroom with ensuite, a room for Gabi and a room for any guests that may just pop in (this is a hint to any of our friends and family in OZ … just imagine a week or two in the Muller Manor Zimbabwe with most expenditures covered … one can only dream). The most bizarre feature of this house is that it has servants quarters on site; apparently this is the norm here in Zim … basically anyone who can afford to live in a house is expected to also afford a maid and gardener … all we need now is a person to blow a bugle and announce our names when ever we enter a room and we will be set.
Are you ready for the HUGE blog????
Well believe it or not, Jodi and I now have a little one running around our house … Just the other week Jodi and I were blessed with little Gabriella … let me tell you the story. About three Thursday mornings ago, Debbie (the YFC Director) came into our office, shut the door, and then asked if she could ask us something. “Remember a couple of weeks ago when I asked you to pray about a little girl who is having problems at home with her grandmother” she began; “Well things are getting worse and the little girl is really sick and the grandmother doesn’t want anything more to do with her. Will you consider looking after her?” Well this definitely shocked us as we were told only the week before that the grandmother didn’t want to give her up. Both Jodi and I knew it wasn’t something to take lightly and we started some hardcore praying … Well as to be expected He took control and later that afternoon (after taking her to the doctors for a check up) we started looking after “Pinky” (the name that she was being called; it is a common name for abandoned babies, even though she wasn’t abandoned). This name didn’t gel for us, as she was no longer abandoned, so we have named her Gabriella (Gabi for short).
Gabi is about 20 months old and was born in the Crisis Pregnancy Centre (a YFC ministry) by a 13 year old. Unfortunately the mother was too young to look after the baby so the Grandmother took it upon herself. My goodness it is a good thing that YFC followed up when they did. Gabriella was extremely dehydrated, malnourished and has a fungal infection on her lips, in her mouth and down her throat. She has been very poorly looked after in very poor conditions with little to no personal contact. She was so malnourished and had absolutely no energy … even being fed a bowl of porridge would make her puff and pant.
It has been amazing to see that each day Gabi has been improving dramatically. On the first day (a Thursday), she didn’t want to do anything except sleep while being held and didn’t want anything near her mouth. We were able to get a small amount of water in her mouth by syringe. On Friday we were able to get more water into her little mouth and she built up her confidence with us and began to eat yoghurt and small amounts of mealie meal with porridge. She was so badly dehydrated that it wasn’t until Friday evening that she did a number onesies (wee wee). Things are progressing really well, by Sunday Gabi was fully hydrated (I don’t think that Vic falls would pass this much water during the wet season) and she enjoys a good feed. We didn’t see any smiles or emotion on her face for the first three or four days but now it is hard to stop her from running around the house laughing and acting like an 20 month old should. Things are starting to improve for little Gabi, we are thrilled with God’s healing hand and being able to see her grow more and more confident with us both. Her infection has fully cleared up and she now only shows small signs of malnutrition.
Now is the time to show Gabi off to you all … the photo’s are in order from when we first started looking after her to just the other day … Happy viewing.
What a week for Willow Park ….
YWAM are a comin’
Yay … A new program for Willow Park
MAKE SURE YOU STAY TUNED TO THIS BLOG … THE NEXT ENTRY WILL BE HUGE!!!!!!!
Our First Visitors
Well we have said good bye to Steve, Kristy & Maddy, & I am so homesick. I wish they could stay with us. We had a fantastic week with them, we started off by showing them around town & it was great to see their reactions to the crazy things of Zim that we have gotten use to. Things like rusty cars with no wheels abandoned in the middle of the road in the city, or a furniture removalist pulling along a cart load of lounge chairs. 
Wednesday
The next day we were off to Chipengali, an animal orphanage which is used as a zoo. You could see that back in the day it would have been a top of the line place to visit, but now it is just so overgrown & fences were rusty & the research institution is derelict. We saw a couple of Rhino & one was at the fence, it was so close that if we were game enough we could have reached out & touched it. Same with the Lions, the cages are nothing like the safety at zoos in OZ, here they were just rusty chain wire; Steve was about a foot away from a huge Lion & loved it. I must admit we all were a bit worried as we walked around & were finding gates open.
After spending so much time looking at the monkies, & the monkies spending so much time checking Maddy out (they seemed to be fixed on her) we went to Willow Park to show Steve & Kristy the purpose of us being here. They seemed to share our vision for the place & agreed that with time, money & patience Willow Park will be a most beautiful camp ground used for all sorts of outreaches. 
Thursday
We set off to Antelope Game Park. We had such a fantastic time there last year that we couldn’t let them miss it. The first of our activities for the day was an elephant ride for Kristy & Andrew, next Steve joined them & they all went for a play with the lion cubs, while Maddy & I stayed at main camp & played together. The cubs were only three months old & it was the first time they had been introduced to the public. They came back with huge grins on their faces & soooo so many photos, & poor Steve- cat allergies.
After a massive lunch we decided to lay out on the grass under the shady trees to admire the beautiful lake, well it didn’t take long before we were all dozing off. For a short while it reminded me of being back in Brissy going for picnics by the river at New Farm Park with Steve & Kristy (one of my most favorite past times). We woke up to our guide telling us it was time for our safari, so we all jumped onto the back of the van & headed off for 1 ½ hours. I was a bit worried at first that Steve & Kristy had come all this way & not seen any animals in the wild, but just after the guide had finished telling us that there were only 8 Giraffe in the area so we would have to be lucky to see them, there they were – 7 of them. Also Zebra in the same place, they however were not too friendly & ran off pretty quickly, but the Giraffe hung around & we were able to stay & watch for quite a while. 
Friday
We went to spend the morning with the kids in the Baptist Babies home. They loved having new people to jump all over, & it was interesting to see the differences in Maddy & the two girls there. They are all the same age & defiantly not the same in development. In the afternoon we went to Mustard Seed Babies Home. They have so many more children there, but also a lot more carers. I was hoping to introduce Steve & Kristy to Daniel (the little boy we fell in love with last year), but he slept the whole time we were there. At hearing some of the stories of how these babies were found, we were all in wonder of how any mother could do these things to their new born children. 
Saturday
We went to visit Father Charles at a rural hospital. It was such a hot day & we struggled to keep up with him, but he was so proud to be showing us around the hospital grounds. The one thing I wanted Steve & Kristy to see the most (but was scared of how they would react, knowing how we had felt last year when we saw it) came in the afternoon. Father Charles took us to the Malnutrition ward. There were only three babies there this time, their mothers lying with them. It is a big shock to the system to see them & I know it touched Steve & Kristy & it will be a vision they will never forget.
Saturday night dinner was a real treat; the four of us went to the Nesbitt Castle. It is a castle that a man built for his wife, & later down the tract they split up & he became a recluse & the place became very run down. Year’s later two business men bought it & did it up & it is now the finest place to visit in Bulawayo. We got ushered from the car to the bar & served drinks & snacks. We were then read the menu & they took our orders. When the meal was ready we were taken up stairs, only to find out that we were the only ones there. We were served the finest three course meals & then had a look around the grounds. This place is superb, even by Western standards. 
Sunday
Was a visit to show them the church we are attending & they loved the songs that were sung in the native tongue. After church we took them to our favorite coffee shop, they got to experience the layered latte & doughnuts. Kristy was quick to pick up that they are not like the ones at home, but when you don’t have any other option it soon becomes a fantastic treat.
So the week was over so fast, but it was so great to have them out to see us, we wish they didn’t have to leave so soon.
The Mustard Seed
Last week we were able to go to a place called “The Mustard Seed”, which is an organisation / ministry which has been running in Bulawayo for about 5 years after Brother Garvin was invited from Jamaica (where the program originated) to setup here. This is a well setup ministry helping in so many ways
The Abandoned Babies Home has been set up on the outskirts of Bulawayo on the drive to the airport. They have only been in this house for a short time but are well recognised with Child Welfare and the police; even though they are not registered as an orphanage the local authorities are still bringing in abandoned babies to be cared for. The house is currently full having 13 infants to care for. It is so sad to hear how some of the infants are found. On Sunday night a young girl who was only 4 hours old was delivered to the home by the police; they had found her in a park (this is good story compared to other cases). It is also unfortunate to see that a majority of the young ones orphaned also have HIV and need medication to keep them healthy. This home is well staffed with young volunteers from the community coming to help look after the infants on a rostered basis. These volunteers are encouraged to help by getting provided with a certificate for child care after also doing some formal training. Much to our amazement when we went to visit this orphanage we found Daniel; the baby which Jodi and I fell in love with last year in the abandoned babies ward. He is doing very well, but he has turned out to be quite a moody little thing. Jodi just thinks he needs a couple of BIG smacks to get him into line. 
The School, orphanage, medical centre and church has been set up in one of the semi rural areas about 20 min out of Bulawayo; the Mustard Seed ministry has set up an awesome facility for the surrounding community. They are providing young children with free education as well as meals during the day. They are also housing young school aged orphans and also providing them with education as well. Currently the children’s classroom is a section of field, but they are in the process of getting a classroom build which as been donated by one of the overseas consulates. One amazing story we heard from Brother Garvin was about the Christmas parties for the children in the rural area which have been run over the last three years. On the first year they had the party about 300 children came; the next year 500 and this last year … 800 children; all the kids got a present (donated by locals) and had a fantastic time on jumping castles and being involved in a whole lot of other activities. This ministry also provides the older teenagers with work experience; as they build more buildings on their ground they have the teenagers help and get trained in manual labour (such as building, painting, plumbing). It is great to see the vision of Brother Garvin and all the ways in which this ministry can expand and help even more people.
Patience …..
Finally we get to blog … we have been trying all week to log on and blog but we could do absolutely nothing … the locals just say “only in Zim …”. Something Jodi and I will have to get used to.
Happy reading ….
What a week …
On a happier note, Andrew & I are working well together on the Willow Park venture. Andrew had to get use to the idea of sharing his project with someone. I had not intended to get involved with Willow Park, but felt that God had been putting in my mind the excitement & vision that Andrew has for the camps. I had not shared with Andrew my feelings before we left home & still didn’t tell him until it became evident that the babies home was not going to work out in the capacity that I had hoped. I feel that this has been Gods way of telling us to stick together & work together. I still regularly go to the baby’s house, but as there are problems with the application process to get the house open the house is just simply being – it is stagnant in its works & not at all what they had hoped it would be. So God has given me a new passion & vision & luckily for us we work really well together (when we are not being stubborn).
(Andrew’s Turn now … it’s about time too; gee Jodi can go on …..) This week has been a very productive week … Jodi has re-organised my office … oops I mean our office so we can both fit in. We have been able to sort through all the camps that are coming up and put them into a completely new filing system; we have even produced a budget with profit and loss statements and projected earnings and expenditures … things are definitely on the move (in the office anyway). We went back out to Willow Park on Tuesday to have a detailed look into all the buildings … last week we mentioned repainting the dining hall, that is no longer on the agenda … the whole building has to go. On closer inspection we noticed that most of the walls have massive holes in them and the ceiling is missing mass portions of k-lite … it will be easier and less expensive to start from scratch. We have decided to go with a traditional feel and get a hut thing made around the existing cement slab, it will not be cheap, but it will definitely be more effective than trying to fix what is already there. The dorms also need a thorough re-vamp … don’t worry we won’t be demolishing those … after a good clean up and a lick of paint they will be as good as new. Furnishing is also needed; new tables and chairs for the dining hall and fixing the current bunk beds in each of the dorms (they are extremely bowed). None of this will happen over night, but we know that God will move things a long … at His pace not ours.
Life in Zim has been treating us well; I was able to have my first game of golf last Friday. I have to admit, I didn’t do too bad … the course is definitely different to the ones back in OZ with the fairway grass being about waist height on a majority of the holes and a lot of the water hazards being just dried dirt … and surprisingly enough I only lost 2 balls, my best statistic yet I think. On the home front we still have not found a place to rent yet but we are certain that something will come up very shortly … we have smooth talked a real estate agent and she is on the mission of finding us a house … bless her little white cotton socks. Power cuts have been getting more regular throughout Bulawayo, just in the last week we had more that one each day lasting at least an hour on each cut (no one knows why … it is just put down to being a way of life). There are rumors that water restrictions will be getting tighter with a limit being reduced from 300 lts per day to only 250 lts per day … this is not so tight for a small household, but for places like the Crisis Pregnancy Centre who house 8 – 12 girls at a time it makes it very difficult.
What happend last week in Zim???
(Jodi’s Turn) Most of my week this week has been spent in the office with Andrew trying to work out pricing structures for Willow Park. I did manage to get out to the abandoned babies house. The way that the house has been set up is fantastic for the children with very happy and cheerful cartoons on the walls of the playroom. I spent a few hours there playing with the two little boys; they are both three years old. They were quite well behaved; they just loved having someone play with them. I barely made it in the front door when I heard “who are you? Let’s play!” I was saddened to see that the two boys were in one room on their own & the two baby girls (about 6months old) sitting in rockers were in another room on their own, while the four women in the house just sat around. After a bit of colouring in, reading & an adventure outside exploring the yard we came back inside only to discover the babies were still sitting in the same spot. I took the boys into play with the babies & the girls had a great time just watching the boys play. I noticed very quickly that for six months old these girls did not reach for anything you put in front of them, let alone put stuff straight in their mouths. It is a better environment for them to be in than the hospital, but they are still not getting the attention given to them that they need.
NEWS ALERT!!!!!
Lifes little adventures
Time to update you all on our adventures in Zim … it has been a week since the last blog …. And well we have done a few exciting things:
Last Saturday we went to Arun’s place (Arun is our hosts old domestic) which is in a rural villiage about 1 hours drive out from Bulawayo driving towards Mutobo along some very rough dirt road tracks. Arun has a small “villiage” type set up where the Chief has allocated a plot of land for huts for Arun and his family / workers to live as well as a large plot for them to farm (both fruit and vegetables and live stock). Arun is able to grow a lot of mangos, banana’s, guava,spinach, chimolia as well as the usual crop of maize, the amount that is grown is enough for his family and any extra he sells to the local markets. The place where he lives is one of the most beautiful and peaceful places Jodi and I have been to.
On Sunday Des and Pete (our hosts) as well as Debbie (the YFC director) and her two girls (Maddie and Stephie) went out to the Mutopas game reserve for lunch. The lake where we set up for lunch was quite large and so tranquil; the whole scene was stunning. The lake was apparently home to many crocs as well as hippo’s … so as you could all imagine, Jodi (the fearless adventurer) wouldn’t venture any closer than 50m to the lake side. It was just after we had finished lunch that we heard a large grunting sound from the lake, as we looked over 3 hippo’s had their heads out of the water … Jodi and I switched straight into tourist mode and took quite a lot of photo’s as well as video footage … this was our first bit of game that we have seen this time through as well as our first ever sighting of live hippo’s. 
On Thursday, Jodi and I went out to Willow Park with Debbie to check out the training centre that YFC are opening for teenage girls. There is still a lot of work which needs to be done to get the building in a worthwhile state, but things are definitely progressing well (expected to finish the renovations in about 6 – 8 weeks). This training centre will provide the girls opportunities to get trained in many skills such as sewing, cooking, house maid duties (cooking, cleaning, ironing, washing) as well as skills in setting tables and serving (so they can gain employment in restaurants) as well as computer skills (typing, using Microsoft office etc). The vision that YFC has for this training centre is fantastic and it will be awesome to see the girls complete these courses and hold a much better chance of gaining employment or starting their or businesses.
Finally in Zimbabwe !!!!!
On Thursday we went for a walk around the town for a few hours & have found a small shopping centre called ”Bulawayo Centre” it is set up a bit like the ‘Wintergarden” in Bris, but on a much much smaller scale; it is definitely my favorite place. It has a café, trendy looking pub, optometrist, hairdressers, sports shop, cinema (which is about $1.00 entry), a few clothing & shoe shops and a supermarket. The supermarket is like our Woolworths at home, most of the supermarkets here are like small IGA’s. Apparently it is where the snootie people shop, but I think I may just have to go there for a bit of normality.
Next week we will be looking for a house, cottage (granny flat) or town house of our own to rent; the people we are staying with said we can stay as long as we want (which is really nice), but we think it would be good to settle in for ourselves as soon a possible. One thing we didn’t really think of was the set up costs for small items such as buying cutlery and crockery, linen etc… but we are in no hurry, all of this stuff will come our way at some stage.
The progress on the babies house has seemed to go backwards, it turns out that the application for final approval, which they were told was in Harare is in fact still in Bulawayo (it never got sent) and the case worker assigned to it has resigned. Another thing that has just happened recently is that the hospital where the abandoned babies unit was has now decided that it is a waste having qualified nurses babysitting healthy babies, so they have closed down the ward and have split up the infants into different wards. This causes a few different issues, most being that healthy babies are now in wards with ill babies and are now at risk of getting ill (and they don’t have any relatives to give them the care they will need). Hopefully the application for the opening of the Baptist house will actually leave Bulawayo and will be approved quickly.
In reference to the Baptist house, they now have 4 babies in the home, another 6mth old girl has just been brought in. Everything is basically set up ready for the infants from the hospital, they have a house mother and a newly appointed matron and a few locals to help look after the little ones.
Well it was great to blog and we will update as soon as more information comes to hand.
Jodi and Andrew.
Up …. Up …. and AWAY
Hi Everyone!!!
Well we will be off to Zim in a few hours. Finally! We are so sick of hanging around, waiting for this day to arrive. I have said goodbye to my family, which is what I have been dreading (that went better than I was expecting) – so just Harry’s family & friends at the airport to go.
Thanks for supporting us, we look forward to sharing our journey with you all.
We will update everyone when we arrive.
So much to do is such a small amount of time …
Gee it has been a while since this blog has been updated … I give my humblest apologies.
I suppose I should fill you all in on a few details so you know what Jodi and I are doing. Well on Monday, Feb 12 2007, Jodi and I will be boarding a plane to fly back to Zimbabwe … that means that in less than 3 weeks we will be leaving our family and friends in Brisbane and starting a new adventure. Let me tell you all, in that 3 weeks there is so much happening. Jodi finishes work at the end of this week and I finish work at the end of next week, we have to pack up all the stuff in our house and store the stuff we want to keep (see the attached photo), then we need to get the house ready for renters to move in (that is a HUGE job … we all know how messy Jodi can be … just joking J). During all of this we need to pack the items we are wanting to take over to Zim, unpack it all again to make sure we have everything, pack it up again, unpack it all because there could be a better way to pack it, pack it all up again and no doubt we will unpack in all again at the last minute because we have forgotten something and it just won’t fit at the top of the bag. My goodness, so much to do is such a small amount of time.
Well, that will be enough of my gas bagging for the time being, I will try to update you some more very shortly,
Use the blog Luke … use the blog ………
Cheers,
Andrew (Harry) and Jodi.
Things are on there way …
Welcome back to the blog, sorry it has been so long since our last writing, things have been absolutely crazy with organising and preparing for our next trip to Zimbabwe. 
House Renovations: Whilst we are in Zim, we will be renting out our house, over the last 5 years that we have lived here, Jodi and I have always put off doing any work, now there is not much time to go until we leave and we have a fair bit to do. The great news is that most of the work for inside the house is almost done, we just have to pack up all of the stuff we are wanting to keep and try to sell / get rid of all the stuff that we just don’t need anymore. In reference to the outstide of the house, our retaining wall is almost complete (as seen in the picture) and the fixing up of our deck will be started in the next couple of days. Then all we need to do is get the gardens looking nice and we are almost done.
Raising Support: Over the next month or so, Jodi and I will be visiting other churches to gain further prayer and financial support. This will be an exciting time to meet new people and to raise more awareness of what is happening.
Fundraising: It has been awesome to see God working and speaking to people in helping Jodi and I get back over to Zimbabwe. At this stage we have about half of the funds that we are needing (through one off domations as well as people pledging to give money on a weekly or monthly basis). There is still a lot more work to be done … One thing that we have learnt from our last trip over to Zim, is that GOD HAS EVERYTHING IN CONTROL. We know He loves us and that He does want us in Zim, so He is not going to abandon us or leave us and He will provide for us all that we need … we just need to be trusting and patient.
Our Website: Our website is finally complete … follow the link to www.zimbabwebound.com
We look forward to sharing our journey with you again, so please stay tuned.
Until next time,
Jodi and Harry.
Back to Zim in 07
Hello all,
Well we are back again on the Zim trek … we have not yet left Australia but our journey is only beginning. To fill you in on a few details … Jodi and I are looking at heading back over to Zimbabwe in February of 2007 and work within the Baptist church and Youth For Christ for the year. Our last trip to Zimbabwe really opened our eyes and our hearts to see a small glimpse of God’s purpose for our lives. To be honest, this step is not the easiest for Jodi and I to take, but we both know that God has a bigger and better plan for our lives than what we could ever imagine.
This road isn’t going to be the easiest journey we have ever taken … in fact as we look down this track there is a lot of organising and planning to be done in a short period of time. Basically everything in Zim is organised … it is just getting there that will be the more challenging part. There is still a bit of work to be done on our house before we can rent it out and there is still a large amount of fundraising to be done as well. In short, we are needing to raise at least $AUD 20,000 to keep our heads above water. We are going to be starting our fundraising shortly … hey if anyone has any fundraising ideas we are definitely interested.
Well I have to push on … make sure you stay posted as Jodi and I will be updating all who read our blog about our journey … it will be a challenging journey, but it will definitely have it’s rewards.
Farewell to Zimbabwe
Reflection From Jodi
Well the time has come for us to head off on our way back home. In many ways we are sad to be leaving & would love to stay longer in this fantastic place. We have felt very at home here & despite all the hardships we have witnessed & experienced while we have been here we will be back. People are leaving this country in droves, we have found that it is a country in need of people to come here & help – just to love these people really does make all the difference in their lives. We have reflected constantly that if the people in Australia were to go through what these people go through everyday, they just wouldn�t be able to cope. We are just so thankful to have had these experiences & thank you to everyone who has blogged with us along the way, it has been great to keep in touch & it is a huge encouragement for us to hear that people back there a thinking of us & praying for us.
Reflection From Andrew (Harry)
As I reflect over our Blog it makes me reminisce fondly on our time here in Zim. Time has just gone soooo fast, it only feels like we arrive last week yet we have witnessed and got involved in sooo many things. We are still exploring our part in God�s will and we are seeing more realistically were we fit. Our prayer before we left was to find our place in God�s will and that we would see what He has us doing in the future … well I can confidently say that He has shown us a little bit more and boy are we excited. Thank you all for your support and encouragement through responding to our blogs and through your constant prayer we have been truly blessed. See you all in a week or so.
In His Service,
Jodi and Harry.
Day Twenty Four
We were off to the Baptist church this morning for a family service where the kids performed a few items. Both the songs & message was kiddie friendly & everyone joined in & had a great time. They have a family service once a month to ensure the kids are getting involved with the church & seeing how adults behave in this situation, it also helps the adults to see how their kids are behaving & growing within the church environment.
We finally got to go to Motobo. It is something that was planned for us to do on our first weekend here, but due to the crazy weather we couldn�t go. We had a huge picnic lunch sitting beside a beautiful lake, the only thing that spoilt our time were the flies – these are not ordinary flies, they lay eggs on your clothes & they can burrow into your skin & hatch inside you, so that can be quite painful. We then walked up to World View, a beautiful lookout over the rocky scenery. There were two graves up there, & a monument to people who died in the war. It is unlike any scenery we have here – the balancing rocks are huge & it looks like a giant has just picked up a heap of stones & piled them up, such a pretty site to see in amongst all the greenery from the recent rains.
Day Twenty Three
Today was great day, we had a sleep-in & then we were taken to a café for a late breakfast. The food was quite nice, Harry liked his coffee but the tea here leaves a lot to be desired. They have it weak, milky & most people have heaps of sugar, (I am yet to see tea leaves). After a relaxing start to the day we headed off to run a few errands & checked out some shops in a mall we had not been to yet.
Next we went on to visit my favorite kids one last time, I am glad we did. When we arrived we could hear the kids crying from outside. We went in & found all of the kids still in their cots & not a nurse in site. We had stopped along the way to buy some disposable nappies to change the kids, it turns out this was a good idea. The hospital once again had no steam, so the kids had no nappies on & only a few of them had bits of ripped up cloth wrapped around them. So after changing them all we took them all out of their cots & held them & played with them, they are all so craving for affection. Sadly the time came for us to say goodbye to the kids & once again I could not get the baby off of Harry – for a guy that can’t stand holding babies he certainly is doing a lot of it. It is sad to have to leave these kids in such bad conditions, especially when we have been able to see the kids open up to us & have formed such close bonds with them.
Day Twenty Two
Our wake up call at 6.00am was on time and both Andrew and I got up left for our walk around the falls at 6.30. As we approached the gates we saw that there were six guards, so our plan to pretend to be locals went out the door – we borrowed ID�s & rehearsed all of the details but in the end we were not that confident (the price for locals is $460,000. = $2.30 US compared to $4,000,000 = $20 US for tourists). Our walk took about 1 � hours to go all the way around, we had been told that we will get soaking wet, but we were nearly at the end & still dry so we were feeling pretty pleased with ourselves. It all changed as we got to Horse Shoe Falls Lookout where we had a bit of mist spray on us. We walked on around the corner to see the mist poring down like rain, we thought we were already wet so we would be brave & go right around the front (there is a back way – not so wet), it was as we were slipping & sliding on the rocks that we decided that we were apparently not that wet before.
We got back to the hotel, had a quick shower & headed to the restaurant for breakfast. We were in heaven! As we were sitting at our table drinking tea & coffee, gazing over the waterhole it was then that I decided that I am a hotel person, not a roughing it person. We were once again bursting from eating too much.
Begrudgingly we checked out of the hotel & went back to the markets to get some more bargains. This time we took some of our shirts & jeans to trade because the day before people wanted to trade for the shirts & shoes we were wearing. So with our suitcase full of stone carvings instead of clothes we got back into the car & headed off for our long five hour drive back to Bulawayo.
Day Twenty One
We decided to pack up camp early this morning … I think that the flies heard about our plans and decided to join us … my goodness, the amount of flies buzzing around this place at 6.30 was phenomenal … I am used to seeing one or two by about 9.30am on hole 10 or 11 on the Keperra golf course not 1,000,000 at sun up. But that is Africa for you I suppose. An idea was put forward and the vote was unanimous that before traveling too far a buffet breakfast at the Hwange Safari Lodge was in order. It was very relaxing and quite different to the bowl of muesli and warm milk we had on the previous day. With bloated stomachs and eager spirits we finally departed to see the world famous Victoria Falls.
The journey was not as long as Day Nineteen … we were only cramped into the 2.5 seater ute for about 4 hours, what a relief. By the time we arrived our rooms were ready and boy did they look good, we had an awesome view of the surrounding savanna and waterhole where impala enjoyed a refreshing drink. We only had time to quickly admire the view before we were off again to find more curios. We finally got our chance to barter and boy did Jodi go off … An absolute star when dealing with the likes of the pushy (and sometimes rude) African sales folk. Any body who knows Jodi knows how feisty she can get; well it came in very handy when searching for a bargain … no body could shaft this little rocket. With a few curios in our hand we departed the market place pleased with the bargaining which was done.
This afternoon Jodi was able to shed the shackles of poverty and enjoy the elegance and ambiance of high tea at the Victoria Falls Hotel. This hotel is the finest in Victoria Falls and has a price to match. The view from our table was delightful as we looked across the freshly manicured lawns and out into the gauge with the bridge which crosses the Zambezi.
Our dinner tonight was at the Boma. This was my first chance to trial chibuku (the African version of VB) and I have to admit … I will probably never willingly drink it again. The dinner was definitely appetizing and we left with belly�s full of all different kinds of game meat (Impala, warthog, ostrich, mopani worm and the list goes on). This restaurant also has traditional dancers which perform throughout the night and at the end, all guests are given a drum and are educated on how to do the African beat. What a great way to finish after two nights of roughing it in the bush.
Day Twenty
We were off by 6.am to see how far the lions were from us the night before & I can assure you that they were only about 300m from our camp (not the 2-3km they were telling me the night before). Even though we only saw 1 of the big 5 (the elephant) we still saw heaps of animals & we had such a great time. We got to see heaps of Giraffe, Elephants, Warthog, Baboon, Monkey, Zebra, Impala, Eland & so on. It is quite different to see them in the wild instead of zoos.
We had a bit of rain today so a lot of the animals were in hiding & keeping a low profile – not so good for finding wildlife, but great for a person who is scared out of their wits.
I handled my second night better that the first, I was still very on edge but felt a little assurance in knowing that Lions don�t hang around the one area, they roam around to find more animals so the possibility of them being anywhere near us was pretty low.
