Our October trip
Ann reading a story to 3rd graders at Hartzell
Our second Zimbabwe trip for 2010 was a good one! October is hot, dry, and windy, but the children were still in school and we accomplished a lot. Everybody seemed glad to see us and we felt grandly treated. Although the country’s political situation has not improved, the economy seems to be adjusting to working with the US$. The most obvious aspects were that the stores are well stocked and the formerly trademark dilapidated “chicken” buses have largely disappeared, replaced with newer and safer ones.
We spent most of our time at Old Mutare where we photographed the 35 Primary students for whom we have sponsors. The response to our initial request for sponsors was so strong that we added 10 more! Blessings to you all! The rate remains at $45 for each of the three terms for 2011. We hope that most of those who sponsored students in 2010 will do so again this coming year and that others will want to join in. We also met with our 19 High School students. This number will continue to drop as the annual $700 cost for each day student has forced us to focus even more on Primary children where the funds help so many more. Ann helped Danai in the library, but it needs a second full-time person to catch up and keep up with all the activity there. It is definitely being used! Many of the books are wearing out and need to be discarded and replaced. It has been 10 years of almost constant use. We got the breakfast feeding program going again on a limited basis and will continue in 2011 at $1000 per term.
We made two visits to Clare Mission School where we have been involved since 2005. The primary school has come a long way as it expanded from its original converted stable classrooms. Another two-room classroom block is about half built and will be finished when the money is found. At that time, the old stable block will be converted into a two-room library. At the time we visited the 7th graders had finished their exams and were gone, so they used those rooms to set up a temporary library and we were able to see a first grade class in there looking at books and hearing a story read by their teacher. They hope to get started on the library building renovations by the end of 2011. As always, money is a problem in a poor area where chickens and goats are offered in payment for the $20 per term fees. We have committed to pay for 30 needy children next year. The $300 “Ah-Ha” money that one supporter had sent with us paid the bills for 15 who hadn’t been able to do so this past term. Among others, this allowed one grandmother to keep the goats she was planning to use to pay for three of the six grandchildren she was caring for. A huge UNICEF truck unloaded a lot of supplies while we were there, a big help for the school.
We made a trip to Mt. Makomwe Primary School at Marange one Friday morning. It was the first time we had visited this United Methodist Mission, even though it had received over 80 boxes of books from our 2006 shipment. They were expecting us and proudly demonstrated their small and neat library and how they were using it. Once they get money for more shelves, they will be better able to arrange and use the books. This school is only a few miles from the new diamond mines which are providing much wealth for the government and military. However, educators at the school are working with fees of only $10 per term because the families simply cannot pay more. We were moved to give school officials $200 to pay for fees for students who had been unable to pay. A former colleague at Henry Ford CC, Glenn O’Kray, has been sending money every month since we began in 1999. Since his career work was in financial aid, his interest is in providing money to pay school fees to help children that otherwise wouldn’t be able to go to school. Because of his interest and wonderful support, we are establishing the Glenn O”Kray Scholarship Fund to support 30 of the neediest students at Mt. Makomwe Primary School.
Wednesday 8 am Chapel at Africa University is always a treat. One never knows what it will be. At the least, we hear the AU Choir perform and it might be a visiting bishop or a member of a volunteer team preaching. This time the Fairfield Childrens’ Home, at Old Mutare did the entire service. These young children did it all: Liturgist, Choir, Skits, Preaching with aplomb and skill. The 12 year old preacher gave a rousing 15 minute extempore sermon in full revival meeting style. We have never seen such polish from young children. They were extraordinary!!
We have always told people that we were not missionaries, simply volunteers and we proved it this time by going to western Zimbabwe and spent four days at a safari camp in Hwange National Park seeing lots and lots of birds and animals and visiting Mosi oaTunya “The Smoke that Thunders” [Victoria Falls] before flying home.
As always, we came away feeling blessed and refreshed from our stay in this beautiful country and its wonderful people; seeing old friends and making new ones; saying good bye to a dedicated supportive minister who was finishing his term as District Superintendent and taking greetings to the mother of a Zimbabwean member of our local church in Ypsilanti; thanking long term helpers and meeting dedicated staff at another school. God is Good!