The weather here reminds me of Prince Rupert, the driving rain. The days are blistering hot and the afternoons and evenings pour with rain to cool everything down. I spent the weekend in the Eastern Highlands. It's a beautiful part of the country, the scenery is unlike anywhere else. I came back on Sunday in a bus that looks like it should've been sent to the garbage dump years ago. It was pouring rain and the roof was leaking so we were all getting soaked. As a true West Coast girl I bring my rain coat with me EVERYWHERE and was the only one able to stay dry. I drove up on the Friday with a friend of a friend who is now a friend (that was a confusing sentence). It's a newly married couple who spend 2 weeks in the city and 2 weeks in Bonda (a mission village). The husband's family owns a plot of land that he and his wife are turning into an orphan camp. As we were talking he asked me if I knew how to shoot a rifle. I was a bit concerned at the question and said that I had been to a range once with Richard and had shot a few rounds. He said that baboons had become a HUGE problem in the fields. That someone had to stay on guard 24/7 to make sure they didn't eat the plants and dig up the field. I thought this was interesting as in Canada it's deer that eat people's gardens and other animals that eat in the fields. I also thought monkeys or baboons were cute animals you saw at the zoo, apparently not! In Penhalonga there are monkeys that run around the mission, the sisters even have their own who has taken up residence near them. When we got to their house, the floor had flooded and it reminded me of our house in Rupert where the basement flooded on a regular basis. Although people here don't have pumps or wet vacs, it all has to be mopped and dried by hand! The roofs here are metal sheets and lots of times there is nothing between the metal and the ceiling (if there is a ceiling!) Tomorrow I am going to an animal park for a picnic. This will be my second one. The parks here are different, it's the people that are in a closed off area and the animals are wild and free on the otherside of the fence. I like this idea much better and now I know what it feels like to be the one in a cage!!!!

Saturday I spent put Christmas packages together for the AIDS Task Force. There are 54 families that did. People throughout the year donate clothes, books, toys etc. that we use to make the Christmas parcels. The problem comes in when there aren’t enough of a certain age range to create a proper package. This is why I see so many boys wear girls shirts and pants. Also some of the clothes were huge and most if not all of these families are thin. The next AIDS Task Force is this Saturday, I would like to go back and do another session. It is so humbling and a very moving experience. Last month I was feeling sorry for myself and knew I needed to get my mind off things. I went to the ATF and you totally forget yourself and your heart goes out to these families. And the real shocker is how happy they are, they put on their best Sunday clothes and travel from miles around for this one Saturday. It’s a shame they are only able to do this once a month. They have a vet as one of the GP’s. I know this sounds wrong but in fact he’s one of the best doctors I’ve seen around here. I remember him telling me that the meds are the same the dose is what’s different. The 54 families are divided among the group so you become involved and bonded with your families. This project has been going on for 12 years. How they have managed through the worst of times in the country I will never know. They have sent children to school, have gotten ARV’s for AID victims and showed them that there is life after infection. This week I have been helping out at the local church office with IT and admin skills, the lovely woman that works here God love her is so slow that what I can do in a morning takes her the better part of 2 days! The weather has been hot but with the full moon comes ever needed rain. Even thought the rainy season has started it’s not every day. It rains for a few days then is blistering hot for a few. I went to a lecture on soldiers from Zimbabwe who were in the first and Second World War. They specifically focused on Bomber Harris. Who lived in Zimbabwe and South Africa, but was originally English. There was a talk, slides and a movie. It was put on by the historical society. Saturday afternoon I went to a birthday party for a dear friend here Bev. She turned 50 and her family put on a great do. I got to swim in a pool, eat food that wasn't sadza and just relax. Bev should really have birthdays more often. :P

I’ve had my first experience with the private health care system in Zimbabwe this past week. Relax it wasn’t me personally but a visiting doctor from England. No he wasn’t volunteering in the hospital but a patient. Kal Wells came for 3 weeks to volunteer to work in clinics and in orphanages and ended up being the one needing help. Saturday night started like any other evening, there was no ZESA like most Saturday evenings so we were all just relaxing in my room and chatting. Kal had been at another children’s home, Danai, for a party and his stomach was feeling a little upset. What started as diarrhea quickly turned in to vomiting, sweating, and passing in and out of consciousness. He told me it would pass but I knew something was wrong. I called a dear friend, Bev to come and collect us to take us to the only private hospital with trauma and ER. I called Kal’s insurance to let them know and ask them if Avenues Hospital would be alright. The lady on the other end of the phone said they had no specific ties with any hospital in Zimbabwe and to take him where ever they could help. We arrived at the hospital just as Kal began to have seizures. They took him into ER where I was asked to fill out forms and pay a consultant fee of $51. As the night wore on and I talked to the front desk and his insurance, I found out that Zimbabwe doesn’t recognize any insurance but their own and I would have to pay for all his fees. This was find until the doctor decided that he had to be admitted to the HDC (high dependency unit). The deposit for this was $1200! At 12:30 at night where was I going to get $1200. In any other country I would pull out Visa and say “charge it”. Unfortunately, visa isn’t “all you need”. In a country that works on a strictly cash basis, and where no bank would be open I began to panic. Fortunately, Bev could find the funds by using the Diocesan Pastoral money that she had in her desk. So she zoomed to her office and picked up the money and we were able to “check him in”. To make things more interesting when she got back, I was handed an envelope with 2 tubes of blood and was asked to take them to the 24 hour lab and pay the fee to have them run. So we got into the car and drove down the street to the lab where we paid $55 to have the tech run 2 tests. He told us the results would be ready in 30 minutes and he would report back to the hospital. Kal was in rough shape but when we came the next morning to collect him, the doctor said his white blood cells were double the normal count and his potassium was extremely low. The doctor said it was food poisioning, gave him 2 perscriptions and said there was nothing else to be done and sent him home. We took him to Richard and Venetica’s, a lovely couple from church for a little R ‘n R. Sunday came and went and Monday showed up. Monday afternoon Kal relapsed. Needless to say it ended up that Kal was airlifted to Jo’burg where his insurance could pay for the health care he needed. Kal is doing well and on his way back to England. There is only private ambulance Zimbabwe and it costs $300 which they ask before they take you to the hospital. Luckily they agreed to be paid by his insurance and took him to the plane and then to Jo’burg. I have never been so thankful for the health care system in Canada and will never complain again! The care he received at Avenues Private Hospital was fantastic, unfortunately the administrative side was horrid and as a result Kal was take to South Africa.

On another note, I leave for Penhalonga tomorrow. Penhalonga is on the east side of the country. It is an orphanage and hospital that was started by the CR (Community of the Resurrection). It is still Anglican but no longer run by the CR. It is one of the poorest orphanages in the country if not the poorest. We are going to help out and visit for the week. Penhalonga is in the diocese of Manicaland. This Sunday, Manicaland is concreting their new bishop. He was ordained as a priest 3 months ago. He is making history as the fastest concreted bishop ever. Manicaland like Harare has had problems with their previous bishop and the political troubles. Manicaland is a rural diocese and has had more trouble spreading the word of what is going on. Also rural areas are more inclined to Mugabe and to be more conservative. This concretion has been a long time coming and I am looking forward to taking part of this historic moment.
PENHALONGA
I went to Penhalonga this week for the first time. It is on a mountain top. Carl and I had to take a bus from Harare to Christmas Pass which is about 3 hours away. Christmas Pass got its name as it was discovered Christmas Day some 100 years ago. From there we had to wait for a Combi to take us to the turn off to Penhalonga. This was about a 30 minute wait which I am told is not that long. This combi only took as far at the turn off to St. Augustine’s Mission. It was another 30 minutes to the mountain. From there we hiked up a steep path with our backpacks. Had I known what this climb would’ve been like I would’ve packed much lighter. This took us to the mission. Penhalonga is a village, which is centered around the school and hospital. The sister’s were happy to see us, we got settled in the guest cottage as the sister’s live in the cloisters and visitors aren’t allowed in. We had tea and a much needed rest. For the rest of our time there is rained. This was very good news for the sister’s but bad news for us since it limited what we could do. We spent the Friday morning planting maize seeds in the fields with Sister Elizabeth. We spent the afternoon at the orphanage with the children. School runs differently here, the children go to school for 7:30 and finish between 12-1. This allows them to help in the fields during the afternoon. We had brought them toys and colouring and gave them out. This orphanage has nothing, they eat sadza and beans or cabbage everyday. When there is no sadza they eat bogart which is an awful food that looks and tastes like hay. It is considered the bottom of the heap as far as the food chain. Their orphanage is leaking all over the place, and smells of stale urine. Even in these awful conditions I have never seen happier children. It is absolutely the most humbling experience. All they want is to play and talk and just be with you. They are so happy that you’ve come to visit. Saturday I was able to sneak a peak at the church. This church was designed by the same architect as the CR church in Mirfield. It needs some renovation but the structure and bones of the building are stunning. The diocese of Manicaland has had the same problems as the diocese of Harare with their bishop. Bishop Jacazi left and came back 2 years ago. He is tied to the Robert Mugabe and ZANU PF. He took the buildings and all the assets that the church has. The bigger problem for Manicaland is that is a rural diocese and so communication is bad and hard. So the news that Jacazi wasn’t the Anglican bishop didn’t spread and the trouble he was causing wasn’t know. So the split was more even. As well the rural area is more conservative and sided with Jacazi as he is more conservative. The original reason for leaving was the issue of Gay rights but was also dealt with white people. Saturday while Mother Betty was in town she read in the paper and was told that the courts had sided with CPCA (the Anglican Communion side). This mean that Bishop Jacazi had to give back all the buildings and assets, as well as pay back all the money he had taken and pay all legal fees and that he was no longer the Bishop for the diocese of Manicaland. This was a huge success for the diocese and came just in the nick of time since the new bishop was concreted on Sunday. This also meant that there wouldn’t be any trouble during the concretion on Sunday as people feared there would be. The Sister’s at Penhalonga make communion wafers. They haven’t made it for some time since there hasn’t been a market and no money to buy flour. I went and bought some flour and Sunday evening Sister Elizabeth taught me how to make communion wafers. It is a long tedious process but I was surprised how far 2kg’s of flour can go. I made 2000 wafers and 200 priests hosts from 1 kg of flour. It took 7 hours to do. The Sunday night we made the batter and pressed the shapes, we let them sit over night. Monday morning we cut them out and packaged them. I took 1000 wafers and 100 priests hosts to bring home to show and use. I was quite proud of myself and impressed with how they turned out and it is all done by hand! The rest of Monday I walked around the village with the children and Carl and I met with children who live in the village but are specifically orphaned. They live with either parent or grandparent. There are 9 of them who come to this group. We told them about projects we were working on and projects we were implementing at Penhalonga. There was a girl who’s 14 and had to drop out of school because her grandma couldn’t pay for her school fees. The new year starts in January for school not September so we told her we would pay for her to start in the new year. High school fees are $90/year and primary school fees are $30/year. There is so much to do in a place like Penhalonga and all they really need or want is time. They just need to know that someone cares and wants to help. We read to the children Monday night and said our goodbyes because we had to leave Tuesday morning while they would already be at school. Tuesday morning we climbed back down the mountain. From the top of Penhalonga you can see Mozambique which is really unbelievable. We were able to catch a combi from the crossroads that took us right to the Christmas Pass turnoff. Luckily some friends were coming back from Mutare and we were able to get a lift.

CONCRETION
Sunday morning we were up at 4:30am to get down the mountain and catch a combi to get into Mutare to be at the school to begin the procession to the Show grounds for the concretion at 8:30. This concretion is a historical moment. It’s the first time in history that a man who had only been a priest for 3 months was to be concreted. Julius Makoni is known around the world as Asland because he is seen as a savior. This diocese has been waiting for him for 2 years. There has been a tremendous split, people not knowing who to trust or who is in charge, well today that was made clear. There was lots of talk during the service about the struggles this diocese has been through and how all that was going to change because now they had a leader who was going to take charge and lead them into the future and give them the possibility of a future, one without fear or retribution. We walked from the school to the show grounds, 3000 people walked and sang as they celebrated a new beginning. What made the service moving was how people we so happy for this to happen and relieved that was taking place. Elderly women were dancing in the isles, people were clapping, cheering, singing and chanting. I have never seen a community come together and bond like I did on Sunday. They have been waiting so long for this that it was hard to believe the day had finally come. It doesn’t matter where in the world you are from a concretion of a bishop is the same in all places. When the time for gifts and homage to be paid to the new bishop people brought everything from communion wafers to maize to goats. I could only think “Only in Africa would someone bring a goat”. Bishop Julius spoke and I truly believe he will be an amazing bishop. He spoke well and spoke like a leader and a shepherd. When he was robed and given his ring, his staff, his mitre and his cross; he really looked mighty and like a bishop. He’s a very humble man, silent and deadly. As I was got to the show grounds I was asked to walk in the procession with Carl; I went into a room to see bishops and priests getting dressed. Bishop Bacari came up to me and said “I saw you walking in the procession, I noticed that you walked with purpose and meaning, where did you learn to do that?” I answered “A lifetime of walking with a bishop”, he laughed and said “Are you a daughter of one?” and I said yes. He told me I would make my dad proud. Bishop Bacari was the interim bishop in Harare during the 2 years of trouble. He is now semi-retired and works as a bishop without a specific diocese, he goes where needed. He presided over the service. He’s one of those people who when you are in his presence know that you are with a great man, someone spiritual and wise. I also met the Bishop Chad, the bishop of Harare. He was lovely and asked me to drop by his office sometime. He had just come back from the House of Bishops in Niagara Falls. He had a great time and enjoyed the falls. It was a long and wonderful day, we took a combi and walked up the mountain back to Penhalonga and I slept like I had never slept before.

Sorry it's been awhile since my last post but things have been busy.
Let's talk politics. As you know Zimbabwe has a unity or coalition government. There is Robert Mugabe and the NDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai. Last week, Morgan threatened to leave the government because NDC members were still being beaten, killed, etc. As well, the changes that were suppose to happen, weren't. If Morgan leaves this causes problems for everyone. Zimbabwe gets its electricity from Namibia and it's petrol or gas from South Africa. In the last week ZESA (our electricity) has been off most of the time. We get it for a few hours each day but not much. We borrowed a car last week, it took us an hour and 6 gas stations to find somewhere that actually had gas. I am told that this is because Namibia and South Africa are threatening to cut us off unless the government stabilizes and gets it together. Yesterday in the news Morgan "resumed his duties". This is good for me because it means I can stay. If he left, the country would be in trouble and I would be evacuated.

The construction classes are going to be on their way soon. I met with a gentleman who owns a carpentery factory. He builds furniture. We have created a course where I teach the theory and he teaches the practical. We'll start with furniture like bunk beds, tables, chairs, hutches, coffins etc. and move to house construction. We are in the process of putting together a list of orphans from various homes around the country as well as our own to start classes.

We are starting a news letter that will be available in January to let people know what's going on with the project.

The weather here is getting uncomfortably hot. I am told this means the rains are coming. I am getting desperate for rain! This is where I miss the four seasons of home!

Christmas decorations are already up here, which seems weird given the weather. Halloween, Thanksgiving or Remberance Day is not celebrated here so it's been odd to just see decorations for Christmas where at home there is usually a build up.

Well the last 2 days have been excellent! Monday Kal (a doctor from the UK) arrived. He brought all sorts of goodies which was nice. I spent the afternoon at an AIDS clinic with a woman who's husband died a few years ago of AIDS. He had other wives and girlfriends that she knew nothing about. Even though I wasn't the one being tested it is soooo nerve racking. However God as usual is good and she's negative. We also had to go for a chest xray and it turns out she has PCP, a type of pneumonia. She'll be fine. Yesterday was another medical day. We ran some errands in town and stopped by St. Marys (our parish) and saw a woman with a 2 year old son, who had an awful cough. He was lethargic, had wheezing breathing and just irritable. He can't walk or talk and looks about 1. She had been to the hospital and they told her she needed to buy him a care card and medication. She is living out of a dumpster and makes money by having sex. She's a code 1 (HIV positive) luckily the baby isn't. Anyways we took her to the hospital and Kal and I went to talk to the pharmacist about getting some meds for him while they waited in the line to get him a card. Turns out because the baby is under the age of 5 he gets his card and meds for free. The hospital wanted to get money out of her and so they lied. We were able to speed up the process and get her the meds she needed and the card all in 1 HOUR, which in any country is unheard of. So the baby will be fine, we asked the mother to keep in contact so we can keep an eye on both mother and son. The 3 of us make a good team, complement each other and pick up where the last one leaves off.

Well I’m back from heaven…Cape Town. It was unbelievable. I forgot how much I missed the water. We spent the week, walking the waterfront, and laying on the beach. Not a whole lot but that was the point. I didn’t realize how tired I was, our phones didn’t work which was a blessing in disguise since we would’ve been answering calls and texts. Our bus ride back was an adventure. We left 1.5 hours late because it took them that long to load the bus with people’s stuff. Zimbabweans come to SA to buy because it’s cheaper and easier to get. The last 3 rows of the bus also had people’s stuff, from blankets to clothes to food to tables, chairs and even a kitchen sink. Before we left, the bus driver prayed and it turned out the back half of the bus was Anglican. I thought this would never happen at home. We spent 6 hours at the border. On the SA side, you stand in line and they check your passport and stamp it saying you are allowed to leave, on the Zimbabwe side they check to make sure you’re allowed back. This is how corrupt the border is, people jump the fence and sneak into the SA side, people hid on our bus to get to the other side; they were caught and kicked off, you have to bribe the border guards in order get your bus checked so you can leave. Everything comes off the bus and someone looks through your bags and checks it against the customs form, we didn’t buy anything so we didn’t have a form. I was surprised and a thankful that as a white person that we were ushered in, no one checked our bags or passports, they couldn’t believe we were coming to Zimbabwe and not leaving. Carl had to renew his visa, which is done every 3 months. In order to make more money they have changed it to every month. Luckily my visa is good until the end of January so maybe the rules will change again. Both on the way there and back we were pulled over numerous times in Zimbabwe by the police to check for diamonds. The road from Zimbabwe to South Africa has a variety of diamond fields; there are children on the side of the road that make a diamond shape with their hands. Some of these children are put there by police some are there to sell diamonds illegally. This was surreal to me. It’s one thing to watch it in a movie or on TV but very much another to live it. Cape Town is littered with diamond stores and jewellery stores. All stating that they are SA diamonds and non-conflict diamonds but no one really knows. I’m now back in Zim and back to the grind. The house is working on 3 projects that are run by the orphans in the house. One is the chicken project, which is frustrating because with a decline in chicks they are becoming hard to find. The second is our mangos. We have a mango tree in our yard, the house has decided to sell these mangos and it will become their allowance or pocket money, finally the last project is “Farming God’s Way”. This is a way of farming based on how nature and forest grow naturally by God. No machines, fertilizers or fancy irrigation systems. It is all done with a hoe, leaves (mulch) and spacing. You can check out the website www.foundationforfarming.org Farming God’s Way is also called Foundation for Farming because it’s not just a Religious concept. It is also being used as a way for evangelism. It is being used in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique. Rumor has it that it will be taught in schools here next year. Burning is a huge problem here. Burning is done in a field after the season is over to renew the ground as well in the grass when it’s brown to turn it green. This causes a lot of carbon emission, which is bad for the environment. This new way of farming would stop all of that. Well that’s all for now, I hope everyone is doing well.

Well I’m back from heaven…Cape Town. It was unbelievable. I forgot how much I missed the water. We spent the week, walking the waterfront, and laying on the beach. Not a whole lot but that was the point. I didn’t realize how tired I was, our phones didn’t work which was a blessing in disguise since we would’ve been answering calls and texts. Our bus ride back was an adventure. We left 1.5 hours late because it took them that long to load the bus with people’s stuff. Zimbabweans come to SA to buy because it’s cheaper and easier to get. The last 3 rows of the bus also had people’s stuff, from blankets to clothes to food to tables, chairs and even a kitchen sink. Before we left, the bus driver prayed and it turned out the back half of the bus was Anglican. I thought this would never happen at home. We spent 6 hours at the border. On the SA side, you stand in line and they check your passport and stamp it saying you are allowed to leave, on the Zimbabwe side they check to make sure you’re allowed back. This is how corrupt the border is, people jump the fence and sneak into the SA side, people hid on our bus to get to the other side; they were caught and kicked off, you have to bribe the border guards in order get your bus checked so you can leave. Everything comes off the bus and someone looks through your bags and checks it against the customs form, we didn’t buy anything so we didn’t have a form. I was surprised and a thankful that as a white person that we were ushered in, no one checked our bags or passports, they couldn’t believe we were coming to Zimbabwe and not leaving. Carl had to renew his visa, which is done every 3 months. In order to make more money they have changed it to every month. Luckily my visa is good until the end of January so maybe the rules will change again. Both on the way there and back we were pulled over numerous times in Zimbabwe by the police to check for diamonds. The road from Zimbabwe to South Africa has a variety of diamond fields; there are children on the side of the road that make a diamond shape with their hands. Some of these children are put there by police some are there to sell diamonds illegally. This was surreal to me. It’s one thing to watch it in a movie or on TV but very much another to live it. Cape Town is littered with diamond stores and jewellery stores. All stating that they are SA diamonds and non-conflict diamonds but no one really knows. I’m now back in Zim and back to the grind. The house is working on 3 projects that are run by the orphans in the house. One is the chicken project, which is frustrating because with a decline in chicks they are becoming hard to find. The second is our mangos. We have a mango tree in our yard, the house has decided to sell these mangos and it will become their allowance or pocket money, finally the last project is “Farming God’s Way”. This is a way of farming based on how nature and forest grow naturally by God. No machines, fertilizers or fancy irrigation systems. It is all done with a hoe, leaves (mulch) and spacing. You can check out the website www.foundationforfarming.org Farming God’s Way is also called Foundation for Farming because it’s not just a Religious concept. It is also being used as a way for evangelism. It is being used in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique. Rumor has it that it will be taught in schools here next year. Burning is a huge problem here. Burning is done in a field after the season is over to renew the ground as well in the grass when it’s brown to turn it green. This causes a lot of carbon emission, which is bad for the environment. This new way of farming would stop all of that. Well that’s all for now, I hope everyone is doing well.

Mangwanani. Last week Carl and I went to Counsellor Training. Bev Laws the Pastoral Care worker for the diocese set us up. It is 3 different courses; beginners, intermediate and advanced. The course is run by the Christian Counselling Centre and the two women who ran it were Anglican; one Shona and one white, both women. During this training I met a man named Solomon. Solomon runs St. Joseph’s Home for Boys. It’s an orphanage for boys 10-18 and there are 50 of them. Solomon was raised at St. Joseph’s and has a special understanding for it. Statisically in a home with 50 boys there are going to be some gay ones. In Zimbabwe it’s against the law to be gay. This causes many issues. For instance gay people marry and have “normal” lives because it’s the only choice and is expected, which is unfair to the spouse and the children. Also many act out and abuse against other boys. It’s become a massive problem at St. Joseph’s. Boys are unable to understand what’s going on and are abusing younger boys. Most of them have been sent away to be “treated”. There are a few left and Solomon what’s to help them understand what’s going on and that it’s not the end of the world. That they are still loved and can still be contributing members of society. This is HUGE, someone wanting to help and accepting these boys for who they are. He asked if Carl and I would help talk to them since we come from a society where it’s accepted. However there’s another problem at the home. Since there are only boys at this home and no women, straight boys are abusing younger boys as well. Solomon would also like to help teach the boys how to interact and treat women. This means I can’t be alone with any of the boys as it is unsafe. A counselor from social services who is a woman has agreed to help out with the straight boys, and Carl has agreed to help with the gay ones. So if you could keep Solomon and these boys in your thoughts it would be greatly appreciated.

On a happier note…I’m in South Africa (SA)! Specifically Cape Town. Cape Town is a beautiful place to live, I am having a fantastic time. SA is like another world compared to Zimbabwe. It’s another world down here. It’s got an inner harbour which reminds me of home. I could easily move here!!! The population of white to black here is almost an even split. So when I walk down the street I don’t get comments or stared at which is a nice feeling. I can be independent here and walk to places on my own (don’t worry mum I don’t). I spent the day at the waterfront, going to shops, eating fruit and veggies and just relaxing. It took us 35 hours plus a 6 hour layover in Jo’burg to get here. We had 2.5 hours at the boarder. You stand in 2 lines; one on the Zim side of the boarder and one on the Africa side of the boarder. The bus gets checked and your luggage gets checked. I was surprised and impressed. It was a long journey but well worth the traveling. Until next time.

Sunday I went with Doug Funk to the Eastern Highlands which is in the North East of Zimbabwe. Doug is a great and very dear friend from Victoria. He works with the Solong Foundation as their Africa correspondent. He has a 20 ton container shipped from Victoria filled with books and school supplies. The Eastern Highlands are known as one of the most beautiful areas in Zimbabwe. The drive up was unbelievable. There wasn't a crane to lift the container off the truck so we unloaded all the boxes and hooked the container by chain onto a tree and pulled it off. This was a brilliant piece of creativity and I was impressed with the skill. We took our time driving back and stopped a some places along the way. First we stopped at Troutbeck which is an old English resort. It is on a massive property with squash, swimming, horseback riding and other activities. The bar is an old English pub which is one of the most authentic I've seen outside of England. The building is wood and stone. It's definitely a place I'd like to stay and just relax and get away. We also stopped at a fruit stand and I bought some apples, nectarines and peaches. Finally we stopped at Bonda to talk to some women who teach Batiks which is Africa painting on fabric which is made into clothing, place mats, table clothes, duvet covers etc. It's run by 4 women, part of the training includes living with the women and being apart of the community. These women help orphans in the community with food and education which would be perfect for our project as the orphans we help would be with other youth in similar situations and make friendships for life. These women run other projects that we can get involved in that would help our orphans.

In other news, there are 2 possibilities for me to use the environmental bricks. In Nyunga where we went for the container unloading, one of the places the books are going to is a library that has been donated by the community. It's a small building on a large property that they want to build on. I offered to help with the design and construction. The second is an orphanages and learning center in Chipingi. Carl was out there last week and land has been donated for this project. What is exciting about this project is that I would teach the orphans how to make the bricks and build the buildings so it would be ALL ORPHAN made.

We are interview more orphans for the house in the next few weeks and so we are buying bunk beds today so we have more space.

Missing everyone at home. Lots of love

So I spent Sunday in a rural church. One was made all of straw, the other simple concrete with benches and a table. These churches are in the south which is colder then Harare. I also got a little rain which I have been craving for weeks. We stopped by a butcher shop on the way home and got 4kg of chicken at 16kg of beef for $50. There has been a split here in the Anglican church. About 2 years ago the Bishop of Harare resigned then changed his mind and wanted to come back. The diocese didn't let him back because he isn't a nice person. He created his own diocese and took the church to court for the property and won! He took some priests and people with him. Now the diocese is slowly getting their churches and property back. He is losing support. He still "owns" the cathedral and it is locked except for Sundays. I am not allowed in because I'm white and he doesn't like white people. He uses violence to get his way. The rural areas is where he is strongest. It has been hard for non-supporters as some have lost their farms (fires) and lost limbs, animals etc.

I went to Miekles hotel, which is like any hotel at home. It's a 5 star hotel here, one of four. The other 3 are in Victoria Falls. I met some friends for lunch it was nice. I had a burger!!!

I have been working on a project to use maize in bricks instead of cement. Maize is the staple food here like corn. The construction industry here and licensing assoication has given me a lab and facility to test this out. If it works maize husks that are thrown away or burned will be able to be used. An environmental success. So please pray hard that I can get it to work.

More for another time. Miss you all

Hey, It's me... Well Tuesday I went to Mbarie. It's the oldest part of Harare. It makes East Hastings look like the Empress. I've never seen such poverty. No one bothers you unless you bother them. I was the only white person there and was talked to A LOT. I went with Edwin from the house and he was offered money for me, asked if I was married and told that he was lucky I was with him. It was an experience.

Today Dr. Beata, a lovely lady and a great friend, I spent the day with her. She's a trustee and a grandma and helping me adjust. She's originally from Uganda but has lived here for many years. She's an eye specialist. She's the one I brought the glasses for.

We made pizza at home last night, it was a guess and test kind of experiment. We'll have to play around with the dough but it was a good time.

Just to give you an idea of what it's like. Grocery stores don't give change. They only deal in bills so instead of getting change you are given candy. There are no ATMs or Credit Cards EVERYTHING is done on a cash basis. So any money I need it has to be wired from Canada. There has been problems with fraud at the banks so wired money is then only way to guaruntee that you are getting money. Fruits and vegetables are imported so it costs $12 for 6 apples. There is a place to get local fruit, it's called Imbari, it dangerous because it's a high density area and people are so poor that it can be dangerous. If I go it has to be with a local who can keep me safe and tell people i'm not interested. Shampoo costs $8 a bottle and you can't get paper towel. I'm learning how to adjust and having a good time. Internet is a bit hard to come by, but my hope is in the next week or 2 I'll have full access on my IPhone so please pray about that. Miss everyone at home. I'll write when I can.

The past week has been great. I went to a Shona Anglican Music Competition. It was fantastic. It was at a church in the middle on nowhere. There were 4 choirs. They all had to do 2 songs, 1 that was of their choosing and 1 that was written by an adjudicator. I went to a working farm that spans as far as you can see. It's on a hill and one of the only green places I've seen here. The couple who own it is the rector of the church I will be part of. They have said I can go and relax for a few days whenever I need to. I may never leave if I go. It's so quiet and and peaceful. I have been working on some projects; the most exciting one is using Maize (their staple food) as a building material. After the harvest the maize is burned or chucked because it's not good for anything. My hope is to use it as a replacement in clay bricks. It is a strong fibre and I'm hoping it will create a strong brick. If this works, farmers will be making money after the harvest, their will be a middle man who will create the brick (another job) and the country will be creating their ow building product! I have a contractor interested as well as the Zimbabwe Standards Association which is incharge of licensing any work done in the country. I've been offered a lab and office to test the work in. So now I just need to get the materials and a brick press. Doug Funk from the Solong Foundation and a good friend has donated a high compression brick press which uses force and compression to create bricks instead of heat/fire. This is huge because Zimbabwe (Zim) is having a crisis of deforestation because people are cutting down all the wood for fire and no one is replacing it. I went to the Canadian Embassy to check in. It was the fastest trip to Canada I have ever taken. I received an email saying Thanks for the visit and they'll keep in contact.

I went to church at Highfield today, which is an Anglo Catholic parish. It is the largest in the diocese, 2000 parishioners. Highfield is a high density area. It looks exactly like what you see of Africa on tv. I had to roll up the windows and lock the door. You don’t stop for anything but a red light because people are so poor they’ll smash the windows to steal. We visited a 23 year old woman named Sarah who’s mother just died and left here with 2 younger siblings and loads of debt. Her extended family wanted to take her belongings and leave her with nothing. They live in a 1 bedroom, with no bathroom. The total room is about 10’X10’. This is the bedroom, kitchen, dinning room and living room. 4 of them were living in it. Sarah has found a job but has to take transport which costs $10/week, which over the month would take 4/5 of her salary. It was heartbreaking to watch, she’s had to grow up so fast and take on so much. We are trying to figure out a way for her to work out of her home. She rents the 1 bedroom for $80/month plus utilities $14/month but they are 3months behind because her mother was in hospital and they had to pay for that. I am spending 2 nights with the rector of Highfield and his wife. They want to show me around and show me what life is like everyday for this community. The sewer pipes are from 1942 and have rusted to the point where the streets are flooded with water. The service was all on Shona, which I am picking up. The music is traditional African and absolutely amazing. Communion takes 45 minutes because of the number of people. Collection is taking by people lining up like communion and put their money into a basket held by the sides people. They use to pass a basket around but because of the poverty people were taking money out of the basket. Shona services are about 2.5-3 hours long. English services are the length we are use to 1.5 hours.

I want to send out my deepest sympathies to Nancy and the congregation of St. Barnabas for the loss of a truly great man, John Hogbin. I am sorry that I can't be there but please know you are in my thoughts and prayers

Yesterday I went to 2 services, 1 in English and 1 in Shona. The Shona service was from 11:30 until 2pm. We went to the rectors for lunch. He lives in the rectory but he also has his own farm outside town. His wife is part of the Mother's Union which has 10,000 members just in this diocese. She has invited me to stay with them if a house full of boys becomes too much. We are going to Shirley Cripps orphanage to spend the night, there is no running water and there are loads of cocroaches so it should be an experience. I went to one of the orphanages around the corner from us where a woman named Gogo (means grandma) looks after 25 children from 0-15 out of her home. I took pictures to send to an NGO to show them what the money she gets is being spent on. We are having trouble loading pictures but I'll show them as soon as I can.

Well the past few days have been really busy. I had my first blackout last night so we had to cook dinner on a fire outside. Sadza is like dough with no taste, they put things in it like cabbage, onions and sometimes meat. I met the local priest this morning Fr. Innocent and we had a nice visit. There are 4 boys in the house, 3 go to school and 1 does things around town for us like...buy us 100 chicks that we can use for eggs and eating. We go to pick them up on Monday to bring them home. I'm learning how to ride in a combi which is like a big van that they sardine people into. I'm learning bits of shona, we are hoping to get someone from church to come a few times a week to teach us.

Well, I've arrived at Heathrow Airport and was looking forward to a shower but...showers are only located in terminal 4 and I'm in terminal 3. I looked at a map and terminal 4 is far away from terminal 3 so it looks like there won't be any shower until I arrived in Harare...hopefully. This airport is more like a city it's so busy and there are shops for EVERYTHING. Thank goodness for global things like Starbucks:)

I want to thank all my family and friends for their tremendous love and support over the past months in helping prepare for this next chapter of my life. I am so excited to be going and am looking forward to keeping everyone posted on what's happening.