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:)