Due to funding we are now creating a 1-storey library instead of 2, so I had to re-do the drawings for the building and re-calculate the foundations, footings, re-do the roof plan, and sort out another rebar schedule. I also discovered I could put wire mesh in the floor slab instead of rebar which does the same thing but it is easier because you buy it in sheets and have it sized to your needs, it is then laid in the concrete. Also because it is a 1-storey building I was able to reduce the rebar, which means less worry for me and a more guaranteed quality of rebar. So everything had to be re-worked and re-planned. This needed to be done in a span of 24 hours so we could go back to council and talk to them about the underpinning of the existing building. So we did an exploratory dig. This includes digging around the existing building at a few points to see what the foundation looks like. So we dug at 3 points the north, east and west walls. The north wall had a rock foundation with mortar to hold it together, there was no footing and the mortar was disintegrating into dust so I could scrap it out which caused holes. The foundation at the north wall was about a metre deep. The west wall had a tree root growing into the building, which was causing it to bulge, the foundation is about .75m deep and again no footings and the foundation was rock with disintegrating mortar. The southeast corner had NO FOUNDATION!!! The building was sitting on the ground and that’s it! How this building is still standing I have no idea. So the front (south end) of the building had no foundation as you moved along the east and west walls to the north end of the building the foundation gradually increased to a metre. We found that just underpinning the building was not going to be enough, when you underpin a building you do it a metre at a time so that the foundation is never fully exposed. So after the building is underpinned we’ll wrap the foundation in chicken wire to hold it all together and plaster the chicken wire to the foundation. I met with someone from council and took them to the site and showed him the foundation and my plan to fix it, he smiled, nodded and said, “Sounds good”. My biggest concern was that I would become liable for the existing building if I fixed it, which is a common practice and I didn’t want to become liable for a building I didn’t construct that is over 50 years old. I was worried about excavation of the new building without looking at the foundation of the existing building. Council wanted me to attach the existing building to the new building, which I refused to do unless I saw the existing building. We also laid out the building using pegs so I was able to see what my building is going to look like.

Tuesday this week we are having a groundbreaking ceremony. This includes important people from the Nyanga Rural Council, School Districts and Library Committee. The District Council has asked me to help inspect and train their building inspectors for this project, as they have no structural professional on staff.

So by the end of the week, we’ll have a final budget, the existing building sorted (hopefully) and a plan for construction!!!!

The Problem

The spots were dug for this exploration; 1 along the north wall, 1 along the west wall and 1 along the east wall. These spots were chosen based on the condition of the floors and walls inside and outside the building as well as the exposure they would face during excavation for the new building.

The east wall dig was done near the south wall as the south wall had an exterior crack right round through the corner column and down the side of the east wall. It’s been discovered that there is NO FOUNDATION at all. The stone that is at the bottom of the building continues down about 300mm and that’s it. The condition of the stone below dirt is that the mortar has disintegrated into dust and can be removed using your finger.

The north wall dig was done in the middle of the north wall, both columns at the north wall have cracks right down the length of them where the wall meets the column. The interior floor is cracked right across the north wall and down the east wall and where the crack meets in the corner up the interior north wall. This dig shows us there is a foundation down about 1 metre, but there is NO FOOTING. There is concrete sitting on the earth about 150, 200mm followed by a layer of mortar, which has also disintegrated into dust and can be removed with your finger, followed by rock. It is hard to tell how thick the foundation wall is at this time.

The west wall dig was done about ¾ of the way towards the north wall. This dig again showed us that there is NO FOOTING, and the foundation was about 750mm down, which shows us the depth of the foundation changes from the south wall of the building to the exterior, why this was done is undetermined, it might have been to account for the change in elevation. This is a concern because at this time we are unable to tell how the foundation changes either by stepping the foundation down OR just a diagonal slope. The foundation here is also 150 to 200mm of concrete followed with a layer of mortar and the stone. The mortar here has also disintegrated but the roots from a nearby tree have grown into the foundation and have left a hole. The stone above ground has spots of bulging and indentation, which follow the holes in the foundation, whether this is from the tree roots or the condition of the mortar is hard to tell.

The Solution

Myself along with Pat Hallows (candidate for construction) together came up with a solution. First of all the south end of the building, which appears to have no foundation needs to have some sort of foundation, we thought 500mm down and the 300mm wide under the stone already there. From there we can underpin the building doing an alternate 1m and then going back to do the alternate so that the building is never fully exposed. During excavation for the new building the north, east and west walls will be exposed and so we will wire mesh and plaster the foundation up to the bottom of the columns, which sits on a ledge. This will also deal with the stone problem as well as hold the foundation together.

I have never seen a foundation or lack thereof this bad. Pat, my contractor friend said that the building was waiting for me to save it! BUT the upside is that I am learning all sorts of problem solving and coming up with new ways to do things, which making this fun, well a version of fun anyways.

I had planned to go to Harare for the weekend, clean up some quotes on the Friday, go to the AIDS clinic on Saturday, go to church Sunday and leave after that, this being Africa that was just not going to happen. I picked up quotes on Friday, did some photocopying, printing of more drawings, talk to some new people about rebar (reinforcement bar), write up notes for some contractors. But I had to wait until Monday to meet some rebar guys, wait until Tuesday to pick up the final quotes and Wednesday I had my car serviced. In 7 months I’ve traveled 20,000 km!!! I’ve turned into my dad driving around BC when he was bishop. I can’t believe all the driving I’ve done, but my car is still plugging along and in good condition. All sorts of new things are popping up like the foundation of the old building, moving the current ZESA pole, the current septic tank location and the condition of the tank and the list goes on.

MY BUILDING GOT APPROVED TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so excited!!! AND I’ve found my Godsend to take over for me when I leave!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! On Monday, I meet with ZESA the electrical people to move the electrical poles, I apply to borrow the neighbouring plot to use for builder’s sheds, I met with Pat (my Godsend) to do some exploratory digging of the existing building to see the damage to the foundations and will underpinning be enough. The cracking and floor separation that had started has become worse over the last 2 months, the concern we have that during excavation of the new building the existing building will sink further or crumble with the disruption of the earth. We are also brick making!!!

So things are coming together nicely finally after much frustration, hard work and lots of learning.

This past weekend was a mess! Friday started with the usual burning but because of the winds the fire spread and got very close to some houses including mine, most people stood around watching while some of us grabbed water and fire beaters and tried to contain it, this was also scary because we were currently in the middle of a water cut! Friday we had a windstorm, which caused trees to fall over, and power lines to come down and cut off our power for 3 days which also meant no hot water. There is no hot water in the rural areas so you boil your water to get it hot or if you are lucky you have a geezer, which we do BUT you need power to heat the water in the geezer SO no hot water. This power cut was a mixed blessing because it meant we couldn’t work and were forced to take a weekend off, which meant I read 3 books in 2 days and didn’t turn on the computer as I wanted to save the battery. Sunday morning I woke up and went into the kitchen to boil water for coffee and the kitchen was FLOODED!!! So we spent a good few hours cleaning up the water only to have the water cut!!! So we now have the power lines fixed but no water. When ZESA came to fix the power lines, they spent about 8 hours doing so, they turned on the power only to have sparks come out of the line to our house and no power. So they turned the power back off, called in a few more people and sorted out the problem. So this weekend we’ve had all sorts of disasters but have survived them all!!!

I’ve been back in Nyanga for 60 hours and I have hit the ground running. I’ve been putting together the construction documentation, consolidating quotes, conference calling, meeting with distributers, meeting with council and the list goes on. I went to council to ask about an inspection schedule. Council said that I would need to hire a structural engineer to do some of the inspection, as no one at council is qualified. I told them I am a structural engineer and they said that I could do the inspection along with them. This seemed odd to me that they would allow me to inspect my own site, but I wasn’t about to argue.

Now, it's been a week, since I've been back and I've been madly trying to get the rebar (reinforcement bar) schedule sorted, I had forgotten how much rebar goes into a building and my schedule was 2 pages long consolidated and 4 pages broken down into sections like columns, footings, concrete slabs, etc. Then I went to meet with a contractor who lives in town, who I go to for advice, opinions and help and he said that they are having troubles with quality of steel that the Chinese are turning out rubbish rebar because they can sell it cheap but the trouble is then it needs to be tested by Zimbabwe Testing Association and you may end up putting twice as much rebar and your columns and slabs may become 2 or 3 times as thick. This I thought was nuts!!! So I now have to sort this out. This contractor has agreed to help me out, he has been doing this for 30 years and so knows much more than I do especially when it comes to the Zimbabwe system, this makes me feel much more relaxed and calm. Our chat today also included quotes for materials like plumbing and electrical and the products I shouldn’t be using. For example there are 3 possibilities for gutters; PVC (plastic), zinc and chromadex. Now my preference is PVC because it has a long life and doesn’t need much or regular maintenance. I went to 2 plumbers, one said it wasn’t available the other said he look into it and see what he could do, but it shouldn’t be a problem. The plumber who said no said to use chromadex. I had never heard of this so I asked my contractor friend he said, “stay away from it, the paint chips, it’s expensive and it needs regular maintenance, the man who wants to use it must be an agent for them”. I knew this would happen at some point that someone would use my lack of plumbing knowledge or electrical or whatever against me. For a long time I was researching everything so when I met with people I could ask questions and have some idea what they were talking about, but this became too much. I’ve said it before but this is why contractors are in their late 30’s early 40’s and NOT mid-20’s. But thank goodness for my contractor friend and he helped me out and so we talked for 4 hours about all sorts of construction materials, methods, Zimbabwe construction and I left feeling a mixture of frustration and relief. I go back to Harare tomorrow for the weekend to sort out some FINAL quotes of materials I can’t get in kamusha (rural area) like low flush toilets and LED lighting and sort the final plans for the rainwater harvesting and waste water management. So wish me luck, I’ll need it. Also it’s AIDS weekend already, where does the month go? So I’m going to find out how the solar water treatment is going and are they using the pamphlets that we gave them in June, thanks to David Ford’s genius idea.

I’ve been back in Nyanga for 60 hours and I have hit the ground running. I’ve been putting together the construction documentation, consolidating quotes, conference calling, meeting with distributers, meeting with council and the list goes on. I went to council to ask about an inspection schedule. Council said that I would need to hire a structural engineer to do some of the inspection, as no one at council is qualified. I told them I am a structural engineer and they said that I could do the inspection along with them. This seemed odd to me that they would allow me to inspect my own site, but I wasn’t about to argue.

Now, it's been a week, since I've been back and I've been madly trying to get the rebar (reinforcement bar) schedule sorted, I had forgotten how much rebar goes into a building and my schedule was 2 pages long consolidated and 4 pages broken down into sections like columns, footings, concrete slabs, etc. Then I went to meet with a contractor who lives in town, who I go to for advice, opinions and help and he said that they are having troubles with quality of steel that the Chinese are turning out rubbish rebar because they can sell it cheap but the trouble is then it needs to be tested by Zimbabwe Testing Association and you may end up putting twice as much rebar and your columns and slabs may become 2 or 3 times as thick. This I thought was nuts!!! So I now have to sort this out. This contractor has agreed to help me out, he has been doing this for 30 years and so knows much more than I do especially when it comes to the Zimbabwe system, this makes me feel much more relaxed and calm. Our chat today also included quotes for materials like plumbing and electrical and the products I shouldn’t be using. For example there are 3 possibilities for gutters; PVC (plastic), zinc and chromadex. Now my preference is PVC because it has a long life and doesn’t need much or regular maintenance. I went to 2 plumbers, one said it wasn’t available the other said he look into it and see what he could do, but it shouldn’t be a problem. The plumber who said no said to use chromadex. I had never heard of this so I asked my contractor friend he said, “stay away from it, the paint chips, it’s expensive and it needs regular maintenance, the man who wants to use it must be an agent for them”. I knew this would happen at some point that someone would use my lack of plumbing knowledge or electrical or whatever against me. For a long time I was researching everything so when I met with people I could ask questions and have some idea what they were talking about, but this became too much. I’ve said it before but this is why contractors are in their late 30’s early 40’s and NOT mid-20’s. But thank goodness for my contractor friend and he helped me out and so we talked for 4 hours about all sorts of construction materials, methods, Zimbabwe construction and I left feeling a mixture of frustration and relief. I go back to Harare tomorrow for the weekend to sort out some FINAL quotes of materials I can’t get in kamusha (rural area) like low flush toilets and LED lighting and sort the final plans for the rainwater harvesting and waste water management. So wish me luck, I’ll need it. Also it’s AIDS weekend already, where does the month go? So I’m going to find out how the solar water treatment is going and are they using the pamphlets that we gave them in June, thanks to David Ford’s genius idea.

We haven’t had water in 5 DAYS! I smell really bad even with washing my face, brushing my teeth, deodorant AND perfume!!! We have a geezer for hot water BUT it’s limited because we need city water to fill the tank and then heated and then comes into the house. Today I finally said “ENOUGH” filled the bath half with hot water and let it sit all day to cool then filled it the other half with hot water to have a bath. This is using most of the reserve but after 5 days I NEED TO BATH!!!! When I say hot I mean HOT, it’s scalding and it takes about 2 minutes to get that hot. I haven’t been able to do laundry so I am taking my laundry back to Harare and doing it at friends, well that’s not really true, she has domestic help so she’ll do it. I tried to do it once and she got upset thought I didn’t like how she did laundry or worried she would get in trouble because I was doing her job. Anyways it’s hard to get use to but it’s the way it is over here. It’s like taking laundry home over the weekend from University and getting mum to do it.

It’s starting to warm up here FINALLY! The nights are still cold but the days are really sunny and hot. ZESA has been touchy as well, we went 3 days without power and then it came on Friday for the day and was off 5:30 until 11pm, and none on Saturday until 9pm and today it’s been on 12 until I don’t know. I’m telling you I have mastered cooking on the gas. I’ve learned to cook all sorts of stuff in the gas; cheese sauce, potato wedges, meat, rice, burgers.

The drawings are all complete and printed and submitted to council for approval. All construction in Zimbabwe must include as “shed” on site. This shed is really a wooden shack that is used as an office. We appealed to council to extend it and use also to store the brick press and all it entails and make bricks inside and store the bricks. After much debate and negotiations we were granted the approval.

I have spent the last 2 weeks in Harare doing the not so fun part of my job. A big part of the project is using local products and being environmentally friendly. Since I am out in kamusha (the bush or rural area) we can’t get plumbing fixtures, electrical or mechanical SO we are getting bids from around the area specifically Mutare (an hour away) and Harare (3 hours away), which is still in the 800km radius of getting local materials. This is the environmental regulations for local products. So I had to get 3 quotes for each system, since I am not familiar with professionals here I asked around. This was harder than I thought. It included driving around Harare to 3 different industrial areas; Workington, Southerton and Msasa. These are the areas of trade industry, I took a fellow engineer (a Shona male) for help with translation because sometimes people have a hard time understanding what I want and I sometimes have a hard time understanding the accent and the phrasing. These areas have a few white people and NO WOMEN. So I stood out as a woman and when we walked into a place the engineer I brought was who they would talk to and I would cut in and tell them what I wanted, I was very specific and gave them a stack of paperwork so that there was no misunderstandings and gave them a timeline and emphasized it several times during the conversation. Most places were shocked that I was the one giving the information and after a while, my friend was becoming known as my personal assistant, I thought; “hey there’s an idea”. He also made most of the follow up calls because it’s even harder for me on the phone with accents and getting some people to understand what I want and the phone network is worse than useless. Then he really became known as my personal assistant. Of course none of my due dates were followed but progress has been made. I am just waiting on a few leftover systems quotes. I have become quite popular in the industry as the woman contractor. Some of the engineers I have been working with say I have a better network then they do.

I am back at home YEAH and full speed ahead!!!! I missed my bed, walking instead of driving, and just working on the project instead of doing administration work. I must say I am missing my personal assistant.

Something I’ve really noticed over the last few months and why I brought my friend along is that Shona people translate Shona into English so sometimes what they say and what they mean isn’t the same thing. Sometimes it comes off rude or the mix and match and you just haven’t a clue what’s being asked or said. It’s hard to explain over a blog but trust me it’s frustrating and sometimes really funny.

Well things have been busy as usual. I wanted to have the drawings finished and submitted by last week but it didn’t happen!!! The plumber is stuck out in a mine somewhere and the mechanical guys are just slow. So we are delayed AGAIN. The concern is that the rainy season will come and it will make it harder to build. I have suggested we start making bricks and trusses and such to at least have them ready to start building when the permits come through because the bricks take 2 weeks to cure (drying at a specific rate to reach maximum strength). So we are currently in a holding pattern. On the upside I’ve been asked to do some drawings for a school in Uganda. This is exciting but a bit hard without seeing the lot and not having the Ugandan building code but I’m figuring it out and plugging away.

Church seems to be the way to network in this country. I was meeting with the Electrical Engineer (from church) and was asking if he knew anyone who could install the electrical and generator, he introduced me to someone from the Shona congregation, I met with him and I think he may be more of a perfectionist than I am, he is excited and eager to help out and would be willing to train someone in Nyanga on maintenance and repair. When I needed a plumber I asked the Electrical Engineer again if he knew anyone and he said there was someone from the service I go to who could do it, so I met him and found out he’s an environmental plumber, that he was eager to do waste water management, rainwater harvesting and use low flush toilets, motion sensor sinks and would train someone in Nyanga to do maintenance and repair. He also comes with an impeccable reputation; while I was talking to him I discovered he is also a perfectionist. I was really excited and eager to use him as well, the trouble is so is everyone else. He is popular with the mining community and doing the plumbing for them, which is why I’ve had a hard time pinning him down. But it will all get sorted… eventually… I hope. The mechanical engineers are from the family service, they are newly graduated students and with the help of the Dean, a professor and myself have been plugging away at this project, the trouble is they are a bit slow and need a lot of attention. I am happy to help new to the field students as it a leg up for them when they apply for jobs and a good learning experience for both them and me.

For the plumber and the mechanical guys I had to go to the meteorological station and find out some weather information about Nyanga. This included: temperature maximum and minimum, annual rainfall, wind speeds, and sunshine hours. Now this isn’t as easy as going to google, the information is not posted online, you have to go to the station and fill out a form. The choices include; a monthly statement over a 30 year period (long term), a monthly statement over a 1,3 or 5 year period (short term), an annual statement over 30 years and finally an annual statement over 1,3 or 5 years. All this of course you pay for, so we started with monthly statements long and short term, and then moved to annual statements short and long term. The cheapest was going to still be steep so I went to the weather station in Nyanga and asked them what to do, they were able to give me a one year monthly statement for temperatures and rainfall for free but the wind speeds and sunshine hours were not kept at the local stations but at the main one in Harare so I went back to Harare and asked what it would cost for just the last 2 parameters (each item like annual rainfall is called a parameter) and was given a price I could live with. So after 2 weeks and lots of negotiation, I had all the information I needed to pass on to my people.

My poor car has been abused once again; my roommate backed up into my car instead of driving forward and smashed the rear window, and trunk so it wouldn’t open. So it went back to the garage where in 10 days it was fixed. The problem was that they couldn’t find the right rear window so it took some time to find one.

So this is what the Uganda project is all about. They want to build a number of small block schools with 2 to 4 classrooms that they can put all over the rural areas, where there isn’t a need for a large school but a desperate need for a school. The plan includes 2-4 classrooms separated by 1-2 storerooms. It’s a simple plan but one that means the difference between an education at home and having to walk miles or no education at all.

The weather finally is warming up, summer is just around the corner, and we are in a place like spring but more winter. Almost time to bring back the shorts!

Well I’m back in Nyanga and working away. The soil samples came back!!!!!! I have the results after what seems like months it’s done and I am now drawing the structural plans of the building. I’m going to say that again I am now drawing the structural plans of the building! I love that I am drawing, getting back to what I’m good at and what I know. Even though I am doing manual drawing, which I love anyways, it’s calming for me, I pop in a movie, turn on the computer, sit down and just draft away. I was up until midnight drawing and I didn’t even notice the time, I was just in heaven. It’s just soothing and relaxing. I forgotten about my drawings because I have been working in all the other aspects, making sure this person had the right information and that person was doing his job and reading and researching about plumbing and electrical and the latest in HVAC systems so that I understood what was going on when I talked to them and could ask questions. There is a reason that contractors are in the 30’s or 40’s and not their 20’s. By that stage of their career they know these things so they can do what needs to be done. I’ve learnt so much and I love it but I had forgotten that I also had drawings and calculations of my own to do. When it comes to my job I am a perfectionist, I want everything to be right and perfect and everyone to be the same. My roommate also tells me I am a workaholic and it makes her look bad (I think she works just has hard as I do) but the thing is I never seem to be caught up I seem to always be a few steps behind, I thought things in Africa happen slower, maybe it’s just me. Anyways I am back in Nyanga for a while which means less interruptions so this is good.

This business of soil testing has been a HUGE headache. First off I went to the Agricultural Lab, they said no they didn’t do construction soil testing try Soil Labs. Soil Labs doesn’t exist anymore so I went to the Ministry of Agriculture to find out if they knew, they suggested the Chemical and Mechanical Soil Testing then they sent me to I went to Engineering Soil Analysis Lab and they sent me to SIRDC. SIRDC does all sorts of things, they are a government facility that does Environmental, Agriculture, Construction and the list goes on. The gentleman I met with there said they could do the work and showed me the package, he said he’d have to get a quote and let me know. I was so excited I has spent over 2 days and had drove all over the city and FINALLY someone could do the work. He called me a few hours later and… it was going to cost the earth for 3 tests and I thought, “Are you NUTS?” So back to the drawing board, I went back to the building code and thought there has to be another way and I noticed a table, which had soil classification and the load that the soil can carry for each class. I talked to a farmer friend who also does minor construction and he gave me the name of a lab, that if I gave them the table with the classifications and asked them to test the soil and classify it, they would do it for a whopping $20/sample of a kg. This was music to my ears, I was so excited and happy and thought about time!!!! So they are going to test my soil and have the results back to me in 5 days!!!!

An NGO called SODIS has a method of purifying water. The basics of this system are using the suns UV rays to purify the water. It takes about 8 to 12 hours. Apparently they have an office here in Zimbabwe where 3 million people in rural areas are using this system. I have yet to find this office or anyone who has heard of SODIS, but the upside is I found the brochure online with pictures of how the system works and how to implement the system. I had the brochure translated into Shona and made 54 copies for the families at the AIDS clinic who are in a high-density rural area and get water-purifying tablets from the clinic. They tablets are donated but they have a chlorine taste, which the Shona aren’t fond of and at some point someone pays for it, this system is way better and they don’t have to worry about the taste. So the clinic is July 3 so we’ll try it out and see how it goes. The concern we have is that during winter (right now) there isn’t enough sun to do the job, so I’m trying to find the Harare office of SODIS and find out what they do during this time of year. We are also looking at a large-scale system to put this in the library. So stay tuned for an update.

HAPPY CANADA DAY FROM AFRICA!!!

Well the last week or 2 has been busy, frustrating, exciting and difficult. It began with a trip to Harare where on the way I met with the high school drafting teacher to collect the architectural drawings. The next morning we had the drawings blueprinted and I started my hunt for a soil-testing lab and to find a place where I could acquire the rest of the construction codes. I went and met with some Mechanical Engineering students, and we talked about how they could be included in the project; how their electromagnetic mechanical system could be paired with an HVAC system and creating a solar water heater. During this discussion I met with their dean, who told me he had a teaching vacancy for 2-second year classes if I was interested. I wrote a list of questions for the students to find the answers to about their system and the capabilities of their system and told them we’d meet again in a week to see what they had come up with and what we would be able to do. I took my car in to have the bits and pieces fixed that couldn’t be fixed in Zambia, what I thought would be a day or repairs turned into 3! I met with the Electrical Engineer, who helped me, design an electrical system based on the Solar Aid equipment and specifications. I then planned my trip to Zambia. Due to time constraints and to just make my life easier, I flew. It’s an hour flight each way, which is much nicer than the 8 hours and the border is simple, just a form, a stamp and a fee and you’re off. Before I could fly out I had to go back to Nyanga to pick up some information, drop off some information and have a meeting, which I was able to do in 24 hours. So Sunday morning I caught the red eye (well red eye for me) at 6:45am, I spent Sunday preparing and getting re-acquainted with Lusaka. Zambia is in winter like Zimbabwe but it’s like Victoria in August, it was crazy hot. Monday morning I went and met with Chris a wastewater and biogas engineer. We talked about a design and plan that would include plumbing, wastewater cleaning and re-distribution and turning waste into a biogas to fuel that a generator would use to run the electricity. He took me around and showed me 3 different kinds of systems he had designed, although the technology and idea is the same each project is individually designed. We talked about low flush toilets and motion sensor sinks, he gave me some local company’s to check out for both and by local I mean South Africa. From there I went and saw Trevor, the Solar Aid guy, I wanted him to look at the electrical plan, ask questions and find out what has happened by way of electrical technology in the last month. He was really excited to see me and was pleased with we had come up with. He was able to answer all my questions and asked me if I wanted a job! He needed someone to do design and research. From there he took me to meet a solar electrical distributer and we learned about the latest in solar and environmental lighting. The latest lights are 3 watts and ¼ amp. They last 50,000 hours where if you run them 12 hours a day it lasts 11 years. I was a bit skeptical about this so I did some research and it’s all true! So he is sending me the specifications so I can pick my electrical. Trevor wanted me to stay an extra day to do some more showing around including the environmental, sustainable house he and his wife built but I had a plane to catch. I was back in Zimbabwe the following evening, spending a total of 36 hours in country. Back in Harare I had a day and a half to meet with the Electrical Engineer to finalize the plans, find someone who had the codes I was looking for AND to meet with the Mechanical Engineering 4^th years students and their dean. We discussed more ideas, I had some of my questions answered and they are now working on a plan with their dean, myself and another professor supervising. So I’ll meet with them again in 2 weeks to see what the design looks like. My biggest headache was finding someone, anyone who could give me access or had the codes that I needed for some follow-up work. The building bylaws for Zimbabwe follow the British Building Standards, the Central Africa Standards and the South African Building Standards. I went to the Institute of Engineers, they sent me to the Construction Institute, who sent me to the Institute of Architects, who sent me to the Zimbabwe Standards Association who sent me to their head office and… they had the codes. However it wasn’t as easy as I thought, this included looking through catalogues for each standard, picking out the ones I wanted writing them on a form where someone would find them for me. It’s like a library BUT you pay for each book you take out and you are charged based on the number of pages in the book. Some standards you can buy but I thought I’d rent some first and see what I could find. I am now back in Nyanga and have a “to do” list as long as my arm. This morning I took soil samples from the site to take into Harare to have them tested. I was given 3 people to help me and by help me I mean they did all the hard labour and I just supervised. We took 8 samples, 4 locations at 2 different depths.

Sorry it’s been a while since I last updated on what’s going on, things have been very busy!!! After coming back from Zambia I had a lot of work to do. I had to draw an electrical plan based on what I had discussed with Solar Aid. I needed to research alternative materials for roofing tile compared to what Zambia was using, so instead of using red oxide, which costs a bomb using limestone to make it green or crushed gravel to make it a grey colour and then making the roof a green roof with grass. As well as finding out more information about the Biogas and Waste water system and how that could be incorporated into the project and IF it could be incorporated into the project. There was a lot of research I had to do because I was a bit out of my depth. I have never been in charge of all the aspects of the plans like electrical, plumbing, sewage, etc. I never realized that before you can draw the foundations you have to have all these other things planned and in place. This was frustrating to me because I didn’t feel like I was getting anywhere that I hadn’t put anything on paper. So a million emails, hours of research and much frustration I had a plan, which included a trip back to Zambia, I had it all worked out for the end of June but then…one of my contacts in Zambia, the man I needed to see is leaving for Germany for 6 weeks on the 19^th of June. That totally shot my plan out the window. So I had to re-think and find out did I have the time and resources to go back to Zambia in such a sort space of time, would I be able to get it all done. I didn’t have an electrical plan drawn out…I didn’t have an electrician! So I was thinking that maybe this all wasn’t going to work, and then I went to Harare for the monthly AIDS clinic and I ran into a friend. He asked me how I was doing and I explained my situation and he said the best sentence I ever heard “Did you forget I’m an electrical engineer” Music to my ears!! So we sat down and drew a plan so I could take the plan with me to Zambia and meet with Solar Aid and meet with the Biogas and Waste Water guy. BOO YAAA. So now I had to plan the trip and it actually came up at a good time because my visa has to be renewed by June 13^th. Due to time restraints and previous experience I decided to fly to Zambia (I just finished having my car fixed in Harare so it’s running like new, but that’s another blog). So I was able to get a ticket to fly on Sunday morning 6:45am (yuck!) and come back Monday (that’s right the next day) at 9pm. So 36 hours in Zambia to do what I need to do, no diddling around. While this is all going on I met a volunteer at the AIDS clinic, a student in mechanical engineering who is doing his final project on electromagnetic boiler systems for industrial use. This really means using electricity to clean and heat water for a hot water heater. As he was talking about this the hamster in my brain started running on her wheel and the light came on, is it possible that this electricity could also cool water? Could it be used to power the movement of air through a building? How much electricity would it take? How much fuel would it take if the power goes out? Well WHEN the power goes out? What if we could apply this system to an HVAC system (heating, ventilation and air conditioning). Part of the project is to build a prototype. So after asking my questions and thinking I thought it’s crazy enough it just might work. So I made an appointment to meet his team at the university and talk it out. While I was there I met the Chairman of the department, after a chat, he offered me a teaching job, teaching “Strength and Materials” to second year students. It was a lovely thought but when would I have time to teach? The project has to be approved and the prototype work to pass and it was the condition that I made if it was to be used for the project. The project is to be handed in at the end of the month and approved by the Chairman by the end of July when they graduate, which actually works out pretty good timing wise. So another section well on it’s way. My next big headache is plumbing. Any suggestions? This has been a HUGE learning experience for me and I’m loving every minute of it, even though at times it’s stressful, I’ve met some fantastic, brilliant people and learning about all sorts of new technology.

Winter has arrived in Zimababwe!! I never thought I’d get cold in Africa but here I am thinking I should’ve brought a nice Irish wool sweater!!! Oh well, hindsight is a beautiful thing. So I am held up in my house, working hard, planning designs, drawing out plans and calculating loads. Reading through a million different books and trying to get everything to work together my desk has never looked better an organized mess. When construction starts we’ll be building in the winter, good thing I went to university in Calgary where I was surveying in - 40° weather with snow, which will make this a cakewalk. I miss that if I need drafting supplies I can walk or drive 10 minutes from home and buy what I need, here in Africa I have to plan to drive 3 hours to Harare or if I’m lucky I can get what I need in Mutare (1 to 1.5 hours) away. Sometimes Mutare gets the supplies but sometimes (more often than not) they don’t.

Today is my first experience of “load sharing”. Instead of ZESA cutting everyone off, they just limit the power everyone gets. For instance some lights don’t work and others are dull, the fridge works but the cooker works much slower and you have to put it on full to get it to work at all. Water in the kettle boils but it takes more than twice as long, computers work but the use your battery as well as the power. I find this worse than no power. At least I know without power that I have so much time on my computer or I have to use the gas to cook or boil water or use candles or my solar lamp. But with load sharing some things work and some don’t and you have to go around testing lights and things to find out when full power has come back on. This also is frustrating because some amenities in town work and some don’t. Government facilities aren’t open because they want full power, the gas station is running but only some of the pumps and part of the station work. Most places act like there is no power because it means that they don’t have to work. I thought this would be ok but I find I’m more frustrated trying to find out what works and what doesn’t that I would just rather have no power.

Today I had my first experience (I’ve had a few this week) of a bat in the house. In the roof, we had a bat that got out through a hole. It was flying around the veranda, the dog went nuts and we tried to coax it out the front door. I have never seen a bat up-close nor did I think they lived in Zimbabwe (you learn something new everyday). The event ended by the bat flying out the front door, but it may end up that we have another pet.

Anyone know a good electrician who knows about solar electricity? Or anyone who can tell me how to make a biogas wastewater system flow into and be a part of electricity? I’m stuck!!!! Thankfully I have help even if they are in Zambia, it looks like I’ll be taking another trip to Zambia sooner rather than later (maybe this time I should fly). BUT after 2 days with no ZESA I got some major email feedback and it’s all good news, sometimes people are just fantastic and I could kiss them all (but I won’t). SO I just might be able to pull this off.

On a different note, I read in the paper yesterday that Zimbabwe is going to send electricity to South Africa for the World Cup. Yes you heard me right, Zimbabwe, where our electricity is rough at best is going to be sent to South Africa so that people can watch soccer! Please explain this to me??

So today I met with the Engineer Officer for the Nyanga Council. The reason for this meet was to ask him about surveying the site. The map I was given by the office is less than desirable and didn’t really tell me anything. So I asked if either they could survey the site OR give me the equipment to let me survey the site. He was more than happy to have me survey the site (and a few others) and he would give me the equipment. I met with his staff member in charge of surveying and he showed me the equipment. It looks like it’s from the 60’s or 70’s but luckily other than a computer screen and buttons not much has changed. So he loaned me a worker and off we go to survey the site. I had drawn out the points (28 in all) that needed to be done, which also included the existing building which had never been surveyed (which explains why the foundation has cracked down 2 walls and the floor has separated). So at 2pm this afternoon, I went and picked up the equipment and took it to the site with 2 helpers and Willie (my colleague and local support). I set up my equipment and looked through the lens and … the equipment was off, and not just a little bit but WAY OFF. So we started surveying the existing building and it was harder than I thought it would be, and also my eyes just wouldn’t focus, so between the 4 of us, we scrambled through and finished!!! After this was complete, Willie said “My GPS has geodetic elevations on it, we can put it at each corner and check the work”. So I’m going to use this as my back up and hopefully between the 2 we won’t be far out. I know this doesn’t sound very technical or precise but TIA. The 2 staff the council loaned me thought I was a genius (and I’m not going to tell them otherwise). So this was a big step in the project and the drawings can now go to council for approval. Day 2 of surveying was all calculations. I want to ask a question to anyone reading this, why would contour maps and elevations in a country that is metric, that was “owned” by a metric country and has never been an Imperial country use Imperial heights for elevations??? It makes things complicated AND means that I had to do calculations twice after realizing I made a HUGE mistake and did everything metric. This also means that the drawings will be in metric AND imperial so that no one gets confused. Maybe they had an American come to Nyanga and survey the entire area and then leave and no one bothered to check the work. This also means that the site plan has become a mess of numbers that on one but me is going to be able to read! Between the drawing and the math my brain has packed it in and some changes to the site plan needed to be made. Now I’m starting all the engineering drawings, which I’m expecting to be really exciting, stressful and I’m probably going to want to pick up a drinking habit more than once during this process but it’ll be a good learning experience and that’s what it’s all about right?!

Just when I thought my car adventures were over…I left for Zambia and I was feeling pretty good about it, my tires were checked, the headlights were working and it was running fabulously. Things were going great until we got to the Chirundu border. First off the border crossing is a maze of gates and buildings that don’t do anything. So you park the car, go through the Zimbabwe side where you talk to the customs about why you’re going, where you are going, blah, blah, blah. Then you go to Interpol Zimbabwe where I filled out a form about my car and they stamped the form. Then I went to the Zambian side where customs were asking me all about Canada and why a nice girl like me is in Zimbabwe. I paid for my visa and then walked on to Zambian Interpol to check in my car. The Zambian officer went out to check my car’s engine and chassis numbers to make sure they matched what Zimbabwe Police in Harare had written on my international clearance. He was checking the chassis number as saw that the police had only written the last 6 digits of the number instead of the whole number, which is about 20 numbers and letters long. The Zambian police told me he wasn’t allowed to pass my car. I couldn’t believe it, I was going to have to drive back to Harare and ask the police to do their job. I went back to the Interpol Zimbabwe and talked to the officer there, he was embarrassed because he was suppose to go and check the car as well but had just stamped the form thinking that Harare Police had done their job. So we was worried what to do, he took me from office to office talking to all sorts of people and finally we agreed he would write an amendment to the form and correct the mistake and when I got back to Harare would fill out a form and have the police change all my car paperwork. Interpol Zambia was reluctant but felt sorry for the foreign white girl and stamped the form and let me through. I thought that was it, that was my incident in Zambia BUT I was wrong. The roads in Zambia make the potholes in Zimbabwe look like brand new roads. So I was trying to be cautious because my car isn’t a F150. I was driving along minding my own business when a car comes barreling down the road trying to pass a car heading in my lane, he wasn’t going to make it so I slowed down a massive pothole taking up the entire lane, sinking down a few inches was right in front of me and I just couldn’t avoid it, I slowly hit the hole and flattened a tire. Well no big deal, I would just change the tire, BUT my 17mm spanner was stripped to a point where it wouldn’t grab the nut. So I flagged down a car and they were gracious enough to help me out. So I headed back on the road, the car was driving fine BUT it was making a little squeaking noise. When I got out to pay a toll I checked the tires and quickly looked under the car and saw nothing. When I arrived in Lusaka and arrived at my friends house, I asked if she knew a mechanic that could just take a look under the car to make sure it was ok. I took the car in and found out that the whole right side was out of line, that there were parts that needed to be replaced. They were unsure if they had the parts and so they told me they would check around. I thought to myself, ENOUGH! I’m done and also thought to myself the first thing I’m doing when I get back to Canada is to take a mechanic’s course! I want to be able to fix a car myself.

Today, I had an AMAZING day. I met with a man from Washington state who works for Pestazzoli Project. They are an NGO that helps high school students in rural areas get an education. The project is a village where students learn and live both life skills and academic skills. They create their own roof tiles on site, which is why I was visiting the project. When I got out there and was taken around the village I was shown around I saw a Bio Gas and Waste Water Treatment System. This system uses organic materials and human waste to create a fuel or gas and the water from the rain and wastewater used in the village to irrigate and put back into the village and the fuel is used for cooking. This system has helped the village become more self sufficient and environmentally friendly. So tomorrow, I meet with Solar Aid and go to the company that sells the tile press to find out how we can acquire one and send it to Zimbabwe.

Today I met with Solar Aid and it was a good news bad news situation. Bad news is that the project is going to be too big and have too much electrical for solar panels to be effective. Solar panels have a life span of 15-20 years, the batteries and inverters have a life of 4-6 years so replacing them 4 times within the life span of the panels. They suggested putting away $100 USD a month to pay for the replacements. YIKES! So we talked about other suggestions. Using LED lighting having 2 circuits one that powers the building and one that stores power to a back up so when ZESA goes out the second circuit will power some of the building (computers and some lights). It wasn’t my ideal but still environmentally friendly and there will still be power when ZESA goes. The back up can be run off the Bio Gas that I was looking at the day before, which made me happy. So things are coming together. I am now trying to plan, research and draw all this before I forget it and the I’ll go back to Zambia meet with people to look over the work and bounce ideas off of. Everyone was so helpful and wants to keep in contact, Solar Aid would love to do a project like this but trying to find a way to make solar panels an effective way to power the building or how effective will this idea we’ve put together work.

After Solar Aid I spent 2 hours in a REAL bookstore and looked through construction books, novels and just puttered. I started to get the stink eye from the security guard, but he looked happy when I walked out with a book in hand.

Driving back to Harare was thankfully an uneventful trip, my car survived, I avoided the potholes like the plague AND I had no problem with the border. Funnily enough the officer for Interpol Zimbabwe was the same guy I had going and this was the opposite office. He remembered me and signed my paperwork and wished me well and to come back to the border as soon as I could.

I spent a few days in Harare to relax and do some running around, trying to get find someone who can fix my car, unfortunately I’ll have to wait for the parts but I found someone YEAH! So that was my Zambia adventure, I am now back in Nyanga and full of energy to get these ideas into practice.

Even though my excursion into the bush was more excitement than I had planned, I was really honored because in true rural, “old school” tradition, his family killed a goat in my honor. I wanted to stay but it was getting dark and because there was no signal and I hadn’t told anyone I was going into the bush, I wasn’t able to stay for dinner or the night. Instead I was given a trunk load of fruit and vegetables including; pumpkin, watermelon and fresh homegrown peanuts. I felt really bad about not staying and especially bad for the goat who had to die for someone who couldn’t eat it but it was nice just the same.

I met with a teacher from a school in Rusape, which is about an hour from Nyanga. This teacher, along with some of his colleagues is manually drawing some of the architectural plans for the project. The purpose of the meeting was to see how he was coming along, what changes he needed to make and for me to get copies so I can survey the site and design the foundation, footings and drainage.

Next week I head of to Zambia to look at the Pestazzoli tile project. This project uses a simple machine to manually make roofing tile. This follow along the lines of the brick machine it uses natural products that when mixed together is pressed in a machine to make the tile. The other project I am looking at is from Solar Aid. They teach communities how to build solar panel electricity. They give them the materials and the education to make their own solar electricity and putting this technology in schools, clinics and community centres. Like Zimbabwe, Zambia’s electricity is not reliable and so powering community amenities like schools and clinics seems like a reasonable thing to do.

On my way to Zambia, I’m making a stop in Harare to look at some natural filtration water tanks. These tanks have been put into high-density communities in Harare where water cuts are frequent or they just don’t have water. Each tank supports a cluster of families. The plan is to harvest the rainwater (Nyanga gets a lot of rain), filter the water and use it for the library.

The last 2 days at our house we haven’t had ANY water. Usually we can get by on what we have stored but this week we’ve had a team of 5 from Oasis helping out my roommate and so the water has been stretched. This also means the toilets haven’t been flushed and we haven’t been able to shower. It really struck me on day 2 how much I take water for granted. In Canada, we just turn on the tap and there it is, we want hot water and we turn on the tap, we want hot water and we boil the kettle, we want to do laundry we turn on the machine. We don’t plan our day around when water AND power will be on at the same time to do laundry or worry that our clothes will come out more dirty than we started with because the water is brown, or putting our family on water restriction because we aren’t sure how long the water has to last.

I came to Harare on Saturday for a few different reasons and on my way back I blew a tire on the side of the road! So I changed the tire (myself!) and saw that it wasn’t just a puncture but I had really busted the tire, I was driving on the rim. Don’t ask me how I did this but it had to do with the temperature of the road and the melting of the rubber. So I spent the first day in town going to a few car places and getting things fixed. I first wanted to get the headlights fixed. I went to a place I had used before and the owner was impressed that I wanted to see what was wrong and was it something I could’ve done and I stuck around while it was being fixed. Needless to say the fuse panel is plastic and the conductors are metal and so the plastic had melted! I then went to get a new spare tire and to have the other 4 checked. The tire guy asked me what I was doing when the tire blew and were there any casualties. He was surprised that no one was hurt. The big reason was for HIFA. HIFA stands for Harare International Festival of Arts.

HIFA 2010 will be the eleventh Festival. Since its inception in 1999, the Festival has received recognition for its support of arts and culture in Zimbabwe and is seen as a major contributor to development in this area. HIFA is now the largest cultural event in Zimbabwe and among the eight major festivals in Africa. HIFA has gained local and international media praise on many fronts, for example, Robert Grieg writing in the South Africa Sunday Independent -“The Harare International Festival of the Arts is probably the best organised festival in the sub-continent and one of the most manageably diverse.” More importantly in the current socio-economic situation HIFA has come to be seen as an important symbol of something positive about Zimbabwe.

Even in the worst conditions in Zimbabwe (inflation, farm take-over’s, etc.), HIFA has survived. It doesn’t matter what your politically views are, religious views or colour, HIFA is for everyone and everyone attends and not just one show but the WHOLE week. I didn’t truly understand what HIFA meant until I went to a show and see how Harare shuts down for a week and everyone goes. I saw 2 shows; the first was from the British Embassy an a cappella group called The Magnets. The stage was a park and it was PACKED! It was really well done. Sunday I went to the closing ceremonies where a famous Malawian singer who’s the most accomplished Albino in Africa rocked out. He opened the first HIFA in 1999, it was like listening to an African ACDC, and it was great.

I went to Harare this week to collect a package from home from a fantastic woman named Kirstin who was visiting from the States working with Operation of Hope, an amazing organization that does facial reconstruction for victims of war, fire and birth deformaties. I drove a friend back to his villiage, which I was told was just past Nyanga Town. Well, we zoomed past Nyanga and kept going, we soon hit a dirt road and then we were driving in the mountains. I politely asked how far were we going and was given the answer “only 60km”. On a dirt road this turned into 2 hours. We then left the road for another 10km trek through the bush, and I mean the bush. We were driving through tall grass swerving around trees and bushes. We arrived at a group of huts or round mud houses with thatched roofs. It was hard not to ask what his address was but I didn’t think he’d get the joke. Anyways after unloading his bags I asked him to drive me back to the dirt road since I had no idea how to get back and my driving skills are not bush-proof. I was so proud of my car, it handled it like a true F150! By this time it was starting to get dark and I was wanting to get home. I plugged along swerving to miss pot holes and giant rocks coming out of the road. About an hour into the drive my headlights decided they had had enough and shut off. I spent a few minutes trying to get them to work and found it a useless event. I thought, well this is a good time to call my roommate to drive in front of me and guide me home, but being in a truly rural area there of course was no signal. I turned on my hazard lights and got out my flashlight that I keep in my car for such emergencies and held it out of the window lighting up the road. After about another 30 minutes luck struck and I got a signal, so I called my roommate to guide me home. I told her I would keep driving and meet her. BAD IDEA!!! I hit a rock or a boulder or something because next thing I knew my left front tire was swerving. I stopped, checked out my tire and it was turned sideways and I couldn’t get it to go straight. Luckily for me it was a matter of minutes before my roommate showed up to rescue me. We left the car there and the next morning we towed it (ourselves) to a garage where it was fixed in only a few hours. I go to Zambia next week to look at a project where they are making an all natural roofing tile AND another project where they show communities how to build solar panels and batteries to create electricity for their homes and commercial buildings.

Sorry it’s been a while but unfortunately ZESA has been a struggle. Most of our power comes from 3 turbines in Karbia. Kariba is a damn that borders Zambia and Zimbabwe. ZESA has decided to do some maintenance on all 3 turbines at the same time, which they say will take a month or 2. I would have thought that they would just do one at a time so that there would be power but I guess not. The project is moving along, the final architectural plans are going to be looked at early next week. A school in one of the surrounding areas is doing them and I will be checking them. The old building has 2 walls that need to come down so the extension will go there. The city council put rocks (property pegs) where they are allowing us to build, however we have to go another 3m in from that as our setback. Luckily the biggest space is along the 2 walls we are taking down so the extension will go there. I wanted to see what the slope and elevations were like so I could plan for drainage as well they elevations have to be shown on the plans, I asked for the original building plans but there were none, all that was there was a rough map with the city lots and a few contour lines (lines that show the earth’s curve above sea level). Luckily there was enough I could calculate the elevations of the lot, but I don’t know where on the lot the old building is or where our property pegs are. So I asked if they had a surveyor who could map them for us and they said they didn’t but they had the equipment. I thought about it and said that I could do it (I took surveying in university in -40° weather and snow). The man at the desk seemed thrilled that I could do it and asked if I could do some other lots as well. So things are coming together. Materials from the area are being collected and taken to site over the next few weeks, we are hoping to use Solar electricity and a water tank so we don’t have to rely on ZESA and the municipal water.

Things have been moving along, slowly but I have come to expect that in Zimbabwe but it’s still hard for me as I am a planner and want to be effective and efficient but I am learning. First off, I’ve been busy on site, planning the building and finding the most effective and environmental way to build. I went to the site today to find out that City Council has now put in pegs of where they want the property lines to be, SO I had to do new measurements and have to adjust the plans. I went to Harare this past weekend and one of my objectives was to visit an NGO called Turn on the Tap, which helps communities with clean water using natural filtration. I was also able to get international police clearance so I can take my car across borders, which means I am able to visit 2 other projects using similar technology in South Africa and Zambia. I also was able to have a little fun and went and saw a live production of Agatha Christies “Mousetrap”. I was really impressed, it was well done and lots of fun. I learned lots of facts about this play including: it’s the longest running play of all time 58 years), it was a birthday present from Agatha to her grandson (lucky guy never had to get a job), as long as the play runs there isn’t allowed to be a film adaptation (it may be a while), the rule of the play is that you are not allowed to tell anyone who the murderer is after you have seen the play (that just makes sense). I also went to the monthly AIDS clinic in one of the high-density areas and I was asked to take pictures of which I took 130 of them. Power and water have been particularly poor the last week, however I did have some today, which meant I was able to do laundry, shower AND cook. The best news I have is I was able to talk to my mum, dad, Meghann and Richard on video skype for the first time since I have been back. We talked for an hour and a half. I was getting ready for bed and they were just getting up. It was nice to see their faces and not worry about the satellite time delay or the cost of calling. I went to the Bronte Hotel where there is a Wi-Fi hot spot.

Happy Easter to all! I hope it was a relaxing, peaceful time for everyone. I had a different kind of Easter this year. I went mountain climbing on Saturday. I climbed Mount Nyangani, which is the tallest mountain in Southern Africa. It’s peak is just over 8500 feet. The drive to the base is about 30 minutes out of Nyanga. The climb was hard, there isn’t a real path, there are white arrows painted on rocks that mark the route but you are climbing up the rocks. The view made it all worth it, you could see the whole valley and it was amazing. It took 4.5 hours return trip and I have now had my exercise to last me a year. If that wasn’t enough, Sunday afternoon we did another hike called World’s View. It’s at a resort known as Troutbeck. The drive to the base is about 15 minutes. The hike took about 1.5 hours return. There was no path and no arrows. In some ways it was harder than Nyangani but less steep. This view shows you a different look at the valley. It was really interesting because there was a patch of rain in the middle of the valley. All around was clear but this one square of cloud and rain, it was really weird and interesting. We were able to watch the sunset. This also made it a nice day because early that morning we had watched the sunrise from a farm on a rock. So I spent my Easter Sunday watching the day start and end. It’s unbelievable to imagine the natural beauty that happens everyday that we all take for granted. It would be nice to be able to do this everyday but reality sets in and I’ll just have to settle for once in a while. I have been busy putting together the building sheets, calculations and gathering the requirements needed by council to build the library. We are using a drafting teacher from one of the local high schools to design the project, which I will approve, oversea and make changes. So I have been busy learning the local building codes and bylaws so I can combine the plans with environmental standards to make this project as environmentally friendly as possible. Zimbabwe doesn’t have any real or strict environmental standards, which is unfortunate but good for me since this gives me a wide range to do what I can. I visited the site on Thursday as was able to start visualizing in my head what this will all look like. I have yet to be able to go inside the current library on the property to see what kind of shape it’s in and find a way to keep it on the site and what kind of use it has in the bigger scheme of the project.

This past week has been a busy one. I came back from Penhalonga on Tuesday and started a conference on Wednesday. The conference was put on by an organization called Foundations for Farming. You must be thinking, Meredith didn’t go to Zimbabwe to be a farmer and you’re right, I didn’t I don’t have the gift of gardening and it’s not an interest for me. This conference was how to feed Zimbabwe. A country with 32% of the world’s resources and contributes 1.3%. It was more how to motivate and change the minds on how they farm. This technique for farming goes back to the basics before tractors and fertilizer and pesticides. It goes back to nature. In the bush trees, berries, fungus grow without man made inventions and in a country that can’t afford to buy, fix or maintain these inventions going back to basics seems like the right thing to do. The buildings I will be constructing will be all natural and follow an environmental approach it seemed smart to find out away to motivate the country to adopt this process. To help the country use it’s own resources and instead of destroying the land, help rebuild it. The conference was good and now the key is to see if it catches and do people motivate others and follow through. Saturday in the wee hours of the morning, I packed up my car and drove to Nyanga where I am now living. I spent the day unpacking and settling into my new home. Nyanga is a rural community that is surrounded by mountains and green space unlike Harare that is surrounded by buildings and people. As I drove into town I saw a herd of Zebra and Wildebeests. It was quite surreal since in Canada we see these animals in a zoo, not in the wild. I had to stop on the highway to let monkeys cross, not the moose or bear we see at home. So now the real work begins, I’ll be spending the next few weeks in the “lab” testing different mixtures for brick to see what the best compound is. So wish me luck.

I went to a dinner on Tuesday night, which was the most interesting dinner I’ve had since I’ve been here (and I’m not talking about the food). I was invited to a dinner with an MP, the Bishop, a Dr. of Theology and a parish priest. All well respected members of the community and all worried about the same thing, the state of the Anglican Church here in Zimbabwe. The MP was invited to ask for advice as well as what became a bit of a grilling about his party and what is happening in government. I still don’t understand why I was at this dinner but it was a real eye opener and an inside to what government here is really like. The MP was asked if there was a way he could help the Anglican Church move past all the political problems that prevents them from using their church properties. This past Sunday, all churches were instructed to go back to their buildings, the courts had passed a ruling that stated that CPCA (Central Province of Central Africa) had the rights to all the buildings and property and that Konoga had to go. Sunday arrived and people went to church, what they found was police barricades and strict orders not to enter. Some churches obeyed and went elsewhere to say mass, some had had enough and tried to storm the block. There was tear gas and arrests made including the Dean and his assistant. These unfortunate people were sent to prison. Some were released later that day, some not until Tuesday afternoon. All were released because there was no evidence of wrongdoing. The MP was upset by this news and made an appointment with for the Bishop to meet with the Prime Minter, Morgan. I learned that Zimbabwe has the highest enfant mortality rate, the lowest life expectancy in the world. That last year 17, 000 women died in childbirth, that people are literally dying of stress. For instance, an active member of the MTC party lives on a farm with his wife it was burned to the ground. They were literally left with nothing and no money, family took them in and their children supported. The wife died a few months later from the stress and upset of loosing her home and her lively hood. Her husband is still an activist for the party and says, “What have I left to loose, if I stop now, they win”. Questions were asked about the up coming election, the sanction lifting, the new () act, and the healing and reconciliation team. All in all it was an interesting evening. At the end the Bishop asked me if I would be interested helping him build a church for the Anglican Theological College. He started to build while he was the principal but it’s just a round cement foundation. They want it to be built like a stadium so that many people could fit in a small space I told him, we work on it.

I went into Mutare (the closest to Penhalonga) on Tuesday before I came back to Harare. The sister’s had taken me to met with the bishop but he had been called to Harare. Instead I met 5 priests from the area. One priest remembered me from a brief meeting in Bonda with Doug and wanted to know if the project was up and running, hearing this another priest who in now in charge of Bonda asked if there was a possibility of helping him renovate an abandoned building into a primary school library for the Bonda Elementary School and help him find a way to fill it with books. Literacy in the rural areas is very poor due to lack of resources, funds and remoteness. He would like to correct this problem and encourage reading. In some schools you must be in Grade 5 to be allowed in the library and take out books. The thought behind this is that at by grade 5 you know how to care and handle books correctly. This means that if children don’t read or have books at home they don’t practice what they learn in school.

I apologize for the delay in an update but I’ve been at Penalonga visiting the mission and the sisters. It’s about 30 minutes away from Mutare (city) and up on a mountain and so going into town doesn’t happen very often. I drove from Harare on Friday and made good time, I had 2 tollgates and 5 police checks. The police checks didn’t stop me but I had to slow down. I had my first experience with sour milk on Saturday. Sour milk is bought in the grocery store and is considered a treat and an extravagance here. The sister’s bought some as a treat for me. I have never had sour milk and consider it a sign that the milk has gone bad and should be thrown out. I decided to try it, so I had a quarter of a glass (a real quarter of a glass not my mum’s quarter, which turns out be a half or three quarters). I smelled it and it smelled horrific! I thought there is no way I’m going to drink it, but I did and… it turns out is tastes just like sour cream. Well I was so relieved; I explained that sour milk is like sour cream but runnier. That at home we put it on potatoes and on chili. One of the sisters put it on her sadza so I thought I’d try it on my sadza and it was like having potatoes with sour cream. What a relief! I had brought school supplies for the mission and asked Sister Annamore where should I take them, she suggested she would divide them up and split them among the children in the community who are orphaned but live with relatives. The orphanage has had problems with stealing by the children. They wait until the sister is in bed and climb through the ceiling to where the clothes, food, etc is stored in locked cupboards. They climb out and open them using the keys they have stolen from the sister’s pocket (I have no idea who they manage to do it but Oliver would be proud). They sell the goods and buy whatever they want. The sister’s are trying to find ways to catch them, and teach them a better way. The ceilings are now sunken down from children climbing in them. I took the sister’s to church and to a farm to get potatoes. The roads here are unbelievable, in Canada we would only use a 4X4, well in Zimbabwe owing a car is huge never mind a 4X4. So my Astra Opel and I went 4X4 in the bush and I must say it was brilliant. I didn’t expect us to make it but, we survived.

This past weekend was very busy for me, I spent Saturday at Bally Vaughan, which is a game park. You can go for the day, which includes; a safari ride, lunch, walking through the animal orphanage and a elephant ride, you can spend the night at one of their lodges or you can go on your own (which is what I did with friends) which limits you to the animal orphanage, the restaurant and the damn for swimming. Various people sponsor the animal orphanage and helps rehabilitate injured and abused animals. It was nice to walk around and see monkeys in and out of cages, lions and hyenas (in cages) and all sorts of other animals I have never heard of before. We sat outside and had a nice lunch infront of the damn. I saw for the first time ever a zonkey (a zebra crossed with a donkey) and a zorse (a zebra crossed with a horse). The zorse was brown and black striped (like a zebra) with the body size of a zebra but the shape of a horse. The zonkey was again striped like a zebra, colour and size of a donkey with the shape of a zebra. If you want to know how they breed this animal, it’s beyond me and when someone first told me about it, I thought they were kidding but I have witnessed it with my own eyes. They have marmots that run around the park, they are 2 teams of 30 each. They are mischievous little creatures who like to crawl up in your engine and chew the wires. All in all it was a good day. I spent Sunday in church. A woman I had met that week had asked if I would come to her church, she is one of the pastors there and wanted me to see what it was all about. It was a Baptist church in a field in a farming community. It’s an off road kind of place where potholes are an understatement of what you are driving in, it’s like 1 big ditch. I was impressed that my car actually survived and made it through with flying colours. The service started at 10 and finished just after 1. It was all in Shona with dancing and singing. I had someone translate the whole time, which was nice for me but probably very distracting for him. I was introduced as a guest and asked to speak, which I wasn’t prepared for. I then had someone translate for me as my Shona is still very primitive. Church was followed by lunch of sadza and cabbage, which I must say I missed the sadza not so much the cabbage. Then at about 4pm I went home. It was a long day but a good one and I was able to see what a real enclosed farming community is like. They live completely to themselves, they all help out and work together to feed and support one another; it’s an older community where before this church came 2 years ago, it was a native spiritual community. This means that their faith was based on spirits, ancestors and medicine men or witch doctor. I haven’t personally seen any of this kind of thing and I am told that it’s unlikely because I am white and so won’t be seen by a witch doctor.

Well the car is now in my possession and I’m driving around like a madman. I love it. I’d like to say I miss the combies but when I drive past and think (it’s going to take them another 30 minutes to get where I’m going) I feel happy and relieved that I am now independent. I had an interesting experience in my car the other day. I was on my way home after dinner with some friends and I turned on my headlights and nothing happened. I played around with the lights and checked to make sure I was actually turning them on, but they just didn’t work. So my friend drove in his car infront of me and his wife drove in my car with me and I drove my hazard lights on. So the next morning between me and my friend Richard we tried everything, we checked the fuse box in the car, tested the fuses leading to the headlights and they were all working. So frustrated and confused I took the car to a mechanic. 45 minutes later and my wheel taken a part, he could not figure it out. Then he noticed a button, not a part of the original vehicle on the side of the wheel. His eyes widened, the button had been added on to control the lights. The original headlight switch had broken and the owner hadn’t been able to find the parts to have it replaced so they improvised and made a new one. The mechanic looked at the connection and noticed it had been disconnected. He reconnected it and URECKA it worked. So I now have headlights.

Today I met with a wonderful woman who renewed my faith in humanity. Her daughter was born with a heart defect and respiratory problems, which went undiagnosed for 13 months when she died. Her mother, Sylvia, because of her daughter, went back to school for special education because had her daughter lived, she would’ve been severely disabled. She started this project in the hall of a church helping children with disabilities by teaching them both class work and life skills. In 2002, the church said that she could no longer use their facilities and she found a property in a suburban area of Harare. The property was large enough that they could have a garden (to grow food), a playground and a secondary building on site as a second class room. She has been running this school for 18 years, with the help of a small but effective staff. They have 3 groups of student; preschool (2-6 years), junior (7-12 years) and senior (13 and up). Sylvia creates and individual curriculum for each student based on their needs. They have had students graduate with “O” level and continue on. She has a Autistic boy who was very good with electronics and now works for BMW in Switzerland, she had a Down syndrome girl who was very good at speaking so she now works as a receptionist at a law firm. She has students running IT departments, working for farm labs doing AI in cattle, and 2 students working at her school as helpers. She has 18 preschoolers, 15 juniors and 15 seniors. She needs more help but can’t afford/find qualified help. She asked me if I could help her write up a portfolio and application to send to Canada and the US to find volunteers wanting to come and help. This woman has given her life to helping children who otherwise would be left to rot. Zimbabwe has a lack of funding and resources to help these children. As well, they don’t see them as worthwhile because they don’t think they can contribute. The schools just ignore them and their families struggle to help them. Sylvia also takes them once a year to a family farm for a week, to give their parents a real break. This also allows the school staff to find out their available life skills; can they dress themselves, can they bathe themselves, etc. She says it is surprising to find that lots of children can do this for themselves but their parents don’t think they can and just do it for them or they just don’t have the patience. Sylvia has seen children learn to talk, walk and feed themselves when doctors and parents told her their child would never be able to do it. She provides a safe space for them to be themselves and learn at their own pace.

Well the car is now in my possession and I’m driving around like a madman. I love it. I’d like to say I miss the combies but when I drive past and think (it’s going to take them another 30 minutes to get where I’m going) I feel happy and relieved that I am now independent. I had an interesting experience in my car the other day. I was on my way home after dinner with some friends and I turned on my headlights and nothing happened. I played around with the lights and checked to make sure I was actually turning them on, but they just didn’t work. So my friend drove in his car infront of me and his wife drove in my car with me and I drove my hazard lights on. So the next morning between me and my friend Richard we tried everything, we checked the fuse box in the car, tested the fuses leading to the headlights and they were all working. So frustrated and confused I took the car to a mechanic. 45 minutes later and my wheel taken a part, he could not figure it out. Then he noticed a button, not a part of the original vehicle on the side of the wheel. His eyes widened, the button had been added on to control the lights. The original headlight switch had broken and the owner hadn’t been able to find the parts to have it replaced so they improvised and made a new one. The mechanic looked at the connection and noticed it had been disconnected. He reconnected it and URECKA it worked. So I now have headlights.

Today I met with a wonderful woman who renewed my faith in humanity. Her daughter was born with a heart defect and respiratory problems, which went undiagnosed for 13 months when she died. Her mother, Sylvia, because of her daughter, went back to school for special education because had her daughter lived, she would’ve been severely disabled. She started this project in the hall of a church helping children with disabilities by teaching them both class work and life skills. In 2002, the church said that she could no longer use their facilities and she found a property in a suburban area of Harare. The property was large enough that they could have a garden (to grow food), a playground and a secondary building on site as a second class room. She has been running this school for 18 years, with the help of a small but effective staff. They have 3 groups of student; preschool (2-6 years), junior (7-12 years) and senior (13 and up). Sylvia creates and individual curriculum for each student based on their needs. They have had students graduate with “O” level and continue on. She has a Autistic boy who was very good with electronics and now works for BMW in Switzerland, she had a Down syndrome girl who was very good at speaking so she now works as a receptionist at a law firm. She has students running IT departments, working for farm labs doing AI in cattle, and 2 students working at her school as helpers. She has 18 preschoolers, 15 juniors and 15 seniors. She needs more help but can’t afford/find qualified help. She asked me if I could help her write up a portfolio and application to send to Canada and the US to find volunteers wanting to come and help. This woman has given her life to helping children who otherwise would be left to rot. Zimbabwe has a lack of funding and resources to help these children. As well, they don’t see them as worthwhile because they don’t think they can contribute. The schools just ignore them and their families struggle to help them. Sylvia also takes them once a year to a family farm for a week, to give their parents a real break. This also allows the school staff to find out their available life skills; can they dress themselves, can they bathe themselves, etc. She says it is surprising to find that lots of children can do this for themselves but their parents don’t think they can and just do it for them or they just don’t have the patience. Sylvia has seen children learn to talk, walk and feed themselves when doctors and parents told her their child would never be able to do it. She provides a safe space for them to be themselves and learn at their own pace.

The car saga continues. Thursday 1pm arrived, but no car and no driver, Thursday 1:30pm no car and no driver, so I called my driver. You might ask yourself why I didn’t call Lazarus sooner and waited the 30 minutes, because in Africa, time is not like it is at home, there is a saying “This is Africa”, which means it’s another world over here and things happen when they happen or don’t. Anyways I called Lazarus and it turns out he went to get a part for the car and it died in the middle of the street. He had to have my car towed. I asked for a new timing belt on the car, it didn’t need it but I didn’t know when it had last been changed and if your timing belt goes while your driving the party is over, so I thought if I had a new one I would have a record of it. Anyways Lazarus showed up at 2 in a different car. We headed off to ZimRA to pick up my certificate of ownership, the lineup was HUGE and what should have only take a few minutes with each person ended up much longer. We had to get to the Post Office before 3:30 to get the plates, license and registration. We barely got there before it closed and I found out that I didn’t have the necessary documentation required to pick up these things. Lazarus had forgotten to tell me what I needed so we couldn’t get the final bits. So I went home disappointed that I would have to wait another day. Friday morning I dropped off the necessary bits that Lazarus needed to take to the Post Office, and discovered that they needed to call in a specialist for the car, the problem was electrical and Lazarus couldn’t fix it. So I would have to wait another day. I was thinking that I was never going to get the car and thinking it would be another week. Luckily for me Saturday was AIDS Clinic day in Mabvuku. This is a program that has been running for the last 12 years by the Anglican Church, which I attend in Avondale. They help 50 families with food, school fees and medical problems. I always find that when I go, it puts things into perspective, that no matter what’s going on for me that someone else has it harder but that they are so excited to be there and get the help. I was asked to take pictures to send along with the newsletter but Murphy’s Law the battery had died and the local store didn’t have any batteries. So it’ll have to wait until next month. While I was in Mabvuku I got a message, my car has been fixed and I can pick it up as soon as I like. HURRAH!!! I’m going tomorrow morning (Sunday) to pick up my new (to me) car!!! Well I picked up my car!!! It was really exciting, all the paperwork has MY name on it. The first thing I did when I got home was clean it! My mum would be so proud, I vacuumed the whole car and washed the inside down with Lysol wipes (the greatest invention EVER). I felt quite proud. There is a “baby on board” sticker from a previous owner so at least people will drive cautiously near the car, even though there isn’t a baby. There is also an angry bull dog sticker, which is coming off that I’m trying to remove.

Well I am officially a car owner! But the system here to buy a car is unbelievable! When you buy a car, you first take it to the central police station in Southerton, which is just outside the city limits and is at the edge of one of the high-density areas. Your car waits in line where the engine number and license plate is checked. You then take the paper you are given to an office where a man signs the paper. You then go to another office where the numbers are run through the computer to check that the car and engine aren’t stolen. Luckily for me ZESA was working and I was able to have this done. From there you go to another office, where they check your paper work for the “Agreement of Sale”. They make sure that you in fact bought the car and that the person who sold it to you agreed to it. I bought my car from a company called Origin. They are an agriculture firm. Since the owner didn’t want to come with us, he signed an Avadavat. This allows me to buy the car and do the paper work without him being present. The officer at the office thought he could make a few dollars off of me and wanted to see the ID of the man who signed the paper. I told him that he didn’t need to since the Avadavat means that his presence isn’t necessary. He shrugged and moved on. I had to give him my thumbprint, which was messy, God bless hand sanitizer and I managed to get most of the dye off. From there you head to another office, where a man stamps your paper stating that you have been cleared. We then had to go to ZimRA, which are the tax people. Your car is evaluated and then charged 5% tax. When you go to the office, someone reads over your paper work, makes sure all the right things are there and all the right papers have been signed. He then writes out a receipt with the amount you owe. You take it downstairs to the cashiers floor and pay, where you get another receipt. You head back upstairs to the first office you went to and hand in the receipt. They then take all your original copies plus a second photocopied set (which you bring with you) and they give you a reference number and a date and time to collect them. Now I was very fortunate and had someone with me to show me what to do and who to see. He works for the man who sold me my car. He’s a driver and a mechanic, Lazarus. Without Lazarus, I would’ve torn out all my hair and cried. At ZimRA, the woman behind the desk asked if I worked with Lazarus and knew who he was because there are people who wait outside ZimRA for people like me and offer to help them out for a fee and end up taking them for a ride. I thought she was very sweet to check up on me and make sure I was all right. So Thursday at 1pm I can go and pick up my certificate and paper work from ZimRA and head off for the next set of appointments, which include: registration, licensing and number plates. Every time the car is renewed or re-sold the plates get changed. The only reason for this is because there is 1 woman in town that can do this and she wants to make money. I was fortunate in that I didn’t wait in line all that long, some people wait days at ZimRA, and the police line is around the block. I started at 10:30 and finished at 12:30 both places. I then went to a garage and picked up an emergency car kit, which included: jumper cables, motor oil, brake fluid, electrical tape and spare spark plugs. So until Thursday…

The paper read today that 11% of maize crops have suffered. I thought that that didn’t sound too bad, but I was told that the paper changes numbers so it doesn’t sound so bad. A farmer here told me that it’s between 25-33% of maize crops have failed. I don’t see the point in lying. People aren’t being fed and the government needs to do something about it. Funny story, I was walking home from taking a combie and an army officer came up to me and asked me for money to get a ride home, I wanted to tell him “Ask your boss, Mr. Mugabe”. I would think that the army are one of the few jobs around here that actually get paid decently, he probably was just trying me on and seeing if I would give him the funds. I recently met a white woman in her 80’s who is still working full time in order to survive. She’s a dietician and makes $42/month. And has learned how to survive on that. Her family from Holland sends her some money every month to help out but I thought “why would you stay here and when you can go home and retire”. Well obviously in Holland she couldn’t live on $42/month but then she’d also get assistance from the government. Last night I went to the theatre. A local production called “Hay Fever” by Noah Coward. The theatre that was used is a small one, with about 40-50 seats. The play is about an over-the-top family and their guests that they invite up to the country for the weekend. It was quick witted, funny and well acted. Today I pick up my car! It’s my first car it’s a ’98 Astra, Opal, station wagon. It’s a German car, purple and today I sign the papers and pick it up! I had always thought my first car would be a Hybrid or a ’67 Shelby Mustang but this will do me just fine. This car is the one you tell your kids about when you look back when they ask you to buy them a car and you tell them about yours.