Well I’ve been here almost a week and it’s like I never left. ZESA is still scattered, candy is still given as change, and 20 people get on a 15 passenger combie. There is one big change and it was almost a reason not to come back….IB coffee shop closed. Now this may sound ridiculous but they made the best cappuccinos EVER! It was my one vice and now I’ll have to find somewhere else. Also unlike at home a regular size cappuccino here is $1! The weather is hot and there hasn’t been any rain to cool things down. The glasses, medical supplies and school supplies were a HUGE hit as I knew they would be. I’m in Harare at the moment getting things sorted like a car and supplies before I head east. It’s been nice to catch up with people and find out what I missed while I was home. You might have read in the paper that the Zimbabwean Government passed a law which is in effect March 1^st that stipulates that all companies with a net worth over $500,000 have to have a 51% Shona ownership. The companies have 5 years to put this into practice or they will be arrested and shut down. There are mixed reviews about this, some are worried that this will prevent foreign investment, others are worried that it means that Shona people who aren’t qualified will take over because it’s deemed necessary. General consensus is that it will take a generation to put this into practice not 5 years. Maize is in full bloom, however with the lack of rain, the crops aren’t what they should be and food programs have already started. Some farmers have a second crop but that seems unlikely. ZESA has been particularly bad these last few weeks, some say it’s the worst it’s ever been. Power will come on only for a few hours each day if that. More people have invested in a generator but the cost of fuel makes it expensive and people are only using when absolutely necessary. It turns out there are 4 turbines that generate power, only 1 is working. Coal is unavailable and the train system doesn’t work anyhow to transport the fuel. Where the majority of the power comes from is a dam in Kariba. This dam was created in the 60’s and is on the Zambia boarder. There is a tower on the north side for Zambia and a tower on the south side for Zimbabwe. It’s a deep dam, which was originally a canyon but since the rain has been limited there are concerns that it won’t last.