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.