Surprising supply of snakes!!

Yes, I had a scary surprise one starlit evening when Dave was out! (No he wasn't down the pub. He wishes!!!) The dogs alerted me to a snake slithering through the garden. Nellie sneakily attacked it and smashed it around a bit. When I thought it was sufficiently smashed (all one and a half metres of it) I sprung on it with the long handled garden rake, spearing it several times! (Hope you are not too squeamish or eating your supper because it gets worse!) Little did I suspect that this snake would come in so handy..

Dave with the fish and snake and Nicky screaming!

When I staggered in from Kidz klub on Saturday, I was to discover some of it in the freezer! (thankfully stored in a plastic bag!) Dave had secured its demise by chopping it up when he got home and found Id been such a superstar! His sermon on Sunday was from Luke 11 and apparently he needed bread, a snake, eggs, fish and a scorpion. Eggs and fish I can do but I wasn't about to supply a scorpion! There was nothing in my contract about that so he had to be satisfied with a picture. You should have heard the screams when he surreptitiously produced the rapidly thawing and smelly snake from his box of tricks.
On a more salutary note - Security here has become more of a concern of late. There have been one or two stabbings of people out jogging near us and once a year the President releases some prisoners from jail. So... there has been a severe rise in armed robberies and violent crimes. Even the locals feel unsafe and wont walk out at night. We are also aware of many scams going on at the moment and we have to be wise as serpents to avoid being stung!
There has been a great deal of publicity lately about the corruption that pervades society here. I know it is everywhere but here it is sickeningly common and quite accepted as the norm!



The children brought grass from home for
Gods blanket before we planted the seeds

This maize is amazing!



picking the cobs

The school has been a busy place this week as we admitted 20 more children and
snack time at school has been very super as we have snatched, stripped, steamed, served and swallowed the maize we grew in our ECD garden. 

serving up the cooked mealies.

The new children are so sweet... Most have never seen so many toys. The older children have been very caring and helpful towards them too.


Yum, Yum!

Everyone looks so smart in their new T shirts. (including the teachers). Smart and Smiley is the only way to describe them all! They have settled into the school routine surprisingly well...... so far so good.  So its so long from me and goodbye from him. (you know who I mean... The someone, snoring serenely in the room next door)                                                                                       

and the back view



The new class with Ma Phiri...

Record rain recorded!

Running water at Hillside
 

After years of praying for rain the prayers have been answered at last! There has been more rainfall this summer than there has been for many, many years. The popular local reason being that the statue of Joshua Nkomo ( a man greatly revered in Matabeleland) has at last been reinstated in the middle of the city! The water levels in the dams are rising and there was 95 mm recorded just last night where we live. This is a real blessing to those who planted maize this year. The congregation at Mazwi (Used to be St Peters) have been very blessed as they have received free seed and have planted their plots, largely through the efforts of Graham and Sarah who lead the church there.  Of course there is a reverse side to the story too.....

Water at Hillside Dams

For the people who reside in the shacks and the poor houses near the church building ramrods of rain is a mixed blessing as the families then live in a sea of mud under leaky roofs, with no way to get clothes dry. These families take great pride in keeping their children clean and well turned out and in these conditions it is a real struggle. I really don't know how they do it! The reality too is that it is a breeding ground for sickness.
Also.... producing vegetables in these conditions is a reckless pastime! Cabbages have drowned, tomatoes are ravaged by disease and weeds are rampant! Working conditions on the church site are also reaching radically difficult proportions as it is heavy clay on the site so the men stomp about in wellies caked with about 6 inches of mud. Very tiring work, for little reward. They are  always cheerful and positive, though and there is a great team spirit among them.
Its amazing to me how quickly you miss the sun! Perhaps God is preparing us for our return to British weather but we hope the sun reappears soon.


One of the children starting ECD in March
 outside her home.

I have realised afresh, recently, the challenges faced by many people here as I have been home visiting the children on the waiting list for ECD, with Samu and Maphiri, two of the teachers who are on training at the moment. We met a Mum who has 6 children but looked so young herself. When I asked Samu about her she told me she had her first child at aged 11, and this is not unusual amongst girls who have not been to school. Like many in these circumstances, she could not even write her name. This encounter served to reaffirm to me just how vital education is as a means of changing lives and giving people hope. Its hard not to react with rage at a system that discriminates against the poor who cannot afford to send their children to school! Not only are the parents required to provide uniform but also books, pens, chalks,floor polish, photocopy paper, levies, fees, teacher incentives, money for building funds... the list goes on! We just don't realise how blessed we are in the UK!


L to R Florah, Katie, Maita,(taps and Florahs oldest)
Nikki,Dolly, Noma

On a social note. We were very pleased to welcome Dolly back to Zim for a visit, after having been studying in Holland for just over a year. She attained a scholarship to study for an MA for 18 months. She was glad to get back to her husband and son for a few weeks and we had a farewell party for her just before she returned a couple of weeks ago. She will be back for good at the beginning of May. What a brave lady to go to a foreign country with all the cultural and weather differences and leave her family behind!Respect and empathy received from us !!!!

Me with Maita and Rutendo

Well, it is rumoured that another rumbustious storm is about to break. Rumbles are again rending the skies above the house. Soon rip roaring flashes will ravage the heavens and rock the foundations and "Raindrops keep falling on my head" because the roof leaks. At this point, there are two things to do... Open the door to a r-e-a-l-l-y radically terrified Izzy, so she can rush to hide under the table (great guard dog, that!) and then shut off the internet so that it doesnt blow up again.
Ready, steady..

Quite difficult Q

Happy New Year!

 

To all our friends and readers. Thank you so much for your prayers, financial support and messages.

Don't quit quite yet!!

 

A quick catch up at the beginning of a New Year. Well Christmas was quite different from any other we have ever had. 

54 kids at Trenance enjoyed the party and food afterwards

We started to get quietly festive with the children's parties for Kidz Klub and Sunday school kids at both Hamara and Trenance the week before. For some, it was possibly the first party they had ever experienced. We played all the traditional games ( a few quibbles about who won, as normal, and that's just the adults!!) and then ended with food which is always a hit.
A queer Christmas morning was spent tidying up some of our vast garden and skyping our quality children and grandchildren. There were lots of questions from us, quizing them about who got what, did Danny get his two front teeth and the quantity of sweets Jess had managed to eat before 10am. ? No question, she is her father's daughter! It was lovely to see the family enjoying each other's company, but made us miss them even more!
At midday we went to spend the rest of the day with our lovely friends, Mark and Heather who produced a magnificent, quality lunch. No quibble it was the best meal I've had all year. Lamb with enormous quantities of veg.We quenched our thirst (it was a very hot day) by quaffing quantities of beer and wine and quietly quivered with mirth while watching highlights of Morecambe and Wise! A lovely time all round.

Dave's poses by the falls. Such a cool dude!

On Boxing Day, Dave and I managed to escape for a few days. He had been very busy up to Christmas delivering vegetables to the supermarkets and getting up very early. So off we went to Vic Falls. We found a very quiet place to stay and apart from visiting a crocodile farm we were able to just put our feet up and have quality time together.


Taurai, Dave and Diva showing their moves!!

Last night, New Years Eve was a night of prayer for the three congregations. It was a really great time of fun, fellowship, worship and of course prayer. Dave did a preach on Joshua which was very powerful and the Holy Spirit was very evident. By 4am I was ready for my quilt! It was nearer 5 by the time we had dropped everyone home and we got to bed for a couple of hours sleep.
So hope all this makes sense! We have been gardening again this morning but the weather is very wet. A quantity of quality rains have come on time this year which has been a real blessing to those who have planted maize. The only trouble is 1BD is now  a quagmire! We quip that poor Taurai and Tendai will soon start quacking! 

So its you who keeps us awake at night!!

To quote our quite quirky friend Caroline "Oh my word!!"Look who I met in the garden this morning. His ugliness made me feel quite queezy! We also had to kill another snake outside the back door last night which left me quaking and quivering but I was the one who chopped it in pieces using the hoe!! So now I'm the queen of snake killers!!
Well I must quit for now as there are a queue of other jobs to be done and I still have to add in the photos. Wishing you all, God's blessings in 2014 and a whole lot of fun.....


A proliferation of "P" words...

As you all prepare for picturesque snow and roaring fires we are putting up umbrellas and using sunscreen! Predictably it makes it very difficult to feel Christmassy! Even the presence of pretty trees, decorations and even the odd snowman, doesn't seem to produce the right effect. Perhaps its just us because everyone else seems excited about a holiday.Most people don't give or receive presents as they are too poor, but Christmas is a time for families to get together which is, perhaps, how it should be. It does mean that the site at 1BD is very busy planting and selling produce for the Christmas market. Things have really turned around this month, so Dave has only had to lay one man off! Praise God.

The children waiting for the performance to start!

Handa's Surprise and Handa's Hen display

The Rainbow Fish display
 

We had a great Parent's open day at E.C.D. last week . Preparation was hard work as we wanted to display paintings, printing and pictures that the children had done throughout the year as well as photographs. The children also performed for the parents and every child was presented with a personalised certificate celebrating their progress and achievements by the pastor's wife, Florah. The parents were suitably proud and so were we! They sang their songs and recited their rhymes beautifully producing a tear or two at times.
Dave has been preaching a lot lately so it was nice last Sunday to have a relaxing day without the pressure. I am running Kidz Klubs every Saturday as well so we sometimes feel a bit pooped! Both Kidz Klubs have been going so well, though. It was thrilling, a few weeks ago, to see the kids at Hamara performing what they had been learning at Kidz Klub in the Sunday morning service .


The new Jungle Gym in progress

The children's paintings

The other great
development is the play area paid for by West Rise Infant School , my wonderful sister  and "Inspire". Thank you all so much. The kids love it, Previously there has been  nothing else like it here! in fact there is nothing for the children and young people of Trenance to do at all. We are pleased to see the number of young people attending the church growing all the time, though. The next step might be to make a soccer pitch for them.??

Nearly done!

 

Children praying at Hamara Kidz Klub

Please pray for the  church leadership here as we face continual challenges. This has probably been Mike and Taurai's most difficult year. (no not because of us, we hope!) We are also becoming more painfully aware of God's purposes in bringing us here at such a time. Thank you to all those who pray for us as we couldn't survive without it! Personal phone calls, skype contact and emails are what keep us perky! We can't profess to being happy about being here for Christmas as we will miss family and friends so much but perhaps we can find some half decent cheese and some sweets and add on a few pounds as normal!

Obviously, O

Brad Ruth and Ethan

We were overjoyed recently to meet up again with our "old" friends Brad and Ruth with their little six month old, Ethan. They had to leave Zim last December and the one thing that overshadowed the trip here was that it was to say final goodbyes to friends as they won't be back. The friends they stayed with while here have also been ousted this week!. We will soon be the only ones left!

We did manage to grab a couple of nights away with them, though. We visited Great Zimbabwe, a National Heritage site, which was very interesting, although the weather was very English while we were there.





Some of the walls in the mist.

This ruined city is the largest stone structure ever built south of the Sahara and occupies a large area. It is not really odd that occasionally we like to do something educational! They are dry stone walls and enormously thick and, in Dave's opinion, more impressive than Pevensey Castle. We also went to the game park nearby and were overwhelmed to see a whole host of rhino. (A crash of rhino I'm led to believe)

Amazing rhino, dehorned to protect them from poachers

Obviously that was a bit of a highlight as many people who have grown up here have never seen one rhino, let alone ten. They didn't seem overly  bothered by us so came outrageously close and we were able to stay in the open to watch.



Some of the guests at the celebration

It was an outstanding occasion when Edmund, the chicken out grower, and his wife Ruth invited all the leaders of the church to a celebration meal. Local people do not ordinarily do such things but they wanted to thank everyone for their help and support and to thank God for their changed lives. It was an occasion of great celebration and overflowing gratitude. They are now able to support themselves and their youngest son will soon be off to university.



Lots of smiles. Or are they laughing at you darling?

Dave is having more and more input into the church leadership. This includes showing them his outstanding soccer skills. (He scored the first goal) Mike the elder at Hamara Farm congregation hosted a braai for the leaders and trainee leaders of Thembalezizwe and as they are obsessed with soccer out here, it seemed a good way to get the men interacting. Naturally the game was a bit one sided and the Trenance team won by a mile. (or should that be smile).
Overcast skies and the occasional shower has been typical of the weather this week, so we hope the outlook is good for outbursts of proper rains soon. We have had some outrageously violent thunderstorms occurring too!
Okay, I'd better end here. Oops, forgot to say, we are fine, pressing and onwards, trying to overcome the many obstacles as best we can. So from us, until the next overrated blog,  its over and out!
(acknowledgements to Julliette Farrer for many O words to help my tired brain!)

I've noticed many negative words start with N!

The offending tree which pulled down the power lines

No-one
can possibly understand the frustrations of living in a society where
nobody
cares about a job well done, or even a job done! Unless you've ever lived here that is... Three weeks ago a whirlwind ripped down the electricity lines at one of the plots, burning two acres of field and the company took three days to get around to fixing it so that the crops could be watered using the borehole pump. Last Saturday a storm brought down a tree on the power lines at 1 B D. Despite repeated requests, begging  phone calls and visits, the line was only finally fixed this afternoon, Wednesday. So the plants put in last week have received no water from the pumped irrigation since Saturday and are severely damaged. (The temperatures are in the mid 30's) we have probably lost 1,000 out of the 3,000.When the men did come eventually on Tuesday, they spent three hours sitting under a tree cooking breakfast over a fire and chatting! GRRRRR! It seems to be a National disease
Some negative happenings can have a positive outcome, though
.



Taking cabbages home

Never have we seen so many happy ladies as were at 1 BD last week. The cabbages, not fit to sell because of a moth infestation, were offered to the locals free. Many of the E.C.D. parents and their friends came to cut them either to feed their own families or to sell for a few rand. Several loads went to St Peters too as they are really suffering out there.   



Cutting the cabbages

It is a sad fact that many people are feeling the effects of lack of resources here and some are definitely going  hungry and starving. We monitor the children's height and weight at ECD and none have gained weight and many have lost! Nevertheless they are the happiest, most loveable children you could wish to meet. None of them ever complain and are always so obedient.                                                                                                                                                                  

Eating lunch together before the long walk home.

The number
of children attending the Hamara kidz klub has increased of late as the church has decided to feed them. Many of the kids walk at least 3k to get there and by the time we finish at 12 are unable to face the long walk home on an empty stomach. Here they are enjoying sadza, rice and half a sausage. In case you didn't know, it is traditional to eat with your hands out here but rice is a bit tricky so spoons are provided! 
Nature is running wild here now summer has arrived and the Jacaranda trees are beautiful with their purple blossom covering the streets as well as the trees. All the streets are tree-lined here so its quite a picture at times.

Jacaranda trees lining a road in Suburbs

  Nothing seems to be going right at 1 BD at the moment, so Dave is finding it particularly tough, as there is little income and the future of the plot looks bleak.. We are looking for answers but at the moment they are nowhere to be found, it seems! Neither of us can believe that it is right for guys to lose their jobs, but at the moment it looks as if there is no alternative.
Next time we hope for better  news and "O" being  positive like my blood, so until then night, night...  
  




Mmmmmmmm!!!??

Many things have happened since our return to Zim. Mostly BAD!! How did the Missionaries of old do it without the support of friends, family and church on the internet? Mammoth problems with the crops through an infestation of Moths (at least they start with the right letter!) greeted us on our return, together with a stolen spare wheel, Money illegally taken from our bank account, a Motor vehicle ripping into the front fence at the site at 1BD, a combi backing into our stationary car, I Mean What is going on??? Well we know the Man behind it and we won't give in although Morale has been pretty low at times! Sometimes it feels as if we are Making our way through a Maze.. and we just can't find the right way. It is often hard to Motivate ourselves so please keep praying for us that we hear the Master's voice clearly. Sorry to Moan. There is some positive news in the Midst of the Muddle!

One of the groups praying for each other

Dave doing his thing at Alpha with Simanga translating

Two weekends ago we had a Magical
time with about 70 young people on their Holy Spirit weekend. They are all students at Ebenezer Agricultural Training Centre. Dave did all the talks and the response was amazing with Many salvations and people being filled with the \spirit and speaking in tongues. That was an encouraging time!
Mama June (that's what they call me here) is really looking forward to getting back to school this week as I've Missed the kids a lot. We are also back with Kidz Klub next Saturday so no More loafing about in the sun for Me!


Noma still looking traumatised but happy with her new teddy.

Sadly one of the children from the ECD was quite badly burnt on her feet with boiling water last weekend. The wounds got infected and she is still in hospital. So Many children are left in the care of older siblings when their parents need to try to earn some Money. We have visited, prayed for her and taken her food and toys but hospital  here is not a nice place to be!   Her grandmother, who looks after her,(her own mother had her when she was 17!) had to leave her other three children  behind in Trenance on their own and we found they had no food! The ladies from the church have since been keeping an eye on them. Medicine is also very expensive out here so we will need to make sure that Noma gets all she needs once she is at home. I'll close with a picture of our two lovely Mucky, Mischievous, Mixed - up, Mad and Muddy dogs who help to keep us sane..

(well I had to get some more M's in somehow!)