Points for prayer

Just a quick one with a few prayer requests for the next week or so, as I forgot to mention the specifics on the last couple of things. Please pray for...

• the girls from the Tanaka project, that their faith and hope can continue and won’t dwindle in the government school they’re now in.

• the staff at Oasis - they’re all working really hard and love God, but many have problems at home with housing, family and finances. Please just pray that God will provide for them, and that they’ll be able to continue the good work they’re doing.

• finances for Oasis Zim - the Tanaka project in particular is struggling, which is why we are making and selling jewellery. Having just moved offices, Oasis are planning to set up a drop-in centre in the building adjacent to where they are now, for street girls to come and get counseling, advice and help, as well as the opportunity to get to know God more.

• our team - We have found the first few weeks tiring, and sometimes feel drained of energy. As things are still shaping up, we’re trying to learn to trust God and his plans - it’s God’s agenda, not ours! Please pray that we will be refreshed of energy and will be enthusiastic in each project, and that we will remember that we are here to serve God, build relationships and demonstrate Christ’s love in that way. We are also struggling on/off with homesickness, as various events have caused us to think of people at home. Again, please pray that we can remember we’re here for a purpose, and that we ill be able to rely on God and support each other through that. In difficult times I personally have been encouraged by the well-known Psalm 23 - “Surely your goodness and your unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.” We are not alone here, and I am praying that we remember that.

• safety - God has been watching over us in our first couple of weeks here, and we simply pray that it continues throughout our stay in Zimbabwe.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support.
God bless,
Jo x

Once upon a time in Zimbabwe...

Hello again!

Firstly, sorry for lack of pictures - minimal internet and slow internet speed means they take far too long to upload! The past few days have been equally as diverse and exciting as the first week - so much has happened it’s impossible to tell you everything. So I thought  I’d pick out a few highlights...

Mbare Pre-school - This is where we’re going to be working every Tuesday morning and Thursday afternoon (sports). We popped in for a little visit, met the teachers and some of the children. It was a very surreal experience - the children chanted “auntie, auntie, auntie” at us, which is the equivalent of chanting “Miss, Miss, Miss” in a primary school here. They were all rather excitable as it was their lunch break, so hopefully when we come to teach and work with them we’ll be able to control it!

River of Life Westgate - Built around a church (think large thatched-roof hut, rather than our brick buildings), this is a training centre for farming. Sounds a bit bizarre, but the thinking behind it is to make farming in Zimbabwe more effective - with a smaller portion of land, they can take better care of the crops, and therefore come harvest time produce a greater yield. The organisation run workshops at Westgate and in other places in Zimbabwe, and the idea is that eventually people will learn how to farm more effectively, for themselves and to sell. So, when we visited, we were given a tour of the herb garden - where they use everything from mint to strawberry leaves to milk thistle for herbal remedies - and also of the crop fields. The men who gave us the tours were so clearly passionatge about the work they were doing; they truly believe in using plants and herbs, since it is a natural gift from God. What struck us most was their reasoning behind the herbal remedies: there are so many people who cannot afford healthcare and medicine here in Zim, so by showing them how they can grow herbs and use them to improve their health, and by running a clinic on-site, illnesses can be treated. The reason we were shown round this farm is that we are going to be replicating their “DIY” versions in the ground of the Oasis offices, for the people Oasis serve to benefit from.

Jewellery-making - This is something we will be doing weekly, with an aim to then sell the jewellery in the UK and US (when various people from Oasis travel home or on visits) to raise money for the Tanaka prject (which I’ll some to later). A girl called Catriona is heading up this project, but she’s back in America until January, so has left guidelines and images and things for us to use to give us ideas. We enjoyed finally doing something that we felt was beneficial, and something that will become part of our weekly routine. It was quite soothing too, as it took a lot of concentration. And, once we’d finished for the day, our necklaces and bracelets actually looked really nice!  At least, we’d buy them...

Visiting the Tanaka girls - A monthly occurrence for us, we think. With Junic, we headed to a government-run boarding school which is now home to five girls from the Oasis Tanaka Project (which recently shut down due to lack of funding, but will hopefully be re-opened within the next few months). We met the girls and chatted with them, and they then sang to us. Even from the short time we spent with them, it was evident they had been through a lot, so their faith in God was really touching. For example, one of the girls was abandoned by her father who took her siblings away from her too, and she was left on the streets until she was taken in by Oasis and looked after by those who run the Tanaka project. The work that the Oasis women did with them and the care they provided gave her a family again. She was clearly so appreciative of the visit from Junic, and from her story it was her faith that kept her going in what was quite an oppressive environment in the government-run school where she boarded too. The girls had such joy when they sang to us, and that hit home with Helen, Jess and me: they don’t have any material possessions or any known family (one doesn’t even have a registered birth certificate), but they can find joy and hope and peace in God, and stick together as sisters. What struck me most was when another of the girls explained that when people from Oasis visit them, “it’s like a mother to us”. While some of the other kids there have family who just couldn’t afford to look after them, these girls are abandoned but the work that Junic and the other women in charge of the Tanaka project gives them hope.
We visited the little ones in another orphanage school called “Village of Hope”, which was founded by a Canadian Christian organisation. It was like a different world compared to the government-run place - each of the dormitories had residential housemothers who looked after 8 children each of varying ages, to create a family-like feel for the kids. The children we met and played with seemed really happy and looked out for one another (6 year olds were entertaining the babies, and things like that). The work the directors and housemothers were doing was clearly making a difference, and their caring approach created a much friendlier atmosphere.

Northside Community Church - On Fridays and Sundays we will be working in the church, in the youth department. When we rolled up on Friday we expected a fairly easy day, getting to know the place and just observing the kids’ club, maybe helping out from the sidelines. But no. Ben, the youth director, had different ideas. He assigned us the task of leading the 2 hour session with kids aged 6 to 12 ourselves. Talk about throwing us in at the deep end! So we were given a worksheet that the session will be based around (Daniel 5), and told to plan games, craft and lesson on that. It’s fair to say we were pretty nervous - 2 hours with kids is a long time! - but we made a plan in the morning and figured out who was doing what. Come 3 o’clock, we were ready for the kids (although the two guys who we had been told were coming to help us evidently were not, as they hadn’t shown up). But, long story short, we managed! The children were very excitable at the start, but Ben gained control of them, passed over to us and we were fine from then on. The main difficulty we established was that the younger children couldn’t actually read or write English yet (Shona being their mother tongue), so that was a problem with the worksheets. But we were aware that wasn’t our fault, and we dealt with it by Jess and I wandering round the room to help specific kids while Helen led from the front. The children  were lovely though, and very well behaved - it seems to be very much a part of the culture that children respect those who are older than them, so when we asked them to do things they would listen and follow instructions, which was a welcome treat for us! The kids really appreciated it, and we’re pretty sure we’ll have fun taking that session over the next few months.
We also went to the young adults session at night, and although at first feeling fish out of water since they were singing in Shona as we entered and we were the only white people there! However, the speaker was really good, and it gave us a chance to talk to people of a similar age to us. Hopefully we’ll be able to go regularly and make some new friends there - sport seems to be the social activity of choice, so maybe some football, basketball and tennis will be coming our way soon!
On Sundays we also will be helping with the childrens’ work - yesterday we led the kids’ club during the service, while the Sunday school teachers took the day off. We were therefore occupying 70-odd children with the help of Antoinette, the youth worker in the church. There are no child safety issues, one adult per three children or antything like that here! It went really smoothly again though - we are so thankful, as God has been hearing our prayers and helping us through these early challenges!

It could only happen in Africa... - I have been keeping tally of the number of times I’ve been stopped by police while driving (note - I haven’t done anything wrong, they just like to harrass people!). So, in my one week of driving I’ve been stopped three times and waved by once. Thankfully, each time there hasn’t been an issue - God has been watching over us there! I’ll keep you posted each blog, don’t worry. In other car-related issues, we have discovered that our key fits more than one car, by accidentally breaking in to someone else’s. Whoops. What’s more, after the fiasco, the man came back to ask my name - “Nice to meet you,” he said, then handing over his card he continued, “give me a call sometime.” Only in Zimbabwe! Shopping has provided some entertainment too - pricing is just ridiculous! A green pepper is $1.54 per kg, while the yellow or red varieties are $10.78! If you fancy some Ferrero Rocher to treat yourself, don’t buy it in Zimbabwe - $20 for eight would be the price you’d have to pay. That is some expensive chocolate (if you want to send some out here though, do feel free...) Candlelight dinners have featured too, although sadly not romantically (don’t tell Helen or Jess!). The frequent power cuts haven’t been too much of a bother for us, but they do make the day a little more interesting!

Ok, so that’s my “summary” for now, any questions you have you can leave a comment and I can try to get round to them! Internet connection varies, and also depends on the electricity, but I will do my best.

Love and prayers,

Jo

"Thank you for Jacks, Jill and Helen..."

*Sorry guys, this blog was written on Monday 11th, but didn't have internet access to publish it before today. I'll get the next one up asap!*

So our first week here in Zimbabwe is nearly over! It has been a whirlwind of activity: we’ve met new people, tried new food, visited new areas, driven not-so-new cars... Since our arrival we’ve had a week of orientation, giving us a chance to settle in and get our bearings before we start our regular timetable (on Wednesday).

From the little that we’ve seen so far, Zimbabwe is such an interesting and diverse country, in nature and in people. Each night we are sung to sleep by the birds and crickets outside our house - we are staying in a low-density area, so there isn’t a lot of traffic which means we can always hear their chirruping. Aside from the cockerel which has woken us up at 5:45 a.m. the past couple of mornings, it seems so peaceful - a world away from the crowded streets of Harare, which I’ll get to later. The trees and flowers are beautiful here too, which I didn’t really expect. Jackerandas - large trees with lilac blossom - line streets and avenues (which are all in a grid, running parallel and perpendicular to one another), and other plants and trees which are just so different to those in the UK make a drive from one side of town to the other a little nature tour too! On the day of our arrival we saw a zebra in a forest park on the way to our current home, which was a pleasant surprise.

The house we’re staying in at the moment belongs to the parents-in-law of Kate Brits, our team co-ordinator here in Zim. They aren’t actually here at the minute, but their house is lovely - much nicer than what I expected! This is mainly because this is the part of town where it’s safe for us - a group of three white girls - to live. Lorraine and Henry even have a swimming pool, which we have appreciated in the October heat which we are repeatedly told “just started last week”. Frequent power cuts make things like cooking and washing  interesting, but so far we haven’t had any serious issues. It is just something that the locals have learned to live with - you can’t explain it, and can’t really predict it, so you learn to adapt with it. We experienced one power cut yesterday in a supermarket: all the lights, the fridges, the tills cut out for five minutes until the generator kicked in, and eveything was up and running as if nothing had happened; people even continued to shop in the dark!

As a team, Jess, Helen and I have found Zimbabwe to be in a better state than we had initially expected. Having spoken to a few people, things have dramatically improved since last summer, and now most things are widely available. We managed to buy sim cards for $1 each, whereas last year they could only be bought on the black market at extortionate prices. That said, we haven’t visited the rural areas yet - we will hopefully get the chance to do this with a woman in Northside Community Church, where we’ll be based for the next 5 months - and we have noticed a huge contrast between the rich and the poor. Each house we have visited feels like a bubble, separated from the streets just beside where people are selling all sorts of things.

We noticed this contrast most when we went into downtown Harare on Friday, for what Kate called the “Harare Challenge”. Taking a combi - a commuter bus which is only supposed to take 12 people but actually gets packed with at least 20 - into town from the Oasis offices with Memory and Barbara, two women who work there, we walked around the streets of Harare, popped into some shops, visited the national gallery and had lunch. At Wimpy. But this was not a Wimpy burger - oh no - this was Wimpy sadza! Sadza is basically a maize-based “filler” that is a cross between mashed potato and rice. Despite the horror stories we had heard before, we all thought it tasted ok - so long as it’s served with something else, be it a vegetable relish or a meat accompaniment, it is most definitely edible. We are cooking for ourselves at the minute though, so we’re pretty glad we don’t have to have it every day for lunch and dinner, like most Shona people do.

On Sunday we had our first experience of Northside Community Church, a mixed church in an area of Harare called Borrowdale. Again we found the people to be so welcoming and friendly - so many people introduced themselves that we have forgotten the vast majority of the names! For those at Freeland Church, there are some similarities - the worship band has similar instruments (the girls who sing were in the Top 10 of Nigerian Idol!) and there’s a screen and projector for the words and points to highlight during the sermon. We sing in English and in Shona, which is definitely a little different, and it’s a lot bigger than Freeland - there are 100 young people alone in the church! 100 young people who we have been assigned to entertain next week while the teachers have their week off... As I said though, everyone is very friendly - we were invited to lunch with Ann Clark, who is an admin assistant in the church. We had such a lovely afternoon with her - conversation was really interesting as it turned out her family had been white farmers before the troubles. There was one moment where we all had to bite our tongues to hold back laughter though - while Ann gave thanks for the food, she said (with the best intentions, no doubt) “Thank you for Jacks, Jill and Helen...”. None of us had the heart to correct her! So, to Ann we will be Jacks, Jill and Helen for the next five months!

We had perhaps more “African” style worship with the Oasis team on Monday morning, where someone would start singing a song, and everyone else would sing back the next part, and the songs continued like that. Africans definitely have better rhythm than us! The clapping and harmonies were amazing, and it was a fantastic experience in such a little room! The people we’ll be working with at Oasis all have stories to tell, and we’re really looking forward to getting to know them better as we work with them on various projects.

The biggest challenge I’ve had to face so far is driving. While I am so grateful they drive on the same side of the road as in Britain, there are definitely some differences! There are potholes everywhere here, and speed bumps which they don’t like to mark with paint or anything. I think Jess and Helen have had a few surprises in the back of the car when an unexpected bump has come our way! Our windscreen wipers have had a bit of a workout too, despite the lack of rain - for some reason or other the indicator switch is the opposite side of the steering wheel to at home. Finally, the scariest challenge has been the policemen. Having only been driving for two days, I’ve already been stopped and asked for my license. It’s a tricky business, since they’re often looking for bribes in return for letting you off the hook, but often all they want is to check the car is insured or has a radio license. Luckily we had no bother when we were stopped, and were given permission to go with a “Have a nice day” and “Say hi to your friend in the back!” Kate has told us that if we show fear, they’ll pick up on that and try to get some money out of us - but I can be confident in that we are allowed to drive with a UK license for up to 6 months in the country, so hopefully we won’t get too much hassle!

Overall, it’s been a week of easing us in to Zimbabwean culture and to the work we’ll be doing and the places we’ll be visiting over the next few months. We’ve been getting on really well as a team and have been fortunate enough to be surrounded by people who are willing to help us, so we just hope and pray that it will continue!

Soon to depart!

How time flies. It seems like yesterday I was at my interview with Oasis for this trip, and now, here I am, 23 hours away from my plane leaving Heathrow. I can't believe this is my last night in Scotland of 2010!

So, I've done a little tour of the country to say goodbye to all the lovely people in my life, and have spent the last few days seeing family and (duh duh duuuuuuh) packing. It has been an emotional rollercoaster making lists, re-writing lists, buying essentials, buying non-essentials, putting things in my suitcase and rucksack, taking things out my suitcase and rucksack, swapping things from my suitcase TO my rucksack, swapping things from my rucksack to my suitcase, taking things out again, putting them back in... Finally, though, at approximately 9:07pm tonight, I finished. Suitcase the right weight, rucksack the right weight, hand luggage full to burst, but still the right weight. It is a miracle. I still have a sneaky feeling I'll have to take some books out when I come to airport check-in though. Oh, how life is stressful. However, the first challenge of my trip has been overcome. Joanna 1, baggage allowance 0.

Jess, Helen and I are due to arrive in Harare early afternoon on Thursday (there's a time difference of 1 hour). We'll have a week, give or take a few days, of orientation, then the real work will begin. We have been given a provisional timetable, which involves a mix of teaching at the preschool, leading health and recreational classes, and working in Northside Community Church with the young people and children, but as we were told at our training - it's Africa! So any plans can change at the last minute, so I won't bother going into too much detail until I'm there. That said, there are still a few things that I would greatly appreciate prayer for:

• a safe journey to Harare for myself and the team - we are flying to Harare from Heathrow on Wednesday night, via Nairobi.
• safety in the country - particular on the roads and at night. As the only driver in the team, I will be doing a lot of the driving to and from the schools and church, and from what I hear African roads are a little different to here in the UK!
• an open mind and willingness to learn and adapt - I am very aware that things may be difficult for us at the start as we are thrown into a lifestyle completely different to what we have known up until now, so
• that our relationships within the team and with the locals and those we work with would be blessed.
• a heart to persevere when the going gets tough, and remember why we are there and our vision as a team - we know that this is not going to be plain sailing for the whole five months, but we hope to be able to continue and overcome the challenges and difficulties!

Thank you. The next time I write this I'll be in Zimbabwe - what a thought! Anyway, must go to update my iPod with the music I'm going to be listening to for the next five months...

God bless,

Jo