"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!