Hi All,
We have been here in Harare for nearly a week now. How time flys. Sorry we have endeavoured to send out some e-mails earlier this week, but
suspect some didn't go. The two things you notice most about Harare are the high fences around just about everything, many with spikes or barbed wire above them. And secondly is that it is like this town was built back in the '70s with great infastructure, and then has never been maintained since. All
the roads are full of pot holes, the traffic lights often do not work, many buildings are run down, there is no garbage collection, town water is ordinary, schools are badly run down,... I could go on. The only public transport are "OMINBUSES", which are generally Toyota Coasters, or similar about 12 seaters (like our Church Bus) which can be seen with about 30 people cranbed into or hanging out of. They just seem to be all over the place (no time table I bet). The traffic... well that is a story all on its own.
Despite all this we fell quite safe and the people are friendly and welcoming. Hundreds, if not thousands of people amble along the roadside, carrying their wares on their heads and babies on their backs. The Sunday after we arrived was to be a relax and recovery day, after 27 hours from Melb hotel to Harare accomodation. We attended a great local Church on Sunday morning, then had a little excitment that afternoon with a fire across the road, with people running with buckets of water. After a while the local fire brigade turned up. It was something like a Land Cruiser with some flashing lights on top and a pump and some hoses I guess. I'm glad it was not windy, as it may have spread further. People burn their rubbish all the time, so there are blackened and smoldering patches all over the town.
Anyway to our real purpose, helping out orpanage projects the ACTS support. We have now visited each project that ACTS is involved in ZIM. Each has its own variety of needs. On Moday we visited FAther's House, ACTS newest project. It is the furthest out from Harrare centre, and in one of the poorest areas. It has 12 children and a house mother (MARY). The house is small and old but as clean as possible inside and tidy.The children are quiet with
us, as they mainly speak Shona. Pride (one of the old children) translates. We did coloring with the children and read. We prayed with them about their exams and school fees which they need help with. We will be doing some painting and general maintenance here. They have no furniture other than their beds. It would be nice to find some for them.
DANAI childrens home has 25 children from 1 to 15 years. We were there only a couple of minutes before we have babies in our arms, they are friendly happy little ones who love to cuddle and show you around Franchesca has been running this house for 7 years. The older children go to school, but the youger ones are at home. Again this is a very clean and tidy house. The biggest problem for them is space. A four bedrrom house with around 30 people, it needs storage space and places for children to sleep. This is a house of love, you feel it, God is very present here. They are very thankful for any help they get and prasie God for all they have. We made a bookshelf for them, such a small task, but to them it was a big thing. They have been waiting for one for 2 years. Tyler and Emma enjoy playing with the children. As soon as the sit down they have babies climbing over them. Tyler has taken a shine to Joshua, who is a real character and Emma to Faith, who is a small quiet girl. Me (anne) I just love them all.
St.Joseph Boys home, houses 55 boys aged between 10 and 22, all go to school. The building is an old school, that need much maintenance and painting . Such a dawnting task as it is so big. We have painted 1 bedrrom and half a hallway. It doesn't seem much to us, but the boys say that God is doing great things by sending people who care enough to come and do these jobs. We were able to sit on Friday afternoon and help the boys do their homework. Glenn helped the older boys with science and maths, Anne with theyounger doing maths. They appreciate people spending time with them and helping with homework. The one thing you notice here is that even with such a large number of boys and place in calm and peaceful. The boys all say hello and how are you as they pass by. We would love to creat a Chill-out room for them to use as a place to relax.
St. Catherines special school - we have only visted this school, seeing what needs to be done. About 55 childrens with special needs attend here, out of a possible 150 places, but the government keep increasing the fees, and the teachers are paid about $100 per month. We will probably be painting some playground equipment here. Groups from ACTS and the local church have painted lots of things here recently and it makes a great difference to the feel of the place. There is lots of physio equipment that have been donated to this place, but it is all locked away as there is no expertise to use it (most training people move out of the country to make a better living) those that stay are generally out of love. We were able to go to a school SU program, where they play games, sing songs, have devotions to encourage and mentor the kids. A lot like the group we had at Bayswater High when we went to school. The children choose to come to this group. It is a time when they can learn about God and enjoy themselves. We gave a short talk on why we come to ZIM and about Australia. We were asked lots of questions, particulaly about Aust. animals. It was a lot of fun. That was our week in a nutshell. We are eating really well, thanks to Steve our cook, driver and teacher of card games. We will not come back thin. The shops here are slowly improving what they can stock, which is really great for the people. No where has change, and credit notes are generally the only type of coin you get.Therefore everything is generally at least a $1.
We are proud of Emma and Tyler, they are pitching in. Until next time we hope you are all well.
God Bless
The Bowketts
