Just Wrong

A child at the shops shouldn’t have to plead for my groceries…

A mother shouldn’t have to queue before dawn to view second-hand clothes she probably can’t afford…

A 17 year-old orphan shouldn’t have to attend her brother’s homicide sentencing on her birthday…

A family shouldn’t have to forgo soap to buy salt…

A father shouldn’t have to do shift work and get paid with soap…

A baby shouldn’t have to sleep their first winter without a blanket…

But they did today.

A pox on all of the above injustices.

Grant

Training

We caught a train to Victoria Falls. I was worried that we would miss the train but we didn't. When we got on it looked old fashioned and we stuck our heads out the window. There were bunks to sleep in. The train tooted and stopped every five minutes. On the way I spotted a stripy impala. We also saw people getting water. We made friends with the security guard. It was fun standing in the corridor because it wobbles. The toilet was a hole with a seat that made the stations stinky.

Bridie

Vic Falls

We went to Victoria Falls. There were people everywhere who are trying to sell you stuff. It’s fun to haggle with them…in fact they want you to. They are so desperate to sell you something that even if you don’t haggle them down they keep dropping the price. We were offered a carved stone hippo for $15ea and soon the price dropped to $7 for three! No kidding, that’s what happened to us! I enjoyed it so much, getting bargains everywhere. I got a wire baobab tree for $10 when in the gift shop it was $40! I was foolish enough to buy a one hundred trillion dollar note (which is worth $1), but the man tried to convince me to buy it for $15. I ended up bringing him down to $5. I’m going to frame it.

On our second day at Vic Falls, we went to the Falls itself. We (unwisely) hired only 3 raincoats and went in. We got soo wet. It looked like we’d taken a shower in our clothes! Even those of us wearing raincoats got drenched. The spray drenched us so much. Mum got a bit sick of it, even though she was wearing a raincoat, so we didn’t go all the way. The only way to describe the falls is majestic. And massive. It was ginormous and we only saw a quarter of it! The picture is only a tenth of it!!!!!!

We also went on a river cruise and saw 11 elephants and 5 hippos. I got a bottle of water and drank it really quick so that Dad could get some Zambezi River water into it. I now have 500ml of Zambezi water. Dad said there is a brand of beer called Zambezi so he will get some and stick the label on my water bottle. The water is so clear, you’d think it’s shop water. (I’m not going to drink it).  

I LOVE Victoria Falls!

 Abigail

Matobos

A few days ago we went to Big Cave Camp in Matobos. We got a big family cabin. It had bunk beds for us kids and a double bed for mum and dad. It had a great view of a water hole. It also had a nice swimming pool. We had brilliant three course meals. There also was a bonfire every night. Their manager Lin was extremely friendly. The guide was nice too. He was called Sam. On our first day he took us to a big rock that was struck by lightning. Then we sat on the rock and watched the extraordinary sunset while we drank cool drinks.

A few days later we went on another walk. Sam was in the middle of telling us about some ancient people when he stopped in the middle of his sentence and said: “Did you hear that?” We said: “No”. This time we listened closer and we heard a loud grunt. It was a leopard - a wild leopard! The leopard kept sneaking into the park. Bridie was very scared. But the guide wanted to see it and so did I. But then it started getting dark so we had to go back to the camp. We did see heaps of animals at Matobos. We saw giraffe, zebra, kudu, hippos, grybok, hyrax, a crocodile and monkeys. I loved spotting them.

Clare

To Whom It May Concern

Dear Whom,

We are planning to head to Victoria Falls via Bulawayo and Matobos National Park for the next week. If we are even slacker than usual at replying to things - that's part of the reason. We’re very excited.

 Part of our motivation to have a good look around is that our visa situation is a little fragile. There is a possibility that we will have to leave Zimbabwe in August rather than New Year's Day 2013. We are still working to firm up our status but we may be unable to stay in Zim any longer. There may be room for us to go to South Africa or another neighbour but for now we’re waiting.

That's us helping out in the library!

Thanks,

Grant

Babu

For three weeks we had the pleasure of having my father Bruce French visit us here in Zimbabwe.  He had been sent to a Rotary conference in Thailand and found that for a relatively small cost, he could fly onto Zimbabwe. 

It was wonderful for the children to see their grandfather and introduce him to many of their friends and favourite places.  While Dad was with us, he had the opportunity to visit many places in Zimbabwe thanks to Reverend Tadzaushe (our resident minister at MRCH), Dr Tsitsi Nyamupingidza and a fantastic local NGO called Cluster Agricultural Services.  We went on two adventures to the beautiful yet underfunded Botanical Gardens and Herbarium.  Dad’s impressive work with documenting the food plants of the world was enjoyed and celebrated by the local FAO community, the University of Zimbabwe Crop Science department and other NGO’s. 

Dad was able to share his love of studying the Word of God.  The opportunity for him to do bible teaching seemed to occur often.  With his busy schedule between bible teaching and investigating the agricultural situation in Zimbabwe, I think he was well and truly ready for a rest at home in Tasmania.

It provided real encouragement and insight to have Dad visit the place where we live and work.  The girls found it hard to say goodbye to him and they were very keen to hide in his luggage, but it may not be that long before we follow him.

Anthea