March 30 - April 5th Zimbabwe-Namibia trip school and hospital in Zimbabwe

I am a month behind but trying to catch up. We had a busy month that started by going to Zimbabwe on March 30th. We had never been there before, but after our National Director's training in Johannesburg, our Zimbabwe National Director arranged for all the Stake PA Directors to come to Harare and for us to come and train them. We worked hard to get ready and I created a PowerPoint presentation customized for our training. We packed up our projector, etc. and headed for the airport.

At the airport they shrunk wrapped our baggage. That seemed odd, but we later found out that it wasn't to keep baggage handlers from stealing, but to keep them from putting drugs, etc. into our luggage. Who knew? We got through without incident and then boarded a small plane that took a couple of hours to get to Harare. We flew South Africa Airlines who always serve a meal in flight regardless of how small the plane is or how long the flight is. We arrived in Harare, Zimbabwe and the airport was deserted, only about 12 people going through customs, but we still had to wait a long time to get through.

Zimbabwe, a landlocked country in south-central Africa, is slightly smaller than California. It is bordered by Botswana on the west, Zambia on the north, Mozambique on the east, and South Africa on the south. Area: 390,580 sq. km. (150,760 sq. mi.), slightly larger than Montana. Cities: Capital--Harare (pronounced Ha-RAR-e) has a population of more than 1.5 million. The terrain is desert and savanna with mostly a sub-tropical climate. Population of Zimbabwe is about 12.5 million. Total Church Membership in Zimbabwe is 25,001 members, one mission, 60 congregations and four family history centers.

Once the seat of the mighty Rowzi Shona dynasty, modern Zimbabwe is an often chaotic, melting pot of a nation. The political climate in Zimbabwe has been tense since independence was achieved in 1980, with President Robert Mugabe ruling the country with a tight grip. The main tribal group in Zimbabwe is Shona. The archaeological ruins known as "Great Zimbabwe" have been radiocarbon dated to approximately 600 A.D. It is believed that the ancestors of modern day Shona built Great Zimbabwe and hundreds of other stone walled sites in Zimbabwe. It was not until the late 19th century that the peoples speaking several mutually intelligible languages were united under the Shona name.

We were picked up by a driver hired by the hotel and had quite a drive from the airport to the hotel in the dark. No freeway, just mainly dark roads with potholes, but when we arrive at the 'lodge' it was a nice surprise. Our National PA Director owns the lodge, so we didn't know what to expect, but the main room and dining room when you enter are full of very interesting antiques from around the world. The back closed in patio overlooks a large tree filled lawn with a creek running through the rear of the property. Tables for eating are set up along that same wall. A beautiful pool and a playground for the children can be seen from the windows.

The rooms were separated from the main lodge by a brick walkway on the other side of the pool and such a nice surprise. Outside deck, dining room and living room and huge bedroom with two steps up to the extra large bath with separate shower and claw foot tub with his and hers sinks. It was a very nice surprise. We unpacked our stuff and headed for the lodge for dinner. We seemed to be the only guests there. It was a bit strange, but with such a beautiful setting, we were not complaining.

The waiter gave us a couple of choices in menu and the food was great. We talked about the training over dinner and talked about the next day and meeting Samantha for some more Mormon Newsroom Training. We got her to come for lunch at the lodge which was great, because we were without transportation. Our waiter was very nice. We apologized for keeping him late, but he assured us that it was okay and he would still be able to get transport home later.



The next morning, we went down to get our free breakfast and sat next to the window. It was a lovely day and our breakfast of bacon and eggs was delicious. Our waiter was there, even after his late night. We made some phone calls and spent the rest of the morning walking around the property and enjoying the day.

Samantha joined us for lunch and we talked about some problems she had with adding photos to newsroom. I showed her some tricks to changing PDF files into photos and how to extract photos from a word document. She left after agreeing to get the vision story posted right away.

We spent the rest of the day setting up the room and making sure our training was in order for the next day. We checked emails and discussed who was going to do which part of the training. We did not expect a large turnout, because people have a hard time getting away during work days, but we were prepared to have 20 attend. We made arrangements with reception for the lunch and room setup. Everyone was very nice and attentive.

That night we had a nice quiet dinner...still seemed like we were the only ones there. We were still in our room when it started raining really heavy. We didn't know how to get to the dining room without getting soaked, so we called the desk and she sent a guy with umbrellas for each of us. We still got wet, but it could have been much worse and it was kind of nice being so cozy in the lodge while it rained outside. By the time we were done eating, the rain had almost stopped, but water was pooling everywhere on the grounds. We slept well and woke up ready to start our training.

The next morning, we ate breakfast and set up the room for the training. We tested outlets, found extension cords, plugged in the projector and tried out the PowerPoint. Eventually, we got everything working just fine. The lodge brought in pretty flower arrangements, notepads and pens, dinner mints and water. We were set to go.







The idea was to have the group meet for lunch at the lodge and afterwards start the training. So a table was set up outside under the trees and a buffet lunch brought out. By the time lunch was served, almost everyone was there. A few came late, but we had all public affairs directors from seven stakes and a member of their stake presidency from each. It was awesome to have so many attend. Some had to travel 6-8 hours to get there and spend the night only to travel back the next day. The sacrifice of most attendees was very touching.


Ken asked if he could participate in the training and we were happy to have him do so. We told him to chime in whenever he felt the need and it worked very well. One of the most interesting things he wanted to do was speak about trust. He used the activity where one person falls back and the other catches him. He made a very effective point by having the members of the Stake Presidency fall back and have their stake public affairs director catch them. One of the PA Directors was a small woman and she had to catch a pretty big guy. It was funny. She got a little help catching him, but it was obvious that he was worried about being caught. They all learned a lot from this. Our training lasted about three hours with many questions and insight from those there. Ken contributed often and it went very well.

The next day, we met up with Humanitarian Missionaries Elder and Sister Stevens. They had agreed to take us to some of their recent humanitarian projects. Our first stop was at a youth center in a neighborhood where humanitarian had provided fresh water and then were restoring a basketball court so the neighborhood children would have a place to play. The young men painting the court were members of the basketball team. Elder Kyle challenged them to play a match with the Elders. He told them the Elders were good. They smiled and said, "So are we." Apparently they are really good and the Mission President said later that he hardly has any basketball talent in his mission. We could tell it bothered him...Ha. Very funny. The inside of the youth center is a mess...the roof leaks and it is in need of paint and TLC. Humanitarian is trying to get that taken care of as well.


Our next stop was at a school where humanitarian had installed water tanks and fresh water source. Before that, the school had no water. The humanitarian couple were treated like royalty, because everyone was so thankful for the fresh water. The students had on their uniforms and looked so nice.







Some of the older children were put in charge of various duties at the school and they were all lined up in their special status uniforms greeting us as we traveled to the water tank. A couple of teachers also rushed out to see us and all seemed to enjoy getting their picture taken.

Water Storage towers supplied by the Church

They took us to their water tank storage and the children all followed us there. What a sweet bunch of children. Their two water tanks are to the left and a pump was attached to the building to bring the fresh water in. The pump was fenced in by leaders of the school, to make sure they did not get damaged and they were proud of the fact that they did that on their own.

Neighborhood grain grinding machine supplied by Church

They then took us to the corn grinder machine that humanitarian supplied them. Anyone in the community can come to the grinder and for a nominal fee grind their own corn into flower to use in cooking meals for their family. Gardens dotted the school grounds and a building was built around this grinder to keep mischief makers out. The building was built very well. The grinder can do a whole neighborhood in minutes. The school leaders are also proud of this machine and what they can provide to the poor families in the area.







After the school, we drove by one of the many bore holes that humanitarian provided for this poor community. This is where the neighborhood goes to get their supply of water each day.

This helped us to understand how much is needed in Africa and how much the Church is actually doing. It's amazing really.







We then traveled to a hospital that was in dire need of repair. The roof was bad and the ceilings inside were falling down on the patients. Humanitarian brought in materials for the ceiling and supplied pain for the inside. They also brought boxes of clean blanket sheets for the patients and more things to help the hospital take better care of the patients.


These photos are before and after of the ceiling.

 They used a very interesting material to put on the ceiling. It's pretty durable and requires no paining. It's a shiny slick surface.

Some patients were all crammed into a room on the end during the remodel. The conditions were not good...very different from US hospitals, but improvements were being made. This is a government hospital.











We then went back to the Steven's office and met up with a nice young returned missionary who was getting married the following week. He said his friends were giving him a hard time about getting married so young (He is 24), but he want to marry this woman. He showed us a photo and was very pleased when we commented on how beautiful she is. He was very sweet about it.





Thursday we packed up to head for Windhoek, Namibia. Unfortunately, no flights to Namibia from Zimbabwe, so we had to fly back to Johannesburg and then change planes and fly to Namibia. This time instead of a small plane, we got a 747 huge fully packed plane with five or six seats in the middle. There was a gal from Switzerland on our row talking to her friends across the aisle and we heard other accents, so there seemed to be a lot of Europeans on this flight. When we arrived in Namibia's very small airport, the customs people were packed with this airplane full of 300 people, but they were efficient and we only had to wait about 35 minutes. I helped this one guy fill out his forms. He was a young guy who had come to Namibia to do some volunteer work for some organization. He had no one else with him and didn't know how to fill out the forms. I worried about him when we left and hoped that someone showed up to pick him up.

We were picked up by our National Public Affairs Director, Womba's husband and sister. They were very nice and we had fun conversations on our long drive from the airport to the hotel (The airport is out in the middle of nowhere). The countryside and mountains reminded us of Arizona. There had been lots of rain, so the desert bushes were green dotting the mountains. We stayed at a hotel downtown, so it was a very convenient location. Our biggest surprise was downtown. The streets were clean well tended. The buildings were in good repair and no trash anywhere. This is very different from the other places we've been.

Namibia became a unitary nation-state when it gained independence in 1990. Covering 318,500 square miles (825,000 square kilometers) on the southwest coast of Africa, Namibia is bordered by Angola and Zambia (north), Botswana (east), South Africa (south), and the Atlantic Ocean (west). The coast, with its productive fishing grounds and the deep water harbor of Walvis Bay, is edged by the dunes and gravel plains of the Namibia desert. Inland, the hills and plains of the central plateau are predominantly scrub Savannah, gradually transforming into the Kalahari semi-desert to the east. The flat north-central and northeastern regions have extensive flood plains and areas of dense vegetation. The driest country in sub-Saharan Africa, Namibia only has permanent rivers on its northern and southern borders.

Namibia has a population of 2.1 million people and a stable multi-party parliamentary democracy. Agriculture, herding, tourism and the mining industry – including mining for gem diamonds, uranium, gold, silver, and base metals – form the backbone of Namibia's economy. Given the presence of the arid Namibia Desert, it is one of the least densely populated countries in the world. Namibia enjoys high political, economic and social stability.

Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, is a mix of African and European cultures. As a result of its Germanic colonial history and the mingling of races, Windhoek is rather diverse: there are all colors of skin to be seen, and different varieties of styles of clothes. Some people opt for western attire while other wear colorful, traditional robes and intricate hair styles; Herero women can be seen strolling in Victorian-style dresses next to men in western business suits.

We actually were walking down the sidewalk downtown when two native older women in grass skirts with no tops came towards us holding their shopping bags. This must be an ordinary sight, because no one paid them any attention, but it sure surprised us. What a contrast between them and this modern city.

The next day we had a lunch planned at our hotel with Rev Maria Kapere from the Namibia Council of Churches, The Mission President and his wife, plus Womba's dad who will be our representative to the Council of Churches. Womba's dad is a very sharp man with a doctorate degree and many years in education. He will do a great job representing our Church on the Council. Rev Kapere is a very wise and caring woman who realizes what needs to be done to help her nation. She was very passionate about the family and how it is the core of society. She said she needs our help to promote the family and address the problems that come when families disintegrate. We had a great discussion about the problems and how we can tackle them. She and her husband have been working to help the community for years and she will be our friend on the Council of Churches. It is due to Womba and other public affairs efforts that we have a great relationship with this wonderful woman and that our Church is finally recognized by the Council of Churches, which is a big deal in Africa. It was a long successful lunch meeting.

On Saturday, we were due to train Womba's Public Affairs Council (Her and a media specialist and government relations specialist). A previously rented room in the hotel was where we got the PowerPoint presentation set up and ready to go. We got started late because of late arrivals, but had a good training and discussion with those who were there. We then had to hurry to check out of the hotel and catch a plane back to Johannesburg.

It was a great trip. We got to meet many influential people, see a bit of Namibia and learn about problems Namibia is having. We learned that we have more similarities than differences with the churches in that area and that we will be able to accomplish much more when we work together.

We find as we travel to these wonderful countries with their beautiful landscape and even more beautiful people that we are more the same than we are different, that God's hand is evident in all of Africa, especially in the faces of its people. We will be forever thankful for these choice experiences.