Day 30 - The Undiscovered Wal-Mart

Last night was an early night for everyone last night - as ordered by Auntie Deb.  By early I mean really early, which didn't worry me at all as I was asleep on the couch at 8:30.  However, despite the fact that it was an early night for everyone, we still managed to have a late start this morning with a specific few individuals not waking until 8am.

We waited around for a short while this morning to write out our shopping list for today.  However before we had left, Auntie Deb arrived back home with a boot full of gifts for her staff.  Once the car was unpacked and the presents sorted, we left for our shopping adventure.

Most of the shops in Bulawayo are small and very specific in what they sell, and the supermarkets are no different.  This time around we went to a shop called 'OK-Mart' on the outskirts of town.  I had never heard of this shop before, nor had I ever been there.  OK-Mart is what I imagine Wal-Mart to be like.  The building was bigger than Capalaba Bunnings and they stocked EVERYTHING.  Electronics, stationary, clothes, food, gym equipment, and the list goes on.  It is truly unlike anything else in Bulawayo.  Better still, there is staff inside to push your trolley around and direct you to the aisles of products that you are looking for.  It was the fastest shop that I've done to date...

Following out shopping experience, we headed out to Willow Park for the afternoon/evening.  As today had been a perfect day, we decided to try our luck with a sunset photo from the top of Rocky-Top Mt.  We left at 4, had a short time with the younger kids and then raced up the mountain to catch the sun before it set.  Coming back down we ate dinner with the kids (sudza and kapenta) and spent some time hanging around upstairs.

As we were leaving we noticed just how dark it actually becomes out at Willow Park.  There are no outside lights on the site, just those inside the buildings.  It is because of this that it becomes really dark outside - the sort of dark where you can't see your hand in front of your face.  Yet, people walk in these conditions and they do it regularly without a torch.

Friday is the day of the SJC christmas party and it's shaping up to be a really great day.  It is only because of the donations made that this sort of event is able to be put on.  In a time where money is tight, and a country where you can't always get what you want, putting on a christmas party is the last thing on SJC's radar.  However because of the donations, SJC are able to treat the kids to foods that they'd be lucky to have a couple of times a year, to a party that some kids have never experienced before and, for some kids, receive the first christmas present in their life.  Thank you!


Alex

Day 29 - Soccer under the African sun

It was a real late start this morning, which did not go according to plan. The late morning was caused by watching 'In Time' (which Andrew bought for $3.50 yesterday) til midnight. Our plan today was to start early and do many hours of Christmas shopping for everyone, because we didn't really know Bulawayo CBD and where to shop. We also had a soccer game planned with some kids from SOS at 2pm, but more on that later.

So brekkie was at 9:30am and then drove to Video World where we were shortchanged on tv series yesterday. Alex laid down the law and by 11:30am we got our missing series of 'Big Bang Theory'. Racing the clock we headed to the CBD to start some christmas shopping. It looked like everyone in Bulawayo left Christmas shopping to the last week because the streets were jammed packed with cars and people on the footpaths.

Buying for others is hard, but buying for each other was easy once we headed to Edgars (a high end department store like MYER). We all pointed to what we wanted and we bought it for each other. Simple. While waiting for the others to browse the shelves, I had a conversation with one of the staff members. I started answering her questions saying we were from Australia and we were here helping out at the Sandra Jones Centre at Willow Park. She then asked me what I thought of the prices at Edgars. Pointing to a $35 pair of shorts, I said it's quite reasonable for us Aussies and then I posed the question to her. She told me that there was no way she could afford them on her $70 weekly wage. After living costs and transportation to work, there was no way she could buy that sort of clothing. Then it struck and reminded me how blessed I am growing up in a country like Australia and a life that I've never fully appreciated. When telling Andrew and Alex about my conversation I'm sure they concurred.

Roads jammed with cars

Footpaths jammed with people

Edgars

Bulawayo Baptist Church

Soccer

So we had to cut our shopping short because we had a soccer appointment at 2pm. We picked up 2 extras from Bulawayo Baptist (Shakes and Moses) and then headed to S.O.S Orphanage as we were invited to play a friendly game of soccer with them. Andy was extremely keen to play some soccer. I on the other hand, was quite nervous when Shakes told Alex and I that these guys from S.O.S have been in numerous fights during some competitive matches, but we both put on our shoes and ran out onto the field. It was the 'guys from S.O.S' verses 'Team Aussies and friends'. In all seriousness, it was a great friendly game. Alex was in defence and was like a brick wall, clearing the ball every time it came near our goals. Andrew and Shakes led the attack and scored many goals, even Andrew's nose scored a goal after the ball deflected off the goalie straight to Andy's unsuspecting face. The kids from S.O.S were really friendly and quite competitive but in a good way. I would love to go back there and verse them again.

After more than 2 hours of straight soccer in the blazing hot sun, we headed back to Bulawayo Baptist for a spontaneous jam session with some of the music team from the church. Andrew was on drums, Alex on acoustic guitar and I was on keys. We did an awesome rendition of 'I can sing of Your love forever' in a hip hop feel with Shakes doing some rapping. It worked out really well and sounded amazing.

We came back home to no power and to some delicious dinner thanks to Debbie. It truly hit the spot after such an energetic day.

Thanks for reading and commenting!

Jonno

Day 28 - Africa, where non-competitive sport doesn't exist

Day 28 was possibly the nicest weather we have experienced yet on our trip. We woke up to a bright and beautiful sunny day and it stayed that way for once!

Coca-Cola spreading some Christmas cheer in Zim

After breakfast we piled into curtain wondervan (our awesome van with electric curtains) and headed down to the local DVD shop to pick up our next purchase for the kids. We purchased 18 movies...yep, 18 movies for all of the kids out at Willow Park. The last movie we watched with the girls could have been narrated by a large handful of girls there...implying that maybe they've seen it one too many times. They don't have that many movies out at the village and of course aren't able to go and purchase a movie as freely as you and I. They watch what they are given and that's all. Things can get pretty boring out there sometimes and these kids are just normal kids and love watching movies! At $3.50 a movie we couldn't go past the opportunity to increase the SJCV movie collection. We also purchased a handsaw for their weekly fetching of firewood and some peelers for lunch and dinner prep. 

The girls with their new DVD collection

Lunch consisted of sadza and beans and then it was time for some netball Willow Park style. We headed down to the 'netball court' and got divided into teams. We quickly came to realise that this was no casual game of netball. We had real positions. We played by the proper rules and it was rough. It seems that a casual or friendly game of sport doesn't exist over here. Alex, Jonno and I were a good laugh for the girls as we strutted our netball skills up and down the field, in and out of positions and places we were apparently not meant to be. Netball turned quickly into yet another water fight. It was a pretty hot day and after an extremely intense game of intense netball the water fight was a great refreshment.

Rhoda with the new peelers

We made it home after a long day and Alex crashed on his bed with no sign of movement. Jonno and I felt that we hadn't received a large enough dose of being dominated by Africans in a competitive manner and decided to try our luck at ultimate frisby once again. If anything the intensity only increased and after 1.5 hours we were wrecked. Jonno had another cracker night on the field with getting names wrong as he thought his fellow teammate (Ezra) was 'Israel' and thus was confidently calling out to a non existent guy named Israel throughout the whole match. It wasn't until we were on our way home having our match debrief where I once again had to correct Jonno about his use of incorrect names. At least he's consistent.

The very serious netball game

Tomorrow we intend on doing our Christmas shopping in true male fashion. We've set aside around 5 hours to knock over ALL of our Christmas shopping. We are in a town where we aren't that familiar with the shops (apart from the donut shop) and there are no big shopping centres or department stores where we can knock it all over in the one place at the one time so it should be an interesting day.

I don't think any of us are that keen to shop but I'm sure there will be some great stories that come out of tomorrow, so stay tuned!

Andy

Day 27

Today Maddie gave birth, Becky and Christy were little angels and Devine could have easily been mistaken for a rock in the pool.

This morning started with a crazy household as the Brennocks family rushed out to church early to prepare for the presentation of the children churches nativity play.  This play was based on the birth of Jesus and took up the bulk of the church service.  Maddie took centre stage playing Mary, Becky and Christy were angels and Stefie was a dancer.

We had lunch with Des and Pete and their family, enjoying a good meal and a couple of games of Jungle Speed.  This is actually a really good game and I would highly recommend it.

This afternoon was spent sleeping and swimming.  Lisa ad Devine had another swimming lesson from Stefie while everyone else either slept or watched TV.

We left early for church this afternoon as the three of us had been asked this morning to play tonight.  It never ceases to amaze me the huge number of songs that the people here have catalogued away in their head.  I am yet to see a piece of music on stage - or an order of service for that matter.

It was just the other day that I was asked by one of Des and Pete's son-in-laws - just as I am often asked - what it is about Zimbabwe that keeps me returning.  The thing about Zimbabwe is that it is quiet and relaxed compared to home, there is a strong sense of community and relationship with people and communication tends to be face-to-face rather than a over the internet.  You can bribe out of anything, the scenery is to die for and what ever happens, happens - you just have to go with it.  This is why I love Zimbabwe and this is why I have returned for the fourth time.


Alex

Day 26 - On the road again

The morning started with 10 of us sitting around the breakfast table tucking into Debbie's delicious scrambled eggs. The breakfast table always involves great topics and/or pranks and today's agenda was pranking Divine. Debbie convinced Divine that tonight we were having bee stew as part of our traditional African dinner. Divine was convinced especially when Alex, Andrew and Stef also joined in pranking her. It's always a great start to the morning. 

Alex, Andrew, Lisa, Divine and I headed out to do some shopping at Bendover but 2 things caught our eye during our journey. Firstly, we heard horns blaring along the street celebrating the winning of a soccer premiership, we believe, because we saw a team on the back of a truck in team colours holding a massive trophy. It was a Zimbabwean version of a ticker tape parade. Secondly, we saw a massive marquee setup on the soccer fields with sign saying 'Markets'. Curiously to investigate, we drove into the fields wondering what was happening. We hopped out of the car and watched a band and dance troupe entertaining everyone with their traditional African music and dance moves. We walked around the stalls looking at all the items: homemade woven baskets, oil paintings, African clothing and food. A pair of unique thongs caught the eye of Lisa and she is now the proud owner of some very feathery thongs.

meat, chomolia, sudza

eating dinner

markets

new thongs for lisa

African dancers

At Bendover we went on a shopping spree and bought items for ourselves as well as some of the girls at SJC. Alex scored a bargain finding a perfect fitting secondhand pair of cargo pants for $5. Walking around all day we got the munchies so we headed off to one of our favourite food places, Bakery Inn, where we bought a pie for $1.50. While eating our pies we heard a lot of honking from cars and we thought it was the soccer crew again, however, it was actually a wedding celebration. Convoys of cars lined the intersection honking and blaring their horns in unison for this special occasion. One guy even drove around in circles in the main intersection 3 times, honking his horn while also holding up traffic. 

After lunch we headed out to Willow Park only to receive our first fine from the police roadblock. We found out that if your car has a radio, it needs a licence, which we didn't have. We paid $30 for the permit which lasts till 31 December, just 2 weeks. Go figure.

 We reached SJC and saw the girls for a few hours. Andrew and Alex taught the kids guitar and we also helped prepare dinner with the girls. Girls will be girls and we were coaxed into playing their little games where they would tell us our future with women using a series of questions. Typical teenagers.

We headed home for swim and then a traditional African dinner, Sudza, meat and chomolia (kind of like spinach). It was so traditional that we ate sitting on the kitchen floor as I presume Africans do. It was a brilliant dinner and experience, washed down with some fantastic African beer. 

A couple of us drove out at 8pm to grab some ice cream for everyone at home. The first Creamy Inn's (ice cream parlour) sundae machine didn't work, which was very disappointing. Luckily, Creamy Inns are on almost every block and we found one with a working machine. We rushed home holding melting ice cream cones in our hands for everyone to enjoy. 

Thanks for reading and commenting

Jonno

Day 25 - Power, no power and power again

This morning was no different to the two days that preceded. It was overcast and rainy and were woken to the rumbling sound of the generator, which meant only one thing...we were still without power. With 9 people at the breakfast table every morning some very interesting conversations and questions are posed. This morning was no different. Deb posed to us the question "Do you know how hard it is to put toothpaste on a toothbrush while holding a lighter all in one hand?" Struggling to comprehend how this could be done Deb decided to give us a demonstration of how she performed such a skilful task.

Watching "Baby's Day Out"

After our big family breakfast we ventured out on the all too familiar 30km trip to Willow Park. Yesterday we forgot to pick up a pretty important suitcase from where the little ones stay, so we thought it best to head there first so we don't forget it for a second time. As we were walking in the kids were all standing at the gate saying "makhiwa, makhiwa" (meaning white person in Ndebele). We played with the little ones for a good hour. Just being picked up and held means the world to them.

Getting the bus back on track

Just before the kids were due for a nap we headed up to the girls as it began to storm. We sat down and watched "Baby's Day Out". The movie was interrupted thanks to the bus getting bogged in the grass on the way out from Willow Park. With a decent piece of rope we managed to get it out without any dramas. Lunch was sadza (no surprise) and cabbage (no surprise). It doesn't taste too bad, but as it has already been said...these girls eat this stuff twice a day, every single day of the year and yet they are thankful for the three meals they get each day. The rain cleared up after lunch freeing us to move outside. Alex and I taught more guitar lessons with Divine and Bernice, while Jonno decided to do some shooting competitions with our latest and greatest purchase...our slingshots.

Theresa trying out the slingshot

We eventually headed home and as always later than we originally anticipated. Today we even left with one extra. Divine was coming home with us for the night adding yet another female to the Brennocks home leaving Alex, Jonno, Khulu and I very outnumbered. Yesterday on the way home I managed to get myself pulled over twice with only one roadblock...Alex equalled me today and was also pulled over twice with only one roadblock having to hit his brakes hard because the policeman made a very late call in deciding to pull him over. Alex survived and so did the policeman.

Outside a house near the babies home

We made it home and headed to Des and Pete's for dinner where we had a super feast and learnt to play a new game called "Jungle Speed", which was heaps of fun. On our way home the streets leading to Deb's house were very dark and our gate wouldn't open by remote meaning only one thing...no power yet again. Jonno, Alex and I have a punishment system for not uploading a blog on time on our dedicated night. We get three strikes and then we are on blog duty for 3 weeks straight. I had unfairly earned my first strike early this week due to no power and the boys were having a laugh telling me I was not far off my second. It turns out God was on my side and in all seriousness as we walked in the house power returned! Jonno keeps the lead on two strikes with Alex and I enjoying our time on one strike each. Mostly everyone has crashed early but as I sat down to write the blog Mighty Ducks 3 came on TV (one of my absolute favourite movies) so I'll be up for a while longer.

We've got a big day of shopping in town tomorrow so stay tuned for the inevitable stories that flow out of that. Thanks again for your support, prayers and consistent blog reading!

Andrew

Day 24

Day 24 started with an incredible amount of rain.  It also started with no power - our fourth consecutive day of power cuts.

After running a few errands in town, we shot out to Willow Park.  We arrived at 1 o'clock, which conveniently happens to be the same time that lunch is on.  Fortunately enough, today's menu for lunch was sudza and chums (which is like mince).

The firewood tied to the back of the car

By the time that lunch was finished, the sun was out and shining in full force.  As a result, we ended up sitting around outside in the shade talking, playing guitar, shooting nuts from the slingshots we purchased this morning and listening to iPods.

When it was a little cooler, Jonno and I headed downstairs to pick up some more firewood.  However this time around, we lashed the timber to the car and drove it up.  This was much easier than carrying the wood.

It occurred to us that some people reading the blog may not know our host, the organization that we are working with and what we are actually doing.

We are staying with my auntie, Debbie Brennocks, who is the director of the Sandra Jones Children's Village (SJC) in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.  The SJC is a not-for-profit organization that is a place for kids who have been abused, abandoned and neglected.  They take boys from birth to 10 y/o and girls from birth to 18 y/o.  The aim of the SJC is to reunite these kids with their family as within the African culture, everyone has family, it's just a matter of finding them.

As a result of this ideology, the SJC have seen over 800 kids pass through their doors in the last 10 years, and are one of the most respected organizations of their type within Bulawayo (there are several others within town and more in the surrounding areas).  However the SJC are increasingly feeling the strain financially and are constantly looking for sponsors for the kids to aid in the upkeep of the centre.

We are going out to the centre each day and spending time with the kids.  As simple as this may be, it is proving to be very effective.  It is often a concern of those coming here to work that they won't be of any use.  Simply by turning up and giving a little of your time and attention is enough for these kids as no one ever comes to see them.

This is just a very brief overview of what the SJC is about.  For more information please see www.sandrajonescentre.org.  Also, don't forget to see the Google Maps link to the right to get an idea of where the places that we are talking about are.


Alex