Personal Journal from Volunteers in Mission Trip to Zimbabwe
Personal Journal from Volunteers in Mission Trip to Zimbabwe
June 24, 2000
Today was an exciting day in Mutare. We began with breakfast and then we met Cleo, our bus driver, for our trip into Mutare.
The drive was beautiful -- you could see the city from afar as you rounded Christmas Pass and a sign made of bushes spelled out "Welcome to Mutare". As we entered the city, you could see vendors selling their wares on the street: stone carvings, fruits, vegetables, baskets. We went first to the place where we were to meet the man who was going to talk playground equipment with Rev. Gerry, Jerry and Cindy. We were also going to meet Andra there to exchange our money.
We were early so our driver took us on a quick tour of
Mutare and to a place where he knew they made stone carvings. They were
gorgeous but we all decided that we needed to go back later 
in the afternoon so we wouldn't have to carry around 50 pounds of sculpture as we made our way through Mutare.
Then we went to the spot where we were supposed to meet the playground man, who was there when we arrived. Rev. Gerry, Jerry and Cindy went to meet with him while the rest of us waited on the bus for Andra. We had to wait for her because she was bringing our money and our mission in Mutare was to shop.
As we waited, Maya read her Bible Trivia cards to us. We
went through both level 1 and level 4. Jonathan was struggling a bit
with the questions so we let him have the easy ones like "Why do we
celebrate Christmas?" and "What is the first book of the Bible?"
Soon Andra came and told us that she had not exchangd money yet but that she would do that soon.
The playground team came out and they were going to look at
what the equipment looks like put together - so Cindy and Jerry went to
see the equipment and Rev. Gerry and Janet went with Andra to exchange
money while we were sent with Cleo to a shop on Second Street between 8th and 9 th.
Cleo dropped us off at the gates of what appeared to be a hotel. While
talking to a guard, we found it was elderly housing. We figured we were
in the wrong place so we walked a way up the street and found the shop.
It was very small and very upscale. Everyone there was white -- so we
decided it was a political rally in disguise .
We all took a quick look and decided to wait outside for Andra. We sat
and waited and waited...and waited...passing our time with Maya's clue
cards, playing with the two dogs. (We affectionately called one of them
"Dumb Dog" after he ran out in the street in front of an oncoming
motorcycle.) We also hypothesized about what was going on with everyone
who was showing up. Finally Cindy and Jerry arrived with the playground
man and soon after that came Janet, Rev. Gerry and Andra. Janet got out
and said she felt as if she was in a movie and that she had done some
under-the-table dealing. Rev. Gerry had all the money from the church
for the playground in Janet's backpack and was going to walk around
with it but Andra convinced him to take it to the purser's for safe
keeping.
Meanwhile, we had to get shopping--it was 11:30 and the stores were going to close at 12:30 for the elections. We walked toward downtown while Rev. Gerry discretely gave us the money from the US dollars we turned in. On the way into town, we discovered some election signs and took pictures.
When we got into town, we decided to split up. I found a guinea fowl made out of bird seed for my mother to add to her animal collection and some postcards to send home. Then we went to the Holiday Inn for lunch -- American food. I was a bit disappointd because I felt that I did not come to Africa to eat ham & cheese with fries and a shake but everyone else seemed to enjoy it.
Cindy got the phone to work so many called home but my parents were in New Hampshire and Laurie Beth was probably out so I didn't call home. After lunch, we had time until we were picked up so we went to the Mutare Museum. It was interesting seeing the museum. It was kind of a cross between the Natural History Museum in Utah and the Heffrenrefer Museum in Bristol, RI. It was a bit odd but the exhibits were interesting. We really were able to spend time in the history of Zimbabwe exhibit (Which disturbed me for two reasons: One - there were parts of the exhibit that were covered up by little plates of paper which made me wonder what was under there and why it was covered, and Two - the main diorama was a lifesize picture of the early white settlers - not what you would expect in a museum in Africa.) Anyway, it was interesting to see the wildlife exhibits also and see what a cobra looked like (if only Cindy could have been there.) Before we knew it, it was time to depart Mutare, which we did after stopping at the stone carving place.
Then it was to dinner and and then a rousing game of PIG and SWISH in which rookie, Cindy and I beat rookies Rev. Gerry and Kisha and rookies Rita/Maya.
SJW
Previous Day's Entry
Next Day's Entry Joyce's Perspective of Today
Main Mission Trip Page
Epworth Steeple
Epworth United Methodist Church
9008 Rosemont Drive
Gaithersburg, Maryland USA 20877
9008 Rosemont Drive
Gaithersburg, Maryland USA 20877
Last
modified November 4, 2000