Zimbabwe is a long way from Ann Arbor, Michigan---in ways almost too numerous to relate.

Periodic thunder and gray clouds gave promise that the long dry season was about to end. Leaving the first cold snap of Michigan’s autumn, we found ourselves in hot, sunny weather with a few tantalizing sprinkles with just enough moisture to begin to turn the grass green. But not yet enough to break the drought and provide the life-giving water that the country awaited. Even the most urban Zimbabwean knows that the amount and timing of the rain determines plenty or famine. We found a mixture of calm, desperation, and perseverance. The laughter and good spirits in the midst of this excited our admiration.

Just as our busy streets and stores give little evidence of the underlying violence present here at home, so too, the Zimbabwe we saw was the usual busy, orderly, hard-working, even laughing, country we had come to love. Fewer police checkpoints than other years and unbelievably, fewer beggars on Mutare’s streets. The desperation of those in the slums and deep rural areas was not so obvious. We saw little of those who had run out of food and had no money to buy more, while inflation was such that the price of a loaf of bread might double overnight and scarce and expensive fuel meant that bus fare to work or the store could cost more than the wages the fortunate employed earned. A doctor discovered that one ordinary service on the mission hospital’s truck cost more than his salary. A basic item that cost Zim$200 last year might well be Z$2,500 now. “Things are very expensive,” was the phrase we heard most. Beginning the day with a half million dollars bulging ones pockets seemed to be more than enough for everything-until one started spending it. At Z$10,000 a gallon for gas, or Z$250,000 to replace a car muffler, one quickly realized that this “fortune” was less than a hundred dollars and would not go far when making any significant purchase. Moreover, had I obediently changed my money properly at the bank, that new muffler would have cost me US$300, instead of the $45 which I actually did pay .

Government regulations and attempted price fixing has turned everybody into black market lawbreakers for gasoline, scarce commodities, and exchanging currencies. The government’s desperate attempts to control everything means that there is no foreign money to import seed and fertilizer for the farms, to buy needed repairs for farms, businesses, or government, or to pay for imported fuel and electricity. The prolonged drought adds to the misery, while AIDS takes its enormous toll on the prime working and parenting age group. Times are truly tough for almost all Zimbabweans!

You see why we were surprised that there were any smiles and laughter and astounded that there was so much of it. The people are determined to make the most of their lives-even though “things are so terribly expensive.” On the other hand, we saw a World Food Program warehouse stacked high with bags of food from the United States. From there United Nations teams will distribute it directly to the people needing it most. 40% of this emergency aid is coming from the United States.

We went to Zimbabwe to let the people we knew know that people here care for them and their struggles. Supplies were expensive and running short-especially at the hospitals-but the schools were running smoothly and the children there were getting fed every day of the school term. Since we also source fees money for 400 elementary kids, the primary school is bulging in both enrollment and attendance. Because we sent computers there in 2000 and 2001, a fulltime teacher is teaching computer classes for fourth through seventh grades. We are sending some more to replace the antique machines that are past repairing. Meanwhile, a steady stream of avid readers keeps the library humming.

In short, we were safe and unthreatened-welcomed. Our relative wealth provided a cocoon of comfort, while most must scrabble to feed and cloth their families, and to keep their schools and churches functioning. We anguished over the plight of a people and country, as they are rapidly losing the qualities that had once made their country one of the more prosperous in Africa. This is why we feel it so important to let them know that we care. With your help and ours, the dedicated people at Old Mutare are making a big difference in the lives of the children they work with. The Hartzell Primary children bade us goodbye by singing “We Care for You and You Care for Us.” That is the way God’s world should be!

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Last modified February 7, 2004