A Week in Zimbabwe

Well, the travel bug done got me again. I’m finding it harder and harder to stay in one place these days.

The Man, the Myth, the Legend, Bill Warlick of Park Lake Presbyterian Church in Orlando came to Namumu two weeks ago to check up on things, one of a number of stops he was to make around southern Africa. He had told me some time before that he’d be coming to Siavonga for a night and that he would then be flying down to Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital city, to meet up with his wife, my homegirl, Nancy. He told me that if I could work out my own transportation I could join them in checking up on some of the Outreach Foundation’s projects there. So I did, and I did.

It was difficult to leave Namumu behind again so soon, on the heels of my most recent foray into Livingstone. Fortunately, these days the Namumu businesses are at the point where they can run on autopilot for a few days without close supervision. And my loyal readers assured me that they would continue reading by themselves in my absence. So, I once again packed my bags and headed out of Siavonga.

I was only in Zimbabwe for a few days, but I learned a good deal about the country. Nancy and Bill had lived in Harare for years, so they taught me a lot. We met up with a number of their friends who have lived there for years. They taught me a lot. And we visited a number of schools and organizations, chatting with social workers, teachers, students and street children. The taught me a lot too.

Let me tell you something. That country is in bad shape, and most anybody you talk to there will readily admit it. There’s massive unemployment, HIV rates through the roof, high crime rates and a great deal of hunger. It was difficult to witness. And keep in mind, this is coming from a guy who has spent the last eleven months living in one of the world’s poorest countries.

I know that God has a plan for Zimbabwe. Looking around Harare, though, it was at times difficult to know what that plan might be. Fortunately, there are still some good, good people there doing good, good things.

One of our first stops was at the Lovemore Home, an organization supported by the Outreach Foundation in which young boys are taken in off the streets, given a place to live and put through school. At the moment, Lovemore houses twelve boys and employees a number of Zimbabweans to support them, including a social worker, a caretaker for the boys and a general administrator, among others.

Bill and Nancy’s role with the Outreach Foundation is to consult with these various organizations, opening up communication and smoothing out problems that arise. During our visit, I was allowed to sit in on a meeting with Bill, Nancy and the Lovemore employees. I won’t go into the details, but it was helpful to find that many of Namumu’s problems are not Namumu’s problems alone, that Lovemore faced many of the same obstacles and issues. Still, while it had its obstacles, Lovemore sure seemed like a great operation.

Besides sitting in the meeting, I spent the majority of my time playing soccer with the boys and hitting on Helen, Lovemore’s social worker, and Loveness, Lovemore’s Administrator, two sweet middle aged African women. I love sweet middle aged African women.

And much to my surprise, Bill had informed me earlier that Loveness was, in fact, his second wife. Never would have pegged ol’ Bill as a polygamist, but there you go. I hit on Loveness anyway, and Bill didn’t seem to mind. Come to think of it, I hit on Nancy a lot, too. He doesn’t seem to mind that either. What a generous man.

Later on in the week we made it out to another Outreach Foundation-supported ministry called Home of Hope. Home of Hope, run by Joan Trevelyan and her son, Craig, provides meals and pays school fees for young boys living on the streets of Harare. And when I say living on the streets, I mean they are living on the streets, sleeping in parks and alleyways, no homes to go to. It’s terrible. Due to what Joan described as “Red Tape Issues” the boys can’t legally sleep at Home of Hope, but they come and get a good meal and a shower in the mornings, and a good meal in the early evenings as well. In addition, Home of Hope feeds a number of young adults living on the streets on certain afternoons.

You’d think that feeding poor street children would earn Home of Hope widespread praise within Zimbabwe. Actually, Joan told me that she had been harassed by the Zimbabwe police on numerous occasions. I never totally understood why. She seemed to think that those guys like to exert power in any way they can. Whatever the reason, I think it’s a pretty clear indicator of how things are run within the country. It’s a real shame.

We spent the rest of the week dropping in on a few other organizations and meeting up with a few of Bill and Nancy’s old friends from when they were living there.

There wasn’t too much going on at night in Harare. Not for me, at least. It’s a city full of desperate people and I was informed by everyone that roaming the streets at night would almost guarantee me a mugging. While I’m confident that no one in their right mind would try to mug a man bearing a striking resemblance to Chuck Norris, I played it safe and sat in my hotel room every night. It got a little boring. I actually sat and watched “Not Another Teen Movie” in its entirety on one of the few TV channels they provided and was very, very ashamed of myself afterwards. But what could I do?

So, after being in a beautiful but troubled country for a week, it was nice getting back to mother Zambia once again where the economy is pushing forward, the streets are safe (relatively speaking) and people are very, very friendly.

Although, I did experience one alarming incident while back in Lusaka, Zambia’s capital. As usual, my friend, Ndandula, let me crash on her couch for the night when I made it into town. And, as usual, I sat on my bum and watched music videos and movies all afternoon and evening.

“My Best Friend’s Wedding” came on and she said she’d never seen it. Well, that’s ridiculous, I said, it’s only the best romantic comedy ever made. Really? No way. she said. Oh yea, what would you say is the best romantic comedy you’ve ever seen? I inquired.

Her response?

“White Chicks” starring the Wayans brothers. And no, she wasn’t joking.

Man oh man, maybe there’s no hope for Zambia either...




On a serious note, go ahead and pray this week for those in Zimbabwe that are suffering, and pray that organizations such as the Lovemore Home and Home of Hope can keep on keepin’ on.