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Friday night 10 pm, August 1, 2008
Wednesday was a very long day. After a five hour wait in D.C., I boarded the plane to Johannesburg. I was surprised my seat was so close to the front! In fact, I passed it and turned around because at first I did not believe it! The plane had a row of two on each side with a row of four in the middle. I was on the end of one of the middle rows, with no one beside me in the middle row. It seemed that everyone (at least all of the loud Americans on the plane) were headed out on hunting trips. I did quite a bit of reading in Elisabeth Elliot’s A Chance to Die, which is a biography about Amy Carmichael, a missionary in the 1800s. It was rather encouraging to read about her experience leaving home, because I could identify with it. It was also comforting because hers seemed much more difficult than mine; I am only here for five months! She probably took nearly that long to make it to Japan, which was her first stop. I also did quite a bit of praying and journaling along the way. I only watched one whole movie, which was about a prison guard on Robben Island and how his slowly evolving relationship with Nelson Mandela taught him a great deal. I was quite concerned when I disembarked in Joburg, because the line for international transfers was not moving when I first turned the corner. I was comforted after talking with the two ladies in front of me who were both headed to Harare on the same flight as me. Soon enough, the line moved and I made it to the gate in plenty of time. The other two ladies were also shortly behind me. Ms. Margaret was truly a dear; she was returning home from Brisbane, Australia where she visited her daughter and grandchildren. She showed me a drawing that one of them gave her before leaving. I know not to take candy from strangers…but I could not refuse when she offered to share her KitKat. Actually, I tried to refuse but the grandmother in her would not let me. In Joburg, a bus carries passengers out onto the tarmac to load the planes, so we boarded together and I carried her bag up the steps onto the plane for her.
The plane to Harare had 3 seats on one side and 2 on the other. I was in the first row behind first class in the middle on the 3 seat side. The man beside me was an American citizen living in Belgium who was going to Harare on business. When I got through the Visa line, Ibrahim was standing on the other side of the luggage carousel with his bags. I looked around for mine and did not see them, but figured they would be out soon. So I told Ibrahim he did not have to wait for me, but then decided to make sure my ride was there before he left. He loaned me his phone, and my heart leaped when I spoke to Mr. Mtisi on the other side! I knew that I had made it this far and they were there waiting for me, and it would not be much longer. So Ibrahim left, and I saw Ms. Margaret again and told her I did not know where my bags were. She said if they weren’t out, they weren’t going to be coming out. So I walked over to the office to start filling out paperwork. I quickly got frustrated, because my codes didn’t fit the forms and I asked another goofy American, and he said he was just making it up too…so he wouldn’t be much help to me. Then I asked one of the porters, and he tried to help but said to wait in the line and the person in the office would help me. Then I decide to walk out one more time and look… and there are my bags! Stacked up on a cart, all three of them together, with one other bag on top. What sweet relief! So I make it through customs and talk my way out of paying duty on anything. (OK, well, I prayed the whole time waiting in the Visa line for God to clear the way and then I kept telling myself He had, and HE did! It was all very anticlimactic, although at one point I thought I was going to have to pay duty on some items. But, God wanted me and these supplies here…and here we are!)
When I walked out of customs and Greg stepped toward me, I was so relieved. I felt like now I didn’t have to worry about anything because they would take care of it. (I was pretty worried about visas and customs, because I just hate talking to officials, and I often am paranoid that I am doing something wrong and I am not.) Then I was rather overwhelmed because there were so many people there to greet me! Greg Casalenuovo (CN Nursing Prof), Mr. David Mtisi (the hospital administrator), Dr. Norman Chikonzo, Robert (the ambulance driver), the Mapongas (Mr. Maponga is the director of the Bapist Conference Center in Gweru, they also run an orphanage in a rural area), and Makieda (a nurse at Sanyati) was in the ambulance when we reached it. The road to Sanyati was long and bumpy, but the ride was not too bad. I saw a shooting star on the way. (A little God made me smile moment.) Arrived at the Chikonzo home, unloaded, and went to sleep!
Yesterday I woke up about 8, which was too late to make hospital devotions at 7:30. When we were ready, Dr. Chikonzo and I walked to the hospital. He showed me a few things, and then introduced me to Rev. Peter Japu, the hospital chaplain, who finished showing me around. The hospital is on one floor with several different halls/wards/buildings. The buildings are somewhat open and connected by walkways. There is an outpatient area near the front, and registration is just across from the chapel, which is also near the chaplain’s office. Behind his office is a general medical ward (I think it’s men’s). There is also an OB area, a surgery area, and a peds area. I saw the autoclave and the lab as well. The nursing school is only slightly separated from the rest of the hospital. After all this, Rev. Japu and I walked to Mr. Mtisi’s home and visited with Mr. Mtisi and Greg. Then we walked back to the hospital to find Dr. Chikonzo. By then it was time for tea! So Dr. Chikonzo and I went back to his home for tea with Josephine (his wife) and their baby Blessed. Josephine served each of us three biscuits and tea. Later we went back to the hospital and talked with Mr. Mtisi (admin.) and I also met Mr. Mtisi (the head nurse). We talked a little about what I can do and how long I will be around, and decided to talk more later.
Greg and I also needed to register with the local police so that they know who we are. We went into Sanyati town to do that, but we made a few stops in town so that our fuel would be worthwhile. We stopped at the bank and Kubatana Baptist Church. At the church, we meet Rev. and Mrs. Mugiriri and saw the preschool Greg said he helped with last year. Then we made our way to the station, but the person we needed to talk with was not there. We plan to return on Monday to do that.
Today we went to Gweru, which is the third city of Zimbabwe, with the first two being Harare and Bulawayo. Of course, because of the fuel shortage our trip served multiple purposes. We made several stops along the way, dropping people off and running errands of our own. Leaving Sanyati, Robert drove with Mr. Mtisi and Dr. Chikonzo up front, while Professor Greg, myself, Makieda (who was also there to collect me from the airport), Lawrence (one of the plumbers working at one of the rural clinics; he reminds me of Morgan Freeman…does that mean he also reminds me of God?), and Miriam (another Sanyati resident) rode in the back of the ambulance. (The ambulance is a truck with a camper shell that has a pad in the back for a patient.) Makieda and Miriam helped with a little Shona along the way; we had fun laughing at me and making tiny bits of progress.
The trip was rather long, maybe three hours each way with many intermittent stops. I’m really not sure about the time though, it seems irrelevant, so I don’t pay it much mind. The road to Kadoma, the city closest to Sanyati is quite bumpy, but after that it is a bit smoother. I’m starting to get used to the bumpy roads and stops and starts passing potholes, cars, people, and animals. Today I think I even dozed off a few times during the ride!
There are several Baptist entities in Gweru, one of which is the Baptist Convention Center. We met Rev. Josiah there, toured the facility, and went out to lunch. This was an eye-opening experience, culminating in the waitress counting out each one of the many bills it required to pay for our meal. We also stopped by the Baptist Conference Center and Zororo Primary School.
On the ride back we also made several stops and picked up friends returning to Sanyati. This time the front of the truck was the same, the back still including Prof. Greg, Lawrence, me, and Tanasha (Mr. Mtisi’s nephew), Patricia and her husband and baby Ano. It was entertaining to have the baby in the back with us; I was rather disappointed when he went to sleep during the ride, although I’m sure his mother was not.
When we returned tonight, Dr. Chikonzo’s sister Florence was preparing dinner. (His wife Josephine was having her hair done, and she had baby Blessed with her.) We had sadza, beef, a tomato sauce/paste, and something akin to collards. I have enjoyed each meal that has been prepared for me, but there is so much sadza! I have to teach myself to finish it, or convince them to not give me as much!
I have learned there is typically electricity on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. So tonight there is power as I am typing this, hopefully within the next few days I can access the Internet to post these blogs.

Friday afternoon 5 pm, August 8, 2008
On Saturday the Chikonzo’s had a church meeting that lasted all day. So I spent the day at Dr. Gwatikunda’s (the other Zimbabwean doctor) home with his family. Dr. Gwatikunda and I talked before lunch, about Zimbabwe, healthcare, and being a doctor. When it was time for lunch, we sat at their table and I was given silverware! (This was rather surprising to me, because I haven’t been using silverware at the Chikonzo home…it has been my preference to live as they are living, which includes forming my sadza into a ball in my hand and then picking up some vegetables or meat to go with it.) After lunch Dr. Gwatikunda went to play football/soccer and I stayed at the house with his wife, son, and their maid. I found a Shona/English phrase book on their bookshelf with healthcare related questions to help with interviewing patients. I haven’t learned the first page yet, but I am working on it. I have mastered the greetings for each time of day, however. I had fun practicing my simple Shona with Tana, the Gwatikunda’s four year old son. I also talked with Mrs. Gwatikunda about her family and work. She is a nurse, but is taking a break for now. She wants to go back and get her Master’s in Public Health; I told her that I have considered that as well.
I was planning to attend church with Mr. Mtisi the administrator, his family, and Prof. Greg on Sunday, but when the Chikonzo’s returned home on Saturday evening, they said I should go with them on Sunday. They go to an A.F.M. church (Apostolic Faith Ministry, I think). I believe once a month all of the smaller congregations around the area come together for a bigger church meeting/conference. This lasts from Friday through Sunday, but the Chikonzo’s only went on Saturday and Sunday.
The Chikonzo’s have a small, four-door car that we drove to church. On the way we picked up a few extra people who had been walking to church. (I wasn’t sure where they were going to sit, but, somehow, it worked! When fuel and cars are so rare, they are used for all they are worth… ) There were many people standing around talking outside the church when we arrived. (At this point the Chikonzo’s didn’t know that I had been studying a little Shona, so I surprised Florence when I began greeting people after realizing how little English was being spoken.) Soon Florence was coaching me through more Shona words and phrases, and more and more children gathered around us.
One little girl told me her name was Kudzai, which means “Praise,” but later re-introduced herself to me as “Anna,” so I re-introduced myself as Kudzai, which brought much laughter to our little circle outside the church! When it was time to walk into the church, all of the children followed Florence and I….I felt pretty weird, but honored at the same time. We sat down on one bench, and then moved to another (I still don’t know why, maybe just so there weren’t 30 children trying to sit with us.)
The entire service was in Shona, which made it seem much longer than it was. They did sprinkle in a few words of English when they introduced me/I introduced myself. To begin with it was quite wonderful, listening/humming along during the praise and worship time and trying my best to listen attentively to preaching when I can’t understand anything. I did read the passages in my Bible and tried to gather some of what the preacher said from his gestures and the scripture I had read. After a couple of hours sitting on the wooden bench, I was quite sore, but did not complain when Florence asked if I was comfortable. Eventually, she found a cloth for me to sit on as a cushion, which was much appreciated….but, in reality, did not help very much. This made me very grateful for the times when we were up singing and praising the Lord! We also had communion, which consisted of raspberry flavored drink (rather like Kool-aid, they buy a liter or two of the concentrate and then mix it with water) and small bits of bread. This was a wonderful reminder of the common ground we as believers have the world over, and was a spiritual and physical comfort to me for that reason, and because of the familiarity of the little mini cups of juice being passed around. Soon after communion, the service ended, and we headed out to the car where more people than before crammed into the car…but this gave me another opportunity to practice my simple Shona greetings and to meet more children. We had rice on Sunday afternoon, which was a surprise to me, because I have become so accustomed to sadza. (I’ve even learned to finish it!)
On Monday morning, I headed off to ‘work’ at the hospital, not really knowing what I would be doing. They have devotions at 7:30 though, so I figured I would start there and then ask one of the Mr. Mtisis. Mmmm…the week is running together in my mind. I started off in OPD (Outpatient Department), with the nurse’s aides taking vitals as the patients came back. Then I followed Mr. Charambamwe, an older nurse who worked at Sanyati Baptist Hospital since before independence in 1980. He worked elsewhere for a stint since then, but knows the hospital and the people very well. After lunch, I followed Jameson, who is a younger nurse, but who has a specialty in psychiatry. We didn’t see any psych. patients, but we did see some other ones. I have also spent some time working in the pharmacy…making envelopes for pills by folding papers and stapling them to form ‘envelopes.’
One day after finishing with Mr. Charambamwe, I decided to go see what was happening in the maternity ward. There was one patient who was expected to deliver soon…two hours before I arrived she was dilated to 6 cm. (They do not check too frequently, because of the short supply of gloves.) The nurse there said it shouldn’t be too long, so I decided to wait around. Even after they broke her water, she was still taking a long time. This patient kept rolling over, and saying she would just wait for it to come. In the mean time, four other expectant mothers came in from the matumba (“the waiting place”) where they go during the last few weeks of pregnancy…Florence told me how long they stay there depends on how lazy they are… I’m sure if they expect any problems they also go sooner though. One of the new patients that came in began crowning very soon, so I switched patients (I was getting pretty hungry by this time and wanted to be back in time for dinner…) So I helped deliver my first baby…by candlelight in Sanyati. I helped clamp the cord, stimulate the baby, and check the afterbirth. I even got to hand the little one off to his mother after she moved to the post-delivery room!
Today is Saturday and I did my first load of laundry, in a bucket in the tub. Florence instructed me and helped me out…it took most of the morning! I asked her if she had ever had a washing machine, and she said, “No, but we can use our hands.” That just made me think of all the things we have/use and think that we need, but we really don’t…
Normally there is power on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, but it went out about mid-day yesterday. It has returned in the past hour or so, so I am finishing up this entry now. I thought that when there was ‘network’ we could use the regular internet, but it turns out in Sanyati (to the best of my understanding) I will only be able to use a certain e-mail program that will run off the phone network. We are planning to go the Great Zimbabwe on Monday and drop Prof. Greg at the airport on Tuesday, so maybe while we are in a more urban area I can find real Internet to use…