ࡱ>  Root Entry( Jr@!oMatOSTwooMMMN0 -ND ( JrMicrosoft Works MSWorksWPDoc9q March 19, 2007 Dear Zimbabwean Friends, What an incredible blessing it is to be able to write you from this soil here! We have put down our roots, only to now be packing for departurhers and when I asked in town they said we could buy them for 5 million (This was when the exchange was not quite yet 1 million to 1). That is significant. 2 The New Start program (funded by PSI) is waiting for us to be officially registered. They offer free HIV testing and counseling and will be carried out as an adjunct to the Health Centre. When Fredreck did a medical village survey, visiting each family registered with Nhimbe, he found only 3 people admitting to being HIV positivewe know that out ofSPA' -**&*&*&*&*=/d&*?'t+&*A*T March 19, 2007 Dear Zimbabwean Friends, What an incredible blessing it is to be able to write you from this soil here! We have put down our roots, only to now be packing for departure. We are beginning this process first in the village with our huts where everything must be put into trucks until the next trip. The serious packing of suitcases will occur after a few days spent in town with the teams wrap up of purchasing, record keeping, and final meetings. We have been able to accomplish such a great amount in a short time, moving daily as the sun rises continuing throughout the day to tackle a variety of things. I want to give great acknowledgement to the team that has met me stride for stride since I arrived, keeping up with my schedule, not grimacing, whining, or looking uninspired, and grasping the imperative nature of why we must move at the pace we do: 1 Fredreck, our newly hired nurse, met us at the airport and has been part of keeping things on a good positive track, continuing to reveal tasty morsels of his ever-expanding understanding of life and spirituality as he undertakes exploring new physics and how that fits with his conventional university medical training. Watching his growth in this regard is genuinely heart-warming and such a catalyst for all the rural people he is meeting daily. 2 Benita, who has been on the job training this entire month as my Executive Assistant, is also Fredrecks wife. She has been diligently working with everyone to hold together all the threads, tackling a tough job of multi-tasking, bridging into the American mind, and holding that extra-professional edge. She is expected to continue as my right-hand here, carrying out those many things which require that extra attention to detail. She is one of our recently sponsored students through the Jangano project and is just finishing her degree at University of Zimbabwe. As we arrived, her final term was just starting and then the teachers were on strike, so we have been blessed with time together. We were able to meet her family in Dewedzo and can feel the connection between her desire for excellence and her background. Her mother is an herbalist there, growing, selling and treating local people with herbs. (This may develop into a training opportunity for Nhimbe!). 3 Tinashe, our driver and Fredrecks brother, has been keeping us on time and on the road, always blending his humor in at any potential moment to keep everything rolling smoothly. Keeping our intense day-and-night schedule, and the humor, both require great timing - which he is on top of. He has been a great friend to John as well, as have all five brothers in this family. They ask poignant questions, querying of Johns 86 years young mind, wondering about life, the Universal laws, and the world at large. Its been fascinating to be part of a culture that holds the elders with such respect. 4 Collin, who came with the vehicle contract, continued to be a big help, and has been enjoying the month with us. Usually he is part of the citys combie (mini-bus) services. He has contributed to our work and that has opened up opportunities for him to ponder outside the mainstream norms. John and I are very grateful for this great team watching out for us, and the projects, at every turn. Two others who need mentioning here are Mary and Hilda: 1 Mary joined us on the 4th of March and it seems like she has been with us for years. She has a knack for being an ensemble player immediately and being like the knife accompanying the fork and spoon. She is a professional photographer and has been on a photo-shoot each and every day filling the frames with children, the guts of the project, and her love. She is also a member of the Anzanga marimba band in Seattle. I am so amazed at how someone can come out of nowhere and be such an easy fit. Her instinct to come and join us and offer herself to this work has been a blessing to us, unfolding a wonderful journey for us all personally and also professionally for the project. Anyone who can make me feel like I am easy to work with must have a huge heart, and an enlarged mind, being able to keep the big picture in view. I have such demanding requirements on my life that I am so very grateful to find the brilliance shining forth from others willing to stretch themselves that extra mile with me. Thank you Mary for the much needed companionship and easy harmony that came with the focus. 2 Hilda is my sister here and stays with us while in Mhondoro.We hire her to cook and clean for us. She has been doing a great job and now after several years, has developed a fine sense for those American international dishes (our food preferences really reflect that melting pot from which we come). Of the family members here, she is the main one we get to spent time with and we truly appreciate the exchange. She has some special gifts from Spirit that bless our meals. It is really hard to explain how everything she prepares has this extra taste of goodness to the palette I have really learned experientially from her cooking how love is an ingredient in the mealit comes through curiously so on a feeling level. She was part of why I felt confident that John could safely enjoy time here. ECONOMY We heard that the exchange was at 5,000 zim to US $1 when Mary arrived a week before us. Now as she is leaving, it has reached 12,000. (Remember this is really 12 million in the truth of inflation, as the last 3 zeroes were removed last August because too many mistakes were being made.) There is nothing to do for our people here, other than education to help them understand what is happening. Our friend who works at a prestigious secondary girls school in Harare is making only $100 US because the rates do not continue to keep up. This is a private school and her salary would normally not be this low as she is educating the cabinet ministers daughters and others from wealthy homes she was forced to stop teaching in the government schools because of the pay, several years ago. I heard that the current rate for a government teacher is only 90,000 zim (yes, you got that at the current parallel market that is $7.50 usd per month). How can that be? No wonder there have been strikes with teachers not coming to class, not grading final exams, and being so disheartened about their chosen profession. Most jobs require transport to and from. Recently that was 2,000 zim to get to another part of town. In the case of a teacher, 4,000 per day at 20 days in the month is 80,000 and they are earning 90? Is this for real? This is unprecedented in this country. Everyone who works with us and gets paid for their hand crafts, their services or a bonus is told the same thing as I pay them for their contribution. I explain that they must use the money immediately to invest in food, bricks, or some thing right away. By next week the money is worth little. The average person doesnt understand what is happeningits like watching the water get higher and higher and drowning - perplexed by it all. What they do understand is that they cant pay school fees, cant feed their children, and cant find adequate medical care. Our lead preschool teacher said buying maize and putting-it-by was a good plan because of the current drought, they will then have something to eat in the winter. The maize crops are about grown and looking nice, but then turning brown due to lack of rain. DONHODZO HEALTH CENTER - CONVENTIONAL Everyday people come to seek help in our developing Health Centre. We are only beginning down this path but what is offered is so much more than what is found locally. Our registration as a clinic is awaiting final approval by the Ministry of Health. We talked to the Chief as we were leaving the villages about this. He felt he could put together a meeting with some non-political leaders and help move the wheel. When approved we will be able to expand in the conventional medical lines: 1 Residents needing ARVs (monthly anti-retroviral for preventing HIV from turning into AIDs usually given when a person reaches a certain point of ill health) will be able to purchase them from us at wholesale prices. Currently they take a bus to town and back (about US $5-6) to buy them. We will save them time and money. A year ago our preschool teacher said she paid 9 million for 1,000 people that number must be incorrect. We know of several who are being looked after through the Home Based Care program that the Chief is responsible for it is like a hospice program and each trip we buy supplies for the Chief to use in his region of 56 villages so that this Home Based Care program has betadine, gauze, calamine and gloves. 3 There are many organizations that will help us, as well as a local doctor who will visit regularly to ensure the rural clinic status. Being registered will make a big difference for the Health Centre. DONHODZO HEALTH CENTRE - ALTERNATIVE The primary Complementary Alternative Medicine (CAM) approaches we are currently employing are very exciting. These methods require no drugs many of which are either unavailable or expired. 1 NMT: I have been using NMT (see t of keeping things on a good positive track, continuing to revwz?B  t w =@WYi} {w{w{w{w{w{p{w{k{k{w( H ""a%d%1&U&''A'{w{w{r{w{(  02y{w? t =qqkkkkkkk____kk ( '=QS)+gi} "a%/&1&ssmmmdmdmdmmXXXd (  1&W&'?'A'yymm ( A'OP=1&A'QRSTimes New RomanSymbol  =/=/dCompObjU