September 18, 2004 Greetings from rural Zimbabwe! We gave been in this beautiful country for 10 days now, nearly half of our stay. It is spring and the weather has been delightful – warm and sunny, no rain, light winds with cool evenings to make sleeping comfortable. Mosquitoes have been minimal making the adaptation to the new climate easy – it’s quite like our autumn in Oregon that we left. COST OF LIVING We, Allison Herling and I, came with a focus of providing financial training in generalized record keeping. Nhimbe for Progress keeps growing hence more details to keep track of, as do the amounts we are working with, primarily because of hyperinflation. We have heard that the street rate is around $7,500 Zim to 1 USD and the bank rate at around $5,600. For example: * 1 loaf of white bread $3,300 * 1 liter petrol $3,500 * 1 soda $1,500 * 1 beer $3,500 * 4 tomatoes $1,000 * 30 eggs $28,000 * 1 egg $850 * 1 kg beef in Harare $20,000 * 1 kg beef in the rural area $14,000 * ¼ chicken in Harare $9,000 * 1 live chicken in Mhondoro $25,000 Petrol has been readily available and we haven’t needed to track down black market groceries this time. We have been to Mhondoro and back, and now are restocking our pantry for another week in the rural area, as well as taking supplies out for the project. HELP HAS ARRIVED! Allison has become an invaluable assistant. Her attention to the details is allowing me some space to keep my focus on where we are going and I certainly am feeling less harried, more relaxed, but still wishing I had 2 months to do the work, which is par for the course. Keeping track of millions of (Zim) dollars is an interesting experience that pushes the edges of my mind to expand, allow, and be in gratitude for all of the help coming this way. Allison’s previous experiences in Africa, her world travel background, as well as her heart for service makes it possible for her to adapt quickly to the situations we are in, which is pretty miraculous. I bless each day and Spirit’s intervention in our lives making the intensity of what we are accomplishing all fairly sane. Another person who has risen to the surface here to help on this end is Denver Banda. I mentioned him in my Field Reports earlier this year (see the www.ancient-ways.org for Field Reports from previous trips). At that time we were asking him to do some small research projects and facilitate more technical aspects of the project (experimenting with a composting toilet for example, building an earth oven and devising a water filtering system.). As it has turned out, he has become a major assistant on this side to handle the details of administration. Without his help we would not be able to accomplish what is needed. His background as a Shona person, who is familiar with the locale combined with his intelligence and serious attention to business, gives him many qualifications. He is not originally from this rural area and so being an outsider gives him some perspective that makes a huge difference. With Cosmas in the US now, and regularly for music purposes (teaching, performing, and working on a book with Paul Berliner), someone must be here to handle the Nhimbe affairs. I am so very grateful, as are all the Nhimbe participants, for Denver being able to be the liaison for the city and rural connection. He is young but educated and becoming very respected by his elders here, for being able to work out the problems which are innate in trying to move a wheel through the thick and ever-flowing mudslide. The logistics of maneuvering with limited resources, in an ever failing infrastructure, with people daily attending funerals is hard to imagine and not something you want to dwell on. Every single person here is affected by the loss of those who are related to him or her by business or family. Each day, people we know or see close by, are in mourning. Even if there were no money problems and the roads were maintained and the phones were working, the simple fact is that businesses can’t be run when each day someone is at a funeral. Here in Zimbabwe a funeral lasts for a few days – it is not a 2-hour affair. The family unit, the extended family and the in-laws add up to many people and many miles to travel to attend services. Culturally also, there is an initial funeral, then after 1 month or so, there is a memorial, and then after a year, a final ceremony. You can see that this country’s milk and honey is now one a flow of grief, but the spirit of the African heart is strong, and many individuals continue to overcome. There are many reasons for the funerals, and it is not just AIDS. It is malnutrition. It is deplorable conditions in the hospitals causing a worsening of the patients. It is too many bodies to bury, which are piling up at the hospital. It is insufficient medical doctors and inadequate supplies available to the average person. It is subsidized alcoholism encouraging indulgence to try and soften the suffering even when there is no money. It is pesticides and chemicals of all sorts being widely available and applied with no knowledge of their danger. It is a polluted city water system from raw sewage in the lake (the front-page report from last week’s newspaper). It is lack of information about sanitation and hygiene primarily in the rural area. I’m sure that eating the chipped porcelain paint from dishes with every meal doesn’t help. And that the stress from day to day survival living also works on the immune system in a detrimental way. I know that I’m painting a bleak picture but I must be straight with you, and not fancy the portrayal so that it is palatable because I want you to feel nice. Some of you know me and that I say exactly what I think, modified with appropriate gestures so that I don’t completely alienate my friends, and am regularly found removing one of my feet. You must know that my heart is aching that I am only a witness with no great answers. I only hope that if any of my experience here, can get through the insulation of your life there, just for this small period of time when you are looking through this porthole, then your global heart will have more information to consider daily life, the choices you make, and somehow this will affect the future of our entire planet. Don’t we all have to let this in? HIV/AIDS EDUCATION Although my purpose in coming is to work with the accounting aspects of the project, when Allison was dropped from the sky into our river, another focus began to surface. With her Masters in Public Health and a focus on Africa, the goal naturally expanded to implement Phase 2 of our HIV/AIDS education. While still in the states she had managed to contact The Centre in Harare who had completed training for the Nhimbe elders just last March, and indeed The Centre had room for us in their schedule for these 2 weeks we are here. This was marvelous news as Cosmas and I had set a goal to complete the 3 sessions this year. When Allison and I arrived, we immediately began working to put the wheels in motion to bring the workshops together. This education covers all aspects of HIV and AIDS prevention/awareness, survival skills, ARV pro’s and con’s, and support groups. The workshops consist of 4 ½ days with 1 trainer from Harare who comes to our Community Center in Mhondoro. We provide transport, food and lodging for the trainer who is staying at our Center. This person is well educated about many perspectives and knowledge because they are most commonly HIV positive themselves and so can speak from experience and from the heart. Just their very existence gives people hope that to get tested is not a death sentence, but quite the opposite. Often people may feel overwhelmed by the idea of finding out their status, but seeing their teacher standing in front of them looking vital, helps them break through their erroneous paradigm. We also provide the 40 students who attend for the week with a nutritious lunch and a small amount of money, as they will not be able to work in their fields for the duration of the 8 to 4 o’clock schedule. We have done most of our shopping at wholesale locations buying large quantities of rice, flour and sugar for example, as well as local vegetables and maize for the meals. We hire 5 local women to cook for the week. They learn from this as well, as the teacher tells them what would be appropriate for a balanced meal. The teacher needs flip charts and markers and is quite self sufficient with those supplies. We bought writing books and pens for the participants’ note taking. The Centre promotes a very participatory teaching style as the students work in small groups often. It was exhilarating to see many middle aged people, who hadn’t been to school for years, dive in and put themselves into this opportunity with such interest. The students were arriving early every day and are very thrilled to have this door open. HIV/AIDS is now out of the closet in our villages so people can really begin to talk about it openly, live knowing more about the HIV lifecycle, and so make better choices. We received so many thanks and an outpouring of gratitude for bringing this into their lives. One woman said “So it seems Miss Jaiaen that you have given us a golden treasure; we are now rich in knowledge. Now we know something where we knew nothing before. And now we know what to do if we need to care for someone with AIDS, because before there has been a stigma since we didn’t know any differently.” Our goal is to eventually have 30-40 people who are leaders and have worked with the workshop information for a few months, who they can go through a training to be a rural peer educator specializing in one aspect of what is being taught. That might be, for example, the subject of nutrition and how to prepare and eat balanced meals. Currently they have made action plans for going into their villages and sharing their knowledge. We also saw children this week and encouraged them to talk to their parents. Each workshop week costs Nhimbe close to $500 USD for The Centre’s expertise, our cooks, the participant’s per diem and the food for the lunch. This is a fairly accurate number but this amount doesn’t include the overhead of time and travel for the purchases involved. CHIEF NHERERA We also stopped in to see the chief of the area (covering 58 villages including 6 of ours). Instead of requesting maize as help for those dying of AIDS, he asked for medical help. The government supplies have run low and they hadn’t received any supplies in 1 ½ years, and so he was asking for basics like bandages, betadine (like iodine), calamine lotion, and pain killers like aspirin. We haven’t been able to purchase anything as of yet because they are closed on the weekend but will look into it on Monday. He also had required a letter be written explaining his request for our activities in his area. I brought this letter which Cosmas and I wrote before my leaving, and the Chief signed it for Nhimbe to have on hand. He, as well as ourselves, wants us to be able to work peacefully on our project, with no interruption due to misunderstanding with any local officials. We were also able to present him with two T-shirts, one donated by Zimfest and the other one of the new Nhimbe shirts. VILLAGE REPRESENTATIVES We met with the village representatives to see how things are moving along. These people are liaisons for the headmen of each village. They work with their Chairman who then works with the schools and us. We discussed the changes in procedures and the new direction of things (focusing on education primarily so as to simplify the many complexities evolving out of both the project’s growth, as well as the continuing economic hardships). They are grateful for all the help that Nhimbe is providing their children. They wondered whether we could again provide food for the 12-and-under children. We had provided food during the last serious droughts and food shortages in 2003. Everyone is hungry here. All aid has stopped from Catholic Relief Services (meaning no supplemental maize, beans, or oil). We heard that it is illegal to give aid in the form of food. The children are hit the hardest. The village representatives also brought up the idea of receiving help with the “inputs” (seed, fertilizer, etc.) for their crops. The seed that is used may not be tested and so may fail them, therefore leaving them with no food for the next year. We are encouraging the use of manure and compost over fertilizers since this is the “ancient way”, but the west introduced chemicals and now many people are dependent. Permaculture training is now being recognized as desirable here, if only because it would reduce the cost of the “inputs”. 10 kg of tested seed would not cost very much. That seed could grow over 1 ton of maize to feed a family for a year. We are talking about this for 100 families. This idea, in conjunction with researching the possibility of Permaculture training, seems like the best direction. The think I like about this idea is that we are providing the fishing pole and not the fish, and this has been our preferred way from the start. PRESCHOOL The children here are such bright souls. They are obviously benefiting from the preschool snack and learning opportunity. They sang us many songs demonstrating much of what they had learned. One small boy whom I treated with NMT (see www.neuromodulationtechinque.com) at the beginning of the year who was assumed HIV positive due to family circumstances, is doing very well, performing the songs with great vigor and accuracy. The teachers are very grateful for what we are offering them. It is clear that the E-Pap nutritional supplement makes a big difference for the children. Runny nose, coughs and colds are not the problem that they could be. We have run out and are preparing to buy this E-Pap for regular usage as the lack of food availability here compromises a parent’s ability to give their children enough to eat. It is provided in 25 gram portions twice a day for full nutrition. We will give our children one portion as part of their snack. It comes in a powdered form that is very filling when mixed with water. It is not cooked to retain nutrition and is corn and soy based. The Centre also sells it to the people they are helping. We met with Will Maberly to discuss providing the E-Pap to the Pre-Schoolers. He was very informative regarding the link between Nutrition and HIV/AIDS. I am looking forward to studying this more. We will offer this supplement as part of their snack time. We will need to budget about, 07 USD per day to give to each child, half of their RDA of Nutrition. The product has been developed with a focus on the nature of the African diet, insufficient iron, A and Zinc, absorption (using chelation for example)and bringing health back to those who are malnourished. We are taking some E- Pap out to the School this week for the regular use since we have only worked with samples before. We have nearly 90 children wanting to attend preschool and may finally be ready to initiate a program to teach a morning and afternoon class. This is a big step but one which we have repeatedly considered. The lack of food drives these thoughts home now. Things here are so very difficult. The survival stress I’ve watched impact these people over the last 5 years shows itself in an underlying strained tightness, loss of weight and a look in the eyes for which there are no words. Their gentle nature, powerfully spirited heart, and desire for harmony continue to be the river that carries their daily activities but just underneath it all, the difficulties are painfully working on their minds. By focusing on their children, we relieve a certain degree of stress, we provide hope for their future, academically but also as an ethnic group surviving these times, and we demonstrate simple humanitarian values with no religious or political bias, which people understand easily and respond with their own deep strength. The Nhimbe preschool program is certainly a Light of our education program. Everyone involved in Nhimbe for Progress here feels very positively about our preschool. We are working on an outside kitchen so that the cooking of food and cleaning of dishes doesn’t have to be done outside in the rain or heat of the sun. The villagers have donated much of the supplies and the builder is donating his expertise to lead the volunteers to build this structure. This is another way they can say thank you! There is a legal requirement for an additional toilet for the teachers and so we are working on that as well. We are working hard to complete it while I am here, to simplify everything. LIBRARY We have been able to deliver many of the books you donated! They need to be inventoried and then will be ready to use. Thank you for the wonderful selections you sent. It was very touching to receive your choices for them. There are more to come – anyone traveling here may bring some for us and it will be greatly appreciated! We are buying Shona books on the streets to fill out the materials available. Its primarily a focus on getting teaching materials so that the child can see the book they are studying at school and actually have a chance of preparing for the test. I know that sounds too bizarre, but 20 children to 1 book is not uncommon in the schools. Thank you for your donations towards teaching materials as we are putting them to use. Our book purchases averaged $3 per book and we bought a total of 65. SCHOOLS Thank you also for the letters you sent for your sponsored child. We received donations of toothbrushes and toothpaste and so the children received a toothbrush or paste along with any letter that might have been written. We have been able to provide this for all students from the oldest down to the 5 and 6 year olds in the preschool. Everyone laughed when I demonstrated brushing but I thought I should pass on the latest in techniques. IN SUMMARY Its time to keep moving…we are leaving town today to move back to Mhondoro. Thank you for being there so I can write. It helps me tremendously to know you too care. Here on Zimbabwe soil, Jaiaen