Untukmu Para Pengunjung

John had a busy weekend running, doing strategic planning in Mt. Darwin and then attending a long welcome service for the new T.C. Again, it's amazing that people can come up with billions for gifts when there is so much economic hardship! Sometimes I feel like I'm in a Robinhood-backwards movie. I spent the weekend in the south of the country, and it was great. Bulawayo has such a different feel than Harare - more relaxed and free. To be honest, I like Zimbabwe a lot, but I could take or leave Harare (although there is a pizza place - I can't knock St. Elmo's). We have a new neighbour moving here from Australia today. I wonder what she'll think... Anyway, I went down south to meet with some potential donors who are interested in The Salvation Army's HIV/AIDS response and Masiye Camp in particular. Masiye is doing *awesome* work and it's set in the beautiful Matopos. If you have not yet been, consider it. Check 'em out - www.masiye.com

The weekend was also full of very interesting conversations. I'm a social worker, and I like to listen to people's stories, so I was treated to a feast of them. There were lots of thought-provoking conversations about aid/donors, corruption, the temptation to steal money or food, etc. I had a fascinating conversation about politics with 2 grade 7 boys as we dipped our feet in the cool water of the dam. There was a conversation with a man who told me about how he used to be a poacher in the national parks - having struck up a business deal with a police officer (who was supposed to be the one safeguarding the park!s) He says elephant is quite good, and lasts a long time because of its size. He seemed like a good guy, but poaching???... There was this other conversation with two women who are self-acclaimed "SRB" (strong rural background) who gave me detailed information on how best to kill various animals - and precautions to take if you're doing this while heavily pregnant (I guess this information could be useful in future?!?) There were conversations about the liberation struggle and the terror people went through. There were conversations about the farm invasions and land reform. There was a conversation with a Zimbabwean man who went to a small town in Kentucky for school and how he found the adjustment. One lady poured out her heart to me about how her husband cheated on her and left her. She works for a church, and the church has since called off all benefits (such as paying for school fees for her 2 kids) and taken away her pastor's status. Doesn't seem very Christ-like to me... And then there were the two kids who were having a blast trying out every English word they knew on me and laughing like crazy when I would respond in Shona. I love people - and getting a glimpse into their world.

Today is my last day in my twenties. I can't believe it...

Ohmygosh I just looked at the route map for my first half-marathon which I'm going to be running in 2 weeks in CapeTown. Yikes! I'm flipping out. Keep in mind that this is not John-McAlister-insane-runner-who-can-do-anything-a-marathon-is-an-easy-jog typing. This is me - Rochelle McAlister, who only got chosen for sports teams in school because I'm good at making friends, not because I have an ounce of athlete in me. Rochelle McAlister - who used to only run to try to catch the bus! Yesterday we ran 10km in the morning as the sun was coming up and then 12km after work as the sun was coming down. And it was hard. But that wasn't even including hills and involved quite a work-day-long break in the middle. What am I doing??!!??

Happy Women's Day for tomorrow. A big shout out to all of the brave, courageous, faithful, endlessly hopeful women in Zimbabwe and other parts of the world. I am so thankful for the way Zimbabwean women are teaching me to be a better person. Another shout out to the many other women in my life who I love a lot and who have have had a big impact on my life. Sisters, I'm proud to be one of you!

Most people don't acknowledge their birthdays here, maybe because there's no money for gifts or special meals. I visit with a dear, lonely old lady who lives near my workplace. Almost all of her family members and friends have passed on and she is ready to go too. I visit with her, ask her about her life and try to make her laugh. Last time I went to her apartment she told me she had just celebrated her 85th birthday - and had had a birthday party for the first time in her life! Never too late... This week we took out some friends to this lovely lunch place where you eat in the garden. They had both been too preoccupied with funerals to celebrate their birthdays, and they were so happy to have the chance! It's a popular hang-out for people from the embassies, and as we were walking out, we ran into one of their friends, "oh, you are big people now - walking out of a place like that!"

I'm reading Miroslav Volf's book "Free of charge." He's my favourite theologian. OK, he's probably the only theologian I read... :) His book is all about giving and forgiving. I'm finished the giving section, which is full of basic and yet profound thoughts - God is a Giver by nature and everything we have and are is from God - our breath, our lives, our children, our food, our health, etc. God loves to bless us and give to us and see us enjoy the blessings. Volf argues that we can't really give anything to God because everything is from God in the first place. But we can be channels of blessing. We can enjoy blessings and then pass them on. He quoted Genesis 12:1-3 where God blessed Abraham so that he can be a blessing to others. It reminds me of a quote I had in my locker at school for years - the more love you give away, the more you'll have. I've spent hours and weeks and months wondering about the inequities in the world; wondering why obesity reigns in certain countries while starvation does in others; wondering why God seems to bless some people so much more than others. The only answers I've come up with are: a) inexplicable grace and b) we are all supposed to share and be channels of blessing. I have been loved every single day of my life. I am thankful for this, and wish everyone has had this experience. I could either feel guilty about this or else enjoy this love and share it with others. The latter is much more enjoyable; trust me. I thought I was close to being poor growing up, but I really wasn't and the older I get the more privileged I realize I have been. So, I can be a channel of blessing (even with my current pathetic salary!) So can you.

I've had braces on my teeth 3 times. The first time, I got them from our family dentist. He was taking orthodontics at night school and so said he would give my family a really good deal on braces because he was just learning. When the braces came off, my teeth were straight, he was happy, and there was no follow up. So they went crooked again. A few years later, we were trying to decide if I should get braces again. We consulted my grandfather who asked me to smile for him. I did and he responded, "well no one's going to marry her with teeth like that." Then he gave his Papa chuckle (I miss him...) and it was settled. I got new braces. Later, when we moved back to Toronto from Montreal, I got a new orthodontist, who said that he could not work with the Quebecois braces I had, and so those had to be stripped off to give me good Ontario braces (the English can be so bourgeois!) Anyway, I was thinking about this story about my Papa because yesterday we had a situation with our daughter.

We adopted a cadet - Esther - and she is a very sweet, kind, compassionate girl. She complained of a tooth-ache, so we gave her some money to go to the dentist. The tooth was extracted and there was more bad news - 7 more teeth need to be pulled. Cadets (people training to be Salvation Army pastors) in Zimbabwe receive no medical coverage, so basically you can get treatment if you have money. 7 more teeth seems a bit drastic (and trust me, I felt guilty for bringing cookies AND candy to parent visitation day!) so I asked one of the teacher-officers if there was any other option. "Well, yes, she could get them filled, but it's $120 million per tooth and that's too much." We're looking at about $50US. Obviously we do not want our (as yet unmarried!) daughter to lose all of her teeth, but kids are expensive when you make $2US/month! Anyone want to help?

Not having medical insurance/coverage is just horrible. It gives you a pit in the stomach. Of course I've been spoiled as a Canadian in this respect. It's just a horrible feeling knowing that you need treatment and wondering how on earth you're going to come up with the money. Actually, this reminds me of another story of when I was working with immigrants and refugees in Toronto. One day an elderly Turkish woman in the level 2 English class fell and landed on her middle finger. The finger was at a 90 degree angle backwards. She wasn't in pain, but it looked awful. She was also brand new to the class, so could only greet people in English. Thankfully there was another man in the level 4 class who was Turkish but spoke French. The 3 of us went to the nearby hospital. After waiting around emergency, we ran into a kind, young doctor in the hallway. It was a 3 way translation - he talked to me in English, I talked to George in French and George talked to the elderly woman in Turkish - and then back the other way. As you can imagine, simple question and answer took a while. The lady (I'm forgetting her name... too many Zimbabwean names in my head!) did not have medical insurance because she was so new to the country. The doctor looked left and right and said to me, "if you want, I can probably just pop it back into place right here. It will hurt, but I could do it and not tell anyone." I translated to George, and he translated to the lady (but I learned after that he left out the part about the pain!) So the doctor grabbed the woman's hand, pushed really hard, and bam - back in place. No medical insurance required!

Monday morning already? The weekend flew by. Friday evening on the way home from work we heard about the tragic case of a five year old girl from our church being killed in a car accident. She had accompanied the family maid to the store to buy bread. They were walking and holding hands when the girl forced herself free and ran into traffic. It's so sad! Here, children are buried even faster than adults, so by the time we got to the church, the service was already ending. There was a lot of weeping - obviously. For stress relief, we decided to go for a run. I don't like running in the evenings as much as the mornings. The ratio of drunk/offensive men out on the streets is much higher at 5pm than 5am - at least in our neighbourhood.

Saturday John spent the day in Karoi with a team of people doing strategic planning for The Salvation Army. They left at 6am and didn't arrive home til about 8pm. I was supposed to go to a wedding in town, but I didn't feel like going into the city centre by myself and to a wedding dateless. (A friend told me later that day that she saw police beating people on their way to church that day - they were suspected of being supporters of the opposition party). Anyway, I had the day and the house to myself so I did laundry, made some nice pasta, read Time magazine (fascinating controversy over Oscar Pistorius, eh?), visited friends and spent 7 hours watching t.v. This is not typically Rochelle. I did have some moments where I was like, "maybe I should read Dostoevsky or start learning Mandarin or something." But nope. I just watched 24. There's something to the whole "day of rest" idea of God's. Besides, I had to take advantage of having electricity ALL DAY on Saturday. Upcoming elections have some advantages!

Yesterday we travelled to KweKwe for the installation of our new Territorial Commander (big boss of Salvation Army in Zimbabwe & Botswana). It was a five hour service which seemed much longer because we were sitting on these little, tiny chairs (you know, the kind that kindergarten and grade 1 children use...) But the music was good, and I got to sit with my friend Kim and another Captain who are hilarious - so it helped pass the time. The territory gave the new T.C. many gifts, which is "cultural" but always amazes me seeing as my HIV/AIDS budget is constantly at $0 because we have no money.... Priorities, I guess. And now it's Monday morning, and we have another welcome for the T.C. in a few moments. Have a great day!

Video Music Clips are;
1. Good guides to predict future trends in Fashion, Technology and the Arts
2. Perfect grounds for companies to promote their products.

It seems these days gangsters rule MTV. This is no problem for me as I have a high tolerance for watching smoking hot woman dancing on camera. However recently something struck me as a little odd.

What the hell were all my Gangster hombres (Bow Wow, R Kelly, T Pain, Kanye West, Omarion) doing wearing sunglasses at night?

Clubbing with sunglasses was for a long time part of rave culture and to onlookers it helped communicate 'I am on some serious drugs and I will save you the pain of looking at my dilated pupils.'

However it does not seem like there is a drug or rave connotation with this new hip hop trend. Without this stigma it seems that Oakley have jumped on this meme, sponsoring famous rapper T-Pain. His clip (above) looks more like an ad for Oakley than a music video clip.

Poor Ravers, what is next 50 Cent glow stickin and Melbourne Shuffling his way around a LA nightclub?

Below is a collection of the more hilarious sunglasses choices from recent music video clips.

R Kelly - I'm a Flirt (0:07: R Kelly Diamond Sunglasses)


Souljah Boy - Crank Dat (0:17 Souljah Boy got his name in crystals on his glasses)


Omarion and Bow Wow - Girlfriend (1:20 driving at night with sunglasses)


Kanye West - Stronger (0:42 Kanye windowshade glasses)

Never talk about sex, politics and money.

When it comes to communicating your support for a Political Party it seems that U.S Celebirty figures cannot wait to show their support. However I do wonder what effect this has on the support for the celebrity fans?

In the Matrix, I show the common reactions of the people who are part of every group of pro and con the two people.

I think that the real worry for WILL.I.AM is that american population are so passionate in their positions torwards politics. I would suggest more passionate than their taste in music. With this passion there is alot of people who would fall in the red zone, fans of WILL.I.AM yet not of Obama.

The problem here is that WILL.I.AM is gambling over 75% of his fan base by showing his support for Obama. There are passionate Republicans (approx 50% of the US population) and passionate Hilary fans (approx 25%).



In other news Zac pointed me in the direction of another celebrity, Jack Nicholson supporting Hilary Clinton. Check out Zac's new blog at Pigs don't fly