Untukmu Para Pengunjung

Namibia was great. It was our first desert experience, but we also marveled at the great variety in landscapes - mountains, ocean, desert - all within minutes! We went sandboarding (like tobaganning, except on sand - fun except for the sandburns!), we rode camels (John refused to wear the bedouin headcovering), we searched for the "little 5" in the desert (snakes, beetles, chameleons, etc.), we drove in and around the sand dunes, we went on a dolphin & seal cruise (and saw cool pelicans), we had long, romantic walks on the beach (and stayed at the Seagull B&B - right on the water), and we ate a LOT of food (fresh prawns - heavenly...) It sucked to miss skydiving (maybe our mothers prayed too hard about this?) and the great dunes of Soussusvlei - but that just means we'll have to go back sometime. John says Namibia is his favourite place in Africa. Mine's still Rwanda.

We're back in Harare (and we heard our luggage might come today - hopefully the cheese that we packed to specially is not totally wasted!!!). We are of course awaiting election results. Everyone is on tenderhooks - attached to their t.v.s and radios, awaiting news. The town is quite quiet - I'd say like a funeral except that funerals here aren't that quiet. I think everyone is just... waiting. The state media is playing African movies, old sports matches and cartoons, there are lots of rumours; we're hearing things from South Africa and the internet and tonnes of speculative text messages are going around. We wait and see. Things are generally calm, although there are rumours of "incidents." We'll wait and see.

A brief blog from the airport in Windhoek, Namibia (details on our trip to follow....)

* One of my closest friends Anita just had a baby boy - Wesley - CONGRATULATIONS Bram & Anita! I am so excited to be an auntie, and actually wish I were in Drumheller, Alberta rather than Namibia at this moment...

* Elections are happening in Zimbabwe today. Please pray hard for this. We'll be back in Harare tomorrow to check things out.

* It's been an awesome holiday except that we had to miss skydiving (boo!) An unfortunate combination of bad weather and plane servicing made us miss each day we were signed up. Oh well, it's just an item on the "bucket list" (we just saw that movie) that will have to wait.

TAC proves that advertising can shift cultural norms.


After listening to a podcast of Peter and Colin, I thought about the amazing role TAC has played in driving cultural change within Australian society. Drink Driving was something that was embedded in Australian culture and it was not until the great ‘If you drink then drive you’re a bloody idiot’ campaigns that Victorians started to change their behaviour.

Their latest ads on wearing motorcycling protective gear are great too. As a person outside the target market (I dont own a Harley yet!) I have still been affected by these ads, I am now more aware of what motorcyclist are wearing.

For more on marketing and cultural change listen to this podcast from Peter and Colin

Greetings from Joburg! We arrived at Stacey & Buhle's last night after grabbing McDonalds and staying up til 1:30am chatting. Life is good. We had an AWESOME time in Cape Town. It is the most gorgeous city and I totally recommend going there. (OK, fine, I admit that we did have a few "why do we live in Harare when we could live in Cape Town?" moments...) It will do your heart good to see the beaches, the oceans, the mountains, the food in the grocery stores... (I only had a minor meltdown - it's just so unfair to see so many TYPES of cheese, milk, bread, chocolate, meat, etc. never mind just having the items, but we loaded our suitcases as usual).

We ran our Two Oceans race on Saturday. I was petrified the night before and didn't sleep, but as soon as I started the half, I LOVED it. It was the best run I've ever had, and the whole time I kept thinking, "am I going to crash? this is way too easy!" (shout out to people who prayed for me - I felt God's grace!) It was just so exciting and I felt like a real runner. Usually I bribe myself to take extra walk brakes on a run, but on the race I had to convince myself to take them (even on the hills!) I think I was just full of adrenaline. I did it in under 2.5 hours, and just had an amazing experience. Of course John also did fabulously on the 56kms. It was so exciting to both be at the finish line. As John says, "a couple that runs together stays together!" (is this brainwashing?) I thought I might retire after my first race, but I can't - it was too fun.

We had such a good time with Merrilou, Gerard and their fun kids - Jeremy and Emily. They treat us like family, spoil us with amazing meals, and wait in the sun for hours to cheer us on at the race. They even took us to Boulders Beach where we got to hang out with penguins. Cool! We love spending time with good friends.

Easter was special as usual. I always watch "The Passion of the Christ" and it really moves me. I know some people were against the film when it came out (too violent), but I find it profoundly moving. One thing that always gets me is the agony of Mary in watching her son be tortured, misunderstood and crucified. This year it really reminded me of all the mothers in Zim who are watching their children die agonizing deaths from AIDS or starvation. At our Good Friday service it sort of hit me that I live in a country where people don't have to try to identify with the suffering Christ - they do it every day - in the constant funerals, the physical and emotional pain of searching for food, the fear of what could happen if you say that wrong thing to the wrong person, the uncertainty of life, the total trust that God has a plan even when you can't quite see it... Anyway, happy belated Easter! We're off to Namibia, so more later...

3 matters arising (pardon me, I'm on too many boards at THQ...)

1. We're going away! This afternoon we're flying to Cape Town, South Africa. We're staying with our good friends Merrilou and Gerrard for the Easter holiday. Saturday we're running the Two Oceans marathon (with John doing the ultra - 56km and me doing the half - 21km). You can pray for us - this is my first race as an adult... Then Sunday night we visit our good friends Stacey and Buhle in Joburg and Monday we fly to Namibia. We're spending a week's holiday in Windhoek and Swakopmund. We have a night in Joburg on the way back and then we'll be back in Harare on the 30th - the day after elections. So, if you don't hear from us - know that we're having fun!

2. New photos are up on our flickr site if you want to check them out.

3. HAPPY EASTER! Easter is always really special for me. There's the long lenten period of reflection, sacrifice, denial, meditation. The agonizing Good Friday where I always admit with guilt that I probably would have been a betrayer/denier of Jesus, and feel so humbled and thankful that Jesus - my hero and the one I serve and want to be like - died to forgive me. And then glorious Easter Sunday morning where we celebrate the fact that Jesus was victorious over the grave and is still alive today. It's an awesome holiday. In post-modern Canada it's highly unfashionable to speak about Jesus, but you have to admit there's something quite amazing about the Easter story and the freedom it brings.

Our new friend Elizabeth arrived in Zimbabwe last Monday. She is a Salvation Army officer from Australia and she is working with us here at THQ. It has been interesting to journey with her this week, and see Zimbabwe, The Salvation Army, our neighbourhood and our workplace with her "new" eyes. I've especially re-noticed the pace of work here. I had great expectations when I came in terms of what I could get done in a day, and that slowly but surely diminished. Because making a phone call or printing a letter or photocopying a document are not easy tasks in Zimbabwe.

I had to laugh to myself (but not in a mean way) when someone was trying to teach Elizabeth the morning greetings - "mamuka sei?" (which means "did you wake well?") She was repeating back, "mamuka" and the ladies would say, "mamuka SEI, mamuka SEI." But sei is prounounced like "say" so Elizabeth must have thought they kept repeating "SAY mamuka" which she was... Ah, communication is fun. This reminded me of when I organized a trip for exchange students from Thailand. One of the girls was named "Hai." She had a hard time introducing herself to her host family because they said, "hi, what's your name?" and she responded "Hai." A little slower and louder, "hi, good to meet you but what's your name?" "Hai." "Hi. WHAT IS YOUR NAME?" I had to watch from a distance for a while and then eventually intervene and explain that the girl's name was Hai and she actually spoke English quite well - no need to yell! Or there was the time my mom and I went canvassing for Salvation Army. We were at a Chinese family's door requesting funds. The lady said to us, "Will you come in?" which we thought was quite kind - much better than a door slam or "sorry." She repeated "Will you come in?" so I made for the door and then she yelled, "WILL YOU COME IN?" It turns out their dog was named "Will Yu." :)

Friday was John's birthday. Unfortunately, I missed most of it, but thankfully we celebrated Thursday night. We totally splurged by taking 2 friends out to the best restaurant in Harare - "Amanzi." Our "wallets" (as if we could use wallets in Zim!) are $3billion lighter, but it was an amazing meal - even according to John (who is a bit of a food snob!) I must admit that I never pictured myself a billionaire by the age of 30. HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN!!

Friday I left Harare at 5am with a team from THQ. We were going to Muzarabani to distribute food relief. On the way we stopped at The Salvation Army's Howard hospital. We went to a few of the wards to pray for patients. It broke my heart to see the over-crowding in the women's wards and so many women lying on mats on the floor. I cried. A few hours later we arrived in Mt. Darwin for breakfast (it's one of the nice things about traveling with important people - you get food served to you everywhere you go!) We had bread for breakfast, which was nice since it's scarce these days (people at the Association of Bakers have been imprisoned again for trying to sell flour at a fair price). Mt. Darwin is a ZANU stronghold, and they were having a political rally that day. We saw a lot of people wearing t-shirts and dresses with the President's face printed on them. Elections are less than 2 weeks away, so campaigning is going strong. We always hear the 3 helicopters overhead - one for the President and 2 for his bodyguards (is 3 helicopters in a country starved for fuel an unfair campaign advantage?)

After breakfast we made our way through the mountains and into the lower Zambezi valley to Muzarabani. The scenery was amazing, but I don't have photos because I was squashed in the middle of two large women in the backseat, and that did not allow for grabbing my camera (some of it reminded me of the island from LOST though...) Muzarabani was flooded from heavy rains in January. 27 people died, as well as almost all livestock and crops. People have been resettled temporarily at an old farm. The Salvation Army was donating mealie meal, sugar, cooking oil and kapenta (dried fish) to the people. The local authorities had a list of residents and ensured that the food was given out fairly by the Salvation Army volunteers. We all gathered under a tree (the area is very hot) for speeches, food distribution and a drama from the residents about the flooding. The people were so happy to receive the food. They started singing and dancing, waving the kapenta and cooking oil over their heads. As for myself, I was a big source of entertainment for the kids. The brave ones shook my hand and then stared at their own hands afterwards (to make sure non of the white had rubbed off).

One lady told us that she finds it hard to even drink water now, because it reminds her of how she lost everything; she she's had to start her whole life from scratch. Last night, John and I sat in our warm, dry, candle-lit house listening to the thunderstorm outside and discussing rumours we'd heard about a cyclone coming. And I imagined the fear and helplessness of being flooded and watching my life wash away. Let's continue to pray for people affected by natural and man-made disasters.