In July 2005, Judy and I undertook a trip into a land that had been hit by a 'Tsunami'. In case you are thinking we had ventured into Asia which was hit by Tsunami in December 2004, I wish to state no sir or no madam!. We travelled to Zimbabwe, which had undergone an Operation Murambatsvina ('Drive out Rubbish'). It is this cleanup, that the locals had nicknamed Operation 'Tsunami'. This was due to buildings being destroyed at short notice leaving some people homeless. Our mission was very simple: have a short vacation and visit relations on mum's side. The first objective was partially fulfilled as we did not get to stay at our desired haven: Resthaven Guest House.
Friday, 22 July 2005
We started off from Lusaka at 04 00 on 24th July using a Pioneer Coach. We arrived at the Chirundu border post at 06 00. We were cleared after two hours after the usual immigration and customs hassles. I was almost asked to pay a deposit for an old audio cassette player. I stood my ground and refused to pay. I was finally allowed to enter Zimbabwe without paying for the player. On the way, we had our first taste of the effects of sky rocketing inflation at Karoi. Sausage and chips cost Z$60000 (about K18000). We arrived in Harare at 12 00.
We headed into the city centre and had some refreshments at Chicken Inn. I then headed to the ESAMI headquarters to make arrangements to leave our luggage while we were in town. At the ESAMI headquarters, I met the co-ordinator, who allowed me to use his phone to contact Pastor Soko and my niece Sekai. However, I could not get through to any of these two. After some time, I decided to get back to my wife and get the luggage. We left our luggage at the ESAMI offices and tried again later to phone Pastor Soko and Sekai, but all was in vain. Later, we learnt that it is very difficult to get through on Fridays by phone to cellular networks. When it was evident we couldn't get through to Pastor Soko, who was supposed to take us to Resthaven, we opted to take our luggage and look for somewhere to lay our heads. We found accommodation at Horizon Inn situated a few kilometres from the city centre.
Saturday, 23 July 2005
On Saturday morning, the first task was to trace brother Amos from the Reformed Baptist Church. I found him and we made arrangements to meet at 09 00. He came after 09 00. We left with him for Pastor Soko's home. As we about to join the main road we were met by my niece. Together we left for Pastor Soko's home in Rugare. We had a lovely time of fellowship with him and the family. He made efforts to secure fuel but could not find anything. The only fuel available was on the black market which was ten times the normal pump price. Thus we could not make it to Resthaven. We later left for Rosa's (my cousin's home) where we spent the night. Whilst there we saw some of the houses that were demolished in the Operation 'Tsunami'. In fact on our way we saw a number of houses and tuck shops that had been demolished. There was rubble in many places.
Sunday 24 July 2005
We attended the morning service at Central Baptist Church (which planted Ndola Baptist who later planted Lusaka Baptist). The sermon was from Romans 12:8. It was on "Being Patient in Affliction'. The preacher was Asafa M'kana the assistant pastor. It was a timely sermon in view of the economic hurdles the nation was undergoing. During the service an Indian diplomat with his family were bidding farewell. They spoke of the wonderful times they had had in Zim. They mentioned of how Zimbabweans loved to chat. If you wanted them to speak for 30 minutes, then ask them to speak for 15 minutes! After the service, I greeted a few people I could remember from my visit in 2003. We made the effort to greet people as they didn't reach out to greet us!
This is one of the challenges that big churches face. Visitors are usually ignored. We emailed the church and they promised to address the issue. Later we went into town and met Sekai. We had some lunch and then went to Rugare to attend the church service by Reformed Evangelical Church. The preacher was John Soko, the church pastor. He preached on the importance of integrity in a Christian's life. The sermon had Shona translation. The singing was lively. After the service we were greeted by everyone and chatted with a number of people. Latter we went to Pastor and Mrs Soko's home where we had some refreshments and some lovely fellowship.
In the evening we visited a cousin in Budiriro. We wanted to make arrangements to use their vehicle to Mutoko (mum's village). Our mission was not successful. We were thus going to use public transport.
Monday, 25 July 2005
Monday was spent doing a bit of shopping in Harare town centre. On hand to help us shop was Sekai. Armed with my visa card I went to withdraw cash from an ATM. Initially I had difficulties getting the money. However, eventually I was able to withdraw some Zim dollars. In case you are wondering why we didn't carry enough Zim dollars, it should be noted that you would really need to carry a lot! A suitcase perhaps. Because an amount like Z$3million can be spent even within a few hours!
Tuesday, 26 July 2005
On Tuesday morning we got up early to catch a Mutoko bound bus. Judy and I travelled with my cousin Rosa (Sekai's mother). We were at the garage for the bus by 09 00. We got onto the bus around 13 00. We then proceeded to the main bus station to pick up other travellers. By 14 00 we started off for Mutoko. Mutoko is in the eastern direction of Harare. Just a few kilometres outside Harare we saw vast tracts of small holdings. Some of them are farms while others are horse ranches. Along the way we witnessed a bus that had been involved in an accident. The bus had just left the bus station a few minutes before us. Some lives were lost with others badly injured. How brief our lives are! One moment someone is up and about. The next moment they are lifeless. Oh to prepare to meet our God any moment He is pleased to summon us from this world!
We arrived in Mutoko District at about 17 00. We bought a few refreshments at the shopping centre. Thereafter we proceeded towards the countryside. On the way we saw a lot of hills and big rocks. A beautiful sight indeed! We arrived at Masenda Primary School at about 20 00. Then we started the search for the village of Uncle Edward. A young man tried to give us some directions. He walked with us. We had a torch to provide much needed light. We got to some village who told us that we had bypassed the village and needed to go back. We were getting tired by then. At long last after a lot of walking we arrived at my uncle's village. My aunt was the first to meet us. When she found out who we were, there was jubilation. Zimbabweans can dance and rejoice. Ask anyone who knows them. She went to inform the husband. Of course they wondered whether we had travelled in peace, or were conveyors of bad news. We told them that we had travelled in peace. We were just visiting. We then shared greetings and had some supper. Thereafter dropping off to sleep was a welcome conclusion to an otherwise very long day.
Wednesday, 27 July 2005
In the morning, my uncle and I released his goats and cows from their sheds. I then went to assist my cousin Christine chase some cows from the gardens. After that Judy and I took photos of each other, my uncle, auntie, cousin, nephew and niece. My niece Yola sang some songs for us and showed us what an amusing girl she could be. We had some breakfast consisting of rice and tea. Thereafter we visited auntie Jessica's home where we saw her garden. An impressive garden indeed! She showed us the coffee she had processed. A hardworking woman indeed! Later we escorted her to draw some water from a well. We went back to uncle's home towards 13 00. We then chatted for a long time on family matters and other matters. I learnt quite a lot about mum's family. Pharaoh my cousin came back in the evening from one of my uncle's village. He reported of my uncle being unable to come to where we were because he was unwell. Uncle Edward slaughtered a goat for us. We enjoyed the goat very much. We were given some to carry which Rosa took to her home. After a long day it was in order to rest. This was after making arrangements on our departure the following day.
Thursday, 28 July 2005
We were up by 04 30 in readiness for our walk to the bus stop. We bid farewell to Uncle Edward & Auntie Jessica and others. We were leaving Uncle Edward with a deep cough that he had. We only hoped he would get medical attention. My auntie gave us blessings as we embarked on our journey. She wished us God's guidance in all we undertook. We were escorted to the bus stop by Pharaoh, Christine and auntie Jessica. We were at the bus stop at slightly after 05 00. It was still quite dark. It was very cold. That place can be very cold! I got a blanket to cover myself. We waited for a long time but there was no bus in sight. We were informed that the bus had broken down. We got on a van and were charged the same fare from Masenda School to Mutoko as the fare from Mutoko to Harare. The fare was pegged high due to the high fuel prices. We got a Harare bound bus from Mutoko. We had to stand on the bus because we had no seats. We only managed to get seats in a town next to Harare.
We arrived in Harare at about 15 00. We were so weary after undertaking such a challenging trip. Mr. Kanyemba (Rosa's hubby), Sekai and Emmanuel were on hand to welcome us. We had a shower to refresh ourselves. Thereafter we bid farewell to our wonderful hosts. Emmanuel escorted us into town. We spent a night at Russell Hotel. Horizon Inn, where we had stayed earlier on could not accommodate us as they wanted US dollars not Zim dollars. If the locals are not proud of their currency, who will be proud of it? We enjoyed the pork and chips we bought for supper after we struggled to find Zim dollars to buy it. After a long day we retired to bed.
Friday, 29 July 2005
Friday was our intended day of departure. However this was not the case as the morning buses were fully booked. We had no option but to book the evening bus leaving at 20 30. I went into town to get some more cash from the ATM. The services of an ATM were most welcome because we would have needed sacks to do the financial transactions that we had to do. In the late morning we went to the home of Amos to leave our luggage. In the afternoon we went in search of the Immigration office to extend our stay in Zim as we were going to cross the border a day later than planned. We were made to go from office to office due to being given wrong directions by the people we asked. Even the Information centre in town was not very clear in their directions. Eventually we found the office and had our stay extended by 5 days.
We got back to Amos's place and got our luggage to leave for the bus station. Before then we had an interesting chat with his housemates. Amos and his housemates escorted us to the station. We boarded the bus at slightly after 20 30. The bus broke down after 30 minutes. The bus was taken to the garage where it was worked on for almost 30 minutes. We then proceeded with the journey. Not much later the bus broke down again. Some of you maybe familiar with the bus. It is Chigubu Bus Services from Luanshya. For your own sanity and safety avoid using this transporter. Eventually the bus was repaired and we continued our trip. We eventually arrived at the Chirundu Border post at 04 00. A trip that normally would take 4 hours took twice the time. Judy & I tried to get some sleep. But soon it was 06 00 and we were awake.
Saturday, 30 July 2005
The border gates were opened at 06 00. The border formalities took about 3 hours for us to be cleared. There is need for much improvement in this area. For those who cross the border from South Africa at Beitbridge, this is double checking and a lot of time wasted. After a long winding trip we eventually reached Lusaka at about 12 00. I got off the bus in Makeni to attend workshops for my business studies while Judy proceeded home. However despite all my efforts to attend the workshops, they were cancelled due to tutors not being available.
Reflections on trip
1. Inflation in Zimbabwe: I was returning to Zimbabwe after 2 years having been there last in 2003. Much change had taken place. A jersey which in 2003 was Z$ 90000 was now (July 2005) fetching Z$ 1,000,000 (K300,000). Things had changed. Inflation had and has become a terrible run away horse. Queues for money, food and other necessities were still a common sight. Queues for fuel were common place. The nation needs a turn around. I'm sure that we are aware that the inflation rate is now at 1000%, one of the highest in the world. 1 US$ is equivalent to about Z$ 100,000 while Z$ 1 is equivalent to 3 ngwee! Let's pray for Zimbabwe. It's economy is in ruins.
2. Joy at meeting relations: it was such a joy for me to meet one of my uncles, and cousins on mum's side for the first time. It was a joy for them too. It would have been good to meet other uncles but one for a start was good. We were grateful to God for travel mercies to such a far away place and reunite with relations.
3. Time spent together: It was a delight for Judy and I to be together alone for a week on our second honeymoon. We need more of such. Beloved brethren who are married you need such times too. They just don't drop from nowhere. They require planning. Let's find time to enjoy each other's company as husband's and wives away from the distraction of city life. An open secret to you is that there are nice places within Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Swaziland and South Africa. Those that have travelled more than I have can attest that there are such beautiful places out there waiting for you to enjoy and explore. Seize the opportunity!
4. Gospel work in Zimbabwe: We need to pray for gospel work in Zimbabwe. In particular we need to pray for Reformed Evangelical church in Harare pastored by John Soko. The church has faced a number of challenges. Some of these are financial. Finances are required to enable them put a church building. The church has also had a number of members displaced due to the Operation cleanup. For a growing church, losing a number of members at once poses a great challenge. Lets pray for God to grant the members encouragement and strength to labour for the Master till the dawning day.
Gabriel S Konayuma
30 May 2006
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