Africa Pics-Part 1

Here it is!  The much-awaited blog with pictures.  Sorry it's taken me so long to get these posted.  I decided to take you on a chronological journey back through our trip to Zimbabwe.  These are the pictures from the first few days of our trip.

Packing!  We had 2 suitcases of toys donated from the Dallas Metro Mission.  The kids and I had to unwrap each individual toy for packing so that Customs wouldn't think we were trying to import toys to sell.  We had a lot of fun thinking about who might receive these treasures.

Our little family of four took seven checked bags, each weighing exactly 50 pounds, of medicines and medical supplies.  (We had 23 total bags for our group!)  Most of these were either donated or purchased wholesale from places like Blessings International or Hospitals of Hope.  Each item had to be carefully wrapped in clothing so the bag wouldn't get flagged or taken.  This was quite an ordeal!  But Luke and I commented over and over during this process, that even if this was all we were doing- taking these supplies to a needy community- it would be well-worth the trip.

Good morning sunshine!  We woke up at 4:15 am to be ready to catch the shuttle to the airport on Thursday morning!  Donuts for breakfast helped...

There were a total of 12 traveling with our group from P.A.P.A. (Physicans Aiding Physicians Abroad)  Two were doctors, Luke and Kyle Sheets, and the other ten of us were the "support". :)  They actually really need lots of non-medical people to help with all the odd-jobs, maintenance, and different tasks that the full-time missionaries have listed out for us while we are there.  I did get to do a little physical therapy as well, which was a lot of fun for me!  

Here I am braiding Cori's hair at the airport.  I couldn't promise much at that early hour...

On our way to Washington, D.C.  Notice how they both already have their journals out and are writing!

Luke is ready for me to put the camera away now.  But isn't he handsome?

Faith Anna and Whitney.  Whitney is a good family friend of ours....it made the trip so special for Faith that she was there with us.

Bernita already has her feet up.  Man, it's going to be a long day! Way to be proactive. :)

Kyle, Luke, and Logan waiting for next plane.

We are finally on the "big plane that goes across the ocean." The kids are ready to sleep with their eye masks on!  :) South African Airways had a little bag of goodies in everyone's seat that included one of these masks, a pair of socks, and a travel size toothbrush and toothpaste.  Pretty nice!

Landon and Whitney getting ready for the long flight.

Luke and I actually got several hours of sleep on the plane!  We also watched several good movies....it was kinda like a date-night.  Seriously. :)  Our kids were just such good travelers...so independent.  They took care of themselves...so we got to actually hang out just the two of us.  I think I am so preoccupied at home with the two little ones....helping them, playing with them, chasing after them....that I don't quite take in how grown-up my big ones are.  It was fun to watch them and see how mature they are.  I'm a proud mama.

This was our first night in Harare, Zimbabwe.  We arrived Friday night and stayed at the TEAM Guesthouse (The Evangelical Alliance Mission)....they are the sponsor organization for Karanda Mission Hospital.  This was our room.  Pretty nice, huh?  Definitely not what I thought Africa would be like.

These are the grounds at the Guesthouse.

Beautiful poinsetta tree!  These were quite common in Harare.  Who knew these flowers would grow into a tree??

This was our team orientation for all of the newcomers....Luke, Cori, Bradyn, Carly, Whitney, and Ben....led by Doug Everswick,to the right of Luke, who is a full-time missionary with TEAM.  During this briefing, the rest of our team went shopping for a week's worth of groceries.

Our kids made fast friends wherever they went.  Here Faith is with the Everswicks' daughter, Rachelle.  They had the best time!

And Logan became buddies with the groundskeeper's son, Jephath.  Wonder if the Star Wars T-shirt was a draw?  Kidding.  He and Logan threw the frisbee, explored, and climbed whatever they could find.  Logan was looking forward to coming back to Harare at the end of our trip just to get to hang out with Jephath one more time.

We left early the next day for Karanda.  We were in 15-passenger van following this pick-up full of all of our luggage!  See it all strapped down there in the bed?  Pretty funny.

Notice the "Police Ahead" sign on the left of the road?  These were the roadblocks that so many people had told us about.  You can see the line of cars in front of the pick-up waiting to pass.  This was another thing that I had expected to be different than it actually was....I was worried that these stops were going to be very dangerous and frightening.  But they weren't at all.  The officer just asked our driver what business we were on, and when we said Karanda Mission Hospital they waved us on through.  Thank you Lord for making these go so smoothly!  

Part of our crew, Ben and Carly, Bradyn, Faith Anna, Logan, and Bernita.

Our caravan out into the bush

This is where the Africa trip really started for me.  The 3-hour drive out to Karanda was beautiful.  We saw gorgeous countryside....and began to see a people stricken by poverty, unemployment, poor health, and disease.  It was quite a contrast.

A little market we passed right as we headed out of town.  This was the last available stop for food...so we decided to grab a few more fresh pieces of produce.

See the pretty Baobab tree in the distance?  I've only seen one before made out of concrete at the Dallas Zoo in the Wilds of Africa exhibit.  It was amazing to see it in real life growing out in the wild.

We made it!  We arrived late Saturday afternoon at Karanda Mission Hospital....a beautiful place with a 150-bed hospital, nursing school, student dorms, hospital staff housing, guesthouse, chapel, and primary school....a place that serves hundreds and hundreds of people in the surrounding villages that would otherwise go without much needed food, clothing, and medical attention.

This was our guestroom for the week.  We pushed two single beds together for Luke and I, and borrowed some single mattresses from the dorms for the kids.  We stretched the mosquito nets to fit over both!  We had our own bathroom, complete with toilet, hot shower, and sink.  Very different than what I had dreamed up in my head.

The kids thought the nets were quite the adventure...

On Sunday morning, we went to the church service at the hospital chapel and were just blown away!  I've never heard such beauiful singing!  The native language here is Shona....although most of the educated people speak English.  I loved hearing them sing all those beautiful harmonies in Shona!  I have some video, but have to figure out how to shorten it before I attempt to post all 2 minutes...

Church identified another of my altered expectations- the people's love for Jesus here!  I thought we were supposed to be bringing that and sharing it with them.  But on the contrary, they had a joy and zeal for the Lord like none I've ever seen before.  I think they actually gave some of it to us.  Backwards, huh?  Not really.  As the week rolled on, I realized that our role as American Christians was one of more strengthening, encouraging, and supporting an already strong group of believers.  And of course bringing them all these much-needed supplies.

We met Parker and Tinashe that Sunday after church.  Didn't know at that time what good friends they would become to Logan throughout the week.

Faith Anna immediately making friends after church.

The little girls just seemed to flock to Faith.  And she pretty much led them around all week singing and skipping to made-up songs.  It was fun to watch.

And not to anyone's surprise, Logan found the first available tree to climb....and enticed a new friend to climb up with him!  I swear my son is part-monkey...

Faith Anna and I standing out in the yard in front of the guesthouse with some new friends.  The older girl on the far right in the purple is Peace.  She and I became good buddies over the week.

This is Lael.  He was my very favorite 3-year old.

Isn't he cute?

If anyone was ever looking for Logan, he could be found anywhere a ball was being thrown, kicked, or hit.  (Unless he was in a tree.)  He and the boys had a great time.

This is "little" Praise (several girls were named "Praise" or Rumbidzai in Shona, but she was the youngest) and another of my favorites, Rotendo, which means "Faith" in Shona.  I just fell in love with Rotendo.

On Sunday afternoons, the community all goes out to the soccer fields to watch the games.  We were part of the proud fans cheering for the Karanda team!

The little boy in my lap in the red shirt is Inno (pronounced eeno) which is short for Innocent.  He captured my heart.  We learned later on in the week that he had been dropped off at the Hospital gate as an infant...and one of the staff took him in and has raised him.  One of God's many angels, for sure.

The kids loved having their pictures taken.  On the left was the little girl that I bonded with the most during our trip, Praise, or Rumbidzai.  This "big Praise" was Rotendo's older sister.  I could tell she was a leader among the little girls, spoke English very well, and latched onto me like another daughter.  I loved getting to know her.

The kids loved to touch our hair.

This was another of my favorite little girls, Tatenda, which means "Thank you".  Her dad, James Kambutzi, was in charge of Community Distribution to orphans, underprivileged, and HIV/Aids families in the surrounding communities.  The Kambutzi family was a wonderful one to get to know.

Getting our hair braided...

After the soccer game,  big Praise wanted me to come back to her house and meet her mom and little brother, Ashley.  They lived in one of the many brick houses on the compound built by the hospital.  We didn't realize it at the time, but these were the families that had much: a brick home, a porcelin toilet, more than one room, clothes and shoes.  They still seemed so poor by my first impression, until later in the week when we went into the surrounding villages and met the people there.  Wow.  I was blown away.

Praise and Rotendo are good big sisters, I'm sure!  Isn't he a punkin?

I'll leave you with this short video clip of the one English song the choir sang at church that morning.  Hope you enjoy it!

More from our 2 weeks in Africa next blog...