Ok, the title may be misleading. We aren't experiencing any of these things here, but keep reading to find out what we are doing :-) December is a busy month for JM2Z. Yolanda is teaching a sewing seminar for 28 ladies this week. It is today, tomorrow, and Thursday. In typical Zimbabwean fashion, we received a text message last night at 1:00AM saying that the location where the seminar was supposed to be is double booked for this week, so we will need to find a new location. Obviously that was a stressful message, but thankfully we found a new location this morning and someone was able to drive all of the ladies from the original location to the new one, as it was several miles apart. Then we found out they wanted to charge us a fee per child for the week, and this is for a location with no electricity, no running water, no ceilings, and in some places no roof. We found out it came to their attention that we are white and with that knowledge, the assumption that we have lots of money. Needless to say, we will now also be having the VBS for the children at this new location next week. Praise God for providing this for us! She is teaching basic sewing to beginners. This will enable them to mend clothing, when it is especially expensive to purchase new clothes. Yolanda is teaching them various stitches and patterns. By the end of the week, the goal is that they will each have made a door snake, stuffed with sand. In the U.S., we put it inside the front door to keep the cold air out in the winter. These ladies will be able to use it to keep the snakes, mice, and other critters from coming in under the door. Yolanda just returned from the sewing seminar and said that everything went very well today. The women were excited to be there and eager to learn. However, their sewing skills are quite lacking, so it is good that they are attending, but at this point, making a door snake may be beyond their skill level for this week. Therefore, the ladies have requested a second seminar in January to apply their newly learned sewing skills to make a door snake. In the meantime, they are stumbling through threading the needle, thread knots, and the first four basic sewing stitches. Nevertheless, their determination and enthusiasm for a new skill is quite apparent and multiple ladies vocalized as such.
Next week (Mon-Fri) is our VBS. We have about 60 children signed up (which is as many as we thought we could handle with limited resources and volunteers), but you never know how many will actually show up; maybe 20 extra or quite a few less. So we are planning for either way. The event is free for all children who attend and we have been targeting underprivileged children, because there are a few other events like this, but all are expensive and these children would not be able to afford them. This may be the first time that they would have experienced something like this. We are very excited as this will be the first time that JM2Z hosts a VBS. We are looking forward to sharing God's Word with them as we look at Old Testament heroes, as well as some fun and constructive activities, crafts, and snacks while they are on school holidays.
Last weekend, we were in Harare and received a message from Elizabeth that our second security light pole had fallen over (again due to termites and the wood not being treated properly). We ordered new poles weeks ago and they hadn't come yet. However, they did arrive this week (properly treated) and we will also be adding termite poison in the ground this time with the cement. That Sunday, Elizabeth had done her laundry and left three blankets on the clothesline overnight. When she got up in the morning, she realized that someone had climbed over the wall and stolen them. It was very disappointing for them. Yolanda took Elizabeth to the police station to fill out a report (because if we call them, they will not come to the house; they will either have no vehicle or no fuel). Yolanda let Elizabeth explain what happened to the policeman, since it was her things that were stolen. However, he was giving her the runaround for awhile and since Yolanda understood his Shona, she jumped in. She let him know that she knew that the things he was writing down were not the things Elizabeth was telling him. So he corrected it as it should have been, but not without Yolanda getting several headaches. After 2.5 hours of questions and waiting, Yolanda asked the policeman what will a police report do to help catch the thief. He replied, "Nothing." But he said he had to send another policeman home with Yolanda and Elizabeth so he could see the scene. For a few minutes, three guys argued about who would go, because none of them wanted to. Eventually one agreed, got in the car, and spent about 7 minutes looking around in the yard. Then of course, we had to drive him back.
Last weekend, we were in Harare and received a message from Elizabeth that our second security light pole had fallen over (again due to termites and the wood not being treated properly). We ordered new poles weeks ago and they hadn't come yet. However, they did arrive this week (properly treated) and we will also be adding termite poison in the ground this time with the cement. That Sunday, Elizabeth had done her laundry and left three blankets on the clothesline overnight. When she got up in the morning, she realized that someone had climbed over the wall and stolen them. It was very disappointing for them. Yolanda took Elizabeth to the police station to fill out a report (because if we call them, they will not come to the house; they will either have no vehicle or no fuel). Yolanda let Elizabeth explain what happened to the policeman, since it was her things that were stolen. However, he was giving her the runaround for awhile and since Yolanda understood his Shona, she jumped in. She let him know that she knew that the things he was writing down were not the things Elizabeth was telling him. So he corrected it as it should have been, but not without Yolanda getting several headaches. After 2.5 hours of questions and waiting, Yolanda asked the policeman what will a police report do to help catch the thief. He replied, "Nothing." But he said he had to send another policeman home with Yolanda and Elizabeth so he could see the scene. For a few minutes, three guys argued about who would go, because none of them wanted to. Eventually one agreed, got in the car, and spent about 7 minutes looking around in the yard. Then of course, we had to drive him back.
This brings us to the heightening of the wall, which was one of our objectives for this year. It adds that extra bit of security and will make it more difficult for someone to come over the wall. We were finally able to purchase enough cinderblocks to get started. We are adding two rows to the top around the whole yard, which will take the height of the wall from about 6.5 feet to 8 feet. At a later point, we will add razor wire on top, but it is too expensive to do that all at once. A big truck delivered sand, which is used to mix with the cement. When the truck was turning into our driveway, he ran into the wall next to the gate, knocking a section over. The truck did not look very roadworthy and it didn't even have any brakes; he was using the handbrake to slow down. Of course the driver blamed the guy directing him and the guy directing him blamed the driver. Eventually after a long discussion (Which Yolanda had to translate for me, since they were speaking in Shona so I couldn't understand. As usual they were surprised when a white woman understood what they were saying :-) they agreed to pay for a bag of cement, new blocks and labor for repair. Earlier this year when we were in the U.S. and Janeece was here, the same thing happened in the same place when they were building the domestic quarters even though it was a different truck and a different driver, yet perfectly capable of being able to fit in the gate. That section of the wall has certainly taken a beating. As we wrote previously, the house's owner is paying for half and JM2Z is paying for half. In a country where jobs are hard to come by, we are glad that we can provide work for these men who are trying to support their families. One of them has a wife who is pregnant and due any day now. This will be their third child and he is very stressed about how they will be able to afford living expenses when food, rent, and school fees are so expensive. JM2Z's focus is on women and children, but we are thankful that God has used JM2Z during this period to provide some work for these men. When the work is all done we plan to throw a big lunch for all the workers and bless them with new work suits. These guys work hard, and by being good providers for their families they are part of making Zimbabwe a better place. We want to bless their efforts, and by doing so, make a stronger community.
Please also pray for this Saturday. You may remember that last year just before Christmas, after hearing Yolanda speak at a women's gathering, our Shona tutor was motivated to provide a full meal for whoever would come. About 150 people attended (including people from a retirement community and an orphanage) and was really what JM2Z is aiming for in helping women become self-sustainable for their families, but also the community. She took it upon herself to put up the cost and help support people who needed it for a day. She also got other people excited about it, and even though they may not have been able to contribute financially, they were willing to give their time to help make it a success. This Saturday, she is doing it again. Yolanda and I are helping out because she needs extra hands, but this is her event, not JM2Z's. We are excited to see it in person this year. We want to make sure that this event stays community run and that we are merely available for advice, extra hands, or small donations, similar to what others could give. It would be great if this could be an annual event and that it will exist whether JM2Z does or doesn't. Being able to see this small microcosm of JM2Z's mission is very exciting.
Please also pray for this Saturday. You may remember that last year just before Christmas, after hearing Yolanda speak at a women's gathering, our Shona tutor was motivated to provide a full meal for whoever would come. About 150 people attended (including people from a retirement community and an orphanage) and was really what JM2Z is aiming for in helping women become self-sustainable for their families, but also the community. She took it upon herself to put up the cost and help support people who needed it for a day. She also got other people excited about it, and even though they may not have been able to contribute financially, they were willing to give their time to help make it a success. This Saturday, she is doing it again. Yolanda and I are helping out because she needs extra hands, but this is her event, not JM2Z's. We are excited to see it in person this year. We want to make sure that this event stays community run and that we are merely available for advice, extra hands, or small donations, similar to what others could give. It would be great if this could be an annual event and that it will exist whether JM2Z does or doesn't. Being able to see this small microcosm of JM2Z's mission is very exciting.
Critters In and Around the House:
 A cameleon in the driveway  A bird flew in the living room for a 30 min visit |  We have several baby geckos living throughout the house  A lizard on a tree, in the backyard |
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