Greetings from Zimbabwe,

I had a wonderful surprise this week. Friends from South Africa, that have heard about the mission here for about 16 years decided to pay me a visit. They arrived in Harare Wednesday night late and followed me back to school on Thursday morning. We spent time visiting the various schools and examining the projects that have taken place over the years. We even made a trip to the bridge that was built in 1999. Albert joined the fun when he had time. Everhard and Johann would like to bring their church youth group here during school term break some-time. They would set up tents between the Primary and Secondary Schools. The plan is for them to have sports competitions and sometime of sharing with the children about Jesus. The Headmasters assured them that the children would come even if it was during term break. We had a great time even though the time was short. They left today, Saturday because school resumes on Monday for their children.

It has been cold here but nothing like Pretoria, South Africa. Everhard told me that they actually had snow on the ground for the first time ever early last week. It was cold this morning when I got up but the sun has burned through the haze and it has warmed up some during the day.

Work on the house for abused orphans began for real this week. The outer ring for the foundation has been dug and they are ready to dig the supporting foundation walls. Since this is a holiday weekend, work will resume on Wednesday next week. I had hoped to see brick walls being laid before I leave but there is a lot of ground work still to be done. This is the dry season and the ground is hard digging. Progress is slow. Hopefully the foundation will be complete and the floor poured before I leave. I will try to give updates in my journals as the work progresses.

The plan is to put Solar Power in this house. It will cost more but as things stand with the Power Supply in Zimbabwe, I believe it will pay for itself in less than five years. I believe this should be the plan for all future building. Power is very unreliable everywhere in Zimbabwe, including the cities. The cost of power is reaching the point where everyone is complaining about their power bills. The woman, who has a Bed and Breakfast in Harare where I stay sometimes, said that if she had power all the time she couldn’t afford to live in her house due to the increase in power rates.

Due to the generosity of many donors, I have had money to work with this year and I am finding it possible to do some things that have had to be let go in the past. One such project this year is to pressurize the water system at HCOC site with solar power. Presently, there is only pressurize water when there is electricity, frequently only at night. This makes watering an acre of garden next to impossible.
My goal in the near future is to pull the electric pump and put a solar pump in the well that was drilled last year at HCOC. There will be a cost to change it out but will pay for itself over time. Since HCOC is surrounded by an electric fence and has a security guard, it will be unnecessary to put in an additional security system as we needed to at Guzha. This will hold down the cost. Sometimes, Albert finds it difficult to pay the electric bill for the well. The solar pumping system put in at Guzha last year is working wonderfully well and they are free of power bills. They even have to shut the pump down sometimes because it pumps more water than they can use.
The builder that constructed the manager’s house several years ago did not install plumbing. We were not in Zimbabwe when the house was built. So an additional project that is getting done is to put plumbing in Albert’s house. This includes a solar water heater. Beauty can hardly wait to have water in her kitchen and laundry. Everyone in Albert’s family is excited about having warm water to bath in.
Another Zimbabwe Experience—The Toyota service center lost the keys to my vehicle. I took the truck I brought up from South Africa to Toyota Service Center in Harare on Monday morning, August 6, early. Ralph and I always took the truck there for service. They had told me in advance that they would need the truck for three days. I had a long list of things that needed to be repaired. I had made arrangements to stay at the Bed and Breakfast where I periodically stay. On Wednesday morning, I called to see when I could pick up the truck and was told that it wasn’t going to be done. I couldn’t find out why so I told them I would be there in 30 minutes. They didn’t want me to come. I went and after finally being taken to the Service Manager discovered they couldn’t find the keys to the truck. No work had been done on it. I was so upset. I couldn’t afford to stay at the Bed and Breakfast for more days.
During a long discussion I explained that I had to get back to the mission the next morning and that they had to provide me with a reliable vehicle to get me there. The Service Manager promised to call me with a plan in a couple of hours. When by 2:00 I had heard nothing, I went back. I began to wonder if the truck had been stolen and they were trying to figure out what they were going to do. I asked to see the truck. They were very evasive and reluctant to let me go to the yard. Well, it was there and the steering column and dash had been removed. They were replacing the whole key cylinder mechanism. The Head Manager met with me this time and promised me to deliver the car to me yet that night. They did. I still have no way of locking the canopy and I do not have the key for the club on the steering wheel. I probably will never see them again. I drove back here on Thursday with my friends from South Africa.
Now, I still have to take the truck back at some point to get all of the repairs done before I turn the truck over to HCOC. Albert and I will be going in on Thursday and we will go to Toyota and set up another appointment to get the work done on the truck.
In closing, I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve our Lord in this place, in spite of the hurdles.
In His Service, Roberta