Monday June 28, 2010

We have been busy the past three weeks while we had Bronte here with us. We enjoyed our time with her and almost hated to see her go home on Saturday morning. We did however head off to Marondera right after dropping her off as we had some training to do there with Mayfields and Pres. & Sister Dube for the branch conference. I was assigned to do training about the Young Women’s program. As they were not doing the Personal Progress yet that is what I mostly talked about. They have 20 active young women in the branch which is pretty impressive.

Elder Bullock and Pres. Dube interviewed all the Melch. Priesthood holders (only 10 of them) as they were looking for a new branch president. They found a good man to fill the spot – Bro. KepeKepe. Pres. Banda was released. He was the branch president for the past 10 years. He was made branch pres. when he was 25 and single (a returned missionary). He married a lovely girl, Mary, and they have a little girl. There were only a few members then and now they have an average church attendance of about 80. They have 170 on the records but some people left when things got bad over the past few years and went to find work elsewhere. Pres. Dube paid a nice tribute to Pres. Banda and told how the branch is what it is today because of him and said he is a ‘pillar’ there. They have no full time missionaries there and so the branch missionaries do the work. Last year they had 16 baptisms and 3 so far this year. It is a good branch and they will be getting a chapel sometime soon – they presently meet in a house that has become too small for what they need. After the meetings Elder Bullock had to do an audit of the records before the new Presidency takes over and Pres. Dube did the setting apart.

We went to the office and checked emails and then headed home and warmed up a couple of meat pies in the microwave for our supper. Shortly after that the power went out AGAIN but at least we had eaten. We made a fire in the fireplace and read our scriptures by candlelight. It was a good day!

Today we are out at Pastor Sikiyani’s orphanage/preschool. (I have the computer with me to type this). Geo Pumps (Bruce Vera) got here this morning and is putting a new electric pump into the borehole. That is done and they are now checking the water lines to the two taps and putting in a tap beside the wash station. Elder Bullock is right in there with them working on the trench etc. As usual the people are excited to have this project – Thanks to LDS Charities and the donations made to the humanitarian fund of the church. We also brought out about 60 blankets (the last of our striped ones) for him to give to a new group of orphans that he is looking after – he will take them out to them by ox-cart. This is the same pastor who took us on the donkey cart ride a few months ago.

28 June 2010 - Elder Bullock cleaning out drain on wash station & his helpers right in there watching

More helpers

Cute helpers

Getting the water line in a little deeper

Pastor Sikiyani came a few minutes ago to tell us they had sadza ready for our lunch. It was served with green vegetables fried in a bit of oil and salt. We ate with our fingers and it tasted okay.

My lunch

Lunch with Bruce and his guys at Sikiyani's Preschool

Now even bigger helpers

AND there's water!!!!

Water to the wash station

They love it!!

They love their picture to be taken

The borehole shed - fixing the electrical

Pastor Sikiyani, Bruce Vera and Elder Bullock

Lots of giggles and smiles

Tomorrow we have a meeting with the assistant DA in Goromonzi growth point to get permission to do a water project there. The water specialists, The Johnsons, will be here next Tuesday and will spend almost 2 weeks with us and then we head back to Zambia for the measles campaign.

We are doing well and staying healthy. We are still playing squash most mornings. We were able to give bicycles to the 3 squash players and they were VERY appreciative. Their bikes were always falling apart and breaking down. They do well to keep them going as long as they do but ..... The bikes here are mostly bought in China and they are very poor quality. We got the same ones that the church buys for the young missionaries and got the church discounted price. Those bikes come from Taiwan and are nice bikes. Ishmael calls them ‘machines’. He said that someone stopped them and ask what company they work for that bought them such nice bikes.  We have enough money that was donated to buy at least 2 more bikes and so we are giving it some thought and prayer about who should be the recipients. See the rest of this story HERE.

Ishmael makes me run!

Elder Bullock chasing the squash ball

Tuesday: The email wasn’t working last evening so I didn’t get this sent off. We spent most of our day running around. We had to go to Marondera to visit the PA (provincial administrator) and get a letter giving us permission to do water projects in the Goromonzi area. The PA was sure a friendly, down to earth guy. They had no electricity so he had the girl hand write the letter for us and ‘stamp’ it. (They love to stamp things here!) We dropped it off to the District Administrator on our way home. Too bad we don’t have time to get to know that PA better.
Friday we have a ‘hand-over’ ceremony at Kowoyo Clinic where we did the transformer and water. That should be good. In the afternoon is the 4th of July celebration that the US consulate puts on each year. If we get back in time we will try and go with the other couples. We went last year and it was fun.

Love to all, Elder & Sister Bullock

New Posts

I was a little slow getting a couple posts up from last week and found one other one in my email inbox that was really late! OOPS! :)

Tuesday, June 22nd

The Professor and his new bike pictures

Wednesday, June 2 (Just in case you can't tell by the title, this is the really late one I forgot to post! OOPS!)

ENJOY!
Kim

Tuesday, June 22nd

Hi everyone,

We are back from Zambia and we had a nice time there. We enjoyed our stay with the couples there (Esplins (related to Jared distantly, Flakes (the measles specialists), Wards (Audit/financial training missionaries from Jo'berg), and Bronte. They seemed a little more
relaxed there than we are here in Harare - perhaps we should take some lessons!

We drove from Lusaka to Victoria Falls on mostly good roads but we did have a couple of stretches with some huge potholes that we fortunately missed. The falls were great - a little less water than before and more sunshine so we saw some nice rainbows. I will send some
pictures.

Rainbow over the falls

At Victoria Falls

In the mist at Vic Falls - major rain and we got pretty soaked

We went from there to Bulawayo to Gweru where we stayed at Antelope Park. We really enjoyed our stay there in a 'river tent'. It was a tent but didn't really feel like one as it had a bathroom and regular beds/dressers etc. They had a big bonefire in a nice pit and we visited with some nice people we met there. It was a very relaxing evening. Bronte really had a good 'walk with the lions' as she was the only one on the walk and got lots of personal attention. She has a lot of good pictures. We didn't go on the walk as we had done it before and it isn't cheap.
She also did the elephant ride.

We arrived home safe and sound last evening and got up for squash this morning. All in all it was a good week.

We did go to some meetings in Lusaka regarding the measles campaign and will go back up mid July. We looked at a possible project there and will look at another one in July that the District Pres. wants to show us.

Today we caught up on some office work and Bronte, Sis. Mayfield, Sister Bowen and myself went shopping this afternoon and had a good time out with just the girls. We even bought chocolate and I found some sugar free chocolate - Belgian chocolates and they are really
good.

A couple of guys from a borehole drilling company came into today and we had a good meeting with them. We will meet with them again the first day that the Johnson (water specialists) arrive as they have some good information.

We didn't realize it was Father's Day on Sunday until in the afternoon when Bronte wished Jim a happy Father's Day. We hadn't even thought about it. But we hope all our sons and son-in-laws had a good day.

Hope all is well. Love to all, Elder & Sister Bullock

The Professor and his bike pictures

Hi, Thought you would like these pictures. We just got back last evening and we haven't seen him yet. Apparently when he realized the bike was for him he got weak in the knees and pale (if a black person can actually look pale) and he had to sit down. Look at the pics to see the reactions.








On the run. Love, Mom/Nancy/Sis. Bullock :)

More bikes we bought

We gave bikes to Ishmael, Malvin & Shame. They had bikes that were in REALLY bad shape and constantly broken down. They need/use their bikes everyday for their transport and it is a real problem. These are the guys we play squash with in the mornings. We told them we had something for them and would bring it over to their place later in the day. When we got there I handed them each a bike lock and told them that this was for their bikes. They said, Oh, thanks! (I think they thought I was crazy because no one would want to steal their bikes anyway!) Then I told them to come outside and say hi to Elder Bullock. He was waiting around the corner with the three bikes. They were totally shocked. They kept saying, "I don't know what to say". We said, "Just say Thank you". They said that they are not bikes but they are "machines". They are so thrilled with the bikes and as always here, they say that God is being so good to them. Thanks to all who helped "God" help these people. We are glad to be able to be here and help who we can.

11 June 2010 - Ishmael, Shame, & Melvin with new bikes

Melvin - loves his bike.JPG

Ishmael - says Wow! I don't know what to say!! Just say - Thank you!

Shame also got a bike. They were sooo pleased!

Ishmael trying out the bike

Taking the wrapping off the bikes

We have enough money donated to buy a couple more bikes and are on the look-out for who we should give them to. We are praying for some inspiration about it so we might know who needs God's help.

Thanks so much everyone!!

Love, The Bullocks

Pictures!

12 June 2010 - Nice sunrise at Gt. Zimbabwe

Sunrise through the smoke haze at Inn on Great Zimbabwe

We, along with Bro and Sis. Flake, went to the orphanage yesterday. It was started by Kathy, from Provo, Utah. They purchased the land (about 28 acres) and have built everything up from scratch. There is still so much to do but they have the basics that they need. They have volunteers that come over from the States, mostly around this time of year, and spend 10 days or so helping out. They were building, repairing and playing with the kids. They were doing a
'winter olympics' activity with the kids and having a great time.

16 June 2010 - Isn't she a cute little orphan

Bronte (our niece visiting from Utah) has some friends

Kathy has done a lot and has a wonderful vision of what she would like to see happen in the future as they can afford it. There are about 25 kids there right now from ages 5 to 15. These kids are so lucky to be there and have their needs met. They have started a school and a wonderful girl named Heather is staying here full time to head it up and teach, along with one other teacher and a part time teacher. They have kids regularly show up and want to come to their school but they have to turn them away as they don't have space for more, so these kids
have to walk about 6 miles to another school.

Kathy who started the orphanage MOTHERS WITHOUT BORDERS

Bronte with Alice (a little HIV infected child)

They have some great looking gardens and two boreholes that supply good drinking water. We were really impressed with what they are doing and what they want to do. We need more people in the world like them. We met Kennedy, the little boy who is in the picture that Liz Lemon painted - The Worth of a Soul. We also met Phillip who represented Christ in the picture. He is Kathy's husband, as of 3 years ago. They offered to get together so we could take a picture of the two of them. I thought that was really nice of them. He is a very nice man and was working hard on building/welding a gate for the property there. We had a good day.

Sister Bullock with Kennedy and Phillip at MOTHERS WITHOUT BORDERS ORPHANAGE IN ZAMBIA

Kennedy and Phillip at MOTHERS WITHOUT BORDERS orphanage

Kennedy & Phillip from THE WORTH OF A SOUL picture

This is the "Worth of a Soul" picture by Liz Lemon Swindle that I (Kim) copied from the internet. I've probably infringed on some copyright law, so don't report me - just wanted to show you the painting she's talking about! She said it's a popular picture in Africa because it was done in Zambia. I asked Mom more about the boy and he lives at the Orphanage.

Hauling charcoal on his bike

Tuesday, June 16th

~ I've updated this original post with some pictures Mom sent today! -K ~

Hi, I started this email earlier and hit the wrong button and deleted it. We are in Lusaka, Zambia and staying with the Esplins in the home here. It is really nice! The Wards are also here - they stay in Jo'berg but are doing some audit training etc. here. The Flakes are at a hotel nearby - they are from SLC and here as specialists to do the measles campaign. We are having a nice time with everyone. They are all great couple missionaries. We drove from Harare yesterday. The roads were rather curvy at times and some pretty good potholes here and there, but generally it wasn't too bad. We went through Kariba and Pres. Dube had told us we should stop there for lunch at a hotel. We found where we could get diesel first and filled up our truck and 2, 20 ltr. jerry cans that we keep in the back just for good measure. Our lunch was okay but they were very slow. We sat and looked out at Kariba Lake - it is very beautiful and huge. There were quite a few 'nice' boats docked along the shoreline and we wondered if this was really Zimbabwe.

14 June 2010 - Lake Kariba

We carried on and came to the Zimbabwe border crossing where we had to register our truck and get permission to take it into Zambia. We had the paperwork/police clearance all done so it wasn't too difficult. They were trying to verify the engine # but couldn't find it after two of them looked for a minute and so they just stamped the paper anyway.

From there we drove 1 or 2 km. to the Zambia border crossing where we had to buy visitor visas. Bronte paid $50 and we each paid $80 for a double entry as we are coming back in July. They took U.S. money. We then went to a different window and had to pay some carbon tax for the truck and they would only take Zambian money (Kwatcha) so Jim had to go outside and exchange money to a guy on the road and I am sure we probably paid too much for it. We then went to another window and showed them the truck clearance stuff and were allowed to go. The Zambian border took about an hour and there was no one else in line, thankfully.

We hustled then as we didn't want to be driving after dark. We arrived in Lusaka at dusk and managed to get to where we needed to be with the Elders giving us instructions over the cell phone. This morning we went to a nearby mall, YES, a real mall!! Wow! We exchanged some money, went to Subway, YES, there is a real Subway sandwich store here, and it wasn't too bad either. We went to a grocery store and bought a few things to help out with groceries while
we are here. We met the Flakes and talked to them about the measles campaign and made plans for tomorrow and Thursday.

In the morning we are going with them to "Mothers Without Borders" orphanage. When we were at the mall we met the lady (Kathy, I think) who runs it (she came up to us when she saw our missionary tags) and she ask Bronte if she would like to go with them on Thursday to a village where they are doing some service projects and playing with the kids. They will pick her up Thurs. morning.

Thursday we have 2 or 3 meetings to go to with Flakes. We will get all the information etc. that we need to be useful during the campaign in July. Esplins will go help with the campaign up north (Copperbelt) and we will be here in Lusaka. Flakes have been here organizing and having meetings for close to a month already so they have done a lot already.

Friday morning we are going to drive to Victoria Falls - the road there is not very good so we will take our time and be careful to avoid the numerous potholes. We hope to arrive in time to see the falls that afternoon. Saturday we have arranged to go to Botswana again and do a boat cruise, lunch and a land safari (same as we did on the couple's conference). It was a good day and Bronte will love it. That is where we saw soooo many elephants and hippos. We will stay at a lodge in Victoria Falls.

I almost forgot -- Friday we went to the 'hand-over' ceremony at Kadyamadare School where we did the grinding mill. I took pictures I will try and send some. It was a good day. They go all out for these things. It was fun and we were the guests of honor and treated royally. There was traditional dancing and singing and speeches etc.

11 June 2010 - Sister Bullock with the ushers for the handover ceremony at Kadyamadare Primary School

Fixing food for the handover ceremony guests

Head master, Joel Musoro and Makuto, the deputy head. Good men that were great to work with

The mill

Nice plackards the school had made

Invited guests for Kadyamadare mill handover ceremony

I better get to sleep. It is nice to have internet here at the house.
Love to all, Elder & Sister Bullock