Christmas 2009

We packed up the food (that Spar and prepared for us) and headed to Gweru on the morning of the 24^th to meet up with the ten elders there. We were planning to eat then do the activities at the Zone leaders flat but since they only had a toaster type oven on their counter top we decided we would move things to the church where there was a stove/oven. We put the lasagna and garlic bread in the oven to heat and set things up. The elders loved the food. Afterwards we watched a movie that they had brought and had apple pie with vanilla custard poured on top.

Christmas morning we met again and had a ‘breakfast casserole’ and fruit. The elders each received a ‘sock’ with some candy, tie, T-shirt, and a pair of socks. Some who needed it were given a white shirt as well. Some got a parcel from home but some did not. We had a ‘white elephant’ gift exchange but no one wanted to steal as the gifts were all definitely ‘white elephants’!! haha

We then all went to Antelope Park game reserve and resort. The elders were pretty excited to be able to go but were disappointed that they couldn’t go on the elephant ride or the walk with the lions. We did all go on a safari ride on the back of a truck and we had a good guide that talked to us a lot about the animals and the trees and vegetation. They had a good time. Afterwards we headed back to the church and put dinner in the oven (ham, scalloped potatoes, butternut squash, and a roll – o yes, and pumpkin pie). During this time they took turns talking to their parents on the cell phones. It was hard to get connections but I think they all managed to get a chance to talk to their families. We then played a game with some of them and watched another movie. By then it was time to clean and pack up.

We had made a reservation at a lodge that was on the list at the mission office. We paid for our two nights but were rather disappointed in the accommodation. It was old but the worst part was the gross shower. After we checked in we stopped at Pres. Paradzai’s office to drop off an envelope and he mentioned a new place that was nice. We called and they had space for the next night so we told the first place that we had a change in plans and they did give us back our money for the second night. We were glad we did that as the new place “Village Lodge” was really nice and we had a good sleep there. We had arranged to meet up with the Mayfields on Sat. when they were coming back from Bulawayo and we stayed an extra night there. Saturday we went back to Antelope Park and had a nice relaxing day there. We went on a game drive again but this time we went on a mule drawn wagon and were able to get up closer to the animals. We sat in the shade and relaxed while Elder Mayfield waited for his elephant ride – which he loved! After that we all went on the ‘walk with the Lions’.

The Lion Walk took about 1 ½ hrs. and it was great! We each were given a stick and told that if the lions were to look at us with a ‘naughty look’ (he said we would know what that was if it happened) we were to point the stick at the lion and say “NO” without having a shaky voice or shaky knees! - the lions would know if we were scared and they would single us out and pick on us! YIKES! *The naughty look: if the lion were to crouch down and look us in the eye as if he were about to pounce (it never happened). We were instructed to not touch their heads or faces and of course, not confront them at all.

The lions (1 male and 1 female, 15 months old siblings) stopped a couple times to wrestle with each other and at one point the female spotted some impalas in the distance and she walked off towards them and watched them. They must have sensed the lion as they ran off after a little bit. The lion handlers then called her back and she came. The females lions are the ones that do the hunting. The males are kind of lazy guys.

They take the cubs when they are 3 weeks old and work with them. (stage 1). When they are 18 months old they are introduced to hunting for themselves (stage 2) and when they are pretty good at that they are put out to totally take care of themselves with no human interaction (stage 3). Stage 4 is when they are confident that they can survive on their own and will be put into a ‘pride’ where they are needed. Lions are an endangered species as the population has decreased considerably in the past several years. It was an interesting experience that we likely won’t ever do again.

This morning (Sunday) we drove to Kwe Kwe for church (about 40 minutes down the road). We had never been there before. We were impressed with the branch. They even had a grand piano in the chapel – the first one we have ever seen here in a church) and a girl could even play it pretty good. The people were very friendly, as usual.

We had a good weekend but it is good to get back home too. Back to work tomorrow!! Lots to do!

P.S. I was going to tell you – in all the church’s here they have what they call a ‘strong room’ (basically a room with no windows and a heavy metal ‘safe’ door). They keep their library items in there and anything of worth. Anyway, at the church in Gweru they even put the fridge and stove in their when it is not being used. So when we were there the fellow had to come and get them out and put them back about 3 times for us. Luckily the strong room was right across the hall from the kitchen/relief society room. There are no dishes or supplies in the kitchen here as they would just get stolen. Too bad!!

25 December - Antelope Park with Elders - going to see the wildlife

Camelion lizard - notice his eye and his foot

Vultures

26 December - At Antelope Park again - a Giraffe

Posing with the giraffe

Trimming grass - no whipper snippers here!

Walking with the Lions at Antelope Park

Jim holding her tail as we walked along

Heading across the grassland

We all have sticks for a reason!

Sunset as we left Antelope Park

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Friday afternoon we left about 3 p.m. with Taylors and went to Imire Safari Ranch about 1 ½ hours from Harare (close to Marondera). We arrived, got our rooms (hut-type cottage with a thatched roof), and then went on an evening ride and saw the rhinos and elephants where they are kept at night (to protect them from poachers). We rode in seats in the back of a pick-up as there were only a few of us at that point – but it was quite cool and we wrapped up in blankets. We stopped to see the sunset and were given a little snack and drink and then returned back to the cottages. They had a nice fire going to warm us up. More people had arrived and we were served supper of chicken, rice and vegetables.

Our nice cabin

Getting ready to leave for our rather cold safari. It was windy.

Off we go!!!

The Taylors got up early and went for an elephant ride – (we wimped out on that plus we didn’t want to pay $20 each for it). We slept in, had a warm shower and spent a little more time enjoying the nice fire in the dining room area. They served us a nice breakfast of eggs, baked beans, potato fritters, fried tomatoes and toast. We were then off for our safari – this time in a wagon (see pictures) because there were quite a few of us. We rode around seeing animals for about 2 ½ hours and then we were served a buffet lunch, which was really good. We ate sadza for the first time with some impala stew, rice, cooked cabbage, and some salads. When we were about done eating the handlers rode the elephants over and we watched them for a while. I was hoping they would go into the water but they didn’t. They sure are big animals! They estimate that the largest elephant weighs about 4 ½ tons. We carried on again and saw Enzoe (Zoey), the elephant that thinks she is a water buffalo. She was orphaned and they had no other elephants at the time so they put her with the buffalo and because she grew the biggest she thinks she is the boss and takes care of the herd. She doesn’t like the males and when they start to get aggressive, toward the females, she becomes protective. She has killed 14 of them (they use the meat to feed to the lions!). Apparently when they get close enough she just whacks them with her trunk which is super powerful (10,000 muscles in the trunk), and knocks them down. He then stabs them with a tusk and rolls on them. That pretty much does the job. (I hope I am getting the story all right). Once, one of the bulls went after a man who works with them and hurt him quite badly. He had to crawl for help and Zoey, the elephant, walked along side him the whole way to protect him from the bull (this man is the first one who ever cared for Zoe when they first found him orphaned). Zoey killed the bull shortly thereafter. National Geographic has been there twice to do a documentary about Zoey and her herd of water buffalo.

Elephant Family

He wants a branch - they eat leaves and the bark.

They have an armed guard with the rhinos and elephants all the time because of poachers. They lost their rhinos (breeding stock) to poachers a couple of years ago and luckily had some young ones still and they are having to wait another two years for them to be old enough to start breeding. They kill them for the horns and ivory tusks. This farm is more of a conservation area for the animals than anything. They keep them in at night but they are out all day roaming around a vast area. There are a lot of impala and sable and other animals as well.

Warthogs have to kneed to eat

Rhinos have 24 hr. guards due to poaching

We met a young couple with a baby – he works at the American Embassy. They were really nice and we are going to have them over for supper one night. He reminded me of Wade. They are here for two years and come from Boston. The four nurses were at the ranch for a get-away. 3 of them are here in Zimbabwe for 5 weeks as part of their training – they were from North Dakota, So. Dakota, and Toronto. The fourth has been here for 5 years. They sure need them here. They were with a church organization. Nice girls. There were also a couple of family groups there. We all ate together in the dining room and visited some.

We headed home at 3:30 and got back before dark. It was a nice break but 10 minutes after we walked in our flat the power went out for the evening – a regular occurrence, it seems. We had hot water for our bath this a.m. but no cold!! We just added some borehole water from our bucket we always keep on hand.

Today we went to church at Highlands ward so that we could go with Merci and Malaika, her daughter. It was nice to have them there and they enjoyed it and met a few other people. We will see Merci tomorrow and give her another discussion. Elder Bullock is having an afternoon nap as he didn’t sleep much last night (due to a kidney stone which we think passed!!). I checked out the flowers in the yard while he’s been sleeping and picked a bouquet to enjoy in the flat.

Bouquet of flowers from our yard

They say the weather won’t get any cooler than it has been and should start warming up soon. We are getting a little more wind - apparently August and September are the windy months. The past couple of days have been cloudy. It looked to us like it would rain any minute but when we ask the gate guard if it was going to rain, he said, “No, just clouds” and he was right. Today is a nice sunny day with a slight breeze and probably about 70 – 75 degrees I think. It was only 56 degrees in our bedroom this morning when we got up though – we are enjoying our new flannel sheets!

Thursday, July 16th / Friday, July 17th

Hi,

We just went shopping and bought $340 worth of groceries so we could stock up. Prices are going up here so just in case..... We bought 24 ltrs. of UHT milk @ $1.49 each, toilet tissue @ 4 rolls for $3.54 (there is cheaper but it is awful) and some fruit juices, flour, oil, rice, oatmeal, laundry soap, chicken and ground beef, and some candles (as we can't ever have too many candles!).

We left the office in the middle of day because we had too many people outside the gate asking for stuff. We have had to made the decision that we are not going to give out at the gates anymore because it is becoming such a problem. We told them we cannot give out but they were not leaving so we thought if we left and they knew that we aren't here they would leave and they did leave. We came back a couple of hours later. We did have one man who was there that we felt like we
needed to give a blanket but we couldn't give to him in front of all the others so we ask him to go down the street and around the corner and we would meet him there - which we did on our way out. There was another who needed a new wheelchair and we ask him to come back today with information about why he couldn't walk (we wanted to make sure that he really did need one). He did and we gave him one today - we don't have hardly any wheelchairs left to give.

Friday

We taught Merci again last night and have set Aug. 15th or 16th as her baptism date. She is doing very well and has a special spirit about her.

We have been out all morning talking to people and checking out some things in regards to a water project we are looking at. Lots to do to get a project together.

More people at the gate today - we had to send them away because otherwise we will have line-ups down the street forever (most of these people are coming from Epworth and yes, we did partly create this problem and have to put an end to them all coming here)!! :(

Anyway - we are taking off in half an hour with Taylors and we are going to an animal park about 1 1/2 hrs. away and we will stay overnight there and go on an evening excursion for a couple of hours and then supper at 8 p.m. Tomorrow morning if we want we can take an elephant ride at 6:30 (?? don't know if I will do that), the breakfast then another excursion to see animals from 10 - 3 or so with a lunch inbetween while we watch the elephants at the watering hole. Sounds like it should be a fun getaway!!

I will try and send a couple of pictures and will try and maybe get on chat or skype on Sunday afternoon.

Merci and her daughter, Malaika

Our investigators from Epworth that the missionaries are teaching.

Panashe and his mother Zvikomborero from Epworth in front of their new home

a little girl watching us.

Love to all, E/S Bullock

Hello from Malawi

We fly back to Harare tomorrow. We have had a busy week here - checking out projects as well as having some fun sight-seeing trips with the Bouwhuis. They have been great hosts and have treated us royally and fed us too well!

We have seen some beautiful scenery - from the very top of a mountain to down at a couple of game farms. WE have lots of pictures that I will send later. We saw girraffes, elephants, warthogs, impalas, waterbucks, zebras, wildebeests, bushbuck, red hartebeest. The first elephant we saw was off in the trees so we waited as he wandered closer to us so we could get a picture. When he got to the edge of the trees he didn't seem to like us much - or perhaps he was just feeling fiesty but whatever the reason he suddenly trumpetted and started to charge at us. Elder Bouwhuis quickly gunned the engine and got us out of there. We did get some pictures though. It was a little scary! We saw him again on our way back and he was in the middle of the road so we stayed back and waited for him to leave. We saw a total of 12 elephants.

At a game park we visited a couple of days before that we saw 16 girraffe and got some good pictures of them. They didn't bother with us.
We visited Queen Elizabeth Hospital this morning and the matron took us on a tour of some wards. Wow! I hope I don't need to go there! We are looking at doing an initiative there - donating some items that they REALLY need: patient trolleys, dressing trolleys, blood pressure machines (manual), kidney dishes, thermometers, and a couple of other things. They could use some wheelchairs too. The conditions were pretty sad compared to our standards. There are not enough nurses - people must have their own caregiver to help them. They are over crowded with some mattresses on the floor and not enough bedding, gowns, etc. etc. etc.

We looked at another couple of possible projects here in Malawi as well - the pig project where a bred sow is loaned to a family and they care for it and must give back 2 piglets (1st litter) and 1 piglet (2nd litter) and they can learn to use the project to become self sufficient. The organization that we would partner with seems really good. They want us to pay for 6 or possibly 12 pigs to get some people started. Bouwhuis' did already buy 1 sow for them and it has had 9 piglets (1 male, 8 female). So - that is a good start and people who see this lady that is taking care of the pig are now interested (they thought she was crazy to begin with - but now they can see results). They have to be able to feed the pigs and build a proper pen etc. etc.

Our other project here that we looked at was a place that is building wheelchairs. Handicapped people do the work so it would be helping them as well. Their methods are rather archaic but the chairs look pretty good - using bicycle parts for easier repair. They are 3 wheelers and are driven by the hands with pedals in front of them. They are good for rough terrain or hilly areas (as is the case in Malawi). They also make regular wheelchairs.

We have to decide which projects we should do and which ones would be good partner organizations that we can trust and also we look for a 'champion' (person who drives the organization). It has been interesting.

Malawi seems to have much better roads overall than Zimbabwe. We were in a grocery store that actually looked like a regular grocery store with more modern things on the shelves. There are areas that are high density with the street merchants/markets and I wouldn't want to go there to shop. Also areas and children that have very little. We didn't really go out to any villages but there are lots of them throughout - same as Zimbabwe. Overall, I think Malawi seems a little better - maybe!

The Bouwhuis' leave to go home in 3 weeks (to Clearfield, UT). They have been here for a 23 month mission. There 11 children and 49 grandchildren will be happy to see them and vise versa.

Must run. Will try and send more on the weekend. Love, Elder/Sister Bullock