Generators, inverters and farewells

Am sitting writing this to the drone of the generator on the balcony of the flat where I'm house sitting.  There has been a fault on the grid since yesterday and as a result no electricity. The flats here need electricity for the pump from the borehole to fill the water storage tank, so we ran short on water this morning too before the generator was switched on by Given the gardner and very useful handyman. You can't run the generator all the time so it is charging the inverter which will give a bit of power for a few hours. Unfortunately this is a new inverter as the old one blew this morning when possibly the generator was on too high a voltage - I am learning but thank goodness for Given and a friend Matthew. I had to go get another inverter and had the option of one that can be charged by a solar panel or one like the old one.

So here I sit, waiting for the generator to charge the inverter (currently only the fridge, the wifi modem and the inverter are on - will have to sit in the dark for a bit). Can then have a few hours of light on the inverter and hope that ZESA fixes the fault. Am hearing horror stories of faults taking weeks to be fixed - here's hoping it won't take that long.

Otherwise I have been teaching. My one Swedish student at HIS had her last lesson with me yesterday as term ends next week for the school and her family is returning to Sweden. I said goodbye at the end of the lesson and she presented me with a beautiful box filled with Lindor balls with flavours I've never had before, as well as a hand made card with a sweet message inside. I will miss her as she was a delight to teach.

I have resumed teaching my favourite Chinese 3 year old, Runbo and have a list of vocab he needs to know for preschool. We read a book this week called "Don't Put Your Finger in the Jelly Nelly" and he enjoyed poking his finger through the different things in the book. He went to China in the holidays and was staying with family in high rise flats. When he came back he asked his mum if there were people underground under their bungalow. We do all sorts of things in his lessons, from me being a patient of Dr Runbo's, to building monsters and space rockets. I really look forward to his lessons.

Had writing group at The Bottom Drawer on Saturday and we each had to think of a topic for a poem, the next person had to give ten words that came to mind for the topic and then the third person had to write a poem but not use the ten words. I wrote on perfume. I will post it. In the afternoon my Mum and I went to a farewell for a French family whose children go to HIS. There was a petanque tournament and we met a lovely couple from Italy. The man who sells French patisseries at Maarsdorp Market and Amanzi Food Market came bearing a basketful of macaroons and meringues.

The Bottom Drawer

The Venue

Went to The Venue in Avondale for the first time to see an art exhibition by Gareth Hook. Some great works of wildlife in oils and his pencil work is brilliant. There was one piece titled The King of Hwange that I'm pretty sure was Cecil.

Otherwise, met up with my Mum's friend who teaches TOEFL in Oman and chatted about English resources and books over a glass of apple and ginger juice. Then went to help set up a contemplative prayer room at The Base Church to pray for the children in the church and the ministry.

Going to try make writing group at the Bottom Drawer coffee shop tomorrow and might stop by the morning market at Maarsdorp (although I'm a bit broke so I should maybe avoid it to save money).

Here are some pictures of Gareth Hook's work.

Verandah Gallery 2015

Today was the annual Verandah Gallery and I went with my Mum. Prior to that had a great service at The Base Church which as led for most of it by the children which was special. We then went and had a braai and fellowship with others involved in the kids ministry.

At the exhibition in Emerald Hill there were a number of artists exhibiting. I took a few photos of what I liked and am still inspired to try and get my act together and submit some pieces at some point.

Here are just a few photos.

Sheena Chadwick

Jacqui Taylor

Darryl Nero

Kate Raath

Rosanna Turner

Glorious sunshine

Today has been beautifully sunny and warm. Zimbabwe winter really takes some beating. Am feeling upbeat and positive and it has been a good weekend.

Have this song in my head from the conference I've been at this weekend. Had a good day yesterday and received more encouraging prophetic words. For those interested here's a link to Phil Wilthew speaking at his home church, the Kings Arms.

Someone suggested today that I should maybe try writing an autobiographical book. Could combine a bit of my writing with it and photography and art perhaps. The friend who suggested it is a writer and has just come back from a creative writing course in Vermont specialising on writing for children.

I also met a lady at an art exhibition this afternoon who teaches TOEFL English in Oman. She gave me some pointers and am going to have coffee with her. She said the Oxford job did sound like a bit of a gambit for a beginner and I should look to get experience with my CELTA at a simpler level first to build up confidence. Was reassuring and she gave me some good advice.

Am energised after the Heaven Touches Earth conference and have been challenged to try and be a brighter light to others. Would like to try make my writing an encouragement to those who also suffer from depression.

My grade 7 student didn't unfortunately get into Arundel. Her parents have decided to home school her instead and I might teach her next year. Will be a challenge but had a good chat with two mums who are home schooling and they had lots of exciting ideas. The method of education is changing and with technology you need to be creative and be open to new approaches. Definitely a challenge.

Helen Teede's "We grow accustomed to the dark" Exhibition

Went to the very talented Helen Teede's exhibition at Amanzi on Friday. She dabbles in all sorts of mediums and I love her exploration of words and poetry through her art. Her choice of poems resounded with me. Here are two of her pieces and the poems with them.

Emily Dickinson

We grow accustomed to the Dark -
When Light is put away -
As when the Neighbor holds the Lamp
To witness her Good bye -

A Moment - We Uncertain step
For newness of the night -
Then - fit our Vision to the Dark -
And meet the Road - erect -

And so of larger - Darknesses -
Those Evenings of the Brain -
When not a Moon disclose a sign -
Or Star - come out - within -

The Bravest - grope a little -
And sometimes hit a Tree
Directly in the Forehead -
But as they learn to see -

Either the Darkness alters -
Or something in the sight
Adjusts itself to Midnight -
And Life steps almost straight.

Spring is like a perhaps hand
(which comes carefully
out of Nowhere)arranging
a window,into which people look(while
people stare
arranging and changing placing
carefully there a strange
thing and a known thing here)and

changing everything carefully

spring is like a perhaps
Hand in a window
(carefully to
and from moving New and
Old things,while
people stare carefully
moving a perhaps
fraction of flower here placing
an inch of air there)and

without breaking anything.

  e.e.cummings

Monavale Vlei

Those of you who know me will know I am passionate about conservation and the protection of wetlands in particular. The vlei or wetland in front of where I live in Milton Park is now under threat. Further along it is an official RAMSAR site and there are plans to build high rise flats there (on a RAMSAR site!!)

Please go to AVAAZ and sign the following petition and spread the word.
Thanks

Objections to the proposed construction of 160 cluster house units on Meadows of Monavale Extension, in the Monavale Vleis, Monavale, Harare

Harare`s Wetlands are land areas that are seasonally saturated or flooded with water. In the dry season they may appear devoid of water but actually, the water is not far from the surface. Humans often equate wetlands with wasteland; a place to be drained, filled in, burnt off and re-purposed. In fact, scientific studies show that 64 % of the world’s wetlands have disappeared since 1900. Measured against 1700, an estimated 87 % have been lost.

Wetlands are essential to sustainable development for the human race and we thereby object to any development on Monavale Vlei for the following reasons:

1. The said stand is in wetlands as defined in Section 2 of Environmental Management Act

20:27.

2. Section 113, Subsection 2, of the same act places restrictions of developments on

wetlands.

3. Monavale Vlei is a Ramsar site. The Convention on Wetlands of International

Importance, commonly known as the Ramsar Convention, is a global intergovernmental

treaty that provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for

the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources.

4. Wetlands ensure fresh water for all of us. Less than 3 % of the world’s water is fresh, and

most of that is frozen. Yet every human requires 20-50 litres of water a day for basic

drinking, cooking and cleaning.

5. Wetlands provide our water needs and help replenish the groundwater aquifers that

are the source of fresh water for Harare. Water supply in Harare is already critical,

if Harare`s wetlands are destroyed our water source will be seriously compromised.

6. Wetlands purify and filter harmful waste from water – free of charge. Some of the

pollutants from pesticides, industry and mining, including heavy metals and toxins are

absorbed by wetland sediments, plants and marine life.

7. Wet grasslands act as natural sponges, absorbing rainfall, creating wide surface pools and

reducing floods. This storage capacity also helps safeguard against drought.

8. Wetlands are essential for many endemic amphibians and reptiles, as well as for bird

breeding and migration. The destruction of our wetlands would affect global bird

populations.

To be or not to be

I'm back in Zim now and have been for a week. Spent a good week in Howick and a night in Durban and visited the Midlands Meander, rested, walked in the rolling hills and caught up with my friend from Switzerland, Fia and her Husband.

Won't lie, it has been a little depressing returning to Zim, as everything seems very run down and struggling to keep going. It has been good to see my Mum though and friends and my dogs were very happy to have me return.

I have some work that I've come back to. I continue with my Grade 6 student and then I now have a student from Azerbaijan. I got all excited thinking I could use my new CELTA skills but it turns out he is more fluent than I thought and wants to work on IGCSE English. Oh well, can do that too. I also might have some work with the Wildlife and Environment Zimbabwe group till I go over to Oxford.

Unexpectedly The Globe Theatre is doing a world tour and they did a one night only performance of Hamlet last night at 7Arts. It was really good. Tonight I'm going to the Improv Show at Reps which should be funny. Met up with a French photographer through Couchsurfing on Wednesday who is documenting people's living space in different countries. The HIFA or Harare Festival of the Arts program has just come out and is available here.

 To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them?—To die,—to sleep,— 
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to,—’tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish’d. To die,—to sleep;— 
To sleep: perchance to dream:—ay, there’s the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there’s the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely,
The pangs of despis’d love, the law’s delay,
The insolence of office, and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? who would these fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,— 
The undiscover’d country, from whose bourn
No traveller returns,—puzzles the will,
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?

Having a better week

I have been doing better this week. Written some articles for the Imire blog (if you want to have a look go to the Imire Volunteer Blog) and had a meeting this morning with a professor at the UZ to look at some statistical analysis. Being busy and interacting with different people helps me.

We had a celebration of World Rhino Day at Imire last week and it was a success and we had generous sponsorship. The children did some great posters and gave some lively performances of poems and drama on conservation. The elephants visited and saluted the Deputy Minister of Tourism.

We have been having issues with our domestic worker whom we had to fire and who has challenged her dismissal and involved the Ministry of Labour and now ZANU PF spouting trade unionists. Luckily a good family friend is a labour lawyer and has very kindly helped us. My Mum got attacked by our maid's brother in law while I was in Joburg and we are trying to be more security conscious. Prayed about it at home group though on Wednesday and we're at peace about it, although it is irritating.

Went to a great play last night called "The End of the World in Borrowdale Brooke" and "Sunrise" (it was a two part play based on the character of Mrs Mupasa). Thoroughly enjoyed it, with Mrs Mupasa following ZBC news on the predicted apocalypse with the Mayan Calendar ending and then trying to register to vote in Harare but accidentally going to an HIV testing station by mistake and wondering why they wanted a blood sample and to know how many sex partners she had for Zim elections. Hilarious, would thoroughly recommend for a good laugh. It is on at the Alliance Française this weekend.

Last weekend I went to watch the Parlotones and then Selim Kagee at the Borrowdale Race Course. Thoroughly enjoyed the Parlotones and was surprised that I knew quite a few of their songs. Selim Kagee was also good but sang a lot of Elvis. Tonight I am going to Starlight Dancing at National Ballet and then have rehearsals this weekend for a local adaptation of Les Misérables at Reps for a performance in two weeks time.

Better Day

Today has been a better day and had a sense of purpose. Started off with teaching in children's church which was fun. We had a visitor with us from England who was with us for the day whilst she waited between connecting flights from Bulawayo to London. After church we took her to the annual Verandah Gallery Art Exhibition held in Emerald Hill. As always there was a great selection of works by all sorts of local artists. Does inspire me to get on and paint as there are also always a few pieces where you think, I could do better perhaps. Must maybe try for the one next year.

A collection of birds I rather liked at Verandah Gallery.

We drove out to the airport to say goodbye to Ash and it was nice in the space of a day to have made a new friend. We then went via home to see my dogs. I'm house sitting again currently for Polish friends and looking after their mini Staffordshire terrier Misia. We got back home to see the end of Le Tour de France. Made me remember my visit to Paris almost 5 years ago. Some happy memories. I would love to go back.

Wetlands Poetry

Ode to Borrowdale Vlei/ Wetland 



What have we done?
The wild places, they are all but gone.
Vast spaces teaming with life,
are now covered in tarmac and ridden with strife.
We cut off our life blood in the name of progress,
and all we have left is an urban circus.
Our rivers, our wetlands, our grasses, our trees,
now malls and car parks, polluted with disease.
Mother Nature's beauty has been raped and subject to pillage,
with man's mines and dump heaps and burgeoning village.

Social Life in Harare

This past weekend turned out being a highly social one with a number of engagements at different places. I ended my week at a BirdLife Zimbabwe meeting discussing plans for water bird counts around the country for Wetlands International. My new job will involve trying to conduct one of these out in Wedza. The chairman leading the meeting had a pedantic British accent and to stress how something had been last minute used the interesting expression of "like a murder in a television drama" or something to that effect.

After BirdLife, I joined my Mum at the International School TGIF social in a lovely garden belonging to one of the staff at H.I.S.. I loved the interesting collection of textured foliage in the garden and saw vulturine guinea fowl for the first time ever. From the social I then dropped my Mum at home and proceeded to meet up with friends at the usually popular wine bar, Blue@2 in Avondale. We seemed to have picked the wrong evening though as it was surprisingly quiet. We opted to go to the Reps Theatre Members Pub where one of my friend's boyfriend, Kevin Hanson, a well known local thespian was singing and playing sax. My one friend has never met him and as prank she decided to go up to him and pretend to be an ardent admirer who disconcertingly knew that he loved Winnie the Pooh, that he lived in Monavale and that she was his biggest fan. He managed to handle it well but admitted it did unnerve him. It was very funny to watch. As punishment we were all coerced into joining in the karaoke much to my horror.

On Saturday I met up with friends who are teachers and were on half term break for coffee at The Cottage. I love the landscaping of the gardens there and it has a quaint rustic feel which adds to the charm. After coffee I then had lunch with Polish friends and we watched the Polish speed skating teams compete in the Sochi Olympics. I then went on to a braai or barbecue at my friend Lucy's. She and her parents had decked the garden out with an eclectic assortment of lamps and candles which made for a very romantic atmosphere around the bonfire which we braaied on.


On Sunday we had baptisms at the Base Church followed by a family fun day. I spent time with the Smith Family whose daughter Amy has just come back after a second round of major surgery to straighten her spine. See Amy's page on http://amysmithtrust.org/ Amy is my hero and is one of the bravest people I know, even though she's only ten.

In the evening I had a meeting to discuss the Harare wetland cause and then went to go watch the closing of the Sochi Olympics with a friend.

Next weekend will be busy too, with the launch of the new BirdLife Zimbabwe website ( see http://www.birdlifezimbabwe.org/), a farewell party for one of the US marines, a book illusrating course in Glen Lorne and then a tea party. I do well when I'm out and about though.