leaving on a jet plane

I think this blog is going to be short and sweet because only pictures can describe this day. (Phew! For once she’s not going to write a book)

this is now officially the smallest plane I have ever flown in! scary? Uh, ya!

Nat was so kind to let me sit in the front because it was my first time in a plane so small. Dwight showed me all the cool gadgets and leavers that were calling out to my curious fingers. He then gave me some instructions to follow if I felt nerves or even down right terrified….“don’t touch anything!!” I was glad for the little handle beside me that I could grab in reaction to some sudden turbulence, or Dwight deciding to change directions. Ever hear of a plane turning on a dime?

This would be the coke a cola factory just outside Chimoio. Did you know that coke has a goal to reach every person in the world with a coke.

This is the school yard. The largest building is the school. The small building below that is the kitchen and below that a little to the left is the teachers house. The big square clearing below all that is where we play soccer. And I say “we” because I have injured myself twice on that field playing soccer so I feel I deserve to be regarded as one of the team.

This is were I am no longer having fun. And trying to keep down my lunch.

Just to give you an idea why.

This is the farm. The big green patch is the leaches, a fruit I have not yet had the privilege of trying but I hope to before I leave. To the right of the leaches is the office where I converse with all of you back home! To the left of the leaches is the wood work shop that is still being constructed. To the far right is Francois and Alta’s house. Just below their house is a clearing where Lynn and Dwight are digging the foundation of their house. Next to it is a small zinc roof that is covering their container. On the left had side a little below the middle of the picture is the new kitchen that was built for the teams. Further to the left is the showers but they didn't make it in the shot. Towards the bottom of the picture bellow the leaches is Lynn and Dwight’s temporary house which will become a guest cottage that short termers, like myself…wink, wink, nudge, nudge….can rent instead of a tent, or friends and family coming to visit the ASAM staff. At the very bottom is Nat’s house that is also still being built.

And just bellow alllll that is the beautiful wooden hut! Right now it serves as a kitchen for Nat and I as well as the current wood shop until the new one is finished. On the top left hand corner, beside the river, is the garden….well, some of it. And the top right hand corner is Nat's house...again.

Well this is a birds eye view of where I live.

All of Africa burns.

It takes one day for the sky to be filled as far as the eye can see with thick smoke from the bush fires of Africa. When the smell first hid my nostrils I wondered who on earth was barbecuing in the middle of the day. By the end of the day I smelt like a chimney sweeper. The reason behind this age old tradition is simple though maybe not logical. Some simply want to clear the tall grass on their land and, well, lighting a match is easier than coping a few acres with a slasher. I really don’t know how to describe what a slasher is other than it sort of looks like a machete only longer and the blade is curved. (gee why don’t I have a photo of this?) others who want to hunt for game find it easier to find their prey with less bush to block their view. Other than that it boils down to “that’s just the way we have always done it”.

Though each home owner burns their own border around their homes to control the fires and prevent the flames from reaching their valuables, it’s inevitable that a bush fire will slip from the grip of precaution. Salete, who was is caring for her three grandchildren that were abandoned by their parents, is now left with no home. She is living with her 18year old, newly married, son until she can rebuild. Salete is among the many who came to the ASAM farm seeking help in their own disaster.

The remains of house Salete's house.

And her maze. In the back is a man from the local church who has already begun helping rebuild a storage deck for her maze. Her 18 year old son is going to begin making mud bricks to build his mom a new home. With the assistance of her son, the church, and ASAM this woman will luckily be able to recover from this catastrophe. What impresses on my heart are the many who don’t have the help they need in a hopeless situation.