I met up here with Bridget Precious and Colleen Smith, two friends from Australia, who are doing some very good Christian work in Zimbabwe.
Travelling around doing the "tourist circuit" (eg. canoeing, horse-riding, seeing Vic Falls, house-boating on Lake Kariba, viewing the prolific wild-life etc.), you can lose perspective of the people who live here. The local communities, church life, kids, AIDS problem, people begging in the streets, the flea markets and hub-bub of day-to-day life. The guy in the street in Harare who offers to "look after" your car, the kids who flock around to have their photo taken, the interesting characters you meet, the impromptu discussions about politics (even though the economy is going to the dogs, the people here are afraid to even talk about the government - so much for freedom of speech!), the stranger who walks up and asks you to buy him a loaf of bread. At least it breaks the monotony of routine!
Here is a brief description of the photos:
Pastor Khumani (lower left) is a local Brethren in Christ pastor in Bulawayo. Also in the pic are Bridget and Colleen, two Christian ladies from Oz. The kids went mad over having their photos taken! And trying to get them to stand still for a photo was nigh on impossible!
Moses (left) and Argent who work at the Self Help Development Centre where we were staying in Bulawayo. Moses was such a lovely guy, and he was very excited to have bought this sunflower oil producing machine. It works by pouring the sunflower seeds into the funnel and then pulling the handle to crush the seeds and extract the oil. Next the oil is poured into the bucket where it gravity feeds through a filter. Before you know it, Moses will be in business commercially producing oil!