Friday 21st November 2008
Mazzy’s Blog
Excerpt from email February 2008
I am in Mutare, planning to get to the house as soon as I have fuel and a car.
On the water supply, I have had a full discussion with Tendai Mawunga in Watsomba – he’s from Pumpaid (www.pumpaid.org) and is going to come and assess the situation but work cannot begin prior to May because of the rainy season. It also depends whether we are on hard rock or soft earth, surrounded as we are by granite mountains. However they plan to dig a well and put in an elephant pump, whatever that is!
I have also met Pat Hallowes who I hope will be dealing with the renovations. He has agreed to fit us in later on in the year. He does have a problem retaining staff as they cannot cope on their small salaries – it is a real problem. Prices go up daily. Six eggs were 5.8 million dollars last week and are now 2 million dollars each. It is quite exhausting trying to source each food item or ingredient and shelves are largely empty.
I have had many differing pieces of advice regarding the security fence. Mathew believes we would be shutting out the community if we install one but my neighbour thinks we must install one. I will have a further discussion with the local people to see what their views are.
Now let’s go to a lighter note. Some things are very funny here. I am driving a car which is two halves put together. My donors had a smash in the front of one and in the back of another car, and it seems to work fine!
A neighbour’s gardener has made a valiant effort to fill the potholes in the road leading to the house. He decided it was useless to fill them with earth as it just washed out with the rain, so he inserted big clumps of grass and earth and now I think he will need to mow the road as the grass has grown tall!
On Sunday we went to visit a friend in the neighbourhood and discovered three elephants had tried to invade her garden. They seem to know when there is a power cut or put a log onto the wires to short the system. I have also just heard that four lions are wandering about in Nyanga. There seems to be a huge problem with maintenance of the fences so I better be careful!
Excerpt from email March 2008
I have finally managed to get enough fuel, a car and a phone. I drove from Mutare to the house (which we have called Malaika – meaning “little angels” !!) and found the caretaker in his mud hut in dire straights. He brightened up considerably when I produced mealie meal, cooking oil and sugar, which took me days to acquire. We then went to the house and on seeing it in such a state nearly burst into tears, thieves have cut out the entire metal front door and also a window. The house is now open to all and sundry and the cows and baboons have been using it as their toilet. Several windows are smashed and it is in quite a state, the roof over one of the bathrooms has also been damaged and the rain has been pouring in there, so a lot to do. A number of metal window handles have also been stolen so it will be quite a task to rectify the situation and make the house secure.
The second house, which I am not attempting at the moment, has also been vandalised and all the door locks broken. I left at the end of the day feeling very disheartened.
Meanwhile, I have found a builder by the name of Life On and the next day I took him up there to make an assessment. Life On informs me he is happy to deposit four workers to stay there for two months to make all the repairs. He has also given me a huge shopping list of cement, paint, etc, etc, which could take me weeks to acquire! However on my return to Juliasdale, Charles who is the caretaker of the house where I am staying, informed me that he had found an older man who would be willing to go and stay at Malaika with his wife to look after the house. His name is Herbert and he is the most lively and gracious white-headed man.
Last Monday I was completely astonished to get through on the phone to Tendai, from Pump Aid. He came over and he thinks we are a good and needy cause. He plans to send out some experts and water diviners to assess where the best place for the well is and how far down before we actually hit rock! Having been flooded badly throughout the country in December and January there’s hardly been any rain for the past 6 weeks.
I have returned to Mutare for a couple of days in order to get more money and supplies. This weekend I am expecting Mathew to visit with our lawyer. Hopefully, the contracts and trust paper work can then move forward. Next week I plan to take the ram pumps from the dam at Malaika up to Nyanga village to get them properly repaired by an expert. I have also managed to find a generator.
Time is racing past and quite what I will be able to achieve through Easter and the election period, I don’t know!