Zim Baby - 2009 Edition

I really cannot believe I am back in Zimbabwe. It blows my mind.

Let me just try and get the ugly stuff out of the way first. My flights were so long and painful. Moreso this year than last, because last year I had an aisle seat and this year I was in the hell knows as cruched inbetween sleeping people, so I couldn't even move around. I admit I came to tears more than once. Yes, I hated it. I was supposed to have aisle seats. Not sure how that went awry. But the good news is I made it with luggage intact. Blessed news....much different from last year.

I had not one moment of sleep on the planes. So I was awake in all nearly 40 hours. When I awoke on my first day, my eyes were puffy and swollen shut. Monster much? I was even horrified of myself. By now it is much better, but still not looking exactly like myself.

On to the heart of the matter. The zim babies. Here is what hurts......my favorite orphanage from last year.....the one with all the dirty little children who never have baths and who wear torn clothes, and cook their own meals over an open flame in an iron pot......they are the same. I was really hoping to see some improvement. Too long of a story....but the family in charge of this orphanage may not be of high moral standards. While they lap it up in their swanky house with new leather sofas and large TV's, the children suffer. They have even refused free medical care for the children. The HIV positive children are not getting treatment. It just royally sucks. It sucks hard core. It f'ing sucks. And to top it off, I will probably never go back. The group that lives here permanently have been asked not to return. We went yesterday just hoping we wouldn't get thrown out. We took Christmas presents and fruit....they let us stay. I was only able to take about 20 photos before I was told i could not take photos. To say that my heart breaks for them is an understatement. I suppose the donations that come in are used for other purposes. The kids are not being loved.

I took in and gave out as many hugs and kisses as I possibly could. I got to see Farri, my favorite little boy from last year. He has not even grown an inch. I think he has Aids. He looks unwell. I would not be surprised if he isn't alive much longer. He didn't remember me. That hurt. But hey....it isn't about me.

Some of the children have grown like weeds. I got to see a little girl who I met last year. Her name is Trinity. She has grown massive amounts. She is stunning. Absolutely breath taking. I'll upload photos when I get home. She is also untreated for HIV. Her face, her eyes, her smile.....no words can describe. She speaks a little English. We talked briefly....but mostly we just hugged. I bet that sweet girl really misses having a momma.

Today we spent the morning painting at a boys home that I also got to visit last year. Most of them were away in school....so i only got to see 3 or 4. I'll see them all though fairly soon. These boys are some of the camp candidates, and I'll get to select some for camp soon. I am so very excited about this. I wish I could tell you everything....but there is too much.

Later today we are going to play with little children from the Denai home. I also met them last year, just for one brief afternoon. They are all toddlers and should be very fun.

Tomorrow afternoon I get to go to the Zimre Park school and Saturday I get to spend most of the days with the teenagers that I love so much. I am planning to video some of them discovering that they will all get to go to camp. My prayer is that it is the most spectacular reacting ever, and that I can post it when I get home. 3 of them got to go to camp in August, and ever since then, they have ALL been praying to go. To think that all of these beautiful sponsors and myself get to be a part of God's plan in answering their prayers. No reason for me to have shaved my legs today....for the goosebumps just grew hair on my legs about 1/4 inch. Ahhhh...so worth it.

My accomodations are completely different than last year, which is both good and bad. The good is that I have my own bathroom. Heaven in Africa. The bad is that I am a little secluded from the other family...and the "guides" no longer stay with us....so there is no late night talks about life, love, and saving all the children in Africa. I'm pretty much on my own. Thank God for the 12 songs I downloaded onto my iPhone.

Speaking of my playlist.....I noticed something very peculiar and wonder what God has up His sleeve, robe, whatever... None of the songs that I downloaded are Christian songs. I came to Zim without one praise song. Everything I downloaded is either about love, loss or pain. Mostly loss and pain. Ok.....aside from that one Justin Timberlake song and the other Beyonce booty shaker, but the rest are totally deep and painful. Makes me cry a lot at night. Makes me feel deep. Makes me miss Jesus.

So, I'm reading in my Bible a lot. Studying Jeremiah at the moment. My friend Cindy sent me off with daily devotionals, which I am also reading everyday.

The last thing that I can think to tell you is really quite important. Zimbabwe is in a much better economic state than when i visited last year. Last year, their currency was worthless and everyone was struggling everywhere. There was no food in the grocery stores and most of the businesses were just shut down. There was no commerce at all. People were just hanging out on the side of the roads begging. They were hanging out in some places by the thousands, other places by the hundreds. NOW - Zim is legally trading in US dollars. Wow. Now all the stores are stocked and life really seems normal. This is a very wonderful thing. It is also a very fragile thing....in that the US dollar could be voided on any day. But people overall seem much better off.

Be praying for the children. Most of them are so poor that they cannot go to school because they (a) cannot afford school fees (b) cannot afford uniforms. Many of the children run around begging for school fees and uniforms. Isn't that something?

I feel like I'm in another world. Well, I am. I am in Zim.