leaving on a jet plane (kinda)

After 3 weeks of getting accustomed to my new life here, a bomb was dropped on me (and the other interns) yesterday. We were asked to come to the Canadian embassy for a meeting. Upon arrival we were informed that volunteering on a tourist visa (the kind we have) was illegal and it is suggested we leave the country immediately. WHAT??? We were all in shock. Was this not part of the plan? Did someone somewhere mess up? Apparently there has been a “crackdown” lately of foreign workers volunteering at large international NGOs; in the past few weeks 20 have been safely deported. While we are not at large international NGOs, the upcoming election could be a concern for us. We will be leaving tomorrow or Sunday and heading to Swaziland. A woman I work with here will be assisting us in getting temporary employment permits. If approved, we will return and our stay will be completely legal. If we cannot get the permits, we will (hopefully) start a new internship in Swaziland. I am very sad to say the least. I was just beginning to feel comfortable in the office and getting a sense of how things work here. Our maid, Sarah, seems pretty upset and we are equally gutted at leaving her. I hope she won’t loose her job.

I’m not sure how I’m feeling – confused, sad, worried, excited – everything. I’m concerned I’ll enjoy the luxuries of Swaziland (water, milk, fish, soap) and not want to return! Actually no matter what happens I’m riding a crazy wave at the moment and will look back on this time with laughter I’m sure. So……we are going to have a feast tonight of sadza and other Zim favourites and await our travel plans. There are so many people working behind the scenes right now in securing our safe departure, accommodations and most importantly the visas. It’s amazing really to think about it yet frustrating that we really can't do anything but wait...and visit Swaziland!!

Interesting times

I have censored this blog entry

I had my first tense experience yesterday. A group of us from work headed to a town about one hour from Harare in discuss the coalition and see if we could start a new chapter there. Things started out well as we were able to secure enough fuel. Upon arrival in the town it was discovered that our venue was no longer available along with our accommodations. I thought this was strange. We tried finding a new venue and lodging however we were not able to find willing hosts. A lot of discussion was going on in Shona so I wasn’t able to fully understand what was happening. We did have a police clearance for the meeting however. Due to the Pubic Order Security Act, any time a gathering of 10 or more people get together (although I’ve been advised to get one for 5 or more), you must get a clearance from the police. Finally at around 6pm it was advised that I leave immediately and return to Harare. I was lucky – our driver was still with us, we had fuel and Harare was fairly close. What if we weren’t so nearby? I don’t feel nervous however I would like to touch base with the embassy soon.

never fear...TP is here

had written a blog entry at work but left my flash drive at work. grrrr.

so yesterday we were in real panic mode.  we realized we were on our last roll of toilet paper.  we headed out to get some - we weren't expecting problems.  2.5 hours later we finally found a shop that had 3 rolls.  it's crazy.  bread wasn't an issue luckily and were able to find water during our mission.  imagine - no toilet paper - and we hand wash our underwear too!

won't have access to the internet for the next few days.  heading to a rural town with no internet nor electricity most of the time.  we are setting up a new chapter for the coalition.  should be fun.

peace.  miss you .

i only have a few seconds.....so much to write.....so little time!

I have attended two really interesting conferences so far. The second, “Women Can Do It” was amazing – so much passion and fire in the room. I felt like I was with 300 maverick feminists. The goal of this conference was to draft a communiqué to be presented to government demanding proportional representation in politics and the electoral process. The actual document writing was really interesting and I’m glad I got to witness it. The best part of the conference, in my opinion, occurred during the afternoon discussion on the second day. A man got up and posed the question that while at the conference women’s responsibility to engage and to lead was being promoted, women shouldn't forget that they had a responsibility in the home too! He was quickly silenced. A woman immediately stood up and questioned his logic – surly women’s perceived responsibility was nothing more than gendered stereotypes; “I don’t wash the dishes with my breasts. I use my hands.” Classic.

inflation is so crazy here. airtime was $400 per minute, over night it went up to $5000 per minute! fuel is a real problem too. it was $30,000 just to sit in the cab and now it's over $300,000! we are still having problems finding water and bread. i don't know how people manage. if we are worrying about money, i don't know how 'average' folks here are dealing.

harare is nothing like i imagined africa to be - it's very modern and i never see women wearing those bright dresses that i often equate with africa. however i love seeing the woman in the power suit balancing her brief case on her head. i saw a woman with a massive 10kg bag of maize on her head. how her neck didn't snap.......

it's only been a week?

i've been here for a week and in some ways i feel like i've been here for months.  if i left this evening i'd leave with a lifetime of knowledge and observations.  i have so much going on in my head; there is so much i need to process.

**this is a conservative blog entry**

when i first arrived i had trouble seeing what this zim crisis was all about.  our fridge we stocked, we had water and everything seemed great.  now it's our turn to find food and well, it's harder than we thought.  we are finding difficult to get bottled water and are worried we are having problems with our well.  today was the first time we couldn't wash.  meat/fish, dairy products and bread are hard to come by.  it seems certain stores have certain good on certain days.  it is making me rethink my eating habits and total lack of respect for what i've had in the past.  the countless plates of food i've thrown out.  most gas stations report $000 outside of their stations as there is little fuel.

today i attended my first conference.  it was called 'young women leadership development' and its focus was on sexual health.  it was  a very interesting conference.  the women were discussing myths that are still prevalent in today's society regarding HIV/AIDS, STDs and pregnancy.  I couldn't believe some the things I was  hearing.  The fastest growing rate of HIV/AIDS is among women 16-25 years of age.  While there was a sense of hope in the air, I got the impression that people are at their wits end - it is time for action.

I found it hard to participate in the group discussions as  I don't know enough about Zim culture yet.  We were discussing how to make sex ed. fun and I gave the suggestion that girls  learn to put condoms 
on bananas.  They all looked at me like I had two heads - why would they put a condom on a man?  It's a man's job!  Earlier they had been discussing the fear the condoms weren't being used properly yet women learning how to use them wasn't an option.  hmmmm.  Another cultural clash.

Send me emails!!!  I'm getting homesick.

Sarah

We have a maid. I'm very uncomfortable with the idea and am sure ít'll be a reoccurring theme here. Her name is Sarah and she is 16 years old. Her boss (the home owner's wife) brought Sarah on Sunday and stayed with her for 3 days to train her and make sure she'd be ok. ****part of this blog has been removed upon request******
The trouble I'm having is with the obvious culture clash. I don't want to impose my values on Zimbabwean life but at the same time I feel her position is somewhat unjust. I still don't know enough about class here but I would imagine she will never be able to leave this kind of work. But again, am I imposing my values on ""this kind of work"? Perhaps the idea of a maid here and in Canada are very different.
I'm still confused.

"Prices rolled back to June 18th"

As I'm sure you know, Zim has the highest inflation in the world. As I walk around town (differing from the 'downtown' area which is forbidden to me) I see signs advertising price rollbacks. Imagine that reducing prices to what the products were selling for A FEW WEEKS AGO would make a difference. It would be like "Prices reduced to 1970" or something like that.
I have seen some empty shelves in supermarkets and there is a limit to the amount of milk you can purchase (about 1 litre) but there is milk, bread and butter. I even purchased yogurt yesterday.
It's only been 2 days and I have so much to learn. Prices are all in the hundreds of thousands. It takes so long to count out your money as the biggest bill is $100,000. I had a purchase of over $2 million dollars - my 'purse' is filled with bills - as is everyone elses. It is going to be an interesting few months.

Greetings from Harare

 I arrived yesterday morning at 5am and have been nothing but surprised ever since.  After reading the news for the past few months i had not idea  what to expect.  Would I be able to find food?  Was it safe?  Was there power?
Our house could possibly be called a mansion.  There are 5 bathrooms, 5 bedrooms, a huge kitchen and various other rooms.  Our fridge was full of veggies, meat and fish.  There is a family who sells popcorn, tomatoes and oranges on our corner.  I hope to befriend them.We have an electric fence surrounding our 'home' and staff working there. Of course this is not everyone's reality in Zimbabwe but while I adjust to life here, I am glad I don't need to worry about the basics.  We are able to walk around the neighbourhood alone during daylight hours.  We all went for a run yesterday afternoon.  I hope to have a bike by the end of the week.  I'm surprised by my freedom.
I have met 2 women from the Women's Coalition and I can tell I'll enjoy my time.  Today and tomorrow are national holidays so we are able to catch up on sleep and explore the city.  I am very excited about beginning work.  I'll be dealing with the Domestic Violence Act.
Everyone so far has been very friendly.  2 young girls brought us to the internet cafe because we were lost.  A random man stopped and helped us when we brought out our map.  I've had many well wishes for a fun holiday.  How do they know I'm a tourist?  There are lots of white people here.
Please remember that there is a new security act; electronic information is now read.
I hope to update this once or twice a week - it's expensive though $8 USD for one hour.

FUNdraiser

Part of my internship requirement was to raise $1000 for Canadian Crossroads International. I quickly decided on a 5km FUN RUN - I mean who doesn't love running? After passing out fliers and telling friends, I realized that maybe this wasn't everyone's idea of a good time. Luckily I did manage to raise close to $1400! THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR DONATIONS.

'Katie's Fun Run' was scheduled to begin at 6:45pm. At 4pm is started to drizzle and then it slowly began to rain harder and harder. By 6:00 it was cold and pouring out! I was worried no one would come however 22 brave souls (aka family and wonderful friends) came out and ran/walked the course. Despite the weather, it was a really fun time.

Lessons learned:
1. Have a rain date if event is outside
2. Not everyone shares my passion for running
3. I have fantastic people in my life