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April
Journal Entries
APRIL 23rd, 2000
APRIL 20th, 2000
APRIL 13th, 2000
APRIL 9th, 2000
APRIL 4th, 2000
MARCH ENTRIES
FEBRUARY ENTRIES
APRIL 23rd, 2000
A really meaningful poem is one of those things that you feel
you could have written yourself, or if you hadn't read it first, one day it
might have spilled out of you. It matches your thoughts so precisely, it's
incredible that someone else felt it too.
Anyways, I don't come across poems that are really meaningful to me very often,
but this song by Ginny Owens is one of them:
I could travel over oceans,
cross the deserts,
climb the mountains,
just to share Your story,
bring You glory,
and win souls for You.
And I could sing like an angel,
songs so humble,
and so thankful,
full of drama and emotion,
so the world would know Your Truth.
I could give away my money,
and my clothes,
and my food,
to restore those people who are poor,
and lost and down and out.
I could succeed in all these things,
finding favour with peasants and kings,
but if I do not love,
I am nothing.
I could live a faultless life,
never cheat or steal or lie,
and always speak so kindly,
smile so warmly,
and go about doing good.
I could dedicate myself to do,
what everyone else wants me to,
and listen to them,
compliment them,
say the things I should.
I could show up every Sunday,
lead the choir and Bible study,
and they might call me leader and a friend.
I could achieve success on earth,
but success can not define my worth,
and all these actions,
all these words,
will not matter in the end.
Because songs will fade to silence,
stories, they will cease.
The dust will settle,
covering all my self esteems.
So as I strive to serve You,
won't You make it clear to me,
that if I do not love,
I am nothing.
And If I can not live my life
loving my brother,
then how can I love the one
who lived His life for me?
Sent to earth from Heaven,
Humble servant,
Holy king,
come to share a story,
get no glory,
and save my searching soul.
You knew that I'd deny You,
crucify You,
but nothing could stop You
from living for me,
dying for me,
so that I would know:
Songs will fade to silence,
stories, they will cease.
The dust will settle,
covering all my self esteems.
But, Your life here
made it clear
enough for me to see
that if I do not love,
I am nothing.
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APRIL 20th, 2000
I really don't know where to start with this e-journal (again).
I experienced so many new things! (With the exception of my previous experiences
visiting rural families right in their huts and observing surgeries in a remote
African mission hospital.)
I guess I can't really explain everything I saw this past week, but I'll try to
share some of my experiences.
Imagine this: Bumping along in the back of a land cruiser for a good hour
through beautiful rural Zimbabwe, ending up at a run-down school located on a
dusty road among the green hills of Zim. You get out of the truck to face a
crowd of waiting mothers with their numerous children. All of the mothers are
clutching very important yellow cards with the immunization records of their
children. They have come to vaccinate their children against polio, measles, diphtheria,
etc. This is the Karanda Hospital EPI (Extended Program for Immunization).
A chaplain and a nurses' assistant (and I - Karanda is very much understaffed)
weighed and vaccinated all the babies who were due for an injection. The driver
inconspicuously sold contraceptives out the front of the cab. It was very cool.
Talk about Medicine for the People. (Do people talk about that, or did I
just make that up?)
Anyway, It was medicine that went straight to the people who needed it. I felt
like National Geographic should have been right there. "Alice, I need some
more cotton balls, STAT!" (I, of course, didn't do any injections, but was
apparently a big help to the team.)
I spent two days going out on Home Based Care. This is a program set up to
provide continual care for discharged patients. Most are either AIDS orphans or
are people living with AIDS. We visited a number of families each day,
providing a few supplies, checking up on their health and overall well-being,
praying with them and generally just keeping them connected to people that care
about them. Although each client is visited only about once a month, it still
makes a big difference to their lives.
For example, one woman (actually 17 year old) was in the fifth month of her
first pregnancy and was absolutely wasted with malaria. When the HBC team
arrived, she was very ill. HBC gave her food, treated her with chloroquine, left
instructions for her husband to take her to the nearby clinic in a few days -
hopefully saved her life. I wont go into the details of what her living
conditions were like. I don't know any 17 year old in Canada with the same
situation, though.
Malaria and tuberculosis are among the most frequent causes for hospitalization.
Many people die because they are not brought into the hospital soon enough. The
hospital staff doesn't test for HIV; it is expected that anyone could have it,
and you can generally tell if the patients do or don't have it. Most of them do.
The state of the immune system is usually apparent by the patient's response to
various treatments.
In Zimbabwe, and especially at Karanda, there is nothing that can be done to
treat HIV or AIDS, so patients are treated for their illnesses.
I had a great time in the pediatric ward. The mothers stay right in the hospital
to care for their children. The kids were great and I really befriended a 12
year old boy who had his leg amputated. The most upsetting thing was to see all
the babies with hydrocephalus. This is a fairly common disorder (?) that happens
from birth, but in North America, it is treated right away and doesn't become a
problem. (The baby's head swells with water in the brain, and a shunt is put in,
to drain the water into the abdomen. easy.) Unfortunately, in Zim some babies
are not brought in to the hospital until they are many months old, and their
heads are very swollen. One
baby's head was the size of a basketball. Karanda's doctors - both Dr. Stephens,
a father and son team - quickly put a shunt in and drain the fluid, but in many
cases the skull has already formed and hardened and won't shrink back to size.
The days I wasn't on EPI or HBC, I played my guitar in the male and female wards
for a while in the afternoons. That was really nice and I think the patients
appreciated it. I also spent some time doing rounds with the med students and
observing procedures here and there. I don't know how well everyone at home
knows this side of me, but my appetite for medical procedures and gory
terminology was very much satisfied: I got in there as much as I could.
This morning I decked myself out in scrubs and I observed six surgeries. Last
night I saw a C-section, but because of my co-op at Mt. Sinai that wasn't new
for me, so today was great! Mostly abdominal stuff, but a little reconstructive
and one shunt placement. Those two doctors do what 25 doctors would do in North
America - anesthesiology, cardiology, gynecology... the list goes on. For those
of you who are interested in this sort of thing, the surgeries I observed were
as follows: ventricular peritoneal shunt placement inguinal hernial repair
congenital birth defect of the tibia - wedgeosteomy (?) laporatomy (ended up
removing one ovary because of a chocolate cist) hysterectomy (out comes the
uterus!) Insert and Drainage, of an infected foot It was great to get the chance
to see right inside into the abdominal
cavity and watch all the organs slosh around. I was an EXTREMELY imperative part
of the medical team, contributing things like tying gowns, adjusting the light,
opening sterile packs and new instruments -- hey, I even changed a couple IV
bags. I'm practically a surgeon!
I can't really express the differences between Karanda and any other hospital in
North America. I guess its similar to the rest of Africa: you use the resources
you have, manage with the cultural differences, and just be committed and pray a
lot. The major differences are in the lab facilities, drug availability, staff
shortage, and the overall "make-do" kind of atmosphere. But a lot of
people are getting the help that they wouldn't otherwise be getting, so the
staff can rest well at night (and they do, with the long hours they work) that
they are caring for patients that have no other chance at health care.
The best thing about my stay at Karanda was an awesome group of people that I
stayed with. There were a few med students and a doctor from the States, whose
visit coincided with mine. Altogether there were 8 of us staying in the guest
house and we cooked and ate together, played games and cards, went on HBC, had
an awesome mountain hike and just generally laughed a lot. It was like a little
family up there. Of course the fact that Canadians are far superior to Americans
came into our conversations more than once - and they all agreed wholeheartedly!
(Everyone at Karanda was really warm and welcoming.)
Now, its back to Harare for me, after a really fun and eye-opening week in the
boonies at Karanda. I've been catching up on all the news here in the capital,
and no doubt, the rest of the world is hearing about Zimbabwe's "political
unrest" too. I have some very sad and scary stories to tell when I get
home, about the "political unrest", and even some close calls of my
own. Email is not the best way to discuss certain issues, like that of
"political unrest", so I will remain quiet! Needless to say, I am
being safe and don't have anything to worry about in this time of
"political unrest".
Much love to everyone at home! I miss you all and kind of feel like six months
is a little too long to be so far from a hug and my bed. I've made it this far,
I can last until August! Thanks for reading, and for the emails, too!
-- Dr. Gerber.
(heh, heh, heh.)
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APRIL 13th, 2000
Yesterday my friend Ingeborg came back from traveling in Malawi.
She got her camera stolen on the trip, and Marianna, her friend, got all her
money and camera stolen too. They weren't careful with their stuff! They were
riding in a pickup full of women (whom they later realized were "ladies of
the night", as we call them here) and left their bags in the middle of the
group. Inge carried all her monies on her, so they weren't stolen, but Mairianna
let her guard down... I've learned my lesson from their mistake! On their
travels they heard a lot about the turmoil of Zimbabwe and were afraid to come
back! Inge's mum and friend may not be coming as planned for
a few weeks because of all the news reports! This is too bad, especially since
its unlikely that there will be major problems anyway. (the way I see it, there
will be some sort of a lead up of events before all hell breaks loose and we're
all unsafe in our own houses. What I'm saying is IF that happens, which I doubt
it will, I'm sure we'll see it coming and be able to prepare... for some that
means evacuate quickly. The planes are apparently booking quickly... just to
scare you a little bit. hehehe)
So I went to the lodge they are staying at last night and we played cards and
chatted. (Also with my friend Pauline) I asked a table of card players if they
knew how to play spoons and we all ended up playing together. As it turns out
I'd met one of them before on the street. They are all med students
working at various Harare hospitals. After talking a while, one girl mentioned
that on Friday they'd be going to a place way up north called, Karanda. I
laughed so much! What a coincidence! They aren't with Team, but will be working
there until the end of the month. (I'd heard from Karen that people were coming,
but what a crazy coincidence!) So I'll have some pals up there to play cards
with!
Yesterday Daytime Winnie and I went to Epworth. This is a high density (100 000
people in 32km-ish areas with houses and fields and everything) area to the
south of Harare. Winnie has a connection to PLAN international, so we went to
visit some sponsored kids and their families. It was great! The families were
very warm and appreciated the boxes of food Winnie and I prepared to take. We
also visited the new Maternity clinic and outpatient clinic. We also met with
the team of volunteers who do home based care for people living with AIDS. They
are a group of mostly women who care for families in their area -- they also
live in Epworth. I'm going back on May 2nd (TEAM permission pending) to visit
with them for a day. Blessing, the woman from PLAN, said they were really
encouraged my interest to visit families with them! (I thought it might be
invasive to just visit a few times, but they assured me I would be
welcome)
En route in Epworth, our 4x4 was meandering over the rocky, muddy, canyon-y,
paths they call roads in Epworth and we smiled at everyone we passed, returning
waves and hellos. (Everyone loves visitors, and PLAN is greatly respected in the
community). There was a little baby girl with braided hair and a white raggy
dress on, who was standing with her siblings out in the yard. She was really
young - maybe 2 or 3. When she saw us coming she jiggled and got exited, but as
we neared a look of pure terror struck her face, but only in between laughs. It
was so odd. It was as if she was so exited to see us, but also terrified at the
same time. She was
making screaming/laughing sounds and waved a chubby hand in our direction. We
waved back and called a greeting, and she absolutely froze with fright/delight.
As we drove away, we heard her laughing so loud and screaming with all her
might, we all couldn't help but laugh. When the laughter in the truck subdued we
could still her screaming and see her running in all directions. It was so
funny!!!
Anyways, I'm still enjoying Africa, and learning things all the time. Not a list
of new learned things, but rather a slow shaping and development of my thoughts
and ideas about certain things. A lot of eye-opening and thought provoking realizations;
a little self-assessment here and there; major growth with my understanding of
Christ and my relationship with Him. Can't say I'm overly busy with
"helping" all the people in need or leaving my imprint on Zimbabwe or
making new life-long friendships, but All in all a good experience. (I guess
you're glad I haven't made too many good friends... because my loved ones are
what are keeping my plans to come home secure... what If I met a man and decided
to marry and stay here for ever? I've heard a few stories in that department.
Don't worry! I'd miss Mika too much.)
So, I'll leave you all with that and email when I get home around Easter. Around
Easter? I love that I never really know times or dates anymore, I just go with
it - such a different mentality from North America!
I love you all and miss you too! Keep praying for me and thinking of me!
Lianne
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APRIL 9th, 2000
At 4:00 this morning, the stars were out and shining.
On our drive to Masvingo, I watched the navy sky turn lighter and lighter
through the sun-roof of the car. The sunrise was beautiful! The most delicious
orange and gold colours peeking through the black silhouettes of the acacia
trees, as we drove along the Masvingo highway... nothing like the 401.
There were hills and mountains in the distance, and what Zimbabwe is famous for:
balancing rocks. They are incredible. All of a sudden, there is a patch of
mammoth boulders scattered across the distance, jutting out of the earth, and
balancing on each other. The trees grow around them and between them, as if
they're nothing spectacular. But up close, some are as big as a house!
They look like they tumbled off the ark or something, and since the water dried
up, they've just been waiting for someone to come and tip them over. But they
don't tip. (I tried, trust me - they're solid.) They just balance. >From all
angles, balancing and leaning up against each other.
Edward Tore (director of YFC) and I led a workshop in Masvingo for youth group
leaders. Not a very good turn out, and most of what we'd planned had to be
altered or discarded. This is Africa, though - you just go with it and make the
best of the situation.
We went to the Great Zimbabwe ruins on the way to Masvingo this morning, which
was nice. (Lots of old rocks built up in big walls and towers.) "Imba"
is house, "Bwe" is stone and the "Z" implies
big in Shona. This is where Zimbabwe got its name: from the
"big-houses-of-stone'' ancient ruins. The bird on the flag and coins, also
called the "Great Zimbabwe" bird was found in the old ruins. The name
is so obvious if you know Shona, but I never knew what it meant before. What
does Canada mean? (Where are those heritage commercials when you need them?)
On the way home I pretended to understand what someone was saying about me (in
Shona) in the line for petrol. The Ambuya laughed and asked if I knew Shona. To
which I replied (in Shona) that I was learning. I displayed my talents for all
in the queue and had everyone laughing.
White women in petrol queues speaking Shona are hard to come by in that part of
Zimbabwe.
I wont mention the lack of seatbelts, streetlights, car horns, or drivers licenses
on the roads.
We watched the sunset on the way back home this evening, and as we drove into
Harare, the stars were out in full force and the sun-roof was open.
BACK TO THE TOP
APRIL 4th, 2000
Life in Harare is spicing up...
The final word on elections is for July or August. It's interesting to see the
changes that are happening as the country as the political situation reaches
this crucial point. The country is really alive with ideas, emotions and
different powers at work. I'd say that there is a HUGE spiritual battle
happening here, too.
In my little world here, I've been quite busy. Roel and I had a meeting with the
Secretary and Directors of Education at the Ministry on Friday afternoon. We'd
been invited this time, rather than requesting a meeting, so we weren't exactly
sure what to expect. I certainly was taken off guard! We went to the Minister's
board room, on the 18th floor and met with a crowd, compared to our last few
meetings of 5 or 6 people. There were about 20 "big" people from
different Embassies, the local government, the Council of Churches, and NGOs
like UNFTA and, my personal favourite, UNICEF. Everyone present was in some way
working with the Ministry of Education to educate youth and train teachers about
HIV / AIDS. And then there's me: a gangly schoolgirl from Toronto with a head
full of ideas and the world on her shoulders, at a meeting with these
prestigious and influential persons ready to discuss the issues surrounding AIDS
education in this nation's school system. hahaha! I was sitting at the same
discussion as big AIDS people from UNICEF! Mind you I did more listening than
talking, but I was having a great time feeling prestigious and influential. The
issues we discussed were fascinating to kunzwa: focusing on teacher training vs.
material production, high turnover rate of qualified teachers because of death
by AIDS, need for an increased emphasis on behaviour
modification, rural vs. urban school statistics, etc. NOTE: kunzwa is a
Shona word I've come to love. There really isn't an English equivalent. (It's
somewhere in between hear, feel and understand) So the meeting was fun,
but as you can imagine in the bureaucratic world of the Ministry of Education,
real changes will be made slowly. So many big minds, so little impact on
education.
On Saturday I went to Rusape (well actually Chinyudze - but good luck finding
it on a map) for a youth rally. The topic was "Issues Facing Youth
Today", and Edward Tore (also from Youth for Christ) and I were scheduled
to discuss AIDS.
Now when I hear "youth rally", I picture an organized event - well
publicized in the community, with leaders and speakers and a venue and some
food. A nine to five affair, perhaps? Well, I continue to learn that nothing is
as you expect it to be in Africa! Ever. The day was very successful, but its
just carried out in such a different
way than things are in North America! I really had to relax, not stress out and
just go with the flow: We arrived at Chinyudze elementary school at 9:30,
although the rally
was scheduled to start at 9:00. I found a classroom to put my stuff in,
and that ended up being the place the rally was held! Kids started arriving at
about 10:00, and the first session started at 10:15. Despite the disorganized
appearance and general make-shift feel to the day, there were over one hundred
kids, and I'm sure that they left knowing more than when they came. The first
session was about income generating projects, which is a very important topic in
Zimbabwe, especially in the "rurals", where kids really have to make
money if they want to buy anything. (Food usually isn't a problem, because
that's what the family does all day, grow food. But in terms of actual money to
buy clothes or go somewhere, there isn't any.) The rest of the morning was split
into sexes and I lead the girls' section (little did I know this before hand).
Luckily, I had prepared a variety of things because I really didn't know what to
expect, and we ended up having a really interesting session about sex,
influences, pressures, etc. Youth in rural Zim are so different than kids at
home. I just learned so much about their culture from them. I went to the
headmistress' for lunch, thinking the kids would go home to eat, and had a great
meal of sazda, rice, nyama (meat) and rape (like spinach). The kids actually
didn't go home - they just didn't eat anything. okay. I guess if you've walked
an hour, you can't just pop home for lunch. I felt guilty after I realized that,
but I was one of the leaders, so I had to eat with Edward, and the two pastors
who organized the day.
The afternoon was, well... me! I laughed when I found that out (after
lunch) and
was very glad I'd prepared a variety of activities and discussion topics.
Essentially the focus was on AIDS, and I spent a good portion of the afternoon
answering questions. Although many understood English, I had a translator to be
sure that the message was getting across clearly. It was a lot of fun, and I
really got into leading the group. Sometimes I really thought that their
stone-faced expressions meant that they didn't understand or think what I was
saying was relevant, but then the whole room would crack into laughter when I
said something funny, or spoke Shona with
my white accent. So I just need to get used to the body language and customs of
people here. Even if nothing else came out of the day, just clearing up this one
BIG
(and common among the men) misconception, was worth it: The belief was that
women cured themselves from HIV when they were menstruating. Ouch. The most
satisfying thing about the day, though, was having the leaders of their
community tell me how much they appreciated my talk. I hope I was able to
contribute something, because I had a lot of fun!
The verse of the week is definitely John 10:10:
The thief comes to steal and destroy,
but I have come that they may have life
and have it to the full!
I am learning that AIDS is like the thief: it steals the body away from people,
destroying their life and crushing their spirit. Only through Christ is there
any hope for each of us to have a full and meaningful life.
Thanks for your emails and letters and love and prayers and thoughts...
You can write to me at: Lianne Gerber
4 Pendenis Rd.
Mount Pleasant, HARARE
Zimbabwe
Love, Lianne
PS: So big shot me asks to go to the loo as soon as I arrive at Chinyudze in the
morning. (The school was nice - spacious concrete rooms with neat assignments
and colored posters on the wall. A rural school, but very nice and well looked
after. So I assumed there were the simple things like electricity and toilets.)
A little girl leads me to the loo - a small concrete building, separate
from the school. I go into the division labeled "Female Staff" and
chuckle to myself because I'd entered one that didn't have a toilet. I go into
the next one and it quickly dawns on me that the hole in the floor IS the
toilet. (Well, it was dark - there were no lights!) I had to shake myself up a
bit and realize that rural life means more than just no cars and nice scenery!
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