Another adventure planned for us to visit Zimbabwe started with most of the main highways around us being blocked by civil unrest a week before the planned trip, stock delivered was mixed up and the more needed stock arriving a week late. Dave Austen was ready and geared to go, Linda and I were ready to be in Zimbabwe a week before the truck to assist with the packing. All the main social media had the same questions and updates “Are the roads open and safe to travel?”. Nelspruit and Witbank were no go areas and it seemed to be sporadic, which made us wonder how we were going to pull this one off….
had the same questions and updates “Are the roads open and safe to travel?”. Nelspruit and Witbank were no go areas and it seemed to be sporadic, which made us wonder how we were going to pull this one off….
We decided to travel the “safest “route via the National Kruger Park. What a journey that was going to be, being nature lovers, we can spend a whole day gawking at birds, grass and occasional lion traveling at 5 km per hour. We entered the KNP at Malelane Gate early morning armed with cameras and vowing to drive as fast as possible as time was of the essence, speed limit being 50 km per hour on the main roads, no dirt roads allowed! We are in a hurry. We must reach Musina before dark. The plan was to exit near Polokwane (Pietersburg) this would put us way past Bushbuckridge which was the part of the road most likely to be blocked off.
On Friday, 8 July, 2022 Linda and I left Malelane in the bakkie and headed towards Musina, in the general direction of Bulawayo. Just after our picnic in Kruger the drama started, we watched a pride of 10 lions with cubs hunting. We knew then we were going to be late, again. This was a fantastic drive, lions, leopard, cheetah, hyena, buffalo and rhino all a plenty. We eventually left the park at Orpen Gate, just before Hoedspruit missing Bushbuck Ridge with still a way to travel. We arrived in Musina without any delay and spent the evening at Baobab Cottages. The next morning, we had a cup of coffee with Aunty Hester and Colleen who donated some clobber for the oldies. Then it was off to the border. The SA side was a breeze and then to the Zimbabwe side. Robert still being sick I decided to sort the crossing out myself as a tourist and this went surprisingly well. The new facility is completed, and all the paperwork is conducted under one roof, except for the police procedure. I identified a lady in the car park who looked friendly in a ZIMRA reflective jacket, she was going to be my go-to-person for this exercise. Whenever I was unsure what was next, she pointed me in the right direction. We managed to get all done and were on our way, again in the general direction of Bullies. We stopped off at Paxi at Macado Ranch near Todd’s and at Pat Hales in West Nicholson for empty boxes and got to Bulawayo just before dark. We unpacked and settled into the cottage where we were due to stay for the next two weeks or so. Sunday, GP Day was at Willems with a braai and family time. Thanks, guys, for a good day. Well done Max.
The rest of the week was spent packing, labelling, with constant stock checks and more packing. Things down south of the border were still dicey with sporadic road closures, so we decided to gamble a bit and Linda posted on Facebook that we needed some assistance in delivering our food parcels country wide and by Friday afternoon we had all of it sorted out thanks to Hannes Jovner from Bulawayo, Steven Mannion from Fedex and Brendan Rundle from RUN Transport. These fantastic gentlemen came to the party and sorted all our countrywide deliveries for us. We then had the ZPSF Truck cancelled, thanks to Dave Austen for being willing to assist again, what a legend. That freed me up to continue with my normal runs while Linda co-ordinated the big deliveries.
My first deliveries were a road trip to Shurugwi and Zvishavane on Wednesday, 13 July, 2022. Linda spent the day with her sister, Caroline, for some girly time. At Shurugwi I was met by the usual residents from Muus lodge where I drop off the boxes, Martha Dailly, Ann Morten, Kathleen Raja and the flamboyant Colin Bell who is always full of jokes and stories of his daughter in Harare. Even Mrs. Shugura Karim, a 94-year-old gogo put in an appearance to greet me and give thanks for the boxes and goodies. The message from this group is unanimous that the boxes are a life saver. They were raving over the contents like the instant porridge and noodles, especially being winter, there is no cooking involved, a meal by just adding hot water.
On the trip to Zvishivane I was accompanied by one of our recipients’ daughters, Teresa. Teresa is a 59-year-old single lady who looks after her parents as her dad is going deaf and their health is slowly deteriorating. She has travelled all over the world as a missionary. This made my trip so much shorter, having company. Teresa is currently doing missionary work with a local church and preaching to youngsters in the community. On the trip I received my message via Teresa in an informal chat and discussion about beliefs and how one’s action and works are not a sure way into Heaven, but it is your personal relationship with the Lord.
In Zvishavane our first stop was at Lettie and Peter’s in Mimosa Cottage, both doing very well and in high spirits. The biggest challenge at this stage is the inflation that is decreasing the small income they have. One can see the despair and loneliness, longing for family as the older populous in the area is dwindling and friend become fewer. They are the last two left in the cottages that now belong to the mine. We only have four recipients in this area, the other two are in their own homes. We then went to see Marina at her shop, and I met her son, Mike for the first time. Mike has a bakery next to Mom’s general dealer shop, and he can keep an eye on her. Mike offered to pick up the boxes from Bulawayo as he frequently goes there and can save me the journey. This will be a big saving in the future as this trip cost a $100 in fuel and that cost will only increase as the inflation goes up. Teresa and I left Kathy van der Merwe’s box with Mike as she was unavailable. We then headed back to Shurugwi, and I drop Teresa off and headed for Bulawayo. Linda and I had dinner with the family and then to bed to prepare for the rest of the Bullies deliveries.
On Thursday, Linda and I took a drive to Esigodini and delivered the boxes to Kingshaven Moths and had a visit at Falcon Collage where we had coffee with Mr. Tony Bancroft. He was telling us old stories of his teaching days and visits to game parks around Zimbabwe. He is still contemplating moving to Bulawayo and it seems he is ready and looking forward to it, but there is also the part that is trying to resist, and a dread in making such a radical change by uprooting his life to go to an old age home. We then had a quick visit at the Heimans where I introduced Johan and Norma to Linda. We exchanged boxes and were off back to Bullies, by then the day was done.
On Friday we complete the packing for the rest of the country and stack them together for loading the trucks as they arrive, this gave us the weekend to see some sights and just chill. First thing Saturday morning I got a call from Brendan, they had had a break down in Kwekwe and would be sending a truck that direction. They said they would be at the warehouse to pick up all the Gweru boxes in an hour. It was scramble time so I called Rickie Lawrie in Gweru, as she assists with the Huis Vergesig and outsider boxes. Being Ricki, she was in the loop and already prepared, one step ahead. Thanks Ricki for taking the reins here. Boggies had their AGM and could not receive boxes on Saturday, but Rickie co-ordinated it so the delivery could to be done on the Monday. With Gweru sorted out he truck from RUN Transport arrived and we loaded it and sent it off. That was our R&R Saturday!
On Sunday, we visited Nicki Wilson at the famous Chipingale Rescue Centre. As always it is a favourite stop. Seeing the lions and leopard up close and being able to almost touch them is an absolute treat, not to mention seeing all of the birds of prey and owls. Linda and I spent most of the morning there and had a relaxing rest of our Sunday.
Monday was scheduled for the rest of the countrywide deliveries to be dispatched. Hannes Jovner picked up the boxes for Kwekwe, Redcliff, Kadoma and Chinhoyi. RUN Transport picked up Masvingo and Mutare. Fedex moved the boxes to Harare and Mutare. Then Linda and I started to deliver to the kitchens and clusters around Bulawayo. First was Railsteen, the Home of the Salvation Army where we support the kitchen. I visited with Roly Alt and Edgar Keifer. Roly was watching TV in the lounge, and I noted there were a lot of trainee nurses at Railsteen doing the practical part of their training and assisting the elderly there. Edgar was not to well, he is totally blind and stays in bed, he has diabetes and as a result has gone totally blind. Whenever he gets out of bed, he falls over and injures himself, so he is under constant care in his room. Edgar is not in a good head space and has no idea of what is happening outside his room. His complaints are mostly the blindness and loneliness, longing for visitors. As he said to me, one day at a time is all he can do. We delivered at Queen Mary and Edith Duly, these are also kitchens where most of the residents are bedridden. Due to the COVID rules still in effect in Zimbabwe we did not see any of the residents. We loaded the boxes for the deliveries at Coronation Cottages and started the deliveries there. Oldies there are self-reliant and there is no kitchen there. The home is so big that not all the residents receive boxes, and we target the neediest only. There are also some outsiders that pick up from Coronation Cottages. The ones we had contact with all have the same concern, the rate at which the Zimbabwe Dollar is losing value. All pensions are paid out in Zimbabwe Dollars, the rent, water and electricity prices are soaring making it more difficult to get by. We were received with teary eyes of gratitude and raving comments about the contents of the boxes and mostly the thankfulness for the continued support. Having a room where we stay over also has residents not on our list on the doorstep requesting to be added. The prices of the goods that we put into the boxes also increasing as they do, we are unable to assist everyone as the home is too big and this makes for some uncomfortable conversations. That night Linda and I went to bed with heavy hearts after the day’s deliveries, but the following day we know we will continue and help those we can.
On Tuesday Linda was not feeling well, and I was off delivering with Angela. We started by wrapping up the last deliveries at Coronation and then reloading for Masonic Lodge. At Masonic we were welcomed by Mrs. Marie West and Aletta Warner. Again, we discussed the inflation rate and how thankful the oldies are for the boxes. Thank You seems like such a small word and cannot describe how these food parcels affect the lives of the recipients. That was the basic talk for the rest of the week as we delivered to the outsiders at their houses. In between we received conformation as the boxes were dropped off at the homes around the country, Bruce in Gweru, Margot in Kwekwe, every house had the old Rhodie welcome and homely feeling trying with them trying to coerce us into the house for a cuppa. Just imagine having to drink that much coffee or tea in a day – POP! Some places you just could get away with politely refusing it like at Hannes Jovners, where aunty Liz wants to not just bring coffee, but to feed you as well. We get stuck at the same places every time, Rob Heartman who walks next to vehicle still chatting as we try to drive off after already having a half hour visit in the driveway, Jill Battis who had a student in the lounge who she was tutoring from home even at her age, the Tiernan sisters with their chatter, talks of what Jerry says and requests to Madelein, the late Anna Scheeper’s daughter who does some of outsider deliveries. One recipient believes she is cursed and has tried to commit suicide, but she is always bubbly and very talkative, but this time round she was withdrawn and quiet, I was not sure she recognised us as she has to be heavily medicated to help her cope. Every outsider delivery is a personal visit, we get an update on their health, inflation and how very thankful they are. The storyline is the same with every stop, and by Friday we had finally done the last of the deliveries, I call it the odds-and-sods day to wrap up all that has not done during the routine of deliveries. Angela and the crew got dropped off with all their katunda and it was all wrapped up and were ready to head home. We spent the last night having supper with Caroline and Willem. Thanks so much for having us.
Saturday morning just after first light we were off and heading for home, in the general direction of Nelspruit. Or first stop was West Nicolson at Pat Hales, next at Paxi Watson who wanted to give is tomatoes and potatoes, and every time we want to leave, she had something to show us. I think this is done to keep us there longer and eventually we headed for Beit Bridge border. Our departure was without any hassle and the rest of the trip to Malelane was smooth sailing. We arrive back home at about 20:00 on Saturday evening.
To summarise I noted that every person I encountered in Zimbabwe was sure that the economy was on the verge of another collapse which meant a repeat of 2008 where there was no money and the shelves in the shop were bare, fuel shortages and just a complete disaster. They are hopeful for change but do not have any expectations that will bring about the miracle that everyone needs. Their thankfulness for what the ZPSF donors make happen and the difference these boxes make in their lives is verbalized and palpable in their outwards displays of emotion. We had some say that they would starve, was it not for what the donors make possible.
A big thank you to all our donors.
Johan Schultz
Head office South Africa contact details:
Linda Schultz – linda@zpsf.co.za – (C) 079 6082676 (T) 013 7900934
Johan Schultz – johan@zpsf.co.za – 082 4979328
Section 21 Co Reg. 2007/034036/08; NPO Number 096733; Section 18A PBO No 930031642
