THE BUSH! . . . . .and how the Church is blessing many lives!

 The Church gives some generous and wonderful help here in Africa. We were blessed to go with Elder and Sister Neilson, the Humanitarian couple, to "The Bush", also called "The Rurals".  They had to inspect 9 Boreholes; that is what they call the wells that they drill.  The Church drills 60 to 70 feet down to insure an adequate supply of water.  Each Borehole costs approximately $10,000.

                                                                        

Elder Theurer trying out the pump of a borehole placed at a school.  The whole community will walk to this borehole to get water.  Sometimes it is a very long walk!

The girls start young learning to carry on their heads.  These

children were filling and returning to the borehole repeatedly.

We discovered that they were taking care of a garden at their school.

Sister Neilsen is checking out a borehole at another location. The Church maintains the boreholes for the first year to make sure everything goes well.  After the year, they turn it over to the community.  If the borehole is not well-cared for during the first year, they might take out the pump until the care improves or the people are re-trained in what to do.  They want to do everything they can so the Borehole will bless the people for a long time.

This is a common sight.  A mom carrying a 5 gallon bucket full of water on

her head, and another in her hand.  Our guide, Gibson, is standing next to her.

By the way, if you need to use a bathroom in the Bush,
you might be lucky enough to find a "Blair toilet".

Vakadzi means this is for Ladies only.

This is what it looks like on the inside.

Luxury accommodations!

                                                                                         

                                         

Now back to water.  Water is so precious that they have a water committee that oversees all of the boreholes in the "WARD" -- about 24 different "rurals".  Many of the 9 boreholes are in this Ward. The lady in the middle, Teresa, is the "Counsellor", elected by the Ward, and a member of the government of Zimbabwe.

Before we left, Teresa gave me a hug and said, "Please don't forget me."

She knows about the Church.  Her only family, a sister, is a member who 

recently served some kind of a church mission.  I hope our paths cross again.

The family that lived in this home invited us in to see how they live.  This is one of the nicer homes. 

The round building is for cooking, although they do some of the cooking outside.  The square buildings are for sleeping.  They keep animals -- chickens, cattle, goats, if they own them, inside the fence.  The homes in the Bush have not electricity and no water (except what they carry to their home).

I'm posing with the lady of the house.  And a man from the water committee wanted to be in the picture as well.  She was so sweet.  She didn't have many possessions but she proudly showed us her shelf of books, telling us that she had read every one.

Her kitchen.

Gibson is showing us how people brush their teeth in the Bush.  He took a stick off a particular tree and peeled back the bark.  Then he chews on the end a little and uses it to brush his teeth.  

When there is water in the Bush, they can make bricks (for homes and to sell).  We ran across these brick makers close to one of the Boreholes.  This enterprise blesses the life of whole families because they can make a little money - 1000 bricks will bring in between 30 and 50 dollars.

 It starts with mixing river sand and clay, or sand from ant hills, with the water.  This sweet, happy lady had that messy task.  And then she would put the mud into the brick forms.

 The forms got carried one by one to a drying area.

You can see that some are getting dried.  When they reach a certain point, they are put into a homemade kiln.

These people are so resourceful and so hard working!  And so kind!  They were delighted to let us take their pictures, and they loved to see how the pictures looked.  We gave them each a "sweet" (a lollipop -- a huge favorite here with both children and adults).  While we were taking pictures, Gibson was helping them work.

On day two we went to check out this school:  Mayfield Park Primary School in a Rural called  Mazoe.

Sister Neilson, Elder Theurer, and one of the teachers, are standing in one of three classroom doors at the school.  The Church did a Borehole at the school and contributed 

new desks.  The teacher we are standing with teaches Pre-K, K, 1st, and 2nd 

grade.  The other teachers split the grades up to and including age 13.

Some of the students in this Rural have to walk up to 10K to school every day.  There are very few secondary schools, and the nearest one to this school is 15K.  Because of the distance, many of the teenagers drop out after primary school.

The soccer field and play area

Checking the inside of the classrooms.  The students are on holiday right now.  

Bathrooms

In the middle of this picture is the Teacher's private bathroom,

if they don't want to share with the students.

The three teachers are given small cottages to live in while they are teaching. 
They looked big enough for a bed, and a table, a chair, and maybe a few possessions.

This is the chicken coop.  They raise chickens at the school

basically so they can eat them for lunch.

And this is the Kitchen!  Right now the roof needs a little work 😬

but the students are on break right now.  The teachers are tasked

with preparing a meal each day for the students, often the only meal

that the students will eat that day.  Typically they eat chicken, if they

have it, greens and corn from the school garden, and rice or sadza.

Sadza, made out of maize, is the dietary staple of Zimbabwe.

Recess companions!  You never know when a herd of longhorn

cattle might run through the school yard!

If you can catch a couple, you can get them to pull your cart. 

Actually, it is a common sight to see carts drawn by donkeys

or cattle in the Bush.  This is by where we had our meeting with

the water committee, before we went out further into the Bush.

A few pictures of the children from the Rurals/Bush:

And the favorite that we met in the Bush that day is-- The Mouse Catcher:

 This young man was hanging around by the borehole at the school.  Gibson started to
talk with him and realized he'd been hunting mice.  In fact, his pockets were filled with
37 mice!!!  The kids in the Bush catch them, burn off the fur, and then roast them to 
eat. 😳   If he didn't eat them, he could sell them to the other kids (for a snack).
   

Check out his face when he thought Gibson was going to eat 
one of his mice!  With the fur still on!

Recently the Humanitarian couple recognized a need at a Women's Center:
(We didn't see this personally, but loved what the Church did here)

Pregnant women walk for miles to this clinic when they think they are ready to deliver.  So basically they are walking up to 20 miles while in labor!  You can see that when they get there, they would lay on the floor, on cardboard, to have their babies.  The clinic had very little equipment and nothing to sterilize the equipment.  

The Church contributed beds and bedding, bedside cabinets, delivery tables, curtains (there was cardboard on the windows for privacy, but that made it dark), an autoclave for sterilization, needed equipment, etc.

If I remember right, the Church gave them about 10 beds (about all that could fit in the room).  You can see a few of the women who were the lucky recipients on this day.  They were so grateful!


It was truly inspiring to see all the good that the Church has been doing for these wonderful people!  And we enjoyed seeing the Rurals and the Bush.  (There are places more remote, but we haven't been there yet).


And finally, the some of the recent "GEMS":

Elder Holland  -- "Come as you are, a loving Father says to us.  But He adds, Don't plan to stay as you are."

Brigham Young -- "The first and foremost duty is to seek the Lord until we open the path of communication from God to our own soul."

Elder Holland in a missionary training -- The Spirit can't be put off and on like an old sweater.  We must be striving to have it with us every day, every hour, in every aspect of the work.  You can't live in Babylon all day and then hurry over to the City of Enoch to prepare for a lesson.

Elder Oaks in a missionary training on the Sacrament -- Two truths about the Sacrament:
1.  What we take into our mouths is not as important as what we do in our minds. . . Our minds should be concentrating on the meaning of His atoning sacrifice and we should be remembering the Lord  and consciously renewing our covenents with Him.
2.  Because it is broken and torn, each piece of bread is unique, just as the individuals who partake of it are unique.  We all have different sins to repent of.  We all have different needs to be strengthened through the Atonement . . . Strive to think of His sacrifice as specific and unique to you.

Elder Eyring in a Face to Face with the Youth on Prayer --   . . ."Prepare yourself to go before Deity.  Sometimes, when we are most determined, and prepared, and see it as going before the throne of God (this is different than a "chat"), then remarkable things will come."

More Elder Eyring (from the F to F) -- 

God the Father is a personal God, and is personal with us.

[Revelation comes] when we are "quiet inside".  He will wait until we can be quiet enough to hear.  It is still and small.  Stay on your knees!  You can tell it's from the Holy Ghost if it comes with a feeling of peace and comfort, and love of the Savior and the Lord's servants.

We send our love!

Elder and Sister Theurer