Snapshots from the last few weeks!

Sit back and relax as we share with you some photos of what's been going on in the last few weeks!

Dion with Godknows from Isaiah Home of Love in Bulawayo

Dion and Bek with the boys they visited with in 2006

in the abandoned babies ward of Bulawayo Hospital

Elephants at Kruger National Park

Bek with a mail delivery of letters

Owen (Bek's Dad) with Sunboy (on our left) and Tapiwa

Calvin (on our left) and Tapiwa with the new Cricket Set

All the children at the Christmas Hamper Giving

All the stock ready to be placed into Christmas Hampers

The fresh food for the Christmas Hampers

What was in each Hamper

All of the Christmas Hampers ready to go

Bek and Melissa at the Kids Christmas Party

Rhino at Kruger National Park

Sunboy with lollies at the Kids Christmas Party

Susan (Bek's mum) with Tashinga

Farewells

Bek's mum and dad left Zimbabwe yesterday and somehow we all managed to say goodbye without tears. Their time with us went so quickly and we can't believe it's now nine weeks until we go home too.

As their last adventure, we took them to a Lion & Cheetah park where Bek was bitten on the side by a lion... Lion Cub that is. Still we think it makes a good Africa story!

We stayed overnight in Harare in order to get Bek's parents to the airport on time, and then picked up our next lot of supplies before heading back to Chivhu.

(Stay tuned for the next post - a snapshot of photos from the last few weeks!)

Christmas Post

(I'm sorry this is so late; we have been away on Christmas break with no internet - Sasch).

After a few very hectic days we are finally relaxing. On the 23rd we handed out food hampers and gifts to all our feeding program children and cooks. The children had chicken as a special Christmas Eve lunch.

We wish you all a merry and blessed Christmas and a happy new year!

Christmas Blessings

We have just been given balls, stickers and secondhand books to give to the children for Christmas from a lady who 'had to give something away today'.

People can be truly amazing at this time of year.

Chivhu - joy and compassion at Christmas-time

We have only been home a few days and a lot has happened. Today was both fun and sad at the same time. We had a party for our kids club where all the kids got a small gift.

Sadly we were told that one of our youngest children, 2 years old, was abandoned by her mother and found three days later locked in a small room. From what we know she is well.

Please keep this child in your prayers this Christmas.

(After further chatting with Bek, I (Sasch) have found out that this little girl has been able to be sponsored all ready, praise God. Bek was sharing with me that it is truly a miracle that she is not really sick after what she has been through).

Fun & Games!

We have two nights left of our holiday until we get back to Chivhu on Tuesday. We have had a wonderful time, but like all our time lately it has had its challenges (flight dramas, money stolen, car bogged, just to name a few!).

The highlight has been riding elephants for an hour at Victoria Falls - it was so much fun!

We spent some time in Hwange National Park (the largest national park in Zimbabwe), and last night stayed in a really gorgeous resort. As we were in the car yesterday, 3 zebras overtook us and 'escorted' us down the road!

We are looking forward to spending Christmas with Bek's Mum & Dad and our friends in Chivhu. We have lots to organise for all the kids when qw get back, but it will be a lot of fun. Bek's Mum & Dad are with us until the Wednesday after Christmas (30 December) - and then it will be only nine weeks and a bit until we are back home! Time really flies when you're having fun!

We are currently in Bulawayo and are going to spend tomorrow (Monday) with the babies at our friends orphanage. We were able to bring over some things like formula and clothing for the children, and they have been gratefully received.

Holiday Time!

We have spent the last week in South Africa at Kruger National Park and have had a great time.

Tomorrow (December 8) we head to Victoria Falls and will spend a night with friends in Bulawayo on the way.

Things at Vana are going well with 23 new children in the feeding program. We are in the final stages of getting our registration and we are told the certificate should be on its way any day now.

Continuation...

Well, I see Sasch has already beaten me (Bek's sister-in-law, Brooke), to updating the blog for Rebekah & Dion!!

Rebekah's brother, Earle Swan, spoke to Rebekah's parents and as of last Friday (ish) they had made it safely into Capetown.

No updates as of yet, but please continue to pray for all their safety and also for the power issues to be sorted out. I pray also that the visit from Bek's parents will rejuvinate, re-energise and renew both Bek & Dion in continuing to do what the Lord has called them to do and that the Holy Spirit will continue to minister through Dion & Rebekah as they reach out to others in their community.

I encourage you all if you haven't already, to keep those sponsor letters coming. The smiles on the children's faces when they receive them are absolutely priceless. Take some time out to write to your sponsor child especially as Christmas draws nearer every day.

Until next time when either Sasch or I can keep you updated :)

A Tough Week in Chivhu

Whilst Bek's parents are in Africa, Sasch is doing these updates for us.

It's been a really horrible week but we made it through alive.

The problems with our power have continued with a power surge that we think has blown up multiple things. We haven't been able to assess the damage as we have not had power since it happened 3am Thursday morning.

This happened to lots of people who sadly no longer have TVs. With any luck it will be all fixed by the time this hits the blog.

We are going on holidays next week and are looking forward to spending some time with Bek's parents.

Note from Sasch: This has been a pretty rough week for the two of them, with lots of things having to be organised before they head off on their holiday. I'm sure they would appreciate your prayers that it will all be done in time. Please pray too that their holiday is enjoyable and relaxing, with no illnesses, delays or lost luggage!

Not much news

Well, news from Zim has been a bit quite this last week and won't improve this side of the new year. We, Mum and Dad Swan, leave on Wednesday 25th for a long anticipated visit to Zim and as Mum Swan does most of the blogging, news may be a bit thin on the ground. The lovely Brooke (sister-in-law to Bek) has agreed to take up the task of keeping everyone up to date, but it will depend on that all important telephone connection.

So, stay tuned, you never know when a message may appear. Thanks for supporting Bek and Dion, I'll be able to give you all a first hand account of how they are doing in 2010. Untill then, have a blessed Christmas, don't leave Christ out, or you may just end up with a 'mas'

Susan

Wet Season has arrived

Well, the rainy season has arrived. This is a good thing for crops but like everything else comes with its cahllenges like leaking roofs, wet fire wood and the challelnge of getting from A to B and the horrible mozies. With this we set our mozie net up las week which as a challeng in itself.

Oh how we long for the doors and windows that seal and are not full of gaps! Last night we were overtaken by insects and this morning I swept up over 40 from our small loung and kitchen not to mention the 20 I found in the kitachen sink. Argh. Add to that the number of dead in the field out side our front and back doors plus the ones still hanging on to life in hiding spots around the house.

Reading sponsors letters.

We are having lots of problems with our phone so if you text us and we don't reply assume we didn not recieve it or that you did not reciebve our reply and try again!

Thanks to the sponsorship of the children we were able to buy each of them a pair of new school shoes. We gave them out yesterday and prise the Lord there ewas only 1 pair out of 30 that did not fit. The children were very exicited, oneof the girls was almost in tears and just sat looking at them. Before they went home they broke out in song, singing 'God is good He's good to me, He's good to you, yes God is good'

Midia, cooking Sudsa for lunch program

It turns out Dion has a hidden plumbing talent. Since we got here we have had next to no water pressure in our kitchen. In the last month it has gotten to the point where we don't bother and collect water from the bathroom sink. Today Dion decided he was sick of waiting for someeone to get the plumber in and took the spout off to find it full of crap including two mesh ends and a valve to restrict the water flow. With all the rubbish cleaned out we now have a wonderful flow of water in the kitchen sink. This is extremly exciting.

m.

The news is spreading

Dion and Leanon

News of what is happening here is spreading and this week the children recieved letters from New Zealand. Yesterday they spent the afternoon writting back. 4 More children received letters from their sponsers which is always exiting. We now have 31 in the lunch program, 28 of who are sponcered.

Death always present

Death is a sad yet normal part of life here and today we were informed that the mother of one of the children in our lunch progam has passsed away. She has been sick since giv ing birth to her youngest child early this year. For those who pray, keep this family in your prayers.

Vana nearly ready to open its doors

Kids running towards Rebekah

Finally, positive news about the Orphanage. The report has come back and there are only 2 things that need addressing. A place for sick kids to be isolated from the rest of the kids in the house (easily fixed, the foster mother's room) and the word Orphanage has to be taken out of the name.

So, it looks like things with the registration are moving a bit faster now and if things go well we might have it by the end of November. Please pray for this as it's been a long time comming.

Back to Work

Bek serving poridge

Yesterday we dropped Bek's aunt & uncle off at the airport which marked the end of our holiday. We had a great two weeks off. One of the heightlightrs was playing with Joe & Cameron the 3 month old lion cubs att the Lion and Cheetah park in Harare. Now its back to work untill another break in December.

Back from Holidays

We are back from Cape Town. We had a great time off and looking forward to what God has for us in the next and last 5 months of our time here.

An update direct from Dion and Rebekah :)

I am not totally sure where we left our last email it does not seem like long since we sent it. However we are on holidays in Cape Town so we thought we would make use of the access to the internet. Aside from that our friends Rob and Liz who kindly welcome us into their house each month to use the internet are having a baby at the end of October, so we have decided not to bother them this month.

As I said we are on holidays in Cape Town for a week while a good friend of ours from Australia is here attending a work conference. We head back to Zimbabwe on the 9^th and Bek’s aunt and uncle arrive the following day. They are with us until the 14^th so we look forward to showing them the place we have been calling home for the last 7 months. We both went into holiday mode about a week before we were actually on holidays. Thankfully we are always being told that we are too busy so no one minded that we had slowed down.

Three more children received letters from their sponsors in Australia. They were so happy and could not stop smiling. One of the girls, Tafadzwa, was particularly overjoyed and expressed how happy she was to be known by someone in Australia. What so many people here want is to know that they have not been forgotten and for a child to receive a letter from a total stranger is such a HUGE thing for them. If you sponsor a child through any organization I encourage you to regularly write to them. It makes such a big difference to them that it’s hard to express in words how it makes the kids feel.

The children were also very happy to go back to school much sooner than expected. The teachers did not get their pay rise and are trying to negotiate with parents for them to subsidize their wage. This has not gone down well with families as they are already struggling to pay fees. Another good thing is that the children are having extra lessons in the afternoon to catch up on the missed work. This is a tad bit sad for us as we don’t get to see as much of the children these days. It makes the days a little boring without them around.

In last month’s email we mentioned the soccer goals that Dion had made. Since our last trip to Harare they have not been used much as the children have been doing longer school days, so we have been working on nets for them. This has not been a quick task at all but in fact a series of over 500 knots to hand make the nets. But hey it only cost us $15 for the giant ‘ball-o-string’. We had hoped to have both nets completed before we left for Cape Town but sadly it was just too big of a job.

Despite the fact I said we slowed down a lot leading up to our holiday there was still a lot happening around VANA. Our store room has had a major clean out. This was very very exciting for us as there was stuff everywhere and now just maybe it can be a working storeroom rather than a junk yard. I think I (Bek) made a comment along the lines of ‘oh my gosh the storeroom does have walls’

I think we mentioned in the last email that ZESA (Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority) came and connected the distribution box for the VANA houses. If we did not mention it, we are now. Anyway a trench had to be dug from the box to the houses (not a small job). This was done about 3 weeks ago. You would think that our electrician would have come and run the cables to the houses but alas it took the bore pump being fixed before they ran a cable (a temporary one). It was a bit like oh the pump is being fixed we must connect the power, in the mean time we were like hellooooo people over here.....:) If you are not aware we were running off power from the church. This meant we didn’t have a full power supply and any item with an element in it like a kettle or toaster or stove drains a lot of power and we could only use one at a time. After 6 months we have become accustomed to cooking dinner one thing at a time. This often included the fluro which would randomly turn off when you had the stove on. The funny thing was (and we were not at all surprised) when Thomas came down to tell us they were turning the power off so they could run the cable, the power for the whole town went off and we could not benefit from it till the next day. Let’s just say we were both jumping up and down in excitement the next morning when we had 3 elements on at the same time!

Moving on. VANA purchased two 5000 litre water tanks this month. This was really important as the existing setup was not going to be enough to supply all 3 houses. We had two men come and build the stands for them then another two come and fix our bore pump and connect the tanks up. It took quite a few days to get it all done and it was a very amusing sight watching them get the tanks on to the top of the 4mtr high stands. The guys who came and did the work were very friendly always referring to Bek as Madam. We went up one day and found they were cooking muputi (roasted maize) in a shovel......lol. During this time Dion and some of the local guys also made use of the truck and did a few trips out to a farm owned by Thomas’s (one of our guards) mum to collect fire wood. We should not have to buy any for a very long time.

There was a baptism service at church on the 20^th of September. This was a massive affair for the church. Basically how it worked was the week before the pastor asked everyone who has not been baptised to come down the front and they filled the front of the church. He then explained that they were to come to bible study for a teaching on baptism and then the following week be baptised. It was not so much ‘who wants to be baptised’ but ‘if you are not’. I am not sure how many were baptised my guess would be about 30-40. It was one person after another for probably about 45mins. Three of our older children from the feeding programme were baptised which was exciting to see. We both decided that it was not our style of baptism with a wave of water going up with every forceful push under, we were surprised no one came up coughing and spluttering. It was defiantly the most people I have seen baptised in one service, exciting to see so many making that choice.

I think that pretty much covers the last few weeks. Aside from us both feeling pretty worn out and run down I think the most difficult thing we faced was our coffee crisis. We tried to re-supply last monthly shop but the only coffee available was the super expensive stuff US$20 for 100gm, simply not in our budget. Thankfully we had a little stash of Gloria Jean’s that had been sent to us. Still, we had to limit ourselves to one cup a day until we got to Cape Town! Maybe this accounts partly for our feeling run down, LOL.

Till next month

God bless from

Dion and Bek

Wow, water and power

Midia Cooking Sudsa for lunch

Our two new water tanks are now up on their stands waiting to have pipes connected. The guys ared on their 5th whole looking for the existing pipes to join onto. Soon we will have a much better supply of water all 5000 litres extra yay!!!

This might not sound to exiting to most peoople, but thismorning we had the stove, the kettle and the toaster on all at the same time for the first time since we got here. It did not even slow the motor in the fridge down.

This has to be the best news yet, the only thing that will top this is Children in the houses!!! (Susan)

progress at church and school

Kid's club.

Yesterday at Church ther was a baptism service where over 30 people were baptised, two were children from our feeding program.!

We noticed a lack of children around today, when we asked Maria where her boys were we found out that schools re opened today. We didn't know if teachers got thier pay rise but the kids are in school which is just fantastic.

Dion and Roderick

We have heard that at least 2 boarding schools have been quarantined due to suspected swine flu. One of them is where pastor Makoni's daughter Shalom is. Please be praying for all students and staff.

This kids got a future!

Children waiting in line for their porridge

All over Harare there are children begging for $4 school fees. Sadly you can't trust that's where it is going so we don't normally give them anything. This week however Dion meet a young girl who had made the most adorable windmills out of plastic, wife and straws as a way of raising $'s. It was nice to see a young person working towards their school fees rather than asking for a hand out. So, now we have a really cute blue and yellow windmill.!

Witchcraft and other stuff

First another apology from Susan. I've had a bit of a week and some of the following messages were sent to me on Monday and here it is Thursday and I'm only just getting around to blogging them. Sorry to those of you who are using this to keep up with Bek and Dion's adventures, but some times even mums get a bit overwhelmed with life.

There is a lot of witch carft in Aftica and it's not uncommon at church to see someone being delivered from a demon. This Sunday however we watched this take place with a young girl a about 11 years who we love heaps. Keep praying for this country, the devil has such a strong grip on it and it desperately needs God.

We had a potential water crisis this week. We had no water all day Saturday so Sunday we mentioned it, the guys checked the boar pump, it was not pumping, eeek! after some more investiging they found a large leak 1 of the pipes and it was quickly fixed. Disaster avoided - praise God.

Today (14th Sept) marks 6 months since we left Brisbane. We recieved a wonderful gift to celebrate the occasion ... 2 boxes of vegies! They were actualy donated for the lunch program from a wonderful white couple who live in Chivhu. We have met a few 'murungu' now who call Chivhu home and have been invited to join them four morning tea sometime and meet some more.

Blessings come in different ways.

Its been a quiet week for us, we have taken a few mornings off. This morning I (Bek) went for a walk, on the way I was greeted by every 2nd person which is a normal thing now. As I was walking and thinking how great God has been to us I again heard my name. This time I looked up 2 see about 20 children running towards me yelling out my name. I just smiled and thought that all the sacrifices we have made to be here are so totally worth it.

You know you have been away from home too long when you find yourslef saying 'what do we call that in Australia?" LOL

Vana Sponsership

The Vana Sponsorship program is up and running and 3 of the childrne recieved their first letters this week. They loved reading them and replying 2 them. Many of the children are now asking us when their lettersw are going 2 chome. Visit the vana website if you are interested in helping one of our amazing awsome children.

Teacher' Strike

The teachers strike may last a while. They've said no return to work until they get a pay rise. Last strike they were promised rise so retuned 2 work and never got it. During strike many are offering paid lessons in their homes.

Blessings and tears

Yesterday (I) Bek unintentionally made 3 grown women cry. There is a women's conference in Oct, the fee is not much, but beyond most, so we blessed 6 ladies by paying for them. When they were told it had been paid 3 of them immediatly started to cry. They struggle so much and werer so overjoyed it even brought me to tears.

School is not in

Today the kids were ment to return to school. However teachers accross the whole country have again gone on strike. Previous strikes have seen schools closed for as long as a full term. Teachers are paid a low $150US a month and say they won't go back till they get a pay rise.

Back to school

sorry this first section is a bit late. It came while I was away and I simply forgot to blog it!!
29/8
We are coming to the end of the school holidays and most children will go back on Tuesday. Most children would be dreading this and keen to stay on holidays but not here. They are all very eager to go back, they understand what a privilege it is. How ever for the caregivers it comes with the stress of again finding $4 chool fees.
1/9
Today is a land mark day. No we don't have rego yet, Bek however has made it through her first winter in 8 years without getting bronchitis. Praise God!!

Awsome God reminds us He is here.

Its been another busy 2 days in Harare. however for a change they have been very successful. Thanks to the donations from people in Australia we were able to get fans for the houses and also some supplies to make soe mini soccer goals for the kids. Thanks to everyone who continues to support Vana.

This is totally random but so totally cool. Last night we were taking dinner to the Guards as we have every night since we got here, we noticed somthing for the first time in 5 months. When the moon is in the right spot, the shadow from the satelite dish on each house is in the shape of a cross. truly we tell you, God is here.

The generousity of strangers

A whole ago a friend's friend noticed we were eating peanuts so she gave us a small bag of them. Today we were given a big bag from the same person. We don't really know this person and ahve been reflecting on how rare it is for a pserson to give a gift to someone they don't even really know. This lady (Lucia) is a great reminder of how we can be truly generous.

Half way mark

We are fast approaching the half way mark of our time here in Zim. So far its going really quickly and everyday we are reminded that before we know it we will be on our way home. We often feel like we have to have an amazing story or event to Blog each week, but in reality life in Chivhu has its routines and many days look just like the day before.

Changing traditions

Its quite normal to see the women sweeping the church groujnds with grass brooms early Satureday, but today I saw a very strange and rare thing. Teenage guys sweeping! I had to get the camera. Aparently the youth now have to help the ladies with the cleaning duties, which I think is great. There are very traditional roles here so its nice to see the young men helping out.

Each month Vana is donated 200gk of mealie meal (used to make sudza) of this we only use about 50kg a month. This puts us in a great position to help needy people. On sunday we were able to give 250kg to 15 families in the church who currently have none at their homes. Sudza is a staple food here and its horrible that many people can't even afford such a basic food. It makes me wonder what they are eating.

After 5 weeks without hot water our hot water system finally has its new thermostat and we can again have a nice hot shower.

My apologies for the lateness in posting this blog. My week has been a bit that way, if you know that I mean. There are two messages, recieved close together on the 4th. I know, today is the 7th, all I can say is Sorry!! Susan.

W have had uninterupted elictricity4 about 36 hours now. This should make us happy but sadly like any othe rime we have had power for this long it is a result of a bus accident that filled the morgue. There has been 2 in the last 4 days. This is the same road the prime ministers wife died on last year.

Well, it's been nearly 4 days if you don't count the 2 hours it went out sunday night.

Another step forward

This week the paper work for the registration of the orphanage was at long last taken to the regional welfare office. From there it will go to the head office. This is a big step forward towards getting kids in!
The porridge we were given by the WFP expires @ the end of August. We still had 325kg and ther is no way we would use it in 4 weeks so we gavie it away :) 3 needy families were given a 25kg bag each, the rest was shared out to 100 families. It was a busy afternoon but nice to see the food would not go to waste.

Just when your feeling down!

It's been said before and no doubt will be said again that life in Zim is not an easy one. Not just for us but for every one who lives here. This last few weeks has been had as we often feel restricted what we can do to help people and it does get you down. But God is so good and all it takes is an afternoon like today, hanging with the kids and seeing them so happy to make all thats frustrating fade into the background. It's then we can see that we are in fact helping by just being here.

Progress for Orphanage

Chaising Bubbles!

We are slowly moving towards registration for the orphanage. We had another two inspections last week. It's a slow process but at least it is moving. The Zim Government sset this last weekend aside as a weekend to focus on peace reconcillation and forgiveness. Three things that are really needed, not just in this country but in every country and in every life.

We have many 'only in Africa' moments, this morning was one of them. Some of the children came two breadfast with bags of stones, turns out the school wants to build a new building so all students are required to bring 2kg of stones for this new building.

Reuniting a Cat!!

Dion and Calvin

(new pictures but resolution isn't great so I hope you can view them okay)

24 July

A young boy came to the church today holding a cat that looked just like the one we found. It turns out he bought 2 from a plot and had lost one last week. he has told there was a cat at our church so came looking. I took him to our house and reunited him with his cat. Its a bit sad but we are glad he is back with his owner.

Last night we had some frinds over for dinner. We treated them to pizza. None of them had ever had pizza before so it was so nice to see them enjoying it. They do so much up here and we would be lost without them so it was a great way to be able to thank them.

25th July

We had a record 106 children at kids club on Friday. As you can imagine it was a busy afternoon but it was great fun.

Porridge supplies

Leon, learning to read!

This morning was a very exciting moment........we came to the end of our first 25kg bag of porridge. Only another 22 bags to go before the end of August when it expires!

A challenging week

part if the feeding program

Sorry our updates have been a bit irregular, it's not from lack of things to say, it's quite the opposit there is much to say, to much for a text. This week has been a challinging one. Our house keeper no longer works for us and our friend wants to help us but is worried that others will think she 'stole' the job to be closer to us. Jealousy is such a big issue here and it's sad that others jealousy is preventing her from doing what she really wants to do.

In other news Dion has had a flu and Bek has a 2nd shadow, her name is Vanessa.

Visa's at last

It has finally happened after 4 months and much frustration we have our working visa. This is a huge relief for us as it was causing a great deal of problems trying to get them!

Bek and Ashley who looks after our housework and laundry

We are enjoying our 3rd day in a row of sunshine. Althoug it seems

it is still 2 cold for most people and its quiet at the church. Neither Dion nor I are the garden type however we have rather a large vegi garden outside our front door. So we have been making the most of the sun and working in the garden. Dion staking up the tomatoes and I have been harvesting snow peas and carrots. I think our thumbs are turning green or is that brown from the dirt, i'm not sure.

It's Winter!!

Dion and Dan

The cold and windy weather has been joined by its friend wet weather. Not to bad yet, just drizzle. The good news is that for the first time in weeks we got into a warm bed last night thanks to our trusty Zimbabwean hot water bottle. Its a water bottle with very hot, not quite boiling water in it :)

Not quite as nice as my Australian hot water bottle it doesnt dtay hot for as long but it does the job/

Its winter

Todays top temp 12 degrees plus wind, lots and lots of wind. You just can't get warm, not even with 5 layers, a beani, a scarf, a hoodie, goloves and 2 pairs of socks!

Note from Susan: Spoke to Bek on Tuesday night, they are still having problems with their working visa. I won't go into details, but all the paperwork is correct, but there was a timing issue that has in turn caused some finanicial issues. Please pray that this final hurdle is overcome quickly or they will need to leave the country until it is sorted.

A crazy week in the life of Dion and Bek

It’s hard to believe we are coming up on 4 months here in Zimbabwe. We do our best to keep our blog updated through Bek’s mum....THANKS MUM. However there is only so much you can express in a text message, or two, or three sometimes 4. The last week has been so busy and totally insane. Monday and Tuesday saw Bek interview over 80 orphans for our feeding programme. That was very draining both physically and mentally. Wednesday we headed into Harare...lets just say its was a disastrous two days. Between our transport that was meant to have been organized but wasn’t, Our laptop power supply going AWOL, the truck breaking down, then getting back on the road only to have to waiting for an hour and a half for our black market diesel coupons.......let’s just say I’m surprised we got anything done. We were both very happy when we got home on Thursday night. Friday saw the first day of our kids club. Its only taken me (bek) 4 months to get it going..hey I have been busy. Anyway the afternoon was a huge success we had over 60 children come and that was with a big school sports thing on so this coming Friday will be interesting.
By Friday night we were both ready for an early night a sleep in and a nice relaxing Saturday. A sleep in we got, a restful day we did not. No sooner had I turned on the laptop to do my diary The Power went off....Quickly followed by a knock at the door. It was Tendai coming to tell us there was a problem with the transformer....smoke....fire....grass...oil....’say that again please’. He and Thomas had found the grass below the transformer on fire ( and turned our breaker off). The fuse was sparking and dropping on the grass hence the fire. Thankfully it stopped sparking but we spent the rest of the morning trying to get hold of the ZESA (Zimbabwe electricity supply authority) technician to turn it off and check it. We headed into town to the ZESA office to get the technicians number, with no luck calling him we went off looking for diesel so we could drive the 50km to Mvuma where he is based. When we got there we discovered we had missed him by 15mins on his way to Gweru and we were not going there. We were left with nothing we could do but go home and wait till someone got hold of him. There went our restful morning. Thankfully the ZESA guys came the next day and replaced the fuse and its all good now.
I’m so glad our life is not always that hectic. It is busy however, a good busy that is.
It getting late (preparing this ahead of getting online) and my brain is no longer functioning. In fact I think I have been blankly staring at the screen for about 5 mins now. So till next time happy blogging. Don’t forget to keep checking the blog and the Vana web site www.vana.org.au. Feel free to email us we might not get it right away but we will get it.

Feeding program Cooks: Sheila, Maria and Monica

A few weeks ago Dion spoke to a guy from the World food bank and was told we would recieve some food. Yesterday while we were in Harare they delivered 24 litres of oil, 100kg of dried peas, and just under 600kg of porridge. They will be coming back to chek that we are using it and hopefully will continue to give us more food.

Finally after 3 months we have started our kids club. Today (Friday) was the first day, we had 62 children. There was a big sports day on for the schools this arvo so it will be interesting to see how many we have next week. The kids had a great time and we think it was a huge success. I (Bek) am working with Kudzi who will run the program after we leave. She is very excited to be a part of it and to learn new ideas.

24 June

One of the 3 houses at Vana

Another crazy moment in a crazy place. Two of our boys were sent home from school today because their books are not covered in plastic. Life here is already so hard, Come to school with no food or no shoes but plastic book covers, well you have to have them. Y

Dion with some of the boys already in the feeding program.

What a day. We are looking to increase our feeding proagram by 24 children. Today we had 70 children come to be interviewd, I got through 50 and will do the other 20 tomorrow. Dion was a champ and kept a lot of the boys busy playing soccer while they waited. Keep praying for thesse families who are just so desperate for any help they can get

20th June

Photo: Kingston and Thomas Gaurds

It took over a week for the plummer to come and fix our shower and another week till he fixed our bathroom sink. He came to fix the cold pipe and left a leak in the hot, hmm, interesting.

Yeh the water leaks have all been fixed, for now anyway! I (Bek) cooked sudza all on my own tonight & the guards ate it so I must have done ok. This week I have started teaching 5 women to make necklaces with seed beads. Dion has spent less time in the house and lots of time playing soccer with the kids. The volley ball team have uped and moved to the high school on the other side of town which is a shame as Dion had been enjoying playing.

17 June

Sewing ladies

There is so much we could blog about at the moment. Bek has had a stomach bug and if I ever wanted some food from Aust last night was it when I wanted some premiums. Toiday we took cake kkup to the sewing ladies, Kudzi was excit

ed as it was her daughters 1st birthday. So we had a little party. We have had fun with water, lots of leaks around the place we are getting used to the water being off regulaly.

Photo: Harvessting Maize.

It's been two weeks now that the town water has been off for. We are blessed to be running off the bore, that is when we have power. No power means no water. I was talking to some of the ladies today and asked how they get water. Nolean has a wind mill but many have to go to neighbours to use their wells. Its not the cleanest of water but sadly it is all they have at the moment.

10 June

sorry for all the spelling errors in the last blog, I must have left my education at work yesterday. - Susan

Had a visit Tuesday from World Food Program. May be getting some food from them to assist with our feeding program! They found out about VANA thru District Administrator's office, who learned about VANA thru the prayer day. Some good connections starting to happen!

Some of the kids involved in the feeding program.

9th June

Well its been 9 weeks since Donna, Errol and the 4 spencde boys coame to Chivhu and today they fly home. I must admit there have been a fe tears on my behalf (Bek) since leaving the airport. I often look at our cdurrent laives and think is this rally us living here in Zim and everyday I am amazed that God has chosen us to do his work. Pray for us as we continue to face daily challenges.

Post script!
About those daily challenges I just went to 5 different supermarkets trying to find milk!

Prayer meeting

Its been really busy here at Vana. On Saturday there is a big combined chures prayer meeting being held on the property to pray for the roads as there is always a lot of accidents. There is going to be a lot of VIPs, its a very

big day. Today we had some prisoners clearing the land, their guard invited me (Bek) to join them for lunch lol. Dion spent the day helping clear out the top house as it will be used on the day. Please juoin us in praying 4 safety on the roads.

3td June

Its a lovely sunny day here in Zim. We blessed our feeding program cooks today with shirts and a little pack with tooth paste/brushes, soap, shampoo and candles it was smiles and laughing all round. They have been taking great delight in teaching me shona, todays word is man'a which means craked skin. My poor cracked feet were the focus point of the converstaion much to everyones amusement.

I which you really could caputre the moment in a photo as I sit looking out our front door at the beautiful colours of dusk. Listening to the kids play and wishing I could stay in this moment of peace and quiet for a little longer. Now if only the power would come back on so I could cook dinner. Oh the life.

31 May

Good news! We finaly have our working visa underway. It will probably take a while to get the piece of paper, but it has been aproved and we have been given a temporary visa which means one more pressure has been lifted. The houses were inspected and have been passed as structualy sound, with just a few things that need to be addressed before we take children in.
Errol is slowly improving but I think he is looking forward to returning to Oz. Things will change once he and Donna leave, up until now, everyone has been refering to them, but we will finaly be more involved in the process and with children moving in things are going to get busy. Keep praying for us!!! Thanks for all your support

Help! Bek has sent me about 36 pictures to post, but I only seem to be able to do them one at a time. Anyone out there know how to do it? I'm not realy a computer dullard but blogging is new to me so any help would be appreciated. my email address is susanswan6@gmail.com

Thanks Susan

30th May
Well another 2 hour drive into Harari. Ist stop immigration and with any luck we will get our visa today. But top priority is taking Errol back to Chivhu after a few days rest at a freinds place. Back in Chivhu the health inspector is coming this arvo to chek out the houses and tell us what needs to be done/fixed in order for us to take on kids.

Sickness strikes

How quickly things can change, the previous blog was a message from Rebekah sent late on Monday, the following two paragraphs are messages I have just discovered on my phone, sent only a short time ago.

Please pray for Errol Spence who is not well & has been taken to hopsital to have blood tests. Diane, who has gone home now is also sick witht he same symptoms and in hopsital att he sunshine coast. Also pray for the town of Chivhu and the church here . The devil is on the attack but in the words of Jane, 'the devil is a loser' we know that God is with us that the devil has already lost.

Second Message:
Errol has just been diagnosed with malaria and on a drip and medication. Diane who came over and is now home has also been sick so we assume she also has it.

27th May

Another sunny afternoon surrounded by awesome children. Today I gave them 2 new very bright colorfull balls and playing with them is all they want to do. That and watch me type this message. Its so great to see them playing happily like all children should. Its great to give th;em a few hours a daywhere all they have to worry about is who took the ball off them

25h May

Another trip into Harari and another attempt to get a working visa. Another list of things they want from us. I hope we get it soon!

I have been thinking about how nothing here is simple or easy. Going to the shop is not even a siple taske. Today I wanted to buy something for 50c buat was not able as they did not have change smaller than a $1. Often you will hve to buy something extra to make your purchace an even $ as they have no change.
(I've decided to write the blog pretty much the way Bek sends the messages to me, so I hope i'm not confusing anyone. I also don't alway get to blog her messages the day she sends them. Susan)

Dion and Bek finally blogging!

It’s hard to believe we have been here 2 months now. I hope everyone has been following our blog at www.dionandrebekah.blogspot.com. That’s the best way to keep updated with what we are doing. My lovely mum is keeping our blog updated for us. There is no internet in Chivhu and I doubt we will get connected there anytime soon. We can connect in Harare, however it can still be a bit hit and miss. So yes, you can send us emails, we just might not reply.
So how does one sum up 2 months in Zimbabwe into one email....they make it a long one.....READ THE BLOG.......

It’s been a busy 2 months and has gone really fast. We spent the first 3 weeks staying with Pastor Makoni and his family as there was no power or water at Vana due to the transformer blowing up after having its oil stolen. It was a good first few weeks here meeting everyone and starting to build friendships. The day after we arrived in Chivhu we got word the container had arrived, so we turned around and went back to Harare to unload it and bring it all back to Chivhu. We then faced the rather large task of sorting through everything.

We headed into Harare to meet up with the Spence family who had just arrived from Australia. For those of you who don’t know they are the founders of Vana. Errol has been travelling to Zimbabwe for over 12 years importing artefacts into Australia. Their neighbour Diane also came with them. Her plans were to teach some ladies to sew. We took a few days off over Easter and went to the Eastern Highlands to a national park called Nyanga.

We got back to Chivhu and moved into Vana with the Spence family and Dianne. Sadly not all the houses were set up and ready for people to live in. As the power situation was still not fixed, it was arranged that until the transformer was replaced we and the church would take power from a nearby house (in agreement with them of course). The Spence family moved into our house and we set up a room in the middle house and that’s about all the space there was to start with, one little room. We all eat together in the one house so it was just like having a detached room lol. Kinda like a granny flat now that we can use a few other rooms. We have also had Donna’s parents here for a few weeks, so it’s been a busy little house. We will move into our house once the Spence family return to Australia in 2 weeks, and then it will be just Dion and I living at Vana.

The electricity situation is fun... because we are not connected to the transformer yet, we are connected to the church. We can only use two elements in the kitchen at once. Eg the kettle and one hot plate. Or one hot plate and the fry pan. Lately we have only been able to use one or the power trips, which means a walk in the dark up to the church to flick the breaker back on. It makes cooking for 8 adults and 4 children quite a task.

We are getting into a routine of day to day life. We are running a feeding program Monday - Friday so that keeps Rebekah busy in the late morning and lunch time. After the children eat we encourage them to stay and play games. So we spend a lot of time in the afternoon hanging out with the kids. Standing on the road singing songs looking silly to the locals as they walk past. I have found the best way to pull yourself out of a bad/sad mood is to go sing with some kids on the side of the road. You just can’t help but smile especially when the locals walk past and have a giggle at you. Dion is busy with Errol and a few of the church guys fixing things up around the houses in the mornings then you can normally find Dion playing volleyball anytime from 2pm onwards. I plan to start a kids club on Friday afternoons. As yet that has not happened. I think I’m quickly slowing down to the African pace. Most of Sunday is consumed with church. Sunday school is 9:30-10:30 and I try to make it each week. Church follows at 10:30 and finishes at around 2pm yes that’s right 3 ½ hours..... so next time you think church is dragging on please think of us on our hard wooden chairs.

There are so many stories of what we are doing and people we are meeting and becoming good friends with. Too many to include in this email it’s already too long. That and my lack of emailing is why you have to read the blog.

If you have made it to the end of this email I would like to say (as the children would say) WELL DONE, WELL DONE, KEEP IT UP, SUPER!

I don’t feel like I have said enough, yet I also feel like I have said too much.

Til next time.
Bek and Dion

P.S. Feel free to send us an SMS, it’s nice to know people are thinking about us. Our number is +263913237129. Remember to put your name on it too, as we’ve had to replace our phone after Bek ‘sat’ on the one we brought with us.

20th May
What better way to make people laughthan getting them to be silly. The kids have been learning the song makin meldody & Kudzie wants them to sing it in church on sunday. The sewing ladies wanted to know whot it was so I got them up and sining this silly action song. Wasn't long before all the kids were at the door laughing at us.

19th May
Let me start with an apology. Bek has sent a number of messges that I haven't blogged for her. So to those of you who use this site as a way of keeping up with what is happening, (and to Bek and Dion), I'm sorry, life just gets like that sometimes. I've listed the messages in the same order that I recieved them, so it may read a bit disjointed.

Okay so now to their news.
The schools have allowed some of the children to go back but they had until Monday 18th to pay their fees.

There are currently 25 children in the feeding program, and three new ladies helping with the cooking..

Bek is having the odd difficult day, but after telling Kudzi that the country was making her cranky, she was laughed at and recieved a hug which seemed to make it all a bit better. Simon has told them he want's them to stay forever, so they must be doing something right.

The ladies who have been learning to sew have been talking about making things to sell and Bek has been encouraging them to keep dreaming big dreams of what they can do. They have been given a large bag of fabric, they wer so excited some twer raising thier arms thanking God, Graciousness was almost crying. Keep these ladies in your prayes as they continue to trust God with their hospes and dreams.

Latest message that has just come in:
Its hard to believe we ahve been hear 2 months now we are feeling some of the difficulties of living in such a different place but the Lord is with us always, amen. Dion had his birthday on Saturday, it was a nice day, spent a home relaxing.
We are still needing help in getting some school fees paid Please contact us if you would like to help with this..


Comments from Susan
When we spoke to them on Sunday Bek sounded like she was realy struggling. Dion seems to be doing fine, but I am concerned about Bek, I think some things have not gone the way she had hoped and frustration is getting the better of her. The victories, like the feeding program and the ladies learning to sew sometimes just done't seem enought when you can see so much need and having to rely on me to get all their new out must also be a great frustration. Please keep praying for them and sending them messges of support. I know how much that means to them. If you have to use this blog, that is fine, I will pass the messages on, either through text or when we ring them.

11th May

Where to start? They now have soccer posts up and I think Dion is looking forward to developing the next (maybe first) Zimbabwe Soccer team! Power is a constant problem, with one section of Chiviu still without power. Vana isn't connected to the mains power yet and get their power through the Church. I'm not sure how that works but with the new transformer in place, they are hoping that they will be able to connect Vana to that and have something close to a constant source of electrisity.

They beleive that the telephone line has now been repaired and that they will be able to finaly get some internet connection, but it will only be dial-up and not very predictable.

The children, are slowly growing to trust them, one slept on Rebekah's lap through Church on Sunday, so things are begining to develop there. The latest problem to hit is the school sending home any of the children that haven't been able to pay the $5us fee for the term. They didn't say how may kids that this affected but I would say quite a few.

I'll leave it at that, I'm sure there was something else they wanted me to pass on but I have left my mobile phone at work and the information is in that. I'll probably do a new post in a few days. Rebekah is texting me constantly with news, and as I have said, we ring them every week. They sound happy, well and relaxed.
Owen & Susan

6 May update

Still not working visa, but an extention for 30 days on their visiters visa while they are waiting for the papers to arrive in Australia. I have to laugh every time I go to post something to them, Australia post tell me how many days it will take to arrive, I still can't work out how they can estimate how long Zimbabwe post will take to deliver anything, so far they have been out by at least 10 days! The paperwork that was only going to take 6 days to get there was sent 14 days ago!!

Okay the rest of their news. Chivhu has been without power for nearly a week now but it is so unpredictable that I don't think anyone is surprised when it goes off. There are others much worse off, so Bek and Dion are not complaining.
Thats about it for this time.
Owen & Susan

Power - well nearly

The power transformer has arrived!!!!! Now the wait is for the officials to hook it up, but hey one step at a time. Bek is also very exited about an increase in the children involved in the feeding program, which now has 30 children involved. They gave them all a set of new cloths the other day, which were worn with pride the following day.

On the down side, the documents sent from Australia 2 weeks ago for their visa application haven't arrived and the date for application has now passed. Not sure what this is going to mean, probaly a trip outside of Zim and then back in again to apply for another visitors visa. Please pray for a fast solution to this problem as precious time and money will be used up while it isn't resolved.

Thats all for now, we will ring them on Sunday, so if anyone wants to sent them a message post it before then and we will tell them about it.
Owen & Susan

Up and running

Well, hear I am again, Bek's mum Susan, relaying their news. Still no internet, and at this stage I think they believe that they won't have any connection at all, but only time will tell. The big new is they have established a feeding program, which was one of their main goals. At the moment they are supplying about 17 children and 3 adults with a meal three times a week. Some one has donated enough maize to support this ministry for several months, depending of course on how may people they end up providing meals for.

They are very exited about this and the fact that they have finaly moved into thier house. If you go to the Vana web site www.vana.org.au, you should be able to see the three existing houses, one of which is theirs for the next year. They now feel that the hard work in getting their is begining to pay off. There is also talk of the first children moving in soon which will change everything.

Well, I think that is about it. We talk to them once a week, but the connection isn't always good, this week it was terrible so some of the finer detail is missing. Please keep checking this blog and leaving them messages. It would be great if when they get to Harari and manage to get on line there is a heap of messages of support for them.

In the mean time, keep them in your prayers/thoughts. When you are getting ready for bed, they are starting their day, so that is a great time to have them on your mind.

Thanks for your support
Owen & Susan

Fun with Visa's

Hi everyone, Susan here again. Spoke to Bek and Dion Wednesday night and they have asked us to let you know what is happening at the moment. Aside from all the other things going on they have now discovered that they need to apply for a visitors visa every month, which of course isn't ideal. Their other alternative is to apply for a working visa, which will cover them for 12 months but will cost $500 US. As you can imagine, this would put a dent in their money. Please be praying for a solution for them, as if they do apply for a working visa some of the documents they need are here in Australia and may not reach them before the current visitors visa runs out. I'm sure God has a solution, we just need to find it.

They had a great Easter with Errol, Donna and thier children, doing a bit of sight seeing, they were on the road somewhere when we spoke to them.

The status of their internet connection is still not good and at the moment the best they can hope for is to be able to get to Harare once a month to make contact with people, probably via this blog. Please continue to leave them messages, I'm sure they will appreciate them once they can get online.

Thanks for supporting them, I know the appreciate you all.

Owen & Susan

Life in the 3rd World

Okay, this isn't Rebekah or Dion, but Susan, Bek's mum. She has asked me to post this as they still have no internet connection. The story so far is that there is no power, someone stole the oil out of the transformer and it ground to a hault. They are waiting for a new one, and living with generators for the moment, but they can't be run all the time. They have been waiting for some help to get their internet up and running, which I think they have done, but there is now no phone line in or out of Chivhu, so still no communications.We have spoken to them a couple of times via mobile phone and they seems to be doing okay. They haven't moved into their house yet because of the power problelm and the weather has turned very cold, colder than they expected.

I will leave it at that, I'm sure they will be posting all their news soon. Keep praying for them (only 11 months left!)

Susan

Today is the day.....

On this our last morning in Australia for a while i wanted say a huge thankyou to everyone who has been supporting us so far and who i know will be praying for us and supporting us as this journey gets going.

To all the people who are sponsoring us THANKYOU your contribution is so valued and appriciated.

I had more to say but guesse i dont have time now....................

The countdown clock says only 2 days till we leave so we thought it was time we packed our bags. Some of you know this has been a bit frustrating for us. Many people told us if we rang Qantas and told them what we were doing they would allow us extra baggage. Well....... no such luck and we can take only one bag each weighing 23kg each. No easy task when you are going for 12 months.

Dion trying to fit everything in.

How much did you say that bag weighed?

Take two........ we did not get it all in the first time.

The final weigh in 24.2 kg and 27.? Kg