Morning Mirror Edition 143 - 28/6/2005


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Nyamandhlovu Pan Hwange Gweru Zimbabwe Magic Zimbabwe As close as it gets!! Binga Zimbabwe  
           

In this edition

Smalls


MAN'S INHUMANITY TO MAN


I know I should be happy with life ... I have two of my three children home for the summer holidays but ......... recent events in our beloved country have left us all desolate and unhappy in spite of our many blessings.

Thank goodness for the Churches in Zimbabwe, without them we would have an humanitarian crisis of major proportions. Indeed we do still have a serious crisis ... but the Churches have at least managed to stop the possible deaths by exposure of many already malnourished and needy people, who have been mercilessly evicted from their homes.

If you need to be humbled, and we all need to feel humbled at some time in our lives, take a trip to one of the many churches that is offering shelter to the folk reduced to destitution by the latest inhumane series of actions by our law makers.

Every church of every denomination has opened its hearts and its doors to countless hundreds of mainly old folk, babies and children.

It is hard to see why these sad, poverty stricken destitute people are such a threat to us all. Old men and women, babies and toddlers, a far cry from the robbers, cut throats and thieves as they have been described by the authorities.

Sadly there seems to be large and ominous gap in the demographics of the vagrant population from the ages of fifteen to fifty.

Visit the Presbyterian Churches, The Methodist Churches, The Anglican, the Catholic, The Brethren in Christ, The Agape Church, The UCCSA Churches and see exactly what the Government has been doing to its citizens.

They may be the poor huddled masses but they are poor and huddled due to the state of the country which is the direct fault of our Government.

Just have a look at their possessions, your heart will break, sheets of corrugated iron, a broken old sofa here, a few rusty poles, a couple of motley chickens. These folk are so poor it is criminal.

The children are sick and ragged, terrified and horribly disturbed. The adults are desperate and confused.

But hey ..... life sleeping on the floor of a warm church with food in their tummies for a change, is possibly a lot better than living in a freezing cold plastic shanty and foraging for roots in the Killarney mine dumps !!

What I had not noticed before however, was exactly how many churches there are in Bulawayo. In my travels I encountered literally hundreds of churches within a few kilometres of Bulawayo.

We have in fact, turned into a City Of Churches. Our old cinemas are now churches, The Palace Theatre, The Princess Theatre, The Seven Arts Theatre, The Bulawayo Theatre, The Robert Sibson Hall at the Academy of Music have all been turned into fully operational churches or they hold services for Churches on various days during the week.

There are churches under suburban trees, there are churches in the park, there are churches at the Trade Fair.

The town was quiet this weekend, quiet because almost every car in Bulawayo is sitting somewhere in a fuel queue. The shops were quiet, money is desperately scarce for many, however the churches were doing a roaring trade.

It would appear that the people of Zimbabwe have lost all hope. Their only salvation now is God and thank God for our Churches and their compassion in this time of crisis.

CONGRATULATIONS



Richard and Koekie Taylor would like to announce that their son Ivan Taylor has proposed to Leigh-Ann Webster daughter of Fred and Desiree. The Webster family and Ivan reside in the UK where the happy event will take place on the 30th July 2005 at 11am Their time. The Taylor and Webster family are very happy having a new son and daughter come into the family.
Richard and Koekie unfortunately will not be there for this happy occasion but would like to congratulate the couple with many years of happiness and to the Webster's who will there to take our place.



Mick and Sue Fletcher announce the arrival of their 3rd grandchild Jessica Paige Fletcher to Bruce and Allison in London on the 18th June.

CONDOLENCES

With Deepest Sympathy to the families of the following



SYMPATHY MESSAGES


Deaths:
Joyce Mead of Worringham.
Beloved wife of Dick and Mother of Sharon, Kathy, David & Teresa and their families, at Edith Duly on the 16th June after a long illness bravely borne. Now at peace with her Maker who she loved so much.
And add the following if there will be time for this :
Funeral to be held at Farley's Chapel, J. Moyo/3rd Ave on Thursday 24th June at 2.30pm. Friends please accept this intimation. No flowers by request, donations to Edith Duly.


CONDOLENCES
JACK BUCKELL
DIED ON 21 JUNE 2005. FRIEND, MENTOR, TEACHER, DEARLY LOVED BY MAGGIE AND ROBYN .
JACK WILL BE SORELY MISSED BY SO MANY PEOPLE WHO LEARNED FROM HIM ABOUT MUSIC AND LIFE AND HOW TO CARE FOR ONE'S FELLOW MAN.
The funeral is now arranged for Friday 1st July at Mortlake Crematorium in the UK.
Jimmy McGroarty and dad's friend Barry Rider both wish to say something about him at the funeral which is lovely and his daughter Renay will read something from the bible.
Adele Buckell e mail address - abls10748@blueyonder.co.uk

TIDBITS




The Broom Seller
About five years ago I heard a weird sound echoing up the road where I lived, accompanied by the furious barking of bored dogs. I looked out to see an ancient black woman trudging along balancing a heavy load of grass and reed brooms on her head, carrying a basket with shorter ones. Her legs were stick thin, her feet poked out of worn shoes, and the clothes hanging on her frail body were threadbare. It was October heat, 'suicide month'. I hailed her and bought a broom, and gave her some cold drink and a sandwich. As the weeks past, whenever I heard her cries, I would buy a broom. In bitter winter she was grateful for hot tea. Never did she stop at the gate to get my attention - alerted by her cries, I'd have to rush to call her. Sometimes she gave me a broom as a gift, and I did not insult her by offering money, but some old clothes were accepted with much African dignity and hand clapping. She's black, I'm white. She spoke little English, and I didn't know her language, but that made no difference. We were women. We were friends.

I heard today that she is a grandmother who cares for eight grandchildren - their parents died of Aids. I heard today that she gets up at three every morning to cook food for them, and then somehow gets into Bulawayo, 40km from where she returns each night, to sell the brooms she has made.
And I heard today that the police just took her brooms from her in this purge.
I feel like crying.



"I AM Too blessed to be stressed!"


I was born in Africa and its seasons shaped my soul,
I knew my place beneath the sun, the warm earth made me whole,
Those arching skies and brilliant stars fixed my position there,
That brooding space my boundary, the far horizons clear.
I belonged to Africa and knew no other home,
I had no wish to leave her and no wish to roam.
The heat, the storms, the droughts were all familiar scenes to me,
The hills, the plains, the valleys and the bronzed Msasa trees.

It's tempting to resist my fate, to look back and complain
At the stealing of my birthright, and who, or what, to blame,
At the loss of those I loved and knew and the places I have known.
Nine tenths of life is travelled but the rest is moving on.
Regrets and blame are for the past and I must walk the track
That takes me on this journey, where there is no turning back,
I must embrace the changes that old England holds for me
And see the old with eyes anew where I was meant to be.

There is beauty here in England and it's steeped in history,
It's the land of both my parents and my ancient ancestry.
So I must look beyond the dross and open up new doors,
And blend my life that's yet to come with what has gone before.
I do not have to be there to hear the Hueglin's song,
It lives forever in my mind where memories belong.
When I sail through the sunset, the truth will set me free!
Take me out of Africa - but leave Africa in me'

Unknown


Leonardo Boff

Is it possible to live in peace and happiness when you know that two-thirds of human beings are suffering, hungry and poor? To be human we have to have compassion. This solidarity is really the defining factor of our humanity and is gradually being lost in a culture of material values. It's not only the cry of the poor we must listen to but also the cry of the earth. The earth and human beings are both threatened. We must do something to change the situation...

There won't be a Noah's Ark to save only some of us. To meet people's fundamental concerns change is needed. The world as it is does not offer the majority of humanity life but rather hell. I believe that change is possible, because I cannot accept a God who could remain indifferent to this world, but only one who cares about the poor and the suffering.



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