Sep 11 2007 – Orientation
I’ve been here nearly two weeks, but since I arrived the day after the last orientation, we didn’t have another one until today. Also being “oriented” is Tara, who came down for the pathfinder course, and Jim, who arrived yesterday.
Orientation is basically a tour around the area. In the morning, we headed out to Hwange Main Camp — spotting a giraffe and a few warthogs at the water hole on the way — and visited the museum. The museum contains a great deal of bones of a variety of animals that are found in the area… as well as some more “interesting” specimens, like pickled snakes, buffalo fetuses, and so on. All in the name of education, of course. I thought it was awesome, but then, I’m a little bit odd. Pickled fetuses, my favorite!
Afterwards, we headed towards the Painted Dog conservation centre. I’d been there once before for the grand opening, and there’s so much information available that there was plenty of new things for me to read over. We didn’t have a lot of time there, but it was still fascinating just the same.
We headed off to Safari Lodge. With 300 rooms, it’s easily the biggest hotel in the area. I’d been there once before as well, but their water hole is always good to take a look at. We weren’t disappointed — a herd of buffalo were visiting.
Then back to Miombo for lunch.
Our afternoon tour was delayed — Kailos, our guide for the day, was attending the funeral of the brother of the woman who runs the Red Cross, which was our next stop as well. However, before long we were on our way. We stopped by the Red Cross, and I was able to show Tara & Jim where that horrible roof would have been if we’d been able to leave it up… bah.
We then drove through Dete village. The houses there were built in three “stages”. The first are the oldest houses, built before the war around 1979. They tend to be a series of huts with thatched roofs for each house. The second “stage” are houses that were built during the war. The main difference is that the houses are a single structure — the toilets and kitchens are contained within a single structure, as there were times when it simply wasn’t safe to go outside, especially at night — even just to have a pee. We’re in the heart of Matabeland, which was the site of mass government massacres in the early 80s… erk.
Houses built since then are a combination of the old style and the new — the buildings look much the same as the second wave, except there’s a separate door on the outside of the buildings to get to the toilet. Once again, they’re outside. Due to occasionally primitive facilities, it’s not always particularly safe to have your waste in the house. There aren’t a lot of plumbers around, so a backed up toilet means … well, a really shitty bedroom, so to speak.
There was also a “fourth” wave of half-finished houses. A few years ago, a lot of the shacks in the poorest sections of the main cities were bulldozed and all of the residents evicted, with the promise that new rural houses would be made available to them, built by the government. Except… after the houses were half built, the funding was cut, and years later… some still sit on the outskirts of Dete village, unfinished.
The village is fascinating in itself. The first impression I get is “poverty”, but that seems inaccurate. Poverty is something I associate with the downtown eastside — crumbling buildings, disgusting alleys, needles & condoms in the gutter, aggressive drug addicts who smell like urine… and it’s the complete opposite here. The streets may be dirt, but the yards are immaculate. There’s almost no grass, but it’s a different climate here… grass wouldn’t survive long without excessive watering (as we get at Miombo.) There are better things to use water on here. The fences are made of sticks stuck in the ground with wire tying them together, but they’re generally so perfectly placed that it doesn’t look “primitive” … it just looks right.
Whenever we drive through the village, there are families outside, including children. Anywhere we go, we have dozens of children shrieking “Mukiwa, Mukiwa!” with delight and huge grins. They wave at us, and we wave back. There’s a huge lack of … anything in Zimbabwe, and you’d expect the desolate looks from those awful Christian commercials begging you to spend “only 30 cents a day so that a child like Such-and-such can have a meal every day!” … but they’re not. They’re cheerful, friendly, excited kids. I can’t decide if it’s heartbreaking or uplifting. Perhaps a little of both.
We complain so much about how the African people aren’t doing enough for themselves. More than anything, Dete village makes me disgusted with our own problems with poverty. Here’s something telling: I haven’t seen a single panhandler. Not one person has wanted something for nothing. I’ve had people “go the extra mile” for me, angling for a tip… but I get absolutely no sense that anyone wants a handout.
That said — I’m virtually out in the sticks. We don’t really have a lot of panhandlers in Cloverdale, either. Perhaps this will change a little when I get to Victoria Falls.
We stopped by the medical clinic. A price list on the outside lists adults at 10,000 Zim, and children at 5,000 Zim. The current exchange rate is roughly 200,000 Zim to one US$. Still, even that is hard to come by for some people. But, the majority of treatments appear to be free from there on in — including birth control. They had both an oral contraceptive and depo provera available for free — as well as condoms for the men.
The approximate population of Dete village & township (and the surrounding areas that this clinic serves) is about 8000. It has two rooms, and the majority of what they treat is malaria and STI’s. One of the main problems they have is that serious injuries that the clinic can’t handle often end up in death — there’s no ambulance, and therefore no easy way to do a hospital transfer.
After the clinic, we headed to the old age home. I’ve visited on several occasions before — this is where the puppies live — but this was my first tour of the premises. 29 people live here, with the average age being around 60. It’s a very catholic organization, with a picture of the pope front and centre in the main office. Not surprising, as it’s run by nuns. Most of the folks living there are former railroad employees who had nowhere else to go.
Our last stop was the painted dog store in Dete. The store itself is really fantastic. The majority of the items available are wire sculptures made from snare wire — the very same wire we often find in our snare sweeps. We spent about half an hour browsing the goods — I spent $42, which is the most I’ve spent in one place so far, but got an amazing haul.
According to CNN, it’s the 6th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Centre. I’d lost track of time. It seems … a bit far away right now.