THE TEAM, THE PURPOSE, THE TRIP

Lorne Strom
TEAM of Canada Director
January 1-18, 2009

THE TEAM AND PURPOSE

The trip to Zimbabwe was made up of 5 people we had asked to participate. Bud and Mandy Jackson, Rev Dr. Francis Mpindu, (from Toronto who would join us there later), my Dad (Wilf Strom) and myself. Our intention is to see what the opportunities are for the North American churches to engage and assist TEAM ministries and the local Evangelical Churches, especially in the area of compassion ministries such as the massive needs around HIV/AIDS and poverty.

JOHANNESBURG

We arrived in Johannesburg after a gruelling 10 hour flight from Vancouver to Frankfurt, a 12 hour layover there and a 10 hour flight from Frankfurt to Johannesburg. After arrival in Jo’burg we knew we had a 9 hour layover before our flight to Harare, so Mandy Jackson phoned her Aunt, who lived near the airport. A quick ride in the 1st world metropolis of Jo’burg hardly made us feel like we are in Africa, but arriving at their home brought Africa flooding into our nostrils, eyes and ears. The lush plants in the gardens, the birds in the trees and the accents of our hosts assured us we were on African soil. Some tea, lunch and a quick bath revived us enough to coax ourselves onto one more short flight up to Harare.

HARARE ARRIVAL

The arrival in Harare was a little overwhelming, both positively and negatively. As we looked out the window, taxing to the terminal, we could see that our 9:20pm arrival was probably the last flight of the day. One isn’t prepared for the stark contrast between Jo’burg and Harare. As we walked out the enclosed ramp to the plane, there were only 2 of about 8 fluorescent bulbs lighting the walkway. Then we entered the most dimly lit “arrivals hall” I’ve ever seen. We almost rubbed our eyes, thinking we were in a stupor. It almost appeared deserted, but two immigration lines formed and through the semi-darkness we could see the luggage belts beyond the immigration desks. With a little bit of trepidation it came to our turn with the officers. We found that they had little interest in questioning us and a keen interest in us just paying the US$65 cash entry visa fee. Laboriously, they hand filled out the receipt with an antiquated carbon copy and gave us our copy (no computers here, to slow things down). By the time we had finished with Immigration, not only had all the other passengers gone through, but they had also all collected their luggage and left. This left just Bud, Mandy, Dad and I to pick up our lonely bags revolving in the dim “twilight” of the hall. Aided by two eager porters, we miraculously found all eight pieces of luggage... an uncommon occurrence we are told. One last obstacle, the customs agents to interrogate us and to rummage through our many gifts and extra clothes brought for the needy, but the two porters whisked us off through the green “nothing to declare” route and the weary agents paid no attention as they were probably eager to be done with these last stragglers. With a warm greeting from Kirsten and Naomi, nurses at Karanda, we headed out the doors.

AFRICAN AIR

We could smell that we truly were in Zimbabwe, although we could hardly see in the pitch black parking lot, US$1 gained us exit at the booth, rather than the Z$10 Billion posted on the sign. Welcome to the reality of Zimbabwe. Even the government run airport prefers US cash to its own worthless billions. Our trip to the TEAM office was largely in the dark and we avoided the downtown core, as Kirsten said she didn’t feel “comfortable” down there at this hour of the night (10pm). As we neared Marlborough, we all commented that we were not seeing as many pot holes, garbage piles and destitute people as we had imagined. It’s not as if all the traffic lights or street lights worked, but the general decay was not as universal as we were reading. The next days proved that, without a question there was massive decay, but it was not absolutely everywhere. We arrived at the walled property of the TEAM office that I had help purchase and renovate 19 years earlier. Not a lot had changed and it was truly like stepping back in time. After unloading, we were able to briefly logon to the internet to let family know we arrived safely and then off to bed for the first time in about 54 hours. It felt good ... and familiar.