The Highs and Lows at Sanyati

I am sure many of you have been wondering what it is like here in Sanyati… to explain without being too wordy I decided to break it down into 2 lists: “Things I have found wonderful here in Sanyati” & “Things I could live without” Hope you enjoy!

Things I could live without-

1) Fresh water being such a chore- The water from our tap comes straight from the river, so it must be boiled for 10 minutes and then run through a drip filter (which takes many hours). I was unaware of how much water affected my life until I didn’t have a clean source for it. This one change is so much more far-reaching than just getting a glass of water to drink- it has changed how we do dishes, how we brush our teeth, how we wash our fruits and veggies… the list goes on and on! I have been amazed! We seem to have gotten in the rhythm of keeping our water supply up, which is good, but the constant danger that the kids (or us) could forget and chug a glass of water or wash our carrot sticks in tap water is unnerving to say the least! Also, washing our clothes, dishes and selves in slightly tan water is definitely something I could live without… Ryan said sometimes he’s glad when the power is out and he’s forced to take a shower by candle light so he can’t tell what color the water is- Haha!

2) Electricity going off randomly- Honestly, we’ve been blessed this week with more power than normal, but usually it is on around 10pm and cuts off around 5am. Sometimes during the day it will cut on for a 1-5 hours too, which is nice. As cute as it is to see Chloe get excited when the lights flicker on and watch her scream “Power!”, it really is terribly inconvenient to fix or clean up supper by candlelight. We have been blessed though as we were able to get the generator fixed -PRAISE!- so the last few nights it was down-right exciting to control when the power went off and came on- even if it was for only a few hours. 

3) Going along with the electricity issues… getting up when the sun does- As many of you know I am a complete night-owl…. Well, apparently they don’t have that species of bird here in Zimbabwe. Haha! I also love sleeping in- but have learned the COMPLETE meaning of the phrase “burning daylight”. When you know you probably won’t have electricity that night you feel very inspired to get up earlier and get on with your day. We regularly go to bed by 11pm/ 12pm at the latest, which back home would be unheard of. We sleep till 7 or 8am (Ryan gets up earlier when teams are here) I don’t think I’ve gotten this much sleep in I don’t know when! (That part is pretty awesome though!) But often we are falling into bed, exhausted after a hard day work. 

4) Bugs- an entomologist I am not, so unfortunately these creepy crawlers are not appreciated as much as they should be. We are not over-run by them, but they are a constant nuisance. I have been blown away by the different varieties here though- some of them look Hand-painted! I have decided to make this a positive experience since in our science curriculum we are learning about bugs this semester- I have just chosen to look at life here as one big 6 month long experiment! I think we deserve extra credit though! Haha! 

5) Safety- Well, I’ll break this one down for you like this… my back door has 4 locks… the guest house in Harare is gated with barbed wire running along the perimeter, etc. I know these things should make me feel safer, but I think they actually just remind me of reality more. This is a huge prayer request though- that we and our belongings stay safe and secure while we are here. In some ways you can’t even get mad at those that steal here- when you have nothing and your kids are hungry, I am sure your options of acceptable activities opens up a little. Still doesn’t make it right, but I do understand. Keep us in your prayers please- I know at the end of the day it is all in God’s hands.

6) Health care- So far while we have been here Kate has had an unexplainable head to toe rash & Ryan and I (on 2 separate occasions) have had food poisoning. The closest doctor to us is over an hour away. More than anything it’s just unnerving- it’s hard to not worry about your kids (or husband or self) getting sick without medical services available. But each time God has been our great Physician, healing us and giving us wisdom on how to proceed. Please continue to keep us in your prayers about this though- That God would continue to bless us, heal us and show His might in this area as we minister to those around us.

Things I have found wonderful here in Sanyati

1) Call me Hank Hill, but I love Propane- We have been blessed to have a gas refrigerator & freezer, a gas stove/oven & a diesel-powered generator (that we get to run a few hours every night). I could kiss the men that invented these things!! It has made life here SO much easier and less frustrating! For all that we have given up to come here, I have NOT lost sight of how blessed we are. We live like “millionaires” here and I try to keep that in my mind every time I am tempted to whine or complain. We even have a water tank to help when the water gets turned off (which happens when the power goes off for 2 or 3 days)… like I said, blessed beyond belief.

2) Never would have guessed it, but skirts!-  In Harare (the capital) I am allowed to wear pants, but anywhere else I have to wear a long skirt. Not being much of a “skirt-person” I wasn’t overjoyed about this requirement going in, but I have seen the light! They are so comfy! Ladies, when we collectively shelved our skirts and dresses for pants we may have done ourselves a disservice! Long live the skirt! ;)

3) Cooking for the fam-  I really do love cooking- a lot, but often with my crazy-fast world back home I am not able to cook for us like I’d like to. Sometimes it’s just easier and smarter to pick up a Fajita Fiesta Family pack at Rosa’s and call it done- Haha! Well, Rosa’s, as of yet, hasn’t come to Sanyati (though I am starting a petition-hehe!) so that means I cook or we don’t eat. They also don’t have a lot of convenience foods to buy at the grocery store, so that means I scratch cook or we don’t eat. But honestly, I love it! I love getting to prepare a great meal for my family and trying out recipes I haven’t used in years! Homemade biscuits; fried chicken with mash potatoes; homemade tortillas with homemade guacamole; from scratch brown sugar-peach pancakes… it’s been fun playing in the kitchen each day! Yum! I guess every one of those scratch-cooking lessons from my mother has really paid off! Thanks Mom!:) 

4) Patience- Not the character trait, the person....(cool name, right?)…She is a wonderful lady (whose name suits her completely) that helps the doctor keep the house running and she has graciously agreed to help us part-time while we are here. She’s worked in this house for years, so she knows everything that needs to be done… I just stand back in amazement! I’ll be honest, with all there is to do here just to keep life moving forward, I don’t know how one person gets it all done- she has been a complete God-send! Chloe (who loves cleaning more than the average kid... well, WAY more than the average kid) just follows her around all day “helping”. It is too cute to see how close she has gotten with Patience, esp. so quickly! Patience has also been great to talk to. She seems to have an answer to every one of my questions. She, also, has been an awesome resource to ask questions about the culture here. It is so interesting to talk with her about how different (and sometimes how the same) things are back home. Like the other day we were talking about how people get married/engaged here… guys, y’all have a sweet deal back home compared to here… let’s just say it involves a lot of money and 4 cows.. It was crazy to hear! Patience has been such a blessing to us!

5) The plants here- I am not a huge plant-lover by nature, but the foliage here is absolutely breath-taking! From poinsettia trees (who knew they were trees!!!) to massive baobab trees, it has been awesome to see and take in all of God’s beautiful creation! What a testament to His glory that He would make such wonderful and beautiful things!  

6) I am a big quality time person and that’s the biggest blessing so far of Zimbabwe- When you are in rural Africa, you don’t have a lot of options on entertainment… no busy schedule to keep… nothing that you need to shuffle the kids off to… so you start spending more time with your family. It’s been awesome to actually sit around the dinner table together… at EVERY meal… to talk and play with each other… doing craft projects with the kids… getting to have great talks with Ryan as we drive home from grocery shopping in Kadoma (an hour away)… even just being silly together! To spend this much time with my family has been such a blessing to me! Every single minute! 

Well, hope I didn’t talk your ear off… lots to say- hope you enjoyed reading! Love and Miss you all! 

Rashel