Unicef kylässä.

Lauantai aamupäivä toimintakeskuksella. Sisällä ja ulkona on tohinaa meneillään sillä kylään on tulossa Unicefin Zimbabwen edustaja Dr. Salama perheineen. Lapset valmistautuvat näyttämään parhaat taitonsa perinteisessä tanssissa, marimbansoitossa, kuorolaulussa ja runonlausunnassa.

Hieman ennen juhlien alkamisaikaa pihaan ajaa Unicefin kuorma-auto ja kuorma-auton lavalta löytyy monen monta laatikkoa. Kannamme laatikot katoksen alle, ja niistä paljastuu t-paitoja, leluja, urheilutarvikkeita ja pelejä.

Lasten esitykset hurmaavat yleisön jälleen kerran, erityisesti pienet eka- ja tokaluokkalaiset Lilly ja Kudzai, jotka yhteen ääneen lausuvat koskettavan runon, sekä edustavat mallikkaasti tanssilattialla sekä ryhmässä, että kahdestaan. Lapsille parasta antia taitaa olla kuitenkin uudet t-paidat ja lelut, jotka Unicef heille lahjoitti, niin paljon iloisia riemunkiljahduksia lahjojen jako kirvoittaa.

Unicef representative of Zimbabwe Dr. Salama visited Dzikwa Centre on Saturday with his family. Our children showed their best in traditional dance, marimba and singing. Small girls, Lilly and Kudzai charmed everyone with their poem and dances. Children themselves seemed to enjoy the t-shirts and toys, which Unicef donated to Dzikwa, the most.

-Virva

Winter things.

I arrived back to Harare in the middle of Zimbabwean winter without a ticket back to Finland. First few weeks for me were just getting back on the rhythm of the operational weekly meetings and my own project, but suddenly our hands were full of work. The container from Finland arrived faster than last time just in the middle of all hurries caused by the ending of school term 2. It was just pure balancing with organizing all the paper works and other things needed for the container and collecting the reports. Also power cuts caused us lots of grey hair, as internet was not working either and sending and receiving emails meant that we had to go to town to do that. It slows processes a lot.

On one certain Tuesday morning we headed to Manica Depot to get the container out only to hear that the machine which lifts the container is broken. It was fixed fast, and the container was in front of the Centre just past 1 in the afternoon. There were 60 children helping to unpack it as that container needed to be returned during the same day. So it was offloaded and packed into another container, which was donated to Dzikwa last year, in 2 hours! Very efficient work!

Term 3 started just this week, so the children had a month's holiday. Holiday is not just a holiday all the time as many of the children are having vacation lessons at their schools or they attend extra lessons organized by Dzikwa. The ICT-lessons were going on almost all the holiday month as well. Also the coming Dzikwa Annual Sports Day, which happened last Sunday 4.9., put the children to train during the holidays.

Just before the Sports Day, our Dzikwa crew here in Harare welcomed Seppo with his daughter Saara and grandchildren Aino-Leena and Maarja to Zimbabwe as well as Heikki and Helka, who came to Zimbabwe to volunteer for 2 months. 


-Virva