Life changing moments in 7 days
Christ UMC member Tony LaRosa, 19, recently returned from a seven-day mission trip to the United Methodist Mission in Nyadire, Zimbabwe. Other team members were Tony’s father, Mark LaRosa, member of the first mission team in 2006, Sandy McKnight of St. Paul’s UMC in Shaler, and two professors from Grove City College where Tony is a freshman. The team experienced all the “hope this doesn’t happen” things – delay of flight, lost luggage, a three-hour wait getting through customs in Harare, the scrupulous inspection of luggage carrying medical supplies, the payment. Team leader, Mark LaRosa, set the tone of the trip – be organized and be patient.
Hello Third World!
And the best was yet to come – Nyadire.
Friendly handshakes, smiles, and happy faces greeted Tony and the team, minimizing the concern about communication. Nurses’ aides, Savie and Eveline looked after the team, making sure they were comfortable and well fed. Tony remembered, “I felt completely safe and at home as did first time visitors, professors Bright and Markley.
Savie was puzzled by the sarcasm that flowed between Tony and his dad, (something that is a part of their relationship), so they dropped the teasing, sensing it was not part of Savie’s culture. But cultural components were - friendly greetings, handshakes, smiles, “hellos” from strangers, and prevalent sense of happiness. Tony stressed, “ Theirs is an authentic happiness coupled with an immense dose of hope.”
Observing nature in a different manner was another cultural difference. Looking at the mountains with huge boulders on top, then smaller rocks on top of these were described as ‘’Creator’s art and God’s work.”
Africa University and Nyadire Teachers’College were on the team’s agenda as Mike Bright, chair of the Electrical Engineering Dept. and Andrew Markley, chair of the Business Dept. of Grove City wanted to explore potential liaisons and exchanges between the colleges.
Tony noted that the Zimbabwean rates of literacy and unemployment were the same – 95%, giving credence to the importance the population assigns education and the economic fact that the country has suffered difficulties for more than a decade. “The country went from feeding other African countries to needing to be fed.” When discussing education and the fact that many young people want to go on to college/university, Tony noted seeing a long line of applicants for teaching positions standing outside the Ministry of Education Office in the neighboring village of Mutoko. In recent years, there had been a shortage of teachers.
The team also visited the refurbished Nyahuku Clinic and almost completed Dendera Clinic. Tony was impressed at the Nyahuku Waiting Mothers’ Shelter housing expectant mothers who left their villages and traveled distances to wait and have their babies in clean environment manned by a trained nurse. (The latest maternal death statistic in Zimbabwe is high - 614 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.) Tony observed the sense of community the waiting mothers had as they shared sleeping and cooking spaces. “ I want people to know these people!”
He gave another example of a native Zimbabwean who had earned a great deal of money in a business venture abroad. When he returned, he built not a mansion, but a comfortable home reminiscent of the village buildings of his childhood. The design included a communal cooking hut connected to a sleeping place and a place and a family/visitor space – all community oriented.
Tony had heard stories about the long (sometimes 3 + hours) church services, but he found the service “uplifting, even if the sermon was in Shona, the native dialect. Oh, the singing, the contagious joy in worshipping!”
When asked about obstacles, Tony answered, “I kept wondering how I could help, probably with a project, and the answer was ‘‘not a tangible project. You came back and that means hope.”
On the subject of re-entry back in his life, Tony agreed it was difficult. When asked about his trip, he replied with the same story that had two versions; one being the shorter version (for those who wanted to know if he saw a giraffe) and one that took 10 – 15 minutes with many questions asked.
Finally, Tony reiterated, “I saw happiness everywhere despite their circumstances. The people were all right with their circumstances, so they might as well be happy. I felt changed, more blessed by my visit. It is all about giving, and not expecting anything. “
Hello Third World!
And the best was yet to come – Nyadire.
Friendly handshakes, smiles, and happy faces greeted Tony and the team, minimizing the concern about communication. Nurses’ aides, Savie and Eveline looked after the team, making sure they were comfortable and well fed. Tony remembered, “I felt completely safe and at home as did first time visitors, professors Bright and Markley.
Savie was puzzled by the sarcasm that flowed between Tony and his dad, (something that is a part of their relationship), so they dropped the teasing, sensing it was not part of Savie’s culture. But cultural components were - friendly greetings, handshakes, smiles, “hellos” from strangers, and prevalent sense of happiness. Tony stressed, “ Theirs is an authentic happiness coupled with an immense dose of hope.”
Observing nature in a different manner was another cultural difference. Looking at the mountains with huge boulders on top, then smaller rocks on top of these were described as ‘’Creator’s art and God’s work.”
Africa University and Nyadire Teachers’College were on the team’s agenda as Mike Bright, chair of the Electrical Engineering Dept. and Andrew Markley, chair of the Business Dept. of Grove City wanted to explore potential liaisons and exchanges between the colleges.
Tony noted that the Zimbabwean rates of literacy and unemployment were the same – 95%, giving credence to the importance the population assigns education and the economic fact that the country has suffered difficulties for more than a decade. “The country went from feeding other African countries to needing to be fed.” When discussing education and the fact that many young people want to go on to college/university, Tony noted seeing a long line of applicants for teaching positions standing outside the Ministry of Education Office in the neighboring village of Mutoko. In recent years, there had been a shortage of teachers.
The team also visited the refurbished Nyahuku Clinic and almost completed Dendera Clinic. Tony was impressed at the Nyahuku Waiting Mothers’ Shelter housing expectant mothers who left their villages and traveled distances to wait and have their babies in clean environment manned by a trained nurse. (The latest maternal death statistic in Zimbabwe is high - 614 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.) Tony observed the sense of community the waiting mothers had as they shared sleeping and cooking spaces. “ I want people to know these people!”
He gave another example of a native Zimbabwean who had earned a great deal of money in a business venture abroad. When he returned, he built not a mansion, but a comfortable home reminiscent of the village buildings of his childhood. The design included a communal cooking hut connected to a sleeping place and a place and a family/visitor space – all community oriented.
Tony had heard stories about the long (sometimes 3 + hours) church services, but he found the service “uplifting, even if the sermon was in Shona, the native dialect. Oh, the singing, the contagious joy in worshipping!”
When asked about obstacles, Tony answered, “I kept wondering how I could help, probably with a project, and the answer was ‘‘not a tangible project. You came back and that means hope.”
On the subject of re-entry back in his life, Tony agreed it was difficult. When asked about his trip, he replied with the same story that had two versions; one being the shorter version (for those who wanted to know if he saw a giraffe) and one that took 10 – 15 minutes with many questions asked.
Finally, Tony reiterated, “I saw happiness everywhere despite their circumstances. The people were all right with their circumstances, so they might as well be happy. I felt changed, more blessed by my visit. It is all about giving, and not expecting anything. “
