Ishe Anesu

by

Deb Riggalls

TEACHING WOMEN, A BUNCH OF PAINTERS, A WALL OF CHILDREN, THREE MISSION TEAMS, THREE MISSION SITES

On the15th of July fifteen people from five churches in the North Central New York Conference gathered at the Syracuse Airport heading for Mutare, Zimbabwe . Our goals were simple: to teach, to give, to share, to learn, and to be there for the folks at Ishe Anesu, a program for children and mothers whose families have been affected by HIV/AIDS.

Our first day at the site we met Maria and Bill Humbane. What nice people they are, very friendly and open; this made us all feel very welcome. They spoke of a ceremony that would take place on Sunday July 23 rd , a ground breaking for the first cottage of an orphanage. There would be a lot of people at Ishe on Sunday, and so the buildings needed to be spruced up. The mission teams from Tennesee and New York got together to paint the building. Men and women from the two mission groups along with people from the Ishe completed the project. The mission has had a new face lift and looks great. On that particular Sunday, Sharity, Maria, the minister's brother from Hilltop United Methodist Church , and another mission person all celebrated their birthdays during worship.

As we prepared to make the trip a question came to my mind, what would we be able to teach the folks at Ishe Anesu. I really had no idea at first and then Dr. Sylvia Reimer, one of the team leaders, said that the ladies would like to learn how to make a quilt. That's fine, but I didn't know how to do this either. As time went on I found a place in Syracuse , Burnet Park Arts and Crafts sessions that taught quilting classes on various days. Eleanor Jones, a member of Andrews United Methodist Church also hooked us up with Rev. Kathy Bardon who spent a few evenings teaching team members Katie, Dee , Sharity, and I how to quilt. The only things we needed next were the donations of cloth, and sewing gadgets to complete the quilts. Thanks to those who donated these materials the ladies in the Sewing group made four quilts before we came home. Mavis, the leader of the sewing group along with Betty, Memory, Loreiter, Tradder, and Leah, who made sewing a snap, learned very fast how to cut and put together by color, shape, and their own style. The sewing group not only sewed, we sang, we danced, we played bingo for candy, soap, first aid supplies, tuna fish and cracker snacks. If the men stopped in we encouraged them have the challenge of cutting fabric, playing music, or having just plain fun.

There was another women by the name of Fortune who stopped in to play the drums, although she worked in the kitchen area mostly. Nancy made us lunch and dinner with the rest of the kitchen crew, always welcoming us each morning. On Thursday the ladies wanted to make apple pie, but how would we make it without Crisco? Margarine works! Dee obtained the supplies and she was able to teach the ladies how to make apple pies. The word got out and Saturday we made eight apple pies for the ground breaking celebration on Sunday. It took about two hours for each pie to bake. Every once in a while we would see an apple tree on the side of the road.

On Wednesday Vacation Bible School started with the Tennesee team and Rev. B.J. Norrix playing songs. The children sang and danced to songs like “Mercy Is Falling”,”Pharaoh Pharaoh”, “From the North to the South”, and other songs. A couple of the older girls read Bible stories to the children in English and then they were translated by another girl who spoke the stories in their native language, Shona. Attendance was close to three hundred children, who were encouraged to invite their friends and families for the next day. The children were split in four groups identified by bracelets of red, green, pink and purple yarn. Two groups did crafts while the other groups played games. Then they switched, wow! Snacks of fish crackers and pretzels were passed around in coffee filters. The crafts completed by the children were beaded necklaces and bracelets, butterflies made with colored tissue paper and clothes pins, and crosses with different Christian sticker pieces. The final gathering and fellowship of the day again featured songs, dancing, and prayers. The third day came and there were well over 1000 children. Can you just imagine? On the last day the children were so excited they waited on the back wall of Ishe as well as coming from all sides. A mission team from Ohio joined us near the end of the week; they would be there after we left to continue working with the Ishe children.

The places that we visited included the District Superintendent's office in Mutare, Africa University , Ishe Anesu, The Fairfield Children's Home at Old Mutare Mission, Mutambara Mission , Victoria Falls, and Chobe National Park . I was able to visit a local family home. Steven is the choir director at church and is a teacher at a private prep school for children before they enter college. His wife, Tracy who belongs to the women's union, is presently studying accounting. They have two children.

The weather provided us with blue skies and sunshine all the days we were there. The evenings were cool enough to wear a sweater and the night temperature would go down into the 40's. By 4am the wood would be put on the fire so the shower water would be warm by 6am. Chicken was served at most of the meals along with beef stewed, cabbage salad, french fries, rice, beans with tomato sauce, and maize. Sylvia always found us local fruit to eat.

Always there would be different things around us that we never pictured in our minds, especially the mountains and the beautiful views. There were a lot of walking paths. Most mornings we would walk into Mutare for coffee, or visit Jairos Jiri's shop, use the internet cafe, go to the markets, grocery stores, or just plain talk with the town folks. Each morning after breakfast we stated the day with a devotional time. Marvin always carried around the backpacks of Zimbabwe currency and was in charge of the car. Kat was in charge of the index cards of our thoughts, which she will turn into our group journal. Rev. BJ was always asking us at the end of the day where we saw God that day as we “debriefed”. We were always welcome to try anything like playing drums, dancing, even preparing chicken from start to finish, helping out in the kitchen, playing kickball with the children, or taking time for tea.

At the mission site on the last day Maria presented us with gifts of appreciation, plaques that Obert had made, and trivets the children had made. We will always remember in our hearts special people like Nancy , Obert, Fortune, Polite, Mavis, Betty, Simon, Chris, Sandy, Isaiah and his friend Moses, and others for a long time to come.

Our mission trip was ever so complete having met and worked with Maria and Bill Humbane. As we leave the sewing ladies with a donation for electric sewing machines, will know that we care about their needs and will keep on caring for their needs in some way, so they can make a way for themselves and their children. Working with the three mission teams was an awesome experience as was the Wall of Children, the hospitality and little Polite. The song we sang in the sewing room at the start of our day went like this:

JESUS WE ARE HERE

JESUS WE ARE HERE

JESUS WE ARE HERE

WE ARE HERE FOR YOU!!

NORTH CENTRAL NEW YORK TEAM 2006