Springtime In Africa

Pictured here are tulips that Reenie would plant each Fall at our American home. They came forth as promised each Spring in radiant color and signaled to us the end of another Winter and the bursting forth of Springtime.

South Africa does not have to endure the harsh Winters that we do in Pennsylvania, but the Spring is just as welcome here in that it is an abundance of flora that we have never before seen. Since you folks back in the states are getting ready to feel the 'bite' of another Winter, we thought this post might brighten your spirits...

Here is one of several available colors of the Bird of Paradise

This is Yesterday, Today and Forever. An interesting plant, in that the blossoms begin as white, go to pink and then purple .

I wish I knew this ones name, but it is arrayed in fine detail and the tree is quite large and full of these red blossoms.

Baboons Tail grows on the hillsides. They burn off the brush on these hillsides in the fall, and then in the Spring- back pops the green leaf followed by the small flowers.

This is a multi colored vine that is a member of the fuschia family and puts off a wonderful fragrance

Again, I never got the name, but this one has the trunk of a maple tree and the vegetation of a cactus.

This one is a 'succulent plant' known as Donkey Ears. It is as soft as velvet and appears to be something between a cabbage and a cactus.

Another one of natures exclamation points that looks something like an azalea bloom, but each blossom is about 3" across

These are almost tropical. The plant was twenty feet tall, covered in these blossoms and if you could bottle the perfume they put off you would be a millionare.

This area is known for the beautiful Jacaranda trees. These are very large trees, comparable to the oak, and for 3-4 weeks are covered in a lavender bouquet of blossoms

Here is a view of the Jacaranda trees from the office where we work everyday.

With the return of Spring here, comes the return of birdlife from the North. Here is a

Lilac Breasted Roller. Just incredible colors!

Here is a picture of an African Ibis, known around here as a Hahdidah. He is feeding on

worms and grubs amidst the Agapanthus blooms

Pictured here are the beautiful Flamboyant trees found only in Zimbabwe. They are a rich scarlet red and orange combo.

As an aside, here are some of the balancing rocks in Harare, Zimbabwe. There are dozens like this one that have been balanced on one another for ages.

One more example of nature's marvels. These rocks sitting on top are the size of our Chevy Tahoe
!

This is the road that we work off of covered in lavender Jacaranda blossoms. Truly South Africa is a paradise of color and fragrance during this opening of the Spring season.

"It is only in exceptional minds that we realize how wonderful are the commonest experiences in life. It seems to me sometimes that these experiences have an "inner" side, as well as the outer side we normally perceive. At such moments one suddenly sees everything with new eyes; one feels on the brink of some great revelation. It is as if we caught a glimpse of some incredibly beautiful world that lies silently about us all the time."

J.W. Sullivan



Stay well...

Zambia - Part 2

After the above mentioned PEF duties in Lusaka, we took the opportunity while in this part of Africa, to see the Victoria Falls and some of the other wildlife here in Zambia. Without a lot of commentary, below you will see some of what we saw while driving, boating, walking and flying through the Livingstone area. If you really enjoy seeing nature up close, take the time to double click each photo and they will enlarge for your viewing pleasure.

Here is the plane we flew in from Lusaka to Livingstone. It took about 90 minutes while flying @ only about 5,000 feet above the ground. Great views!

Here is a view of the falls from the air. We were there at the end of the six months of dry season, so the falls were way low. In the wet season the entire rim (about a mile wide) is waterfall, but the mist is so heavy that it is hard to see the falls. There must be a time in between where they take those great photos!

A wandering baboon on the path to the falls.

Here is a portrait of a contented primate, but wouldn't we love to know what he is thinking.

Closeup of the detail on the mountain zebra. Amazing symmetry, but no two are alike.

The water level of the Zambezi River fluctuates as much as 10 feet from the wet season to the dry season. That difference is apparent in the root systems of the vegetation along the banks.

Here are two elephants that had just crossed the river. Cooled and cleaned...

...but not for long. They immediately started throwing dirt all over themselves to protect their skin from the parasites and biting insects.

Here are some Impala at the river's edge. They drink one at a time so the others can guard from predators. What kind of predators would be lurking along the banks of the lazy Zambezi River you ask?

How about a 15 foot long crocodile waiting in the weeds?

They do blend in with the rocks, and will sit and wait for hours and hours, since they only need to eat about every five days.

Here is a large female beginning her crossing.

She was going to the otherside...Zimbabwe...to join the rest of her herd.

This area, where the Chobe River and the Zambezi River join, is just loaded with Hippos. They are not fat and lazy and slow, but are fat and aggressive and fast!

We saw proof positive of that as this one kind of 'made his case' that he did not want us near his turf. Hippos kill more people in Africa each year than any other animal.

Here is a 'pod' where the males and females are about to get together and you can easily see that from this one's mouth- the teeth are major weapons.

Here is a safari boat that got between a male and a female hippo that morning, and the female turned on the boat...bit a large hole in the side/bottom and the driver had to beach the boat before it sank in these uninviting waters.

Beautiful and playful elephants cooling off at the water's edge

Another elephant, who, judging from the tusks size, is probably 30-50 years old.

A Cape Buffalo who was trying his best to smile for the camera.

This little bird, known as a Jesus bird for its ability to almost walk on the water, is foraging among the Lilly pads for bugs.

Papa...Mama...and Baby. A happy pachyderm family

Here is a young Baboon perched upon a dead tree just inspecting the passers by.

This Livingstone Monkey had just raced out of the trees...jumped up on a breakfast table on the hotel veranda...where he grabbed several packets of brown sugar and headed off for his daily sugar high. He had a look on his face as if to say "Sugar? What sugar?...You talkin' to me?"

Here is a closeup of one of his less aggressive relatives. These monkeys are really fun to watch, but I'm sure they can be a real pain if you are the one trying to run the hotel. They get into everything!

Here is a photo of Reenie with the Zulu entertainers just as we were leaving Zambia. It was good to take a day and a half off of the main PEF highway and see a few things while in this part of the world. Africa is a most unique place.

Sunset on the Zambezi

"Go out, go out I beg of you

And taste the beauty of the wild.

Behold the miracle of the earth

With all the wonder of a child.

Edna Jaques

Stay well...

ZAMBIA welcomes PEF

Last week it was our pleasure to travel to the republic of Zambia (formerly Northern Rhodesia) and introduce to them the Perpetual Education Fund. What an honor for us...to bring this great program to these folks that have patiently waited for all of the diplomatic, legal, educational, banking and administrative details to get done. We arrived in Lusaka on Friday, via South Africa Airways and immediately began meetings. We met with two North American missionary couples who are based there, along with the District President for the Lusaka District and the Church Education director, who is from Zimbabwe. Saturday we had a 2.5 hour orientation meeting with the seven Branch presidencies followed by a 3 hour training and orientation with a large group of young people who intend on using PEF to further their studies. These are really quality people who we were delighted to meet with and deliver this great program into their land. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the building on Saturday morning there was no power in that part of town, so the masterful powerpoint that I had put together for the morning training session was unusable, but we carried on and it all went well. Power outages are quite commonplace in Africa and there is really never a convenient time to be without power, but the people here just roll with it. The following pictures capture but a few of the happy moments and the great friends that we met while spending a few days in Zambia.

Lusaka International Airport. Quite dated and very hot...but adequate

Our morning session with no lights, powerpoint or air conditioning and it was 34 degrees that day! (about mid 90'sF)

Us with District President Harrison M Lumbama and Stake President Tasara Makasi

Us with Elder & Sister Patterson (Lusaka District) and Elder & Sister Esplin (Kitwe District)

Jim meeting with the new PEF Committee that will see to the success of the program in Zambia

Power on in second session! but still a perspiring Elder Von Stetten. That was bottle of water #2

Here are the future recipients of the PEF. They were some of the nicest and most grateful young people that I have ever met. The two hour meeting went to 3 hours to be able to answer all of their questions. How exciting for us to be there...but wow how exciting for them and their posterity.

Power still on...air conditioning beginning to work...water bottle #3

The first 10 PEF loan recipients with President Lumbama



Mothers Without Borders

After church on Sunday we drove about an hour outside of Lusaka to an orphanage run by a Utah family known as Mother;s Without Borders. There are 23 children there right now. Here is a picture of Reenie with little Alice. She is a very tiny 5 years old, due to her health. She is HIV positive and has struggled with Malaria. She went to Reenie straight away and clung to her during our 2 hour visit there.

Here are the boys who had just finished a good game of soccer when we arrived. These guys have very tough feet!

Alice again. She probably will not live very long, however is happy and getting loved. Be happy for these children. They are more fortunate than many others in that they have someone to care for their shelter, food and well being. There are many many who wander the country and scavenge for daily bread.

This picture says it all...

...and so does this one.

The mostly completed dormitory and kitchen where anywhere from 8 to 30 children live at a time. The construction is done by North American volunteers who come here a month at a time to build.

Here is the result of their last visit. A much welcomed and used jungle gym for the kids.

The mother hen and her little chicks.

Fresh mangos...soon. These will be ready in about 45 days.

These kids walk 1.5 hours to their school every morning and then 1.5 hours back at night. Soon there will be a school built at the orphanage. Free time is spent playing 'futball'. You can see that the ball gets well used! If any of you feel inclined to donate something to this cause their website is http://www.motherswithoutborders.org/

The shadows became long and the time for us to leave had come. When one is in the service of his fellow man, the bonds of love and friendship are formed fast and firm. It was a difficult thing to part from these strong custodians and these orphaned children, but we left knowing they were better off than most in their similar condition due to the generosity of a family 12,000 miles away.

"Education is the great engine to personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mine worker can become the head of the mine and the child of farm workers can become the president of a great nation. It is what we make of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another."

Nelson Mandela

Stay well...