Zimbabwe, May 2009

My family and I just arrived back from a 2-week trip to Karanda Mission Hospital in Zimbabwe, Africa.  My husband, a Radiologist, and I took our two oldest children, ages 6 and 8, on the adventure of a lifetime.  Our experiences there were unsurpassed and ones we will never forget.  We were forever changed.  These are some of my thoughts that I journaled upon our re-entry to the U.S. in June 2009.

Expectations. These are something that can totally surprise and thrill you....or something that can deflate and have you down in the dumps. Sometimes I wish we didn't have expectations of people, of things. Just seems like it would make things much simpler sometimes. But nevertheless, God created us with them, so we might as well embrace them and make the best of it....turn them into something that surprises us with joy when they turn out, and something we can blow off as no big deal when they don't. Well, I had one expectation of what Africa would be like....and I was totally off. 

The poverty was worse than I thought, the people kinder and more generous, the country much more modern in the cities, and the outlying villages much poorer than I imagined. I had anticipated being frightened, feeling unsafe or threatened....even in the foreign airports I had visions of guards with machine guns and people looking at us with hostile eyes. But there was none of that. The airport in Harare felt much like one of our airports with people coming and going, and staff helping you through customs. We never once felt in any danger. Now of course we were being smart and doing our part in all of that. But it was mostly, thankfully, uneventful. I had also expected that we would stick out like sore thumbs....white skin among a sea of dark skin. But again, this wasn't the case at all. There were people of every race all around us. It was nice to be among such a mix of God's children.

We stayed the first night in Harare at the TEAM guesthouse (The Evangelical Alliance Mission) and had a trip orientation...as well as grocery shopped for our time at Karanda. We left the next mo rning for our 3 hour trip by van out to "the bush". This is where my Africa trip really began. Driving out of the city into the beautiful foothills....seeing the acacia trees and thatched-roof huts, the local people walking on the side of the roads carrying wood or baskets of food on their heads, and realizing how very different this is from our world back home. We passed through several government roadblocks, but again they were much different than what I had expected. The officers just waved us right through when they saw Karanda Mission Hospital on the side of the van. God protected us and paved our way.

When we arrived at the "compound" I was amazed at how secure it was. Completely fenced in and with a guard at the gate. 150 bed hospital, guesthouse that had 8 bedrooms and one bunk area, a Nursing School, student dorms, a cafeteria, a chapel, a primary school for the staff children, and staff housing. It was a big place! The people we met here were poor and needy- the children tended to wear the same clothes day after day....but they all had shoes on their feet, a brick house with a kitchen, furniture, and a porcelein toilet. Once we met families from the outlying villages, we quickly realized that the folks who lived at Karanda were the "wealthy" ones.

We started each morning bright and early at 7am with a devotional at the chapel. Man, African people can sing! They would sing 2-3 songs each morning in their native language of Shona...and you should have heard all the beautiful harmonies! I have a few video clips that I will have to share. Then my husband and Dr. Sheets would round on the patients and decide what they were going to do for the day. The kids and I, along with the other team members, would tackle various tasks such as building a fence for the goats, painting chairs for the school, sewing curtains for the nursing dorms, hanging ceiling fans, sorting and recording inventory of all the medicines we brought, and sorting and distributing clothing, toys, and food to the needy and the orphans in the outlying villages. Each day was full and felt very rewarding as we got these jobs accomplished.

Another surprise to me was how quickly my kids made friends in the community. From the day we arrived, they both just ran out and met the children....quickly becoming one of the gang. School let out at 1p each day for lunch. So after the kids had eaten, from 2p until 6p, they were running and playing with their new friends all over the grounds! It was wonderful to see that childlike acceptance....they never once told us they felt awkward or uncomfortable being the only light-skinned kids among about 35 dark ones. It was as if they really didn't even notice. Ah, I wish we as adults would lean toward those accepting tendencies, instead of oftentimes being so quick to judge! I guess that's why the Lord tells us to come to Him as little children.  They also got to see a baby delivered for the first time! It was one of those little miracles that I know they will never forget. What a privilige for a 6 and 8 year-old to actually get to stand in a delivery room and watch a new life come into this world. The baby's name was Watidashi, which means God has loved us.

God was so gracious to us! The kids were super-great travelers on our long journey....never once complained about any of the long plane flights, about having to sleep under mosquito nets, about having to filter all of their water, or wash their hands 20 times a day.  Again, they just saw it as an adventure.  It was truly the trip of  a lifetime.  We can't wait to go back!

Shannon Burton