Meeting our MBAs

Judah, the business librarian, is just delightful. He suggested I accompany him to teach a library orientation class to the incoming MBAs in Harare. NUST has a sort of satellite campus in Harare. He arranged that the Dept. of Library Science and the business schools would cover our expenses. He told me to book at the Holiday Inn because that was closest to the facility. I booked online and got a good internet rate on Tuesday. Wednesday Judah informed me that all the rooms in the Harare campus were booked. I really wanted to go so I said I'll call the embassy to see if they have a room. Stephen, who is in charge of the Information Center, agreed to provide us with a room and he said, "you're one of us, so there is no charge." [today, SAT. we thanked Stephen very much- I casually said- Americans say it never hurts to ask and he replied, yes you request, but that means an order.]

Judah said as he departed work WED- just let me know when you hear back from Stephen, then I will email the students from home- this is the first time they were going to hear about the class. So I texted him and called him WED night.

Thurs. morning I get to work and Judah asks - so do we have the room? In short, he invited students to a Sat class on Thursday. He invited 150; I was skeptical that we'd get 50. We worked on our exercises together on Thursday.

Friday morning I met him at the bus station for a 7:30 bus. The company is S. African. As we departed, the steward slipped in a CD and we were offered a travel prayer, in the name of Jesus. We were then informed not to take any food from our fellow passengers, Interscape is not responsible for food contamination. And yes, there was an emergency toilet on board.

Along the road:

Apostals - all in white- praying outside. They say that with the bad economy, people turn to prayer. This group has been accused on child marriages, refusing to vaccinate their kids and polygamy

• Truck with oversized load labeled: Abnormal 
• Random police checks slow things down. This road between the 2 largest city is 2 lanes. Police are looking for bribes. They let the bus through
• 5 toll stations - no EZ pass!
• Firewood for sale along the way
• The vast majority of the land is fallow- M. threw out the white farmers, the war veterans got the land, they were inexperienced farmers. Just this week the govt. announced that they are inviting back the white farmers.

One pit stop at the Chicken Take-out. I was shocked to see a toilet with toilet paper and soap at the sink. Abraham told me to buy the paper so I would see all the events going on in Harare. There was one event listed- a H.S. Band competition sponsored by the Italian Embassy. Only when we got to the outskirts of Harare was there cultivated land.

Lucky me- half way through the trip, my fellow passenger starting chatting. He's a tour guide with Overseas Adventure Travel! He's going to check hotels for me at Vic Falls and gave me advice about the Eastern Highlands.

The 6 hrs actually went pretty fast. My Holiday Inn was right next to the bus stop. When I entered, the manager came to greet me and mentioned the email I wrote about requesting a non-smoking room. I said, "How did you recognize me?" Sort of forgetting that you can count the white people floating around on one hand. The S. African Soccer team is at the hotel- there's a big match on Sun.

I expected Harare to have some English charm, but it's a run-down, rather ugly city. Just a few buildings with nice architecture. Thanks to my guidebook found a nice gallery located in an old house. The resident artist was very friendly. Lots of great sculpture in the yard.

They have wine and cheese openings. I met Gladys, who was a Humphrey Fellow (part of Fulbright.) She works at an organization that teaches civil engagement. She said she was a student leader in university. The government targets students because that is where the protests usually start. She has been arrested. She works in the rural areas to try to get people from the 2 parties to respect each others' opinions and not kill each other. She tries to get them to work on local issues, showing them that they have common goals. They work to make sure people know their rights and register to vote. I asked if she was harassed by the govt- she said yes. In response to my question as to how she remains optimistic- her response was: "you don't choose where you are born. This is my country, I need to work for change." I was glad that I could connect her with other Humphrey Fellows and even the man who runs the Rural Library project because he is like a community organizer. It was strange to be in a restaurant in an upscale shopping mall. There is abject poverty in the city, but also villas and malls. Had my first Zim beer.

The US Information Center is in an award-winning building. Big atrium with lots of connecting bridges. The wi-fi did not work so the students couldn't use their laptops. Some came late, but we had 47!! They were very engaged. We could move to the the adjacent room and use some computers for hands-on exercises, but they had to work in groups. We took an hour lunch break; ended at 3. In total- 5-hr. class. They were engaged, asked questions, searched serious topics. They are all working. Got the most laughs when I used the example of legalizing pot.

After class went to National Gallery- quite depressing. Costs $1 entry. They had a school exhibit on Wetlands. Very little permanent collection. Folklore sculpture and a sculpture garden. Also nice gift shop. What they had was nice, but so meager. Now I'm off to have dinner with friends of friends.