Sunday 25th November,2007

Visit to Zambia.

The lovely Carol Johnson and I recently flew to Victoria Falls to visit some beautiful friends of ours in Zambia. Chris Aston & Jenny Gibson have been farming in Livingstone since they were kicked off their farm in Zimbabwe and unfortunately Jenny has now been diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease.

Our flight on Air Zimbabwe began with a slight delay and we were informed that we were going to make an unscheduled stop in Bulawayo, a little alarming for us as we had Chris waiting at the Zambian border to collect us and no way of contacting him. We finally arrived in Victoria Falls half a day later than scheduled and dashed to the border post. Chris was so relieved to see us; he had whiled away the hours of boredom talking to an orange vendor called Molly.

On arrival at the farm in Livingstone there was pandemonium. A huge black mamba had streaked through the house followed by ten Zambians armed with sticks. Simon Hayward a colourful neighbour was leading the chase and absolutely certain that the snake had taken refuge in Jenny's Parker Knoll chair. The chair was tossed in the swimming pool and submerged with a wrought iron candlestick. We all gathered round the pool expectantly waiting for the mamba to surface. I am not sure how long a black mamba can hold its breath but we soon got bored and returned to the house to catch up on all the news.

Chris and Jen lead a very healthy lifestyle and we were soon treated to delicious veggie stir fries with aromatic homemade bread followed by mountains of strawberries, papaya and mango. It wasn't long before I desperately needed to go to the loo. The bathroom is charmingly situated in the garden with a panoramic view of the farm. While you are seated you are able to watch the paradise fly catchers swooping over the pool. As I finished my ablution I searched frantically for the toilet roll. Eventually in desperation I called to Jen asking if she could throw me a roll. "Use the hose" she shouted from the house "it’s easier". To my astonishment there was a shower rose attached to a pipe leading from the cistern. I looked at it doubtfully, detaching it from its hook I experimentally pressed a button and a stream of water jettisoned across the room and hit the bathroom mirror. Slightly alarmed and a little uncertain I waved the shower rose tentatively round my bottom area. In a few seconds to my utter dismay I had flooded the bathroom floor and saturated my pants and undies. I hastily switched it off and hung it back on its hook feeling a little overwhelmed. I drip dried for awhile then walked back to the house looking slightly shell shocked. Carol was reading a magazine; she looked at my wet clothes in undisguised horror "What on earth have you been doing?” I did not answer and could not wait until it was her turn!

Our short time with Jen and Chris passed far too quickly and after a sad farewell we had to depart. Our taxi soon arrived at the airport in good time but the building was deserted except for an incumbent employee stretched out over the counter. It appeared that our flight to Harare had left three hours earlier. Once we got over the shock we demanded to see management. We eventually coerced them into giving us a lift to the Kingdom Hotel so we could sit it out in relative comfort until they came up with a plan of getting us back to Harare.

Browsing through the empty shelves in the chemist shop I met a young Englishman frantically looking for a tube of toothpaste. He had arrived for a four day trip which was supposed to be a birthday treat for his wife. The treat soon turned into a nightmare when their luggage didn't accompany them. Once he had booked into the Kingdom Hotel he rushed to an ATM to try and draw cash but to his utter astonishment was informed that there were no bank notes and they had run out of cash. The couple changed the little foreign currency they had with a street vendor hoping to buy a few essentials but the poor man was shattered to find that toothpaste was this scarce. I smiled at him sympathetically, patted his back and said "that's Zimbabwe for you!"

We did eventually make it back to Harare and I stayed a few days with Carol before heading back to Mozambique. We met up with loads of old friends and Carol did brisk business securing egg and dog food contracts. Zimbabwe has become a nation of hunter gatherers and one can't help being amused by the networks that have sprung up trying to find the basic necessities. In fact riveting dinner party conversation is no longer about the state of the country it’s all about where you can buy a bag of sugar and a litre of milk.

Mandy Retzlaff
Chimoio
Mozambique

I would love to start a drive to buy Jenny a wonderful 4x4 Fieldmaster Terrain off road wheelchair which is very expensive. For those of you who do not know Jenny she is a remarkable friend, incredible farmer and brilliant ironworks designer. If Jenny had this wheelchair she would be able to get around the farm, see her crops and take her beloved dogs for a walk. Unfortunately a wheel chair like this is extremely expensive but perhaps somebody has one at home they could donate or if enough of us contributed we could try and source one.

If you would like to know more about Motor Neurone Disease or have any ideas about how we could raise the funds needed for a Fieldmaster Terrain wheelchair you can contact either Jenny or Mandy.