A village tour in Africa

After the Zimbabwe convention, we were able to do two 'tours' arranged by the branch.  One was a tour of a typical African village (followed by a trip to a market), and the other was a morning in service and a meal with a congregation. 

On Monday, we went by bus to a village about an hour outside of Harare. As our bus pulled up, we were welcomed by the villagers (I guess all in the village are Jehovah's witnesses?). They divided us into smaller groups, we were led through eight stations demonstrating village life. At each station, the friends explained what they were doing. They showed: 

• Cutting firewood 
• Making clay pots and firing them (with underground ovens heated by dung!)
• Harvesting and winnowing grains
• Making peanut butter from scratch, on a flat stone and a stone (would be called a metate here in Guatemala.  Peanut butter is a staple they use to add to other foods for protein. 
• Drawing water from a well and carrying it to the communal kitchen
• Cooking and serving meals
• Making a hut and polishing the floors
• The kids sang kingdom songs for us! 

Our hosts

Sisters talking about grains they use, how they harvest grain,
then winnow it.  Herbs and foods. 

Pounding into a mush. (see next picture)

I got to help... the women take turns pounding the big stick
into the hollowed out bucket-like thing.

One of the larger huts

The kids sang for us in African harmonies

Drawing water from the well

Women take a length of fabric and twist it into a headpiece to
help balance the bucket... then walk with the bucket atop their
head. Notice the woman with the yellow bucket has a baby
wrapped onto her back!

After carrying the water

The baby she carried while working

Inside the common cooking hut, the women work together
to prepare meals. 

One of the sisters. Dishes behind. 

Showed us how they make huts. First the framing with sticks,
then add vertical sticks, then mud on the walls. the roof was
of straw. They then made the floor of the hut with a strong
mud... and to polish the floor, the used dung! They have to
refresh the polish every month or so with fresh dung polish!

Plowing. Right now is dry season, so the ground is much like
fine dust. But during rainy season, they plant and later harvest
enough for the whole year. 

Note the young boy who caring for the big oxen!

Mark Richardson with some of the brothers there. 

Bill with one of the older men in the village. 

As we left, they walked it out to the road, singing kingdom songs. Some were more shy, but some (like the sister in the middle here) was really getting into it, singing and dancing for us! We hated to leave!

Countryside:

On the way to the village, we sang together, and on the way back, we shared experiences in field service.

Afterward, with Mark and Catherine: