Working Hard!

Hi there everyone! It has been a while since our last update but we are finding it very difficult to get connected to the internet here due to power cuts and also due to the fact that the internet here at the school is in a state of transition right now. We are all doing very well here at the Theological College of Zimbabwe (TCZ) in Bulawayo. Just to update you on the work that we have been doing during the past week...Ricky and Paul have been hard at work installing a solar water heating system on the roof of one of the housing units here at TCZ while Lance and Brendon have been mostly working on developing a plan for future work at TCZ that will most likely include the installation of some solar panels on the main building, as well as another solar water heater and possibly more panels on the roof of the Student Center. Ricky and Paul hope to have the installation of the solar water heater done by the end of the day tomorrow.

Just to let you all know what everyday life is like here...we have been getting up in the mornings around 6am (12am est) and eating a mostly cold breakfast. As mentioned earlier, the power here at TCZ is very spotty and we have found that we should expect to only have power either in the mornings or in the afternoon/evening. We are usually in bed between 8pm and 9pm because we are either exhausted or because there is nothing else to do if the power is out. For about the first three and a half days we were here, we only had electricity to for about an hour so most of our cooking was done over a fire. The only hot water on campus comes from an existing solar water heater which is on the roof of one of the housing units which means that we do not have any hot water for ourselves. We have been taking cold baths almost every day and dealing with the fact that there is no hot water or an actual shower.

Today was a national holiday here in Zimbabwe (Africa Day so it is possible that all of Africa had the same holiday). We did some work in the morning and then we spent the rest of the day with the community here at TCZ playing volleyball and then a game of soccer with some of the other local children. We were then treated to a wonderful lunch which included a fine treat of cooked cow head. Delicious!

We hope to have at least one more post before we head back to the states on Tuesday. Time is really flying by! Your thoughts and prayers are still appreciated for the remainder of our trip.