Karanda Mission Hospital

25 04 2012

“You and I have something in common” said the 70ish lady as she left the nursery yesterday.

“Yes we do, but my problem is only going to get worse, yours is going to improve” I replied, looking at the stitches on her right ankle and the walking stick. “What did you have done there?”

“Oh, I broke my ankle so when the time came to have the pins out I didn’t have the money to have it done here so went up to Karanda Mission Hospital near Mt Darwin to have it done” she continued.

I was incredulous. I’d never heard of this particular hospital. “So how was it?” I enquired.

“Very good. The surgeon was an American doctor, the operating theatre was top-notch, and the nurses were wonderful. But I didn’t stay long. Once I’d come around from the anaesthetic they asked me if I could walk and that was it – I hobbled over to the car and left!” she replied.

I wondered if this was where Austin’s eldest son, Mike, did some 6 months attachment at when he was seeing if he wanted to do medicine.

“Yes, it was” said Austin when I asked him at the gym today. “Everyone has heard of Karanda! They are quite inspirational to put it mildly. The doctor Stephens who runs it has been there since its inception, some 50 years. I did 2 months there a while ago and it was an amazing experience. They are what we’d call the archetype GMO, or Government Medical Officer. They can do everything and I’m not exaggerating. We started one day with ophthalmology, then a gynae procedure, neurosurgery and gastro surgery. They can do hip replacements too. Stephens is in his early 80s, still works a full day and I struggle to keep up with him physically. During the war years he said he would treat anyone who was injured, regardless of who they were. This did not go down well with the Rhodesians so it suited them when things got really hot and the road was mined. They said they could no longer guarantee his safety so he got a pilot’s licence and flew in and out when he needed to! Amazing dedication!”

I mentioned the elderly lady I’d chatted to and how impressed she’d been with the equipment and she’d seen a whole lot of crates of new equipment being unpacked on the verandah. “I’m glad to hear that” Austin commented. “They went through a bad patch in the Zim dollar days. At one stage they were referring only 5% of cases back to Harare but now the traffic is the other way for those who either cannot afford treatment here or simply cannot get it done at the local government hospitals. It doesn’t say much for our local hospitals” he continued, warming to his subject. “If I had my time again it’s the sort of place I’d like to work for a couple of years just for the fulfilment. In all the time that he’s been there Stephens has only been away for something like 5 weeks! There are some other hospitals like it around the country. Morgenster near Masvingo is staffed by German doctors.”

I like to think that I live in awe of no-one. I have no desire to meet Bad Pitt, Angelina Jolie or have a conversation with Richard Dawkins but I do admire some. Roger Federer is the most amazing athlete I have watched and I am looking forward to watching the gymnasts at the Olympics perform mind-defying displays. The people I really admire though, are the likes of MSF, the ICRC and the doctors at Karanda Hospital, whom with little or no fanfare (the latter do have a website), just get on with their work with the utmost dedication. I am sure they are not well paid but I would think they have all the reward they desire. This is my small contribution to recognizing them!


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Ewanrigg Botanical Gardens – still there!

19 04 2012

“Oh and the aloes are out in the gardens and we saw at least 7 species of sunbird on them too!” the customer said as he turned to leave. I was pleasantly surprised that Ewanrigg Gardens were still extant so at lunchtime I had a quick meeting with the managing director and we both decided that I should take the afternoon off and go and investigate the photographic possibilities at the gardens out on the Shamva road, some 30km out of Harare. I was also keen to take a drive past the farm where I used to live before I moved into town. There was also nothing so urgent that it could not wait until tomorrow. Such are the benefits of owning one’s own business!

I hadn’t been out that way for a few years but I was not too surprised to see Chabweno Farm where I used to live when working at Hortico, derelict. The grass was higher than the fence, the maize such as it was shorter than the grass and all the tobacco barns were falling down. What a waste!

The sign for the gardens was almost obscured by the grass but the road, never great when I was living there, had recently been graded. I had to wonder if this was the doing of the National Parks who look after the garden or the fat cat who “farms” opposite. I had to plumb for the latter. The man at the gate was pleasant and hoped that I would stop on the way out to buy some aloes. I asked if there were any other visitors around but I had the gardens to myself.

The road up to the car park had definitely seen better days. I made a point of covering the binoculars that I’d brought along but decided not to carry as I remembered there had been problems in the past  with theft and set out with my fearsome hound, Kharma, on a lead as required.

The garden was looking a bit unkempt but there were people around tidying up and the grass had been mown so it looked as though someone was putting some money back into it. The aloes were not quite the display I’d hoped though it is a bit early in the season; they normally come into full flower around June/July.

Of course I only saw one sunbird that was gone long before I could get my camera out of the bag so I looked around for other things to photograph.

As I had come out ostensibly to see the aloes I at least had to take some photos of them!

Not everything in the garden is indigenous – I am pretty sure that this flower is not, but I was not too concerned about that. I guess at one time everything had labels on them but these had long gone and I only saw a sign saying that the taking of cuttings was forbidden. No surprises there.

Once a bit further away from the car park I let Kharma go – fortunately she is not the wandering type though I did keep an eye on her and a lookout for snakes which are common in the area being quite a lot warmer than Harare.

I walk looking at the ground; not because I want to but because I cannot feel my feet on the ground so I walk visually. Of course it’s a pain but it does mean that I see things that other able-bodied people would likely miss.

It does mean that I need to make an effort to look up! And I was rewarded with this view of some fine old indigenous trees!

April is a great time of year – cool nights and warm to hot days. Today was no exception but of course the clouds had to get in on the act and spoil my light. It was not too serious as I knew I had the whole afternoon off and just had to be patient.

I wasn’t really equipped to take photos of the very small so just had to make do with my monopod and just wait for the clouds to clear the sun. This flower was tiny – about 3mm across!

Nope, definitely NOT holly and I wasn’t tempted to taste these berries either! I guess they must be red to attract something, birds I guess, but the garden was curiously devoid of birds.

Up to this stage I’d only taken non-moving subjects and then I noticed this insect. I just HAD to try. Hmm, mixed success. A tripod was really necessary but I’d opted out of buying one just the other day so gave the monopod a chance. It sort of worked. I did say Sort Of!

Then it was time to go. One last photo looking north-east over the surrounding countryside and the granite kopjes (pronounced koppies) that are so typical of Zimbabwe. In fact the South Africans, who like to claim all sorts of things, cannot claim to have ANY. They don’t exist south of the Limpopo river. Like the msasa trees that I love so much!


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Categories : nature, photography

Just, well … absurd!

17 04 2012

“So howzit going?” Roy asked.

I briefly pondered the polite answer as per my previous post on Local Linguistics then decided to go for the honest answer; “I am seriously pissed off!”

“Why is that?” Roy asked, apparently genuinely concerned.

So I told him.

As a physically disabled person I can import into the country, duty free, an automatic gearbox saloon car, station wagon or light commercial vehicle. The first two are of little use to me because I frequently have to carry things around which either won’t fit in a saloon or station wagon or I simply don’t want to carry in the vehicle with me. Agricultural chemicals are one! So I was more than pleased last September when the Minister of Finance changed the legislation to allow the importation of commercial vehicles under the same exemption – up until that time they’d not been included. At the end of last year I made a few enquiries at a local Toyota dealer and then mid-January set everything moving. I got the invoice, paid for the double-cab pickup which is a light commercial vehicle, ascertained that I needed  a letter from a specialist doctor, copy of proof of residence, proof of funds to pay for it and a copy of my ID document. The system is of course exploited. I personally know of two people who are entirely capable of driving a manual vehicles who have managed to get automatic ones in duty-free.

Today I went for the mandatory interview, presumably to see that in fact I did exist and that I was not a fence for someone else who wanted to exploit the system. I was duly told that the double cab pickup truck that I wanted to import was not eligible, it was too heavy! I was dumbstruck. It turns out that only light commercial vehicles with a nett vehicle mass of less than 1.4 tonnes are eligible. It seems that vehicles fitting the description are made but are true commercial trucks of the type that are used by shopfitters and handymen for moving stuff around town – not really what I had in mind. Everything else is too heavy and only double-cab pickups have the automatic gearbox option. The ludicrous aspect of this I could import the latest Landcruiser which is far more than 1.4 tonnes NVM and far more expensive than the vehicle I wanted. Clearly not a lot of thought went into redrafting the conditions of the import rebate.

“So why don’t you get a Prado (smaller Landcruiser) and hire a driver to drive your pickup – you are the boss, get someone else to do the donkey work!” said Roy.

“But it’s stupidly expensive” I retorted. Cost aside it is an option, however it would mean that I’d be stuck if ever the driver went on leave or was off sick and I’d then have to drive the manual pickup truck which sort of defeats the object of getting an automatic vehicle.

We chatted business for a while and then seeing I still down in the dumps he said “Hey, listen carefully to me. Why cheat yourself when you can treat yourself. Remember, when we put you in your coffin the suit doesn’t have pockets so where will we put the money?”

I had to laugh at that.

“See, I made you laugh” he chuckled as he walked away.


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Garden wildlife

16 04 2012

It’s always worth poking around the garden flowers in Zimbabwe to see what’s around. I was cutting flowers for my host at yesterday’s lunch when I saw this mantis nymph. It ambushes bees as the come to the flowers. It will be around for a while yet so I’ll see what other photos I can get over the next few days.


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Local linguistics

16 04 2012

Apparently tourism is booming in Zimbabwe. You could have fooled me – there certainly aren’t legions of backpackers about because I would have noticed them. Well this gem of optimism is according to The Herald newspaper which is renowned for being upbeat without too much reason. Maybe it’s something to do with the impending Independence Day on Wednesday when we all HAVE to be upbeat and thankful for 32 years of misrule. No doubt our esteemed President, Robert Mugabe, will do his usual rant at the National Sports Stadium, everyone else will be blamed for our woes and the solitary remaining air force jet will fly over. Now I have seen that! It was practising on Saturday while I was a the orchid show. Well I guess that I’ll do my bit for the imminent horde of tourists and give them a bit of free advice on everyday etiquette so pay attention all you potential visitors.

It is essential when greeting a Zimbabwean to ask how he/she is even if you are not vaguely interested. In fact this is so ingrained that it is common to be asked “How are you” to which you reply “Fine” (I mean what else are you going to say? Do you honestly think they want to hear about your troubles?) and then the other person will also say “Fine” without you actually asking anything. I have on occasion replied “Terrible” but that only creates confusion and, God forbid, they might want to know what is wrong.

Of course if you are on familiar terms with the other person you can just say “Howzit” which doesn’t actually require any meaningful answer except for another “Howzit”. It’s at this point that my mother would have said “What do they mean, howzit?” and I would reply “It’s actually a contraction of  how is it going”. “How is WHAT going?” she would reply. “What exactly is IT?”. “Well, I guess it’s really just a salutation” I’d respond. I didn’t know any French at that stage to reply that “Comment ça va?” is exactly the equivalent of “Howzit going?” not that it would have helped explain much but it would have at least been witty.

The uninitiated should be warned that all this applies to phone conversations too. You will be made to feel more than a little awkward if you just say “Hello, I wonder if you could help me with…” without going through the “How are you” formality.

For everyday conversations the above introduction will suffice but if you REALLY want to make a good impression you should ask how the family is or how are things at work or home. This is considered VERY polite! Asking how work is going is of course safer because there are the occasional difficult people who don’t have a family, myself included. I’m not sure what the response would be to “My dog is very well thank you”. Maybe I should try it.

It’s pretty much straightforward after this so I will introduce a bit of vocabulary that is peculiar to Zimbabwe. There is a lot of local slang based on English, Afrikaans, Shona and Ndebele but the following are considered essential.

Dhoro – beer. Essential this. The “h” signifies that the D is a hard one. O is pronounced as in or.
Braai – barbecue. Another essential. Braai has Afrikaans origins and is an abbreviation of braaivleis – literally to roast meat.
Eish (pronounced “eeesh”) – an expression of amazement thought it will do for just about any situation. Also of South African origin.

One last piece of advice; everyone is your friend. This predates Facebook by many years but if you ever need anything precede your request by “My friend…” and likely as not you will get what you need. Zimbabweans are a friendly lot and we have quite possibly the best weather in the world so come and visit. Don’t worry, there won’t be too many other tourists!


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Categories : Humour

Oscar the giant African rat

15 04 2012

Meet Oscar. Oscar is the remains of a giant African rat that Derek found in their well. Helen being the artist she is saw a thing of beauty and to draw him so she left Oscar (well, he was not known as Oscar then so I guess I should just say “it”) out to dry out  bit before starting to draw him – if indeed it was a “him”. She now keeps him in a shoe box but she brought him out today so that I could take photos. I’d heard about this fantastic creature that she’d found some time ago. She was convinced it was an alien or a new species of dinosaur but I was almost certain that it was just a giant African rat. She was a bit disappointed when I confirmed it. Helen’s Portuguese friend Bella decided that it needed a name so “Oscar “was deemed a good one. Oscar is stuck to the newspaper not that he really minds I guess. I’m not sure how much they depend on the well for drinking water but when I suggested that Oscar had been in there a while to decay that much Helen turned a little green. I would think they will be ok.

I know it’s a bit macabre but maybe I’ll get it printed and give it to Helen.

Oscar the giant African rat (skeleton)


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The Orchid Society Show

14 04 2012

Like any troubled country we try to forget our day-to-day problems and strive for normality. The autumn show of the Orchid Society of Zimbabwe is one such event. A selection of the orchids are in the album below.

The Orchid Society of Zimbabwe has a small premises at the Mukuvisi Woodlands on the way to the airport. Quite a few orchids were for sale though I did not buy any.


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You know you are having a bad day when…

10 04 2012
Image

Won't you help me - please?

You have just emerged from your pupa to find that your wings won’t open properly, your legs don’t work very well (I know THAT feeling!) and no-one can help!

There was not a lot I could do except take a photograph. It died soon after this and appeared to also have been parasitised by another very small wasp.


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Categories : photos

The Zimbabwe business model

10 04 2012

Zimbabwean retailers seem to have a curious business model. It often centres around marking up products to the highest possible price that the consumer will accept and when the consumer doesn’t buy the product it is simply left on the shelf in the hope that they might change their mind. This is most noticeable in the luxury goods sector.

On the way back from the bank to the carpark this morning I went past a local photographic shop. I’d seen a rather nice tripod there that I thought would do rather well for mounting my binoculars for a bit of steady stargazing. I’d made a mount for this purpose this long weekend and it had worked better than I thought on a monopod so I was keen to try it out on a tripod. Everything about the tripod seemed suitable for the purpose and it was a Slik 400 which is a reliable brand but the price at $464 seemed high even by Zimbabwean standards. A bit of internet research showed the same model at 72 pounds from Amazon.uk which at today’s exchange rate equilibrates to just $100! Now I don’t for a moment expect to buy that sort of item for anything like the same price it goes for in the UK, but trying to sell it at that price is ridiculous. I have also just checked the South African price and that is less than half the Zimbabwean price and South Africa is a very bad place to buy photographic equipment (it is usually around double of the USA price).

I bought my Nikon 10×50 binoculars from the same shop at least a year ago and they had another pair of very nice Nikon 8×40 roof prism binoculars which I briefly contemplated but could not justify the $760 price tag. I saw today that they are still for sale at the same price so maybe cash flow is not an issue and they are relying on the core business of photo printing and photo copying. Maybe I am sensitive to this because my business relies on very high volumes of sales (our pricing unit is in $/1000 seedlings) at a relatively low markup but I cannot for the life of me think why they don’t just drop the price and at least sell SOME of their higher value stock!  A curious business model indeed.


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In praise of progress

7 04 2012

I have just found my glasses. It only took about half-an-hour and that was just this morning. I tried finding the spare pair first so that I could find the everyday pair – but I couldn’t find those either. This is actually not the whine you might expect it to be. You see, I used to be nearly blind without my glasses in which case I would not have left them lying around but some 8 years ago I decided to have my eyes lasered in Cape Town. I was not an ideal candidate with a prescription of around -9.5 in both eyes but I was really fed up with hiding behind a barrier of glass or plastic. Contact lenses just hadn’t worked. God knows I’d tried the lot. Glass, plastic, gas-permeable and everything in between – my eyes just wouldn’t tolerate them.

The ophthalmic surgeon was disappointed with the result and when I went back after a year for a check-up he said that they would have used an intra-ocular lens if I’d had it done now (being then). I was not at all disappointed. I still needed glasses though of a relatively light correction of -2 but I was free of this, this mass of glasses on my face and I could even drive without them if I had to though I didn’t really like doing so. The one downside is there is a bit of flare on bright lights when I drive at night but is really a small issue. Now that I am a bit older and have presbyopia (my lenses have lost their plasticity) I would normally need glasses for reading but I just take my glasses off to read or just look under the lenses at the object. Around the house I often just leave my glasses off as nothing is too far away to see – and forget where I have left them. It IS progress, I wouldn’t go back to the glasses of old (I finally threw away the last old pair a couple of months ago) for anything. Now I just need to find the spare pair.


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