two and two makes five

Dear America, Happy Fourth of July

2008-07-04T17:23:23+02:00

The Fourth of July is technically a celebration of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence from the British Empire. Yet we, as Americans, often associate this event with the establishment of American democracy. So, when in the course of a long conversation about African politics and my assertion that "it has taken America a long time" to reach its current position (a position of political stability as evidenced by the ability to contest disputed elections in relative peace in contrast to some recent African examples), the following question was put to me: "How long has America been a democracy?" I answered in the manner I had been taught; I subtracted 1776 from 2008 and arrived at my answer, "Two hundred thirty two years."

"Shyo! Two hundred thirty two years of democracy? I had no idea! You mean that in America every person has been able to vote since 1776?"

"Ummmm, no. Actually, we were at war with England in 1776, and the first President under our Constitution wasn't elected until 1789, and only white men who owned a certain amount of property could vote."

"Oh. So you couldn't vote unless you were white and owned land?"

"Uh, yeah."

"So that isn't really democracy."

"I guess not."

"When could people without property vote?"

"I don't really know, but women could vote in 1920."

"It took a hundred and fifty years for women to vote? What about blacks?"

"Well, some blacks voted after the Civil War in the 1860s, but a lot of places kept blacks and poor people from voting until 1965."

"So everyone in America could only vote since 1965?"

"Basically."

"So America has only been a democracy for about forty years?"

"Basically."

"Hmph."

This conversation caused me to stop and think about our national mythology and the perspective of history that we've learned. From the point of view that America is celebrating 232 years of freedom, liberty, and democracy, we can also say that South Africa has been a free democracy for over 200 years, since the days when European land owners began choosing some of their own local leadership. South Africans speak of "democracy" and "freedom" in terms of the right of every person to vote, thus making this year the 14th anniversary of South African democracy. This isn't an anti-American post, but rather an opportunity for us to consider our language and our history from different perspectives, and perhaps a chance to reconsider our posture towards the rest the world on this day when we celebrate our nation.

Botswana Steps Up - Says "NO" to Mugabe

2008-07-04T16:01:35+02:00

Robert Mugabe certainly thinks he is the President of Zimbabwe. After returning from an African Union summit in Egypt, he said: "I am the president of the Republic of Zimbabwe and that is the reality. Everybody has to accept that if they want dialogue."

But neighboring Botswana has urged SADC (the Southern African Development Community) and the AU (African Union) not to accept Mugabe's re-election or recognize his government in Zimbabwe. In the meantime, Botswana has also been deploying troops near the Zimbabwean border - perhaps in anticipation of retaliation or perhaps just to reinforce border patrols seeking to discourage the thousands of Zimbabweans attempting to flee their country.

You can read the highlights of Botswana Vice President Mompati Merafhe's speech delivered at the AU summit here.

This is the strongest language used to date by the government of one of Zimbabwe's neighbors. American, British, and European statements or sanctions will not help - they only serve to reinforce Mugabe's position as a victim of imperial and colonialist forces. But whether Botswana's statement came as a result of international pressure or internal conviction, it is a bold step in the struggle against Mugabe.

On a more personal note, our friends in Zimbabwe continue persevering despite all of the hardships and they are continuing to plan for an income-generating home to care for an additional 100+ orphaned and abandoned children on top of the 64 already in their care. Twice-weekly meetings to train new pastors and missionaries continue, so that, in their words, "We will be ready to launch new global missionaries across the world as soon the situation here turns around. We want to use this time to prepare for the future." I am so thankful for these friends, for their sacrifice when they could have left the country for greener pastures, and for their testimony to me.

Zim Dollar Watch: The Zim Dollar strengthened (!!!) on the parallel market towards the end of this week, ending today at 45 billion Zim to 1 US - less than half of its value from two weeks ago.

Madiba speaks: "tragic failure of leadership" in Zimbabwe

2008-06-26T02:01:20+02:00

That two stories that began so similarly could wind up so dissimilarly is surprising - and unfortunate in the case of the Zimbabwean people. Both were members of liberation movements seeking to oust white-minority post-colonial governments. Both led factions of the armed struggle. Both were labeled terrorists by the West. Both were jailed for long periods of time because of their activities. And both rose to become leaders of their respective organizations and eventually both became the first leaders of their newly free African nations.

Both took over nations with a strong economic base in white hands and desperate poverty in the homes of the majority. Both spoke of reconciliation and both earned the respect and admiration of the world community. Both were lauded for their accomplishments and commitment. Both oversaw economic growth and modest gains in economic opportunity and equity. Both were supported by vast majorities of their country's population.

One retired gracefully after a single term in office when his Constitution afforded him two and handed over the leadership of the movement and the nation to a new generation of leadership. One has remained in power for twenty eight years. And that has made all the difference.

Today, Nelson Mandela broke his long silence (silence out of respect for current South African President Thabo Mbeki and his position as {former} ANC leader and SADC negotiator) and spoke out against Robert Mugabe. Mugabe - who supported the South African liberation movement and gave refuge to the ANC in exile, helping lead to the strength in the organization that propelled Mandela to the Presidency and the world's acclaim - represents "the tragic failure of leadership in our neighbouring Zimbabwe" according to Madiba today. The full quote at his birthday celebration in London was: "We watch with sadness the continuing tragedy in Darfur. Nearer to home we have seen the outbreak of violence against fellow Africans in our own country and the tragic failure of leadership in our neighbouring Zimbabwe."

A handful of words spoken by Tata Mandela is worth ten million by anyone else - at least in this context. May God give grace to Mr. Mugabe's ear that he might hear.

Where is home?

2008-06-23T18:01:58+02:00

Is home the place you grew up, the place where you lived for the longest period of time, or the place where you currently live? How do you know? Comments, please... I need an answer!

Tsvangirai Quits Election - Mugabe to Remain

2008-06-23T15:10:07+02:00

Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in Zimbabwe, has pulled out of this week's scheduled presidential run-off election, which means that Robert Mugabe of ZANU-PF will remain in power as President. Reaction is understandably mixed, with the MDC saying that going ahead with the election would put more lives in danger, that they have not been allowed to campaign, and that Mugabe has already rigged the election results. Yesterday (Sunday), a scheduled MDC rally in the capital Harare was stopped by ZANU-PF thugs being trucked into the stadium by army and police vehicles to beat up MDC supporters who showed up for the campaign stop.

More and more African leaders are coming to the party by criticizing Mugabe (including important SADC members like Angola, Zambia, and Malawi). The MDC says they will consider talks with Mugabe and ZANU-PF if the violence stops.

Read what some Zimbabweans think about the MDC pull-out here - at least those Zimbabweans with internet access, which is a tiny group. More Zimbabwean response here and here.

After the news, the Zimbabwean dollar continued falling - the parallel rate is now 22 billion to 1 US, compared to 19 billion to 1 on Friday.

Zimbabwe Dollar Crashing... Faster

2008-06-20T17:06:18+02:00

Two weeks ago, I posted that the Zimbabwe Dollar had crashed on the parallel market - the Zim dollar was down 50% in one day to a new low of 2.5 billion Zim dollars to 1 US dollar.

Today - exactly two weeks from an exchange rate of 2.5 billion to 1 (Zim to US), the parallel exchange rate is 19 billion to 1. In two weeks, the value of a Zimbabwe dollar has halved no less than three times.

19,000,000,000 to 1

Your weekend reading list is here

2008-06-20T16:20:28+02:00

Amy and I are off to Grabouw for the weekend, where I'll be speaking on Sunday at the local Baptist church. So I've put together a bunch of links of articles I was going to blog about but never got around to - this is your weekend reading assignment.

UGANDA/SUDAN/LRA:

Ugandan negotiators leave venue (back in April)
Ugandan rebels prepare for war
New conflict with Ugandan rebels looms

SOUTH AFRICAN XENOPHOBIA:

Mob violence turns Joburg CBD into war zone
Fanning the flames of hate - WARNING - VERY graphic image on this page
No home sweet home for Soetwater Somalis - The Soutwater camp is a "mega camp" near us
Meltdown at Soetwater

ZIMBABWE CRISIS:

And as a bonus and a stimulus to get you started on your reading plan, here's a lovely page from a coloring book that teaches all about Jesus and the amazing things he did... like ride dinosaurs:

Download Firefox, Set a Record, Get a Great Browser

2008-06-17T23:28:25+02:00

Dear people using Internet Explorer,

Why? Firefox is much better. So today, on the launch day of Firefox 3, you can help set the world record for the most software downloads in a single day by downloading Firefox, which I promise is better than IE. Click here for the free download.

Soweto, 16 June 1976

2008-06-16T17:22:07+02:00

Today is Youth Day in South Africa, a public holiday remembering the student uprisings in Soweto on this day in 1976 that reinvigorated the anti-apartheid struggle.

Thirty two years ago in the sprawling SOuthWEst TOwnships of Johannesburg...

We're Legal!

2008-06-13T23:47:00+02:00

The South African Department of Home Affairs is responsible for issuing ID books to all South Africans, recording births, deaths, marriages and adoptions, issuing passports, handling refugees, determining citizenship, and issuing visas and residency permits to all foreigners. It is a huge government department, and they are infamous here for being the slowest, most inefficient, and disorganized department around.

For more than a week, Amy and I have been working to gather all of the documents we needed to support our application for a visa extension. Our visa was issued for three years in August 2005, so it was time to apply for another three years. We've heard lots of stories of the hassles involved and have received plenty of advice.

So on Thursday morning, we made our way to the nearest Home Affairs office. We waited in the immigration queue for two hours before speaking to an agent. She looked through our paperwork and told us not to bother applying. Her supervisor, she said, was notorious for denying volunteer visa extensions. If the application could not be denied, it would be delayed again and again, and every last document and payment had to be in order to her (never satisfied) satisfaction. The agent told us to apply in town (downtown Cape Town), as they received far too many applications to look over each one carefully.

This seemed like just the sort of thing you wouldn't want your employees saying to the public, but we thanked her for her honesty and resigned ourselves to heading into town before dawn to get in line at the head office.

This morning, we did just that. We arrived at the Home Affairs office before dawn, and a full hour before they opened. There were around 75 people in line ahead of us.

After a little poking around, we realized that most of the people ahead of us were headed to a different office within Home Affairs, and because the Italians took the wrong staircase, we wound up being the first people in our queue in the immigration office.

Opening time was a little hectic, with the few workers scrambling to handle the three different lines that had already formed within the immigration section. I wound up making small talk with one of the women behind the desk - she turned out to be the supervisor. She took our paperwork, another worker filled out some "for office use only" forms for our file, and we were told to take a seat to wait for our receipt - the cashier had not yet arrived to work.

While waiting, the supervisor promised us we would have our result in three weeks instead of the month-long wait we had expected. I got her to promise that this was a guarantee and not an estimate. She promised, smiled, and laughed.

Half an hour later, our receipt arrived. I asked her (with a big smile) to promise that we would get our visa in three weeks. She repeated her promise and turned to walk away. She stopped in mid-turn, returned to me, and said, "No. Just wait here. I'll give you your extension today."

We sat and waited for another 45 minutes to an hour, but we walked out of the office with our visa extension stamped into our passports. Cynthia, the supervisor, asked me to pray for her, which I did. I got her name and number and promised to call and check on her. And I took the name of her supervisor and promised to write a glowing letter of thanks.

Thanks to God for answering our prayers - we needed our visas quickly for a couple of reasons, and we got the approval in an hour instead of in a month. And thanks to Cynthia, who is doing a thankless job with less than half the staff her section needs. Sometimes God and His people conspire to surprise us.

This isn't political

2008-06-13T16:14:20+02:00

A couple of years ago, I sort of promised not to talk politics on this blog. Maybe one day I'll share the reasons behind that sort of promise, but not today. Today, I just want to ask America why this screen capture is even remotely acceptable to anyone. This isn't a political question, although there are clear political motives behind what happened. I'm just wondering how this is possible in 2008 and why everyone responsible is still employed by a so-called journalistic cable channel.

Ant Attack!

2008-06-10T21:55:45+02:00

Tonight Amy and I fought an epic ant battle in our house. We discovered a massive ant colony that had taken refuge in our home. We're all for sharing, but sharing our house with ants isn't cool. Where were the ants? Maybe in the kitchen... nope. Maybe in the bathroom... nope. Maybe crawling under the door... nope. The ants - thousands of them - were building a nest inside the handset of our cordless phone. Their neighbors had already expanded the colony into the guts of our ADSL modem/router. Yep - the ants had found the only warm place in our cold, cold house - deep inside the electronic equipment kept hot and cozy from being plugged in all day. Ever tried getting thousands of ants out of your cordless phone handset? Not easy, and not fun.

Zimbabwe Dollar Crashing... Fast

2008-06-06T21:47:15+02:00

This afternoon, I posted about recent news from Zim and included the fact that the exchange rate had moved rapidly - from 995-1.45 billion Zim to 1 US the day before to 1.6 billion Zim to 1 US today.

From the time I posted (about seven or eight hours ago), the going rate of exchange has crashed: eight hours ago, 1 US dollar bought 1.6 billion Zim dollars. As of tonight, 1 US dollar buys 2.5 billion Zim.

The Zimbabwe dollar lost 50% of its value in the past eight hours.

The Sad State of Zimbabwe

2008-06-06T17:41:43+02:00

Three items of note from the news out of Zimbabwe this week:

Robert Mugabe's paranoid government has banned all aid work by NGOs. Several million Zimbabweans are sustained by aid distributions by charities and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). This ban puts lives at risk in a very real way. On a personal level, we are concerned about Musha Wevana - the children's home with whom ServLife is partnering. During recent months, the children have received food distributions from a large NGO - we are scrambling to find out how this is being affected and what we can do in the meantime.
Zimbabwe's economy continues its record-breaking downward slide. Sadly, you can ignore all of the figures you read in the linked article - they were published yesterday and are already wildly inaccurate. For example, the article gives the exchange rate as 995 million - 1.45 billion Zim dollars to 1 US dollar. Today, the rate is 1.6 billion to 1. (When we traveled to Zimbabwe just three weeks ago, the rate was 187 million to 1.) Analysts suggest (official rates are no longer published) that the inflation rate in Zimbabwe is 1,800,000% annually (yes - 1.8 million percent inflation). Two liters of cooking oil costs more than the average monthly salary for a Zimbabwean worker.
Today, just three weeks away from the run-off Presidential election, opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai was arrested for the second time in as many days. Yesterday, he was "detained" for more than 10 hours before being released - the official line was that he was being investigate for traveling in a vehicle without proper registration. We'll see what story this "detention" brings - he was released a few hours later after missing an opportunity to address a campaign crowd. The latest news is that future opposition MDC (Movement for Democratic Change) rallies are being banned because of "security threats." It is unclear how many (all?) future rallies and gathering are banned and how long (permanently?) the ban will be in effect.

How long can this continue? Why do you let them get away with it? When will you finally show up and let them know you've been listening and watching? Who will protect the innocent and the helpless? Please hurry, Lord. Please hurry.

The Happiest Day of My Life, Part Two

2008-06-02T19:51:16+02:00

Today just keeps getting better and better.

Amy and I cooked dinner together, which is always fun. But tonight we made an incredible red lentil dhal. Whether you call it dal, dhal, dhaal, dahl, or daal, our dhal was perfectly spicy and delicious with naan.

I am really enjoying my day and lamenting the 29 years I lived without knowing anything about Indian food.

The Happiest Day of My Life

2008-06-02T15:57:45+02:00

I suppose the post title might be a bit of an exaggeration, but it isn't far off...

On the second of June 2008, the daytime temperature inside our home was dangerously close to beginning with a "5" when measured on the Fahrenheit scale. We bit the bullet today and bought a heater and a bottle of gas. In under an hour, the temperature inside the heated room was up by 10 degrees, approaching what an American family might recognize as "room temperature." I'm happier than I've been in weeks. Thank you, LPG.

What were you doing in Zimbabwe, Steven and Amy?

2008-05-26T19:08:00+02:00

Our main task was photographing and recording the stories of the now 64 children living at Musha Wevana under the care of Family Praise Fellowship. This is Tatenda.

And this is Nigel. Very soon, you'll be able to sponsor them through ServLife for $30 a month. That will help pay for their food, clothes, schooling, and ensure that they are well cared for in a loving environment. Send me an email if you want to be the first to know when sponsorships are available to you...

May 15, 2008

2008-05-25T18:50:00+02:00

On the way home, Amy took a walk in the Zimbabwean bush. Just to relax. Nevermind what she's holding in her hands.

When we were almost back in South Africa, we stopped to hug some trees. Really big baobab trees. Amy told me that every meter of circumference represents 130 years of growth.

May 14, 2008

2008-05-24T18:46:00+02:00

A volunteer from the church came by to help catalog and sort gifts from friends - thanks Ann and Faydra!

May 13, 2008

2008-05-23T18:43:00+02:00

At Musha Wevana (Home for Children) in Zimbabwe, I got to hang out with Simbarashe (on your left in red) and Blessing. The other 62 children hung out with Amy.

May 12, 2008

2008-05-22T16:20:00+02:00

We passed the many hours of bushveld driving looking for baobab trees - it isn't a particularly difficult game to play on the road between Louis Trichart and Masvingo.

Zimbabwe rocks. (Aren't I clever?)

We reached Harare around afternoon rush hour. Harare isn't as busy as it used to be, but it is still a large, congested city with plenty of activity.

May 11, 2008

2008-05-21T16:11:00+02:00

Nearing the border to Zimbabwe, we stopped at an avocado farm (Amy's dream come true) and found these bokke.

Also on the farm were an abundance of flowers, including this little purple bloom.

May 10, 2008

2008-05-20T18:29:11+02:00

When you get beyond the Karoo on the N1, you get to the Free State maize growing region. In Afrikaans, "Free State" means "endless fields of corn interrupted by the occasional nothing."

May 9, 2008

2008-05-19T18:26:00+02:00

On the N1 between Cape Town and Bloemfontein is the Karoo, which must mean "A Whole Lot of Hot Absolutely Nothing" in some other language.

Here's Amy practicing her aim out the window of the bakkie in the Karoo.

Home

2008-05-17T01:42:07+02:00

Home again. Lots of stories to share in the days to come, but for now, just sleep.