zimtosa

Stuck in South Africa

2010-01-12T04:18:00.000-08:00

Good day

I am still stuck in South Africa. Can you believe it. I must start making this place my second home. It is just so impossible. My father still doesn't have the money for the exhumation. I have to raise the funds. I have been asking all my friends back at home but is seems that everybody has been hit by the recession. No one has anything to spare.

I know it would break my fathers heart if I go back home and leave my sister here. I am going out of my mind trying to figure out what to do.

At least the kids are back at home and they have been accepted back at school. the elder one was telling me that all the people he new are a grade in front of him and I said he mustn't worry because he learnt so much while he was away and he is so much more matured that they are.

Any suggestions on how to raise the money required? Please follow me on twitter under moolatime and give your suggestion.

What a birthday!

2010-01-08T01:15:00.000-08:00

Good day

Today is my birthday. I am alone in a foreign country trying to get my dead sister back home. What a birthday. Surely I will never forget it. I have received some messages on facebook but hey they don't make up for not being at home with friends and family. I wish I was at home but hey that can't happen so I have to see what I can do here now to amuse myself.

I am still waiting for my father to see if he can come up with the money needed top get my sister back to Zimbabwe. He was talking about cashing in one of his life policies. I don't think that is such a good idea but he is so determined. I cannot convince him otherwise. Its so sad. He has worked all his life and now he has to use all his savings for something like this.

I am sending the kids home tomorrow so I am going to be all alone. It was kind of nice having them around with all their stories. they are so street wise. I am just happy they will be able to start school again.

Exhumation so costly!

2010-01-06T23:21:00.000-08:00

Good day

I had no idea its going to cost so much to get all this done. The exhumation alone is going to cost R7000.00 can you believe it! I was thinking of clubbing in with the other families from Gweru to get this done. As they have indicated that they want their families bought home as well. To get the body to Zimbabwe its going to cost
R35000.00 and we still need to arrange a funeral at home. We need a new coffin, the marquee and food to feed the people that will come to the funeral and who knows how much that is going to cost.

I understand that my father wants his daughter buried at home but its going to be such a costly exercise. He has already used half of his pension money on medical expenses. So where are we going to get all this money? I wonder!

I wish my sister would have just stayed at home no matter how bad things were. At least we would have no incurred such problems. School starts next week and the kids have to enrol again. They have already missed a year last year so I have to make means that they get home at least by this weekend and I have to stay here and think on how to raise all the money that is needed to rebury my sister at home.

Finally Found her!

2010-01-04T21:29:00.000-08:00

Good day

I have finally found the body of my sister. Apparently she died from pneumonia in one of the government hospitals and when no one came to claim her she was bought here in Pretoria to be buried. She was buried at the beginning of November. So I just missed her.

They say we can exhume the body but it will have to be at our own expense and we will have to take her to Zimbabwe at our own expense as well. I have to speak to my father and find out if he will have the money to pay for all this.

Now I have to tell the kids that they will never see their mother again. How does one do that? They are going to be devastated! At least now my father can stop stressing and my sister can be given a decent burial. She won't be just a number in a grave. I also have to notify the relatives of the five people from Gweru that are also buried here.

Pretoria-What a nightmare!

2009-12-30T03:37:00.000-08:00

Hi there

I have been going to Pretoria for the last two days and I still haven't found what I am looking for. They only have information for the last month available at hand. The lady that has access to all the photos in the database is on leave so nobody else can help me. However I have found about five people from Gweru already and I think I have to notify their families. I am sure that they have been wondering what happened to them. Not knowing that they have been buried in South Africa for a month already. Its so sad. You get reduced to a number and just a photo of you that is kept in the files. If you are lucky somebody recognises you and if your family has money they can exhume your body and give you a decent burial at home. I hope I can at least do that for my sister.

Well it will have to wait until this woman comes back from leave. In the meantime I have to spend new year eve here. I don't even know what I will do to entertain the kids. I feel they are going through quiet an ordeal and anything must be done to distract them even if its just for a little bit.

I will be going back to Pretoria first thing on Monday to check the database for the last 3 months at least. I hope I find some information before that.

Hospitals!

2009-12-27T04:54:00.000-08:00

Hello there

I have gone to all three public hospitals in Johannesburg. I am afraid to say I still have not found my sister. There was a very nice woman at the Helen Joseph Hospital and she gave me an address of a place in Pretoria where they keep photos of all Jane does and Joe does that have been buried by the state. So I guess that is my next stop.

I don't know what to tell the kids now. They have been really hoping that I will find their mother. They are now very disappointed and so am I. But I will not give up. I have to keep trying as I have promised my father. When I spoke to him on Christmas day he said, he doesn't care how long it takes as long as I come back home with my sister. Dead or alive. So I have to keep at it. I have used so much money my savings are diminishing. All of a sudden find myself having to be a mother to the kids.

I was thinking of sending them home ahead of me but I am so scared that something will happen on the bus on their way home and I know that their grandfather will hold me accountable for that.

Tomorrow I have to go to Pretoria and see if my sister is amongst the Jane does. Its scary but it has to be done.

I have found the kids!

2009-12-23T03:03:00.000-08:00

Hello there

Finally I have a bit of good news for you. However there is some bad news as well. Here is the good news......I have found all three kids....They is no harm that is visible to the naked eye. However they are dirty, hungry and lonely. There is no sign of their mother! The kids are happy to see me. The old one even asks if they are now returning to Gweru. I am so happy to see them but also can't wait to here what happened to my sister, where is she?

The kids are now begging all by themselves. They are running up and down in between cars. I am so scared that they are gonna get knocked. I have to scream at them and tell them to stop as we are now leaving. They have no belongings nothing. They tell me that when their mother left the other people that they slept with took their blankets.

According to the children my sister said her tummy was sore. They went to sleep on the side of the road as usual and the next day she was vomiting and she couldn't even stand up. A lady that always passes by in the morning saw that there was something wrong with her and she stopped and called an ambulance. That was the last time they saw here and they can't even tell me how long ago this was.

I now have to look for her at hospitals and hope that she is still alive. I now have to take the kids with me to where I am staying for them to first get a bath and then go and get some clothes. At least today I can tell my parents that the kids are alright and the kids will have a warm meal!

Northcliff

2009-12-21T04:31:00.000-08:00

Hi again

Today is a horrible day. Its raining and cold. I have been to almost every shopping center in northcliff and I have asked around and nobody seems to have seen my sister. Others just look at you like you are mad. Whats wrong with the people here.

There is no one begging in the streets I am guessing everybody is hiding away because of the weather. I am just wondering where the kids are and my sister are they even wearing a jersey? Have they had anything to eat?

I am supposed to call home and let them know what is the progress. What do I say to my sick father. " I kind of have an idea where they are but I haven't found them yet" That will drive him straight to his grave. My mother will just die because my father is dead. So what do I do? To call or not to call? That is the question here today.

I hope tomorrow will be a bright and beautiful day so I can look properly and maybe I will have some great news.

Johannesburg!

2009-12-20T02:53:00.000-08:00

Hi there!

I have finally arrived in the big city. It's amazing how different this place is from home. It's so full and everybody seems to be in a rush. It's very busy. It seems like everybody is late for something. No one is laid back and I have had time to look around since I am waiting for the people with information about my sister and her kids.

I don't believe I waited over 30 minutes for these guys to arrive. They don't even apologise for being late all they say is that if I must get a cell phone apparently it will make my life very easy and they can organise it for me as they know someone who knows someone. But it will cost me R500.00. I told them I will think about is as I am trying to use the money I have wisely. If I find my sister I must buy bus tikets for 4 people from South Africa to Zimbabwe. I take them to a coffee shop where we sit and talk.

Firstly the information I want is going to cost me R500.00 and if I add R200.00 they can give me the exact address of where she is. Because I am desperate I give them the R500.00 for now and I will listen to what they have to say. What ever happened to helping a fellow country man out of the goodness of your heart.I guess everybody is hear to make money. Anyways apparently my sister was staying at the central Methodist church and she left there when things took a turn for the worst. The little boy got sick and he wasn't getting better and she decided she was going to look for domestic work so that she can take him to a doctor.( A qualified teacher looking for domestic work)

She left the church and went to the northern suburbs and she had a job. She rented a shack from a South African woman who she also paid to look after the kids while she was gone to work. She worked for 8 months at this house until they were burgled and when her employers found out that the guys that broke into the house were from Zimbabwe she was fired and they even laid charges against her which were later dropped when they found out that she was not involved. Now she couldn't afford to pay rent for the shack and there was no food so she went to the street and she is apparently begging in the streets. She was last seen in Northcliff.

I ask myself why doesn't she come back home! If things are so bad. So I have decided that I will give these guys the extra R200.00 and they must take me to Northcliff so I can look for my sister. Now I am wondering is she still alive? How are the kids are they still all alive? What have they eaten today?

My arrival in South Africa from Zimbabwe

2009-12-18T11:30:00.000-08:00

Hi there

Thank you so much for reading my blog. I have just arrived in South Africa from Zimbabwe. I am hear to look for my sister who left home with her 3 kids in July 2008 and we haven't heard anything from ever since.

This has been very stressful on my parents. My father had a stroke last month and he is not doing so well. We hear all the stories about what happens to fellow Zimbabweans in this country so I am hear to find out what happened to her and her kids.

I have arrived in Musina and I will tomorrow travel to Johannesburg where she was last seen. Some people from back home have agreed to meet with me at the bus station before I go to my hotel.

I just hope they have some leads of her whereabouts. This will really put some ease on the family. I really miss my 2 nieces and nephew. I hope they are okay wherever they are. This place is really different compared to home!

Hope you will follow my journey to finding my family. I hope I will have some news before Christmas. Please pray with me and for me.