Frances Gooderson | December 22 2010
Zimbabwe
Over Advent our thoughts and prayers have turned to the people of Zimbabwe. I visited Oasis projects in Harare earlier this year and so here are a few of my reflections from that visit, on the project we are supporting and how I see this connecting to Advent.
Zimbabwe is a truly beautiful country, but it was the people and their stories that left the deepest impression on me - their stories of resilience in the face of adversity, their ability to laugh when everything seemed to have been taken away from them and their hope in the possibility of change. At the heart of their stories lies the connection to Advent, a time when we reflect on transformation that has been and that is to come. A time when we remember we are on a journey.
Last week Anthony talked to us about the complexity of justice and whether there can be a peaceful and just solution when people have suffered so much injustice. Later this week as we look back to the stable, we see in that place of vulnerablitiy, the mystery revealed that there can be hope in despair, light in darkness, power in weakness. The lives of many of those I met spoke of their strength in this God, their source of hope for yesterday, today and the future. This was in spite of countless stories of daily injustices. For example while driving past some maize growing on the side of the road, I was told that the government had just declared it was going to cut this maize down, because it was grown by local people on land that didn’t belong to them. Given the food shortages, the lack of opportunities to gain any kind of employment, the fact that this land wasn’t being used for anything else and the fact that it was just about to be harvested this was a totally unreasonable and unjust action.
It seems that when faced with adversity there can be a revelation of profound truth. Dietrich Bonhoeffer expressed this powerfully when he wrote to his fiancée while in prison in Germany at Christmas time in 1943,
‘…God is in the manger, wealth in poverty, light in darkness, succor in abandonment. No evil can befall us; whatever men may do to us, they cannot but serve the God who is secretly revealed as love and rules the world and our lives.’
As we have lit Advent candles remembering the great faith of people who have gone before us and their courage to listen to God in spite of what was going on around them, I remember the stories of the people I met; ordinary people taking what they have and bringing transformation as they carry God’s love to those around them, for example Michael. The first thing I noticed about Michael was his smile and his gentle spirit. He is a young man whose wife was unfaithful, infected him with HIV and then left him taking their children with her. In his devastation he attempted suicide several times but miraculously found help and now is a counsellor for other HIV sufferers. He also tends herbs that are used to boost the immune systems of those with HIV. Then there was Iris, a young lady also suffering from HIV whose life as a street girl had been transformed and she is now passionate about the work she does with girls on the street.
I wish I could bring these people to talk here tonight, as I cannot begin to communicate the way their lives spoke of God’s grace, generosity and goodness in spite of the daily pain of living with HIV. These, to me, are people who like the central figures in our sculpture have stepped out of the shadows. Brother Roger of Taize wrote,
‘There are people who by giving themselves, attest that human beings are not doomed to hopelessness. Their perseverance enables them to look at the future with deep confidence. Through them, do we not see signs of an undeniable hope arise, even in the most troubled situations of the world.’ (‘A path of hope: Last writings of Brother Roger)
After two weeks of listening to their stories, I felt a grief for the burdens they have experienced and continue to suffer but also felt determined not to forget them. My attempts to learn some Shona were pitiful but I did pick up that as part of one of the greetings, they say ‘I will stay well, if you stay well.’ How can I stay well, if they are not staying well? And yet the truth is only half a year later, it is all too easy for me to forget them.
The project we have chosen to support this Advent is a skills training project run by Oasis in Harare and is about equipping and enabling orphaned and vulnerable girls to stay well. It is a year long training course that teaches technical skills, particularly sewing and dress making as well as life skills and self confidence. In a country where unemployment is at 95% and money is needed to pay school fees, this is a precious and invaluable opportunity for these girls.
During Advent when we wait expectantly and reflect on how we are called to live, it is all the more powerful to be remembering our family across the world who also wait, who wait expectantly in desperate situations. Together with the people of Zimbabwe, as we long for a just and peaceful future for their country, we cling onto the words of Isaiah,
‘He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall;
But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
They will soar on the wings like eagles;
They will run and not grow weary,
They will walk and not be faint.’ (Isaiah 40:30-31)
Frances Gooderson
Over Advent our thoughts and prayers have turned to the people of Zimbabwe. I visited Oasis projects in Harare earlier this year and so here are a few of my reflections from that visit, on the project we are supporting and how I see this connecting to Advent.
Zimbabwe is a truly beautiful country, but it was the people and their stories that left the deepest impression on me - their stories of resilience in the face of adversity, their ability to laugh when everything seemed to have been taken away from them and their hope in the possibility of change. At the heart of their stories lies the connection to Advent, a time when we reflect on transformation that has been and that is to come. A time when we remember we are on a journey.
Last week Anthony talked to us about the complexity of justice and whether there can be a peaceful and just solution when people have suffered so much injustice. Later this week as we look back to the stable, we see in that place of vulnerablitiy, the mystery revealed that there can be hope in despair, light in darkness, power in weakness. The lives of many of those I met spoke of their strength in this God, their source of hope for yesterday, today and the future. This was in spite of countless stories of daily injustices. For example while driving past some maize growing on the side of the road, I was told that the government had just declared it was going to cut this maize down, because it was grown by local people on land that didn’t belong to them. Given the food shortages, the lack of opportunities to gain any kind of employment, the fact that this land wasn’t being used for anything else and the fact that it was just about to be harvested this was a totally unreasonable and unjust action.
It seems that when faced with adversity there can be a revelation of profound truth. Dietrich Bonhoeffer expressed this powerfully when he wrote to his fiancée while in prison in Germany at Christmas time in 1943,
‘…God is in the manger, wealth in poverty, light in darkness, succor in abandonment. No evil can befall us; whatever men may do to us, they cannot but serve the God who is secretly revealed as love and rules the world and our lives.’
As we have lit Advent candles remembering the great faith of people who have gone before us and their courage to listen to God in spite of what was going on around them, I remember the stories of the people I met; ordinary people taking what they have and bringing transformation as they carry God’s love to those around them, for example Michael. The first thing I noticed about Michael was his smile and his gentle spirit. He is a young man whose wife was unfaithful, infected him with HIV and then left him taking their children with her. In his devastation he attempted suicide several times but miraculously found help and now is a counsellor for other HIV sufferers. He also tends herbs that are used to boost the immune systems of those with HIV. Then there was Iris, a young lady also suffering from HIV whose life as a street girl had been transformed and she is now passionate about the work she does with girls on the street.
I wish I could bring these people to talk here tonight, as I cannot begin to communicate the way their lives spoke of God’s grace, generosity and goodness in spite of the daily pain of living with HIV. These, to me, are people who like the central figures in our sculpture have stepped out of the shadows. Brother Roger of Taize wrote,
‘There are people who by giving themselves, attest that human beings are not doomed to hopelessness. Their perseverance enables them to look at the future with deep confidence. Through them, do we not see signs of an undeniable hope arise, even in the most troubled situations of the world.’ (‘A path of hope: Last writings of Brother Roger)
After two weeks of listening to their stories, I felt a grief for the burdens they have experienced and continue to suffer but also felt determined not to forget them. My attempts to learn some Shona were pitiful but I did pick up that as part of one of the greetings, they say ‘I will stay well, if you stay well.’ How can I stay well, if they are not staying well? And yet the truth is only half a year later, it is all too easy for me to forget them.
The project we have chosen to support this Advent is a skills training project run by Oasis in Harare and is about equipping and enabling orphaned and vulnerable girls to stay well. It is a year long training course that teaches technical skills, particularly sewing and dress making as well as life skills and self confidence. In a country where unemployment is at 95% and money is needed to pay school fees, this is a precious and invaluable opportunity for these girls.
During Advent when we wait expectantly and reflect on how we are called to live, it is all the more powerful to be remembering our family across the world who also wait, who wait expectantly in desperate situations. Together with the people of Zimbabwe, as we long for a just and peaceful future for their country, we cling onto the words of Isaiah,
‘He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall;
But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
They will soar on the wings like eagles;
They will run and not grow weary,
They will walk and not be faint.’ (Isaiah 40:30-31)
Frances Gooderson
