Dear Friends;

We are in the second week of our time in Bulawayo, and so much has been packed into these first few days here.

 On our flights over, we arrived in Addis Abiba, Ethiopia 30 minutes late with only 30 minutes to go before our flight to Bulawayo. As we disembarked from our US flight, the airlines agent met us at the bottom of the stairway off the plane. He drove us helter-skelter across the airport tarmac to our plane and we boarded it as they were closing the door to depart. Needless to say, one of our bags did not make it to Bulawayo with us (it arrived 4 days later).

The next morning, in spite of jet lag and sleep deprivation, we arose early to drive two vehicles to Victoria Falls. The road has worsened, with large potholes on many sections. What was a four and a half hour journey now was a seven hour ordeal.

At Victoria Falls we met up with Dr. Andrew Barkmeier, professor of retina surgery at the Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, MN. His wife, Joanne, and charming four daughters also were part of our formed group. Dr. Barkmeier gave lectures at the Africa Retina Congress, we took them to see the magnificent Victoria Falls and Hwange game park, and then retraced our journey on that terrible road to Bulawayo.

This week has seen Dr. Barkmeier teaching medical and surgical retina skills to our local colleague, Dr. Gilbert Moyo. It’s been wonderful to see Dr. Moyo progressing in his skills. Our days in surgery have been long, ending up well after dark. One evening we arrived home from surgery at 11:30pm. However, the intensity of the work has been with the reward of treating complex retinal diseases and salvaging the eyesight in the patients who were treated.

Jane has had a full schedule, cooking and serving the ladies in the Barkmeier family. The girls’ ages are 17, 15, 12, and 8. They visited orphanages, volunteered at CURE Hospital, a facility dedicated to treat children’s orthopedic problems sharing God’s love with many from very poor backgrounds. Jane even took them to Matopos National Park where they went on a “rhino walk” with a professional guide.

As the Barkmeiers leave today, we are so grateful for their sacrifice to come to Zimbabwe and give of their time and skills. We await a shipment containing a glaucoma laser and supplies to continue the work being done here.

Thank you once again for your much needed prayers.

Steve and Jane Beaty