News from Zimbabwe, Christmas 2003
Dear OB,
Every year you achieve a few firsts. The two which come to my mind this time around are umpiring my first first class cricket match and catching my first genuine tropical disease, in this case dysentery, which I have only recently recovered from. Not an experience I would wholeheartedly recommend for most of you and, no, I have no idea where I could have contracted it from since no-one else in the school succumbed. Perhaps I am just a feeble pink Pom.
The cricket was more down my line and an opportunity, off the record, I feel I should have been accorded quite a while ago but there we are. It was a four day domestic match between Matabeleland and Midlands and the first lbw appeal I upheld was against Heath Streak, the Zimbabwe captain! (and former pupil). I was surprisingly nervous at the start with it being a first class match but I soon got into it and thoroughly enjoyed it. By the time you receive this I will have been Fourth Umpire again for a ODI, Zim v West Indies. The frightening thing is how hard I sometimes find schoolboy cricket and the mistakes that I know I make! This year my team has been the worst I have ever coached, only winning the one match. Never mind. I was more successful with my hockey side, who, when they got it together, were outstanding.
Another first which comes to mind is that I was elected onto the local Country Club committee, another thing I never would have envisaged. I am hardly the old soak who closes up after the barman has gone but I try to support it through the cricket section as much as anything. In many ways it epitomises much of Zim at the moment. We really should have shut down ages ago because we have no members now, but somehow we keep going and it gives some meaning to a few old pensioners and others in the community. Almost all the local white farmers in this area have been forced off their land to be replaced by penniless army colonels and chiefs of police. The latest inflation figures I have seen peg us at well over 500% and counting, so no complaints about soap going up by 1pence last week please. The thing which amazes the likes of you and me is that the mass of people accept it all. Fear is a powerful weapon.
The College continues to function as near to normal as is possible. Numbers remain viable and the teaching staff reasonably stable. Next year we celebrate our 50th anniversary which will hopefully bring some cheer to the situation. I continue to give my full support to the Headmaster and I believe the school remains strong. I continue with my usual responsibilities in and out of the classroom to which I realise, I have also added this year, being the Inter House quizmaster which has been fun. I have also been inveigled to do the same at the Club, which has also gone down well. Running the Chapel and Christian Groups has been a challenge this year as ever, but it is generally rewarding.
In February/March Zim co-hosted the cricket World Cup and I was able to be a steward in the VIP area for the three matches in Bulawayo and watch some good cricket, including World Champions, Australia.
The (lack of) fuel (not to mention the price if you are able to source it) situation means travel has been restricted to trips funded by the Cricket Union for schools’ cricket festivals in the holidays which are enjoyable but hard work but don’t constitute holiday so this coming Christmas/New Year I have splashed out on an air ticket to Blantyre to see my brother and family in Malawi which I am thoroughly looking forward to.
Recently flowering trees, both indigenous and exotic (jacarandas, flamboyants) have been superb. Life is never dull and I continue to see a future, if not a personal fortune, in Zimbabwe.
I wish you all a very happy Christmas and New Year.
Richard Harrison
harrypom@mweb.co.zw
Falcon College
P.O. Esigodini
ZIMBABWE
