Mr Smith Goes to Zimbabwe

Another travel opportunity on behalf of Mindolo Ecumenical Foundation. A partnership with Centre for Peace Initiatives in Africa (CPIA) called for MEF's Peace Centre to collaborate on CPIA's annual regional youth training. My colleague, Ignatius, was supposed to go, but his schedule became full. Another colleague, Tasila, could not go, so I got the nod. Ignatius had gone last year and he supplied me with his PowerPoint slides. CPIA had indicated that they wanted something similar to last year, so using his slides seemed like a good way to go. I worked through them in the week prior to try and become familiar with the material and the flow. I don't usually teach with PP, so this was to be a new experience in several ways.

My travel to Zimbabwe was...interesting. It sure made me appreciate Zambia. I made it to Lusaka just fine. At the airport the drama started. The flight was supposed to go at 16:00, arrival in Harare 45 minutes later. First there was the delay for a couple of hours. Then there was the news, when I got on the plane, that we would first travel to Lubumbashi (in DR Congo), then on to Harare. Funny, my ticket made no mention of stop along the way. In the end, I arrived in Harare around 21:00. Only 4 hours later than expected!

The next day, the group of 35 or so gathered and loaded into a van and a mid-size bus to drive 4+ hours across the country into the eastern highlands. We went to a place south of Mutare called Vumba. A beautiful place with a higher elevation that eliminated the threat of mosquitos and provided foggy mornings at breakfast. Why there?

The founder of CPIA, Dr Kapungu, worked for the UN for 33 years and in his retirement wanted to build a place that was secluded so that important negotiations could take place in pleasant surroundings with relative privacy. This centre served as our venue for the workshop. In addition to the retreat centre, they have constructed a research and documentation centre on African peacemaking. The research centre is surrounded by a garden with statuary, flowers, and a pool in the shape of Africa. Dr Kapungu has donated his UN files and they are collecting books and other materials to aid in research. For research, its location is not convenient, but once one gets there, the surroundings are peaceful and the information appears to be plentiful.

I made 4 presentations in the course of the week, talking about peace, conflict, communication skills, negotiation and mediation overviews, etc. I thought it went OK. I wished I would not have been in lecture mode so much, but that was the basic format being followed. Rather than present and take questions at the end, I invited questions throughout the material as a way to foster interest and engagement. That seemed to work well. The group was pretty sharp and the questions/discussion were lively.

The workshop was building toward a simulation exercise that was planned for the final day. It was a complex negotiation between parties interested in finding a way forward for a fictional country teetering on the brink of civil war. I was put to work as an advisor to one of the groups, so we met periodically in the days prior. It turned out to be an interesting exercise, though it needed more time to play out and to debrief. But we needed to have a closing ceremony, lunch, and get on the road back to Harare that day (Saturday). In the end, we managed to leave Vumba only an hour and a half later than originally planned.

On Sunday, I went to the airport at 10:00 for a 12:00 flight back to Lusaka. At check-in, they told me that the flight will be delayed to 18:00. My hosts knew to check on this instead of dumping me at the curb, so they took me back to the hotel for the afternoon. I flipped channels and tried to figure out how to alert Cheryl to this disappointing news. I tried to get in touch with her via internet cafe (US$5 for 20 mins) but I happen to only be carrying US$100 bills. This is a good thing insofar as they will serve me in a significant emergency—but not this small one. No one has change for US$100 on a Sunday. The cafe operator understands my predicament and lets me on for free, but the web-to-sms system that I have used before to send Cheryl a text message fails to work. I went back to my room and tried to call, but cannot make a connection to Cheryl's phone. I decide that as long as the flight goes at 18:00, I will be in Lusaka by evening and can easily contact her from there to let her know that I will have to spend the night in Lusaka and come to Kitwe on a morning bus. I returned to the airport and wait. There is no plane on the tarmac at 17:00 and I begin to suspect further delays. A bit after 18:00, a plane shows up and they announce for us to proceed to the gate. I wait some more in line at the gate.

At 18:40, we are informed that the airplane needs new front tires, so our flight will be delayed another 1.5 hours. Wishing that the crew could act like they were working the pit in a Forumula One race, I sat and banged on my computer for a while. Some of the businessmen gave the agent who was informing about the delay a piece of their irritated minds. After blasting myself (in my mind) for being so impatient and having absorbed nothing from Africa in terms of rolling with delays, I found some comfort in the fact that these men were upset at Air Zimbabwe for their performance. Petty self-righteousness or merely a more balanced perspective on myself and my situation? Who knows.

In the end, I made it to Lusaka by 21:00. Cheryl was relieved to hear my voice and I was glad to be back in communication. I stayed the night at the MCC Guest House and hopped on a bus first thing Monday morning. It took too long to fill and to drive (my impatience was still in high gear) but I finally made it home at 13:30.

I've decided that I am ready for a break in terms of travel. I don't know how the road warrior types do it. I'm too addicted to predictability so interruptions throw me off and I can't even hardly use the newfound time to be productive. I have lessons to learn on how to redeem the time, I suppose. In the meantime, this home-body is glad to be home.