Melissa Tanaka Salazani

Melissa Tanaka Salazani

is a bright, cheerful, friendly girl. Her father is a banana farmer and earns a good living for his family, so Melissa enjoys many privileges that most of her peers don't. Her parents have sent her to a private school thus far in her education. This year she has left her home and is attending a fancy boarding school in Mozambique.The Mozambique border is very close to Mutare, so her school really isn't very far away. Melissa doesn't really like being away from her family, but she is getting a good education. They have many vacations so she does get to come home fairly often on holiday. 

This is a picture of Melissa standing in front of their home

The Salazani's attend the Mutare Branch, in fact Melissa's father is the Branch President.

This is a picture of Melissa and Lillian in the foyer of the chapel standing with their brothers.

Before church we took this picture of Melissa and her mom, they always sit in this row.

This picture shows more of the Mutare buildings chapel. The church is a big part of the Salazani families life. Her parents were married in the Joberg Temple after her father returned from serving a mission, so she has been brought up a member of the church.

This is Melissa at home during holiday doing her homework. She is a serious minded student. Children here for the most part are very interested in doing well in school. One reason being it costs their parents so much money and two if you don't pass the tests you can't  continue to the next grade. If you aren't educated you don't learn to speak English and so don't qualify for professional education programs. You end up being a common laborer or work to qualify for a trade education, like plumbing or welding, etc..

So you pay money for each of  three terms for each grade of school. Then you pay a fee to write the exam. If you don't pass the exam you then have to repeat the entire school year. You can see how children would make a big effort to do well in school, for if they didn't their parents would not be willing to make the extreme sacrifice to pay all the fees to send them to school. Melissa's parents pay $3000 a term for her to go to school. Even though her father makes good money on his banana farm it is still a major sacrifice to pay the costs for their children's education. They want their children to go to the private schools because the education is much better than in the government schools. The Salazani children all speak very good English, where children in the governments schools at the same age can only make greetings in English.

Here Elder Jefferies is visiting with President Salazani, in the Salazani livingroom

I asked Melissa to show me a favorite procession and she picked up her scriptures. Her younger brother, Ian wanted to be in ever picture. 

A lap top computer was a requirement for this new school, so Melissa does some of her homework on the computer. At one time she wsanted to be a scientist but lately she says she wants to be a pilot.

When Melissa is home she helps with all the chores. She is a fun loving, social girl and her mom says Melissa will just come outside and join her in whatever she is doing, caring for the chickens, hoeing or planting the garden or even pulling weeds.

Her mom says her favorite family member  is her dad. She loves to be with him however as of late she is spending more time with her big brother. They enjoy the same music and she loves to go cruising with him when he needs to run to town. Her mom likes that because Melissa sometimes shares things about her big brother that mom doesn't know, like who he has a crush on.

Melissa loves to cook and trys new recipes, and does a good job.

This is a family picture taken behind their house.

These dogs scare off any would be intruders into the Salazani's yard. One of them nipped at me and would have eaten me on an other occasion if there hadn't been a fence to hold him back. Hence I don't like to go visit the Salazani's very often. Most everyone has a wall or a fence around their property and many people have dogs on top of that.

Panashe Blantina Rirwa

Born 6 June 2000

 Panashe lives with her grandparents, she was orphaned at a very young age. First her mother passed away, so her father had her come to live with his parents. He soon followed his wife in death. Panashe lives in this 4 room house with 10 other people. There are lots of young cousins to keep her company.

 In this picture you can meet her grandparents and an aunt and some of her children who stay together in this house.

Every time I meet Panashe she has a big smile for me.

She wants to be a soldier when she grows up. Panashe is in the 6th grade and enjoys reading.

 I was asking what size of foot she had and she and her grandmother (Gogo) said 4 or 5. I didn't believe that, her foot looked the same size as mine, so I took off my shoe and put my foot next to hers. When her family saw my white foot in contrast to hers they all started to laugh and say something in Shona (their native language) that I didn't understand. They were all quite amused!!

The two young men next to her grandfather in the picture aren't related to the family but have lived with them as family members for a few years. They were homeless boys that Brother Rirwa took in. He has provided a home and school fees and even given them the blessing of the gospel in their lives. There certainly wasn't and isn't room in the house nor in the pocket book for more children to care for but they are doing the Savior's work. I thought of these scriptures in Matt 25: 35-40, when brother Rirwa was telling us about the accomplishments of these boys since being in his home.

 Like all the other girls we have visited, Panashe's chores include sweeping, hoeing the vegetables and cooking sadza. Everyone eats sadza! It's nearly everyones favorite food too.

Below are pictures of one of the games kids play here. They call it pada. It's very much like hop scotch. You might have to ask your mom what that is. These girls are very good at it. They are smooth and very coordinated in their movements, they make the game look very easy.

 This cook shack is in front of their house and is used everyday, even when they have electricity, because  sadza cooks easier on the fire. They only use four sticks of wood and it's a small flame. They enjoy a well equipped kitchen when they have electricity. It's a very tight space, only room for one cook at a time. Because electricity is so sporadic people really don't keep food in the refrigerator, it's used more like a storage closet than a cooler.

                       Their yard was full of vegetables growing and very skinny dogs sleeping.

                     Panashe is standing next to her Aunt who is the Rirwa's youngest natural child.

 Thought you might enjoy seeing the neighbor's preparing their dinner. When you walk through a neighborhood in the evening you feel like you are on a camping trip, for everyone is outside bent over a fire, preparing or eating dinner.

There is a lot of theft in Zimbabwe so everyone has a fence around their home and property, with a gate that is kept locked. When you come to visit you bang on the gate and wait for someone to come out to invite you in. When you leave you are always walked at least to the gate, sometimes even part way up the road. We always are made to feel like honored guests.

Elder Jefferies posed for this picture with the Rirwa's because it honored their family and made Brother Rirwa very happy. Brother and Sister Rirwa have only been members of the church for about 5 years. He is on the District High Council.

Panache attends the Chikanga Branch. I dropped by their primary one day and snapped this picture. It is the desire of the church leaders to help primary in this part of Africa become more like Heavenly Fathers design for his little children.

Panashe is in the corner with other girls her age.

This is the Chikanga Chapel pictured after sacrament meeting. Notice only two cars in the parking lot and they belong to missionaries. Most people have no transportation.

Nice chapel. Two Branch's meet here. Gracious and Rutendo's branch meets here too. They live in Sakubva, a neighbouring community and can walk to the chapel in less than a half hour when the water is low in the river. During the rainy season they need to walk around the river which then  takes twice as much time to come to church. 

Priscilla

Hi, I'm Priscilla Gurankama. I live in Dangunvura, Zimbabwe.  I came to live with my grandparents when I was two years old. I haven't seen my parents for three years now. Sometimes I spend the weekend with my Uncle and his family in a neighbouring community so I can be with my cousins. When I visit with my Uncle and his family, I would go to church with them. I wanted to be part of the church and so I was recently baptised. My grandparents go to a different church, but they now let me attend The Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day Saints on the weekends I stay at home with them.

I am a happy girl!

Ten people live with me in our three room house. Some of my cousins, an aunt, my grandparents and my little brother. He is 4 years old and came to live with us when he was one.  My parents separated and both have new companions.

 As you can see I have lots of live in playmates. We are standing in the front yard of our home.

 This is our back yard were we cook our meals, do our dishes, wash and dry our clothes and raise chickens and vegetables.

 Here I am with my grandparents and little brother in our living room, which also is the bedroom of some of the members of our family.

This is where Tessa and  I sleep. We just move the stools away and drop the mattress. Tessa is my 5 year old cousin, in fact it's Tessa's family, that we visit most weekends, where I leaned about the church.  

 I often do the dishes here in our sink behind our house.  I am very grateful that we have water most days of the week.

We probably have already eaten the chickens you see in this picture. 

One of my jobs is to sweep the dirt around our house. See what a good job I do.

You might have noticed the clothes line we have in the backyard, but it isn't enough for all the clothes we wash, so we also dry them on the hedge between us and the neighbours.

I really love my grandma (Go-go), she's the only mother I remember. My mother has visited a couple of times but it feels strange.

This is me in my school uniform. I love going to school ! I am in the 7th grade and want to be a teacher at a primary school myself, when I am grown. Science is my most favourite subject. I love to read.

 

This is a picture of the first section of our school.

This is our deputy headmaster, Mrs. Mutamangera, standing in her office. She was very kind to the Jefferies when they visited our school.

This is another view of our school. Notice I'm not the only one who sweeps the dirt to make things look nice.

 When Elder and Sister Jefferies came to my school, we ran into each other when I was on my way to the rest room.

Can you find me? I'm sitting in front of the snoozer. She's going to have a hard time with her exams cause she sleeps a lot in class.

We have to pay fees in order to go to school, plus buy all our notebooks and school books. If there aren't enough books to go around we can take them to a copy machine and make a copy of them.

This is my teacher. We are learning about growing plants, it's science, my favourite subject.

  In the 7th grade we learn about religions of the world. We always pray in our school and any public gathering. Every year of our schooling we have religious instruction. Most Africans know the bible stories pretty well.

Sister Jefferies thought you would be interested in the barbed wire separating the working side from the non working side of our restroom. 

We got new tanks a couple years ago for our toilets. Notice no seats or toilet paper! Sister Jefferies thinks it's a lot better than only having a hole in the floor, which is what most people is used to.

When we have water, this trough is where we can wash our hands. Maybe one year they will remove the old tanks.

Again, this is part of my happy family. If you are ever in Danunvura, stop by for a visit or I'll just see you Sunday at church.