Musina, Musina

Back in December, when it seems that Zimbabwe was at the height of the Cholera outbreak, a good number of aid agencies and organizations from South Africa and the world set up information/aid stations and tables at the showgrounds on the edge of town. Fast forward to a few months later when the South African government kicked them all out citing unsafe conditions. When Keri and I drove by the showgrounds, I only saw one tent up.. the one belonging to Doctors Without Borders. According to some friends I've made who have come to South Africa from Zim, things are starting to look up there... even if it's just a little bit. When we were in Musina, we didn't have to look hard to find evidence of what was going on.
There are still big trucks driving the N1 and delivering needed supplies into the country.
People near the border crossing (we didn't get that close), selling water.
And a billboard we passed asking people to think about their neighbors.
*Keri and I also visited the IOM (International Office of Migration) office in Musina.... we just wanted to check the place out since we had heard a lot of good things about it from Abby who was networking closely with them. We stayed only a few minutes, but that was enough time for the woman we talked to mention she was heading to Tzaneen within the next week to check places that were capable of building pit latrines. Turns out they needed toilets for a lot of the farms in the area that were employing migrants from Zimbabwe. I quickly handed over the card in my wallet that I had for Tsogang, John and Mary's organization. One week later, over tea in Tzaneen, John thanked me, told me that they had written up a proposal for the job with IOM and they were in the final stages of closing the deal. NETWORKING! It WORKS!