14th August 2026
The night before, even though we had sort of a late night, I had asked Josh if he wanted to get up early and go for a walk. On most of our trip we haven’t had the chance to just get out and walk. And so often we have been sitting and visiting with people or sitting in a pickup trying to get to people. We had hopes of getting an early start visiting brethren so if we wanted that walk then we had to make it early. Also I had searched for potential coffee spots within walking distance of which there were two.
Josh and I set out on the cold, cloudy morning headed down the road to the shops like we had before. I had gotten a message from Mike that one of our morning visits wouldn’t work so we would shift to our originally planned time of meeting sometime around noon. I sent a quick text to Mabasa to let him know the plan. We walked on, not too hopeful for good coffee but we had to take the chance. We walked past the markets onto a main road where my map had said there was a bakery. There was no bakery. Perhaps it was inside someone’s home and there was no sign. Or perhaps visits were by appointment only. The backup was a gas station. I had seen advertisements for coffee at several of them. Sure it might not have been much different than the instant coffee we had been enjoying all week but we had to take the chance. Unfortunately the coffee machine at the gas station was out of service. Slightly defeated we headed back to Manshu to enjoy a warm cup of coffee and get ready for the day.
Mabasa was awake and out of bed. We all had our coffee and then decided to take a walk and get something to eat. Rather than going for cheeseburgers this time we settled on the Crispin’ Chicken Cheeseburger from Chicken Inn. There’s a series of “Inn” restaurants in various African countries that serve various versions of fast food. We had a lovely walk to the market area, ordered our food, and had another lovely walk back to the house. The burgers were fine. They filled our bellies for the morning, but we had a more enjoyable meal ahead of us.
Mike arrived at about noon and the four of us were off on another adventure. This time we were headed south to the high-density suburb of Chitungwiza, the very same one I had briefly mentioned while discussing the populations of cities in Zimbabwe. Chitungwiza is just over the province line so it’s not technically within the bounds of Harare. It’s actually in the Mashonaland East Province.
The place has some history of some of its neighborhoods being built up rapidly. It also has some minimally maintained infrastructure that might make it an undesirable place to live for some. But many people call it home and live very full lives there. The first part of Chitungwiza we drove through is called St. Mary’s, also known as C.A. which is short for Central African Airlines since the former airline’s employees used to be housed there. Unfortunately sewage system maintenance is a big problem in St. Mary’s. I won’t go into detail describing the contents of the ditches that line the streets there.
Mike was born and raised in the suburb and currently lives in the house that was his parents, shared with his wife Mavis and youngest child Victor. Mike’s brother lives in the other half of the house. It’s a modest place but it fits their needs at present. The economy in Zimbabwe isn’t great and Chitungwiza is a reminder of that fact. Even though making a living can be tough, Mike and his family always seem to find creative ways to strive. Mike is a mechanic who travels around Harare fixing the vehicles of his various clients. He’s honest and hardworking so there are some clients who keep his number on speed dial in case of emergencies or for regular maintenance.
Mabasa sometimes mentions Mike’s “inventions” and I’ve sometimes brushed it off because I wasn’t fully aware of how inventive Mike really is. In the past, when he wasn’t working as a driver or working on someone’s vehicle, he was tinkering with a contraption that could be used to spot weld four corners of a metal brace for bricks. Unfortunately it needed for separate power supplies to operate properly and he only had one. He also showed us what could be a homemade plastic extruder that could be used for extruding reclaimed and recycled plastic. Mike’s next invention that he’s been seriously tinkering with is a roto-mold that he plans to use to manufacture inexpensive plastic water barrels. Water is a difficulty in many places in Zimbabwe no matter how close to or far from the city you might live. Many people in Chitungwiza have to carry water home in buckets from community wells on a very regular basis. Mike’s plastic water barrels could be an inexpensive way for people to store water in their homes.
Inside the house Victor had been diligently preparing some delectable snacks for us. We had egg, cheese, and tomato sandwiches on toast with a very pleasant cup of afternoon coffee on the side. Compliments to the chef! Even though the coffee was the same coffee chicory blend we’d had before, this time it was way tastier. Maybe it was the cream and sugar we added. Maybe it was the pleasant company. Either way it was a fine cup of coffee.
After we ate and chatted for a while Mike told us more about his roto-mold and showed us some of his other contraptions as well as the workshop in the house that he shared with Mavis. She uses it for sewing. It was really neat to see the inventions that Mike was working on. I’d learned about various manufacturing processes in college, including a course I took on plastics science. Also my dad was a welder and he had taught me a little bit about welding and fabrication processes and techniques. Seeing Mike in his inventor/mad scientist element brought back some memories.
Unfortunately Mavis had travel to Zvishavane with her daughter Alice to see her elderly mother there so we didn’t get a chance to see either of them on this trip. We made sure to thank Victor for the delicious food and take a few family photos outside before saying our goodbyes and heading off to see Elizabeth, the third born of the Nyamasoka children (Victor being the youngest and Alice coming in second).
Elizabeth was recently married. She and her husband Timo (did I spell that correctly?) live and work in an area of the same suburb called Zengeza. We had a nice visit with Elizabeth in her new home before running off to surprise Timo at work. It was Elizabeth’s idea to not tell him we were coming but it was Mike’s idea for Josh, Mabasa, and me to go inside the very busy shop he was working in to try ask to see him. The plan sort of worked except the place was very busy and we didn’t want to intrude or upset any customers. Once Mike was inside with us everything was fine and we were able to pull Timo away from his customers long enough for an introduction and a few handshakes. I’ll always remember the time I baptized Elizabeth in a bathtub at the very guesthouse we are staying at. It’s wonderful to be able to see the life progress of people whose lives I’ve been blessed to be post of. If you’d like you can read about the time Elizabeth was baptized here.
We said our hellos and goodbyes to Timo, jumped back in the pickup, managed to grab Mike’s jacket from Victor as we headed out of town, and proceeded back to Harare. We were in time to hit the beginning of the Friday afternoon traffic in the city. Mike drove a certain distance into the thick of things before heading out on his own by foot to check in with one particular client before the Sabbath.
I climbed into the driver’s seat and headed into the Harare traffic. The traffic in this city reminds me of both Lilongwe and NYC. I did my best to get us back home in one piece and hopefully not too frazzled. Even though we already had afternoon coffee we decided a nice cappuccino sounded like just the way to bring in the Sabbath. Tomorrow we will be heading into the heart of the city to meet up with our brethren for Sabbath services.
-Lewis VanAusdle
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