Zimbabwe Welcome

GR Davis and I probably did a good thing when I agreed that Wofford’s 2008 Interim to Zimbabwe should be cancelled. The country’s logistical infrastructure is not working very well. I explained in my last installment that transport is difficult and that basic food staples are in short (or zero) supply. I also learned today that electricity is available only intermittently, and Internet access requires both patience and luck. The University’s electrical substation-transformer went down last week, and the Faculty of Agriculture has been operating (for about 4 hours a day) on a big generator that sounds like a two-banger diesel. That means that nobody has yet succeeded in both composing and printing a class syllabus, so I don’t feel too bad about my own lack of preparation.
Despite classroom darkness and computer-deprivation, our Dean, the irrepressible Professor Tagwira, never lost his smile and went ahead with our welcoming convocation for the new ag First Years. This academic extravaganza was largely conducted by Mrs. Ruwo, who has been the ag secretary since 1993. Way back then she looked about 30 years old, and now she looks about 18; perhaps that is because she has lost a little weight and dyed her hair bright red-purple. She introduced me as Professor Abercrombie; that was heavy flattery since officially I’m only a lecturer (in Zimbabwe a genuine Professor is respected slightly more than God, and God is respected a whole lot), but my make-believe promotion did make me feel welcome indeed.
The Dean preached a real sermon to the First Years, begging them to serve molecular genetics with heart & soul—and to avoid the temptations of lethargy, plagiarism, fornication, and transfer into Business or Theology. Then he said something that I thought was rather wonderful: “I tell you this: if you learn to make two blades of grass grow where only one blade grew before, then you will be more important than the entire breed of politicians.” To conclude, Prof. Tagwira offered the first of two benedictions; the second was volunteered by a First Year who was dressed somewhat like a Tri-Delt at Spring Formal. After the speeches and prayers, Mrs. Ruwo (our youthening secretary) announced that First Tea [yes, Zimbabwe was a British colony] would be “served without sugar this year because there is none in this country.” But Mae Ruwo was wrong, perhaps for the first time in her hyper-efficient life; apparently some light-skinned First Year from Moçambique had smuggled in a two-liter jar.
So, Dr. Davis, Preacher Robinson, Dean Wiseman, I don’t really think things in Zimbabwe will be different by January. But I guarantee you this: our Interim students would have been welcomed by fasting and prayer at the Faculty of Agriculture.