**Saturday Star** A friend of Pakati, and of Zimbabwe….

This week, on Thursday morning 14th March 2019 at 6:25 am, my Mother passed away in Scunthorpe General Hospital after a long illness. I think it is fitting I remember the time my parents visited Zimbabwe while I was working at Pakati.

My Mum, Pat as she liked to be called, had quite a sense of adventure, a bit more than my Dad to be honest….some of this only came out when they visited Zimbabwe.

My Dad also found something recently that she had written in 1990 & 91. I will quote directly from those notes in here, as it tells us a lot about my mum. Enjoy reading it, enjoy the photos and at the same time, I will enjoy the memories…

“What a year 1990 turned out to be…Each of my 3 sons had surprises for me. One got married, one got engaged, and one was teaching in Zimbabwe. I shared in the joys of the wedding, and of the engagement too, but the most unexpected thing for me was my chance to visit ZIMBABWE.

I cruised down the River Zambezi, saw crocodiles on the shore, hippos bathing and elephants galore. I excitedly left London on a 10 hour overnight flight, & Chris greeted me in Harare at 6am, as did the African sun.

I went on safari drives & saw zebras, more elephants, buffalo herds, giraffes, baboons and colourful birds. I also went to the Great Zimbabwe ruins, an old fortress with thick high walls.

I visited Victoria Falls, gazing in awe…looking down on the beautiful scene from the ‘Flight of Angels’

High sprays caused a rainforest, leaving trees & leaves glistening and those stood too close get wet through…

At Pakati School, where Chris was teaching, life was very different…no electricity or running water, but a very warm & sincere welcome from people there. They might not have much material things, but they laugh & dance & sing. Being happy inspite of a hard life, they could surely teach us something.

I had such fun, enjoyed the sun, and went again in 1991.”

There is very little I can add to this, other than to say I feel as proud of my mum as she clearly was of me…