Nick, like me, is quite concerned about various political or humanitarian situations around the world. One of these is Zimbabwe, of which I don’t need to remind you how bad the situation is. A friend of him who was born and raised in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) forwarded him a letter. The guy is Anglo, meaning British Colonial, but lives in Europe now. His family however is still living in Zimbabwe and is having to deal with president Mugabe’s madness and insane grip on his power. Whoever is not pro-Mugabe, or white, faces serious danger in Zimbabwe.

Following is an email from the guy’s sister in law. Who wrote this in a bit of a hurry it seems, but still it’s very easily readable and tells a very good story about the situation in this country. It seems like it’s turning into anarchy and it reminds me a lot of the situation displayed in the movie Hotel Rwanda. We cannot let something like this happen again, so I’d like to urge you to read and share. Stumble it, email it, share it on Facebook, Digg it, Buzz it… Whatever’s your preference.

Dear all,

It has been quite a weekend. We were made very aware of impending problems on our Mount Carmel farm before it even started. Various letters came in as well as verbal warnings from concerned people all over the district. People were told that Mt. Carmel cattle and potatoes would be dished out to them.

The election campaign is being fought on “one hundred percent empowerment” ie. taking everything that belongs to people who are not black and giving it to Party faithfulls. The Party has got nothing else to offer the people…

People were told if they did not come they would be beaten. President Mugabe arrived in our little town of Chegutu that afternoon and people were only informed that morning.

Everyone had to suddenly go to his rally whether they wanted to or not. He apparently told the people that if the opposition got in it would be war. The unexpected Presidential rally must have thrown the organisation for the Mount Carmel “programme” [as it was referred to in a letter from one of the organisors.

That evening we only ended up with about 500 of the expected 1500 people that were to come. They were bussed in from all over on tractor trailors, lorries, car and busses. We even had one bus from Shamva hundreds of kms away.

The drums and chanting started soon after dark. Nearly fifty fires were lit all around. The leaders were waving guns around and had everyone doing their bidding. The chanting and sloganeering was military style - all in unison for hour after hour after hour all the way through the night. We could not sleep.

When dawn broke and the birds started to call the chanting broke into a noise that sounded like a terrible swarm of bees on the rampage. We knew that the beating had then started and we prayed. It turned out that anyone who they believed had been polling agents at polling stations was covered in cold water. We had frost that morning and it was cold.

They were then told to beat each other with sticks while the crowd egged them on. The noise went on for a few hours. Some of them had already run away. Those people will not vote; still less be polling agents in the next election because you have to vote in your own ward I understand and they are designating which polling station too so that they can check who you voted for. They had been searched for any cell phones so that they not relay any atrocities on to anyone. They were told that they would be killed if information leaked out. Everyone is tight lipped about what went on. Today they go through the day mechanically with terror written all over them.

A neighbor, Marius Erasmus, drove past on the main road and was stopped at a road block that they had set up on our road. He managed to get through that but at the next one they put burning logs on his bonnet and tried to get into the car. A couple of hundred people came out from the pack shed where the indoctrination was taking place. He managed to reverse and turn around and get through the other road block taking some rocks on his windscreen and other places on the car.

Meantime Bruce [Laura's brother] had been at the Chegutu police station trying to get police out. We had been there on five occasions the previous week trying to tell Chief Inspector Gunyani and Inspector Manyota and Assistant Inspector Bupera of what was to take place. We had given two letters for the attention of the officer in charge, Chief Inspector Gunyani. Bruce waited for six hours at the police station but could not get a reaction to stop the beating and dismantle the road blocks. He saw Chief Inspector Gunyani, Inspector Manyota and Assistant Inspector Bupera amongst others. It is clear that they are under orders not to react.

Our electricity went down and both cell phone networks also ceased to operate. We were left with no communications and our way out onto the main road was sealed off by a road block. We prayed and read psalm 118.

Bruce eventually decided to come out himself. Miraculously, just before he arrived, the road blocks were dismantled and everyone disappeared. Shortly after the guards came to tell us of thieves in the maize - about 30 people were just helping themselves. We caught some of them and chased them off and recovered their booty.

That evening we got a call from Nettie Rogers who was very badly beaten up with her husband six weeks ago by Gilbert Moyo and his gang.

They had also had everything from their house and workshops stolen in that raid including even their clothes. Gilbert Moyo was taken into custody by police but was then let out again as a hit man. He “hit” Billy and Nova Nicholson in the area a few nights ago and they had half an hour to get out of their home and off their farm or end up the same way as Bruce and Nettie had. We do not know what has been looted there yet.

Bruce and Nettie were staying in a cottage on another farm when Gilbert Moyo arrived with thirty people and said he was taking the farm for Senator Madzongwe. They managed to get to the main homestead with the Etheredge brothers while I went to police with Dirk Visagie.

We spent an hour at the police station but they refused to react as it was an “issue of land.” I told them that disposession of ones home and assault of ones workers were matters that were important for them to deal with; but after Bruce’s six hours fruitless wait for a reaction that morning I knew we were wasting our time; and so we eventually proceeded to Stockdale to give whatever support we could.

As it happened an army Major by the name of Indora spoke to Gilbert Moyo and the Etheredges and Bruce Rogers eventually ended up transporting Moyo and his gang back to their base 20 km away on Ranwick farm in the early hours of the morning as the “hit” had not got official sanction. They got to a road block of 50 ZANU people on the main Concession Hill road but they were allowed through and back without incident.

Such road blocks are now common at night to stop observers and anyone from “outside” getting to any pungwes (night marches through towns which result in public execution for many of those unfortunate to be picked up) and seeing the atrocities that are taking place. A friend’s worker went to their rural area near to the Nyamapanda border post to see his elderly mother last month. In these areas any movement needs official sanction from the Party and written ZANU permits are even required to visit the next ward in many places. I have seen such permits.

The friends worker was stopped at a road block and had to wait 2 days to get someone to vouch for him. During that time 4 people who had not got anyone to vouch for them were asked if they wore long sleeves or short sleeves. The first replied “short sleeves”.They cut his right arm off at the top with an axe. The other three replied “long sleeves”. They cut each of their right hands off.He said that he saw the hands wriggling on the ground detached from their owners. Those hands can not vote any more. I have heard of many other hands like that.

It seemed macabre that Bruce who was so badly assaulted by Moyo 6 weeks ago was taking him back to “his” home scott free. Presumably all Bruce’s worldly possessions are now in that place that they took him to. Nettie asked Bruce to look out for their dog which also disappeared on the 6 May; but they most probably killed it. Bruce saw no evidence of it.

There appears to be no sign of any SADC observers out here. A friend said he had seen some sipping drinks and reading the newspapers in the Meikles hotel in Harare over the weekend. Voter registration goes on even now. The old people at Greenways Old Peoples home say they are now off the voter’s role but the ones that are dead are still on…

Meanwhile the atrocities go on at the all night pungwes and the people tremble with fear. I read that the observers are officially not allowed out after dark because their safety can not be guaranteed.

They need to defy that and get out and see with their own eyes these things if they care at all.

We ask you to pray and send brave people and peace keepers to stop the atrocities before they get even worse. Maybe I write this in vain; but I write this crying.

With love in Christ who is our Saviour whatever happens,

Ben.

Nick also received the following email telling more about the corruption surrounding the elections.

Thought to share this, make you laugh, or cry?

Spoke to my family in Harare on Friday (the phone worked!!) and asked how things were on election day. ” Oh its great, mugabe made it a public holiday”

Why?

“So nobody could say they had to work and couldn’t vote”

You’re not going to vote when only mugabe is on the ticket?

“Of course, we all have to”

Why?

“Cos everybody is on the electoral roll, with their home address. If you dont get ticked off on the list of voters, then you are highlighting your name and address for his thugs to target you!!”

Such is democracy. Mugabe should get near 100%.

Spread the word! This news needs to get out. If you use Digg, be sure to go to the original post and Digg it!

A few years ago I was walking through my hometown Utrecht in The Netherlands quite bored, but I had to kill some time. For some reason while I was walking I looked up and suddenly found myself marvelling at a beauty I had never noticed before. I believe a lot of things in our surrounding go completely unnoticed, because we don’t look up much. That’s why I’d like to encourage you all to LOOK UP MORE!

Every Monday I will post a photo or two of shots I took while looking up. This is the first installment with some shots from Istanbul, Turkey.

The last one is a shot by my girlfriend Tsvety (visit her DeviantArt page) and was taken in Ephesus, Anatolia, Turkey. It contains the Library of Celsus, completed in 135 AD.

If you would like to participate, just post a pic every monday taken from an upward angle and post your link below! For this week don’t worry if your post is a day late. Just post your link and visit the others.

Ramadan, Islam’s month of fasting, is set to start tomorrow. Since Turkey’s population is said to be 98 to 99% Islamic, I expect the Ramadan to be rather noticeable. Hence my decision to start an article about it and introducing the topic, since I’m sure it will be a returning topic over the next month or so.

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar and starts on September 1 this year. Ramadan’s believed to be the month in which Angel Gabriel revealed the Qur’an to Muhammad. For 30 days, all Muslims are expected to refrain from consuming food and drinks during the day (this includes water and also chewing gum), besides this sexual activity during fasting hours is also forbidden. One is expecting to keep their thoughts and actions pure for the sake of learning patience and humility. It’s a time when even very moderate Muslims who do not go to mosques join in on the fasting and prayer.

At the end of Ramadan, the breaking of the feast is celebrated by the Islamic holiday of Eid ul-Fitr, but from what I gather from the papers, the whole month of Ramadan is celebrated. In the old area of Sultanahmet in Istanbul, people get together in the evening to celebrate their ’iftar’, which is the evening dinner consumed to break the fast. According to Turkish Daily News, you’ll be able to find classic puppet shadow plays throughout the neighbourhood which are filled with humour. This puppet play called Hacivat and Karagözwas popularized during Ottoman period in which the two characters portray the illiterate and the educated class, leading to humorous situations.

Every morning at 5 o’ clock, mosques send out their messages of prayer which are supposed to be heard all throughout the neighbourhood. Their soundsystems are REALLY loud and the last week it has woken me up every time. I’m getting used to it however and the last two days it has not woken me up, which is great because this is not a Ramadan thing. This is all year long, each and every day. For Ramadan, as a service to all Muslims, drummers walk around the streets 2 hours before the break of dawn to wake people up with enough time to eat before fasting. Fascinating idea and rather charming, but I’m not sure I’ll be so amused when I get woken up by this for the next month.

Also, in more conservative areas, one can expect to get scolded if seen eating or drinking during the fasting times. Looks like I’ll be staying out of those areas for the next month, or at least showing my respect and refraining from consumption in these areas. Besides this, I look forward to the month of Ramadan and all that it will bring!

I’ll be writing about it more, so if you’d like to stay up to date you can subscribe by RSS or click here for email updates.

Taksim’s main square is a popular place for big public events such as New Year’s Eve celebration and parades. It used to be an important center for demonstrations also, but after a few incidents in the sixties and seventies the Turkish government decided to introduce a ban on these demonstrations on the square.

After meeting up with a few fellow students from Poland and Spain, we decided to head out and grab a bite. We headed down İstiklal Caddesi (Avenue) which is Istanbul’s main shopping streets and is visited by over 3 million people per day during the weekends. In the sidestreets there are many bars and restaurants, but the area also has a lot of other sights to see which you can read about on Wikipedia.

After having some food, we walked down one of the streets and came past a Nargila place. This traditional waterpipe has been a very important element in the social life of Turkish people over the course of history and they are smoked to socialize. One Nargila, five teas and a water only cost us 11 lira total, which is around 6 or 7 euros. Great stuff!

Then we headed to a bar about which I won’t speak, because the best thing you can do is just head over to the area yourself one day and explore all that it has to offer. It’s incredibly vibrant, even more so than what I’ve seen in cities like Paris or London!

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Last year when I was working at the Bulgarian National Radio, they sent me on a worktrip to a town called Troyan. This town lies in central Bulgaria and is not frequently visited by tourists. I was told by the town’s tourist board to go spread the word, I also met the mayor, that’s how few foreign guests they get ;-). Besides work, there was also some time for sightseeing and we visited the church displayed in the picture.

In general, I find most Bulgarian churches more interesting from the outside than from the inside, although my first encounters with the Eastern Orthodox interior of churches were far from boring. Check out the full album of my pics in Troyan.

Have you been to Eastern Orthodox churches before? How did you like it? Ever attended a service and care to share how it differs from Protestant or Catholic services? Share now and leave a comment.

If you have a wrinkled picture of your own to share and you’re a PhotoHunter, be sure to leave your name and a direct link to the post below! *

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After just two days in Istanbul, I realized why so few Turkish people speak English. If it’s anywhere near as hard for them to learn English, as it is for me to learn Turkish, I can imagine most don’t even want to bother with it if they don’t need it.

When I came here and didn’t speak one word of Turkish 3 days ago, I longed for Bulgaria where I actually am able to make myself understandable, but told myself to stop being a p***y and stop whining. After all, I didn’t speak any Bulgarian when I arrived there either.

I arrived at my language course 2.5 days late but I figured I could catch up because I’m a fast learner and I as willing to do the work. When I opened my books at home that day, I was looking at a 100% Turkish book. Not only were the exercises in Turkish, so was the explanation. Looked like catching up will be a bit harder to do, so yesterday when they announced a test for today I decided to aim for something I hardly ever aim for. The middle. Not the top 5%, but just be somewhere in the middle. After all, I had missed 3 days, so I had an excuse for myself.

The Turkish language is very tough for a Western European. We start sentences with the subject and then the verb, but the Turkish do it differently. The verb has to wait until the end of the sentence, which is very unnatural for us. Imagine going to a bar and ordering a drink. “I want a coke.” In Turkish the structure would be more like “I coke want”, but this of course is still a very simple sentence. It gets incredibly complex, the verbs get many suffixes, quite a few grammar rules are unlike anything I’ve had to deal with, even in Bulgarian.

However, I really can’t stand being perceived as a tourist (I’d rather be seen as a foreigner who’s living here) and if you speak English and no Turkish at all, you will get ripped off. Constantly. My frustration with this, my impatience, and high demand of myself to understand the language cause me to pick up the language faster than I anticipated and I even don’t mind doing some studying,

I’m sure within one month my Turkish will be quite okay and I won’t have to fall back on my English, or, since many people don’t understand English, gestures and body language.

Gülü gülü!

It has been 30 hours sınce I woke up thıs mornıng. Last nıght I hopped on a bus to Turkey. Some observatıons:

• As you’re nearing the border, Bulgaria gets more and more Turkish. You actually see Turkish characters like “ç” and “ı” pop up. Also the ınterıor of shops changes drastıcally. I’ve notıced thıs before when I went to Sandanskı, whıch ıs close to Greece.
• The Turkish customs was not as strict as I’ve heard it was.
• Turkish bureaucracy IS as chaotic as I’ve heard it was.
• So are Turkish streets.
• English… the unknown language.
• Istanbul’s like a fairytale.
• Living in a dorm sucks. Especially if you have to share your room with 4 people, your showers and toilets with 80 people and the only door that you can lock in your room is a closet door. Looks like I’ll be carrying my laptop around until I find an apartment.
• Istanbul drıvers are very cheeky, but very polite at the same time.

Anyway, I have to catch up on some Turkish lessons (missed 3 days). Will post something proper once I find a nice wi-fi connection. Lots of great stuff coming up though. When I went to Sofia I expected a place that was 10x more different than Holland. It wasn’t that different. But this place, oh boy

I’m off to Istanbul today. It’s only been 6 months since I came back to Holland from Bulgaria where I lived for half a year. Now it’s time to get myself over to Istanbul for half a year of studying abroad. Since my girlfriend’s been in Holland with me for the last weeks and she’s from Sofia, we’re both flying to Sofia, Bulgaria tonight. I’ll be staying there a night and then I’m taking a 10-12 hour busride to Istanbul. Wednesdaymorning, I should be there.

It looks like Wednesday’s going to be a bit crazy… Out of the bus, into the taxi. Out of the taxi, into the hostel. Out of the hostel, into the classroom for some intensive Turkish language courses. FIrst things first though, I’m leaving in a few hours and still haven’t completely packed yet, plus I need to get myself a new insurance for my stay abroad (but I know which to take, it’s just a matter of signing up). So I’m going to leave you like this. EntreCard users; I’ll try to drop back to the best of my ability, but the next days might be a bit chaotic, so I can’t promise anything. Keep dropping though!

To all the people I know in Holland; I’ve had a great time… To the people I know in Istanbul; see you soon!

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