House of Loveness, Zimbabwe

" I never knew of a morning in Africa when I woke up that I was not happy." -Ernest Hemingway The air in Zimbabwe is called champagne air. It's crisp and bubbly, like the tingle of the first sip of champagne on your lips.  It makes you want slow down and savor every moment. Zimbabwe sits a mile above sea level just north of the border of South Africa and while news reports may keep you from coming to Zimbabwe perhaps you will listen to the whispers of your soul, come to Zimbabwe and take a deep breath in. I have been going to Zimbabwe several times a year since 2008.  There is something about the champagne air, the kind smiles of the locals, the dreamy colors of the sunsets, the radiance of the stars lighting the dark African sky,  the beauty of seeing elephants and rhinos living in their natural environment . There is something about the spirit of the Zimbabwean people that remind me to live in a state of gratitude , giving thanks for the sunrise e

My first trip to Zimbabwe in 2008 "There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find how you yourself have altered."                                                            -Nelson Mandela   I have been traveling to Africa several times a year since 2008 when I went to Zimbabwe with dreams of adopting a baby girl that had been abandoned.  She was named Loveness by the hospital staff who cared for her after she was delivered to the hospital in a dirty wheelbarrow.  A local man had found Loveness and three other babies, all a few weeks old, abandoned in the nearby fields.  This was the height of the cholera epidemic and the collapse of the economy.    After I received the call about Loveness, I arrived in Zimbabwe a few weeks later with six suitcases of supplies for the babies donated by friends and family in the United States.  I was thrilled to becom e a mother again.   Sadly, I arrived to the news that the