Well this is rather shameless of me... I am writing this blog so that I can enter a Bible giveaway contest by Logos Bible Software.  Logos is giving away ultra-premium bibles and you can enter by becoming a fan on Facebook (did it), posting a search feature on your website (did it), and write a blog post about it (doing it).  You all must feel so used!

Actually if I win, I plan on giving the bible as one of our graduation prizes at TCZ.  Every year the faculty selects students for a variety of awards.  Some are based on academic performance while others are based on quality of character.  In any case, I hope to take this Bible and give it as a prize.  This is not so shameless after all! 

One of these days, I would like to find the funding to actually have an annual biblical studies prize for an outstanding student going on for further study.  The prize would consist of a new laptop loaded w ... Read More »

I was looking over the blogs today and realised that I have not posted in about a year!!!  Wow, how time flies!  TCZ has been keeping me busy with a lot of IT stuff and so by the time I get home I can barely look at a computer let alone make blog posts.  So this blog post is being written while I am at work.  I figure this will be the only way I make a regular post.  Besides, it ensures everyone stays up to date on what has been going on.

So this term, I have spent considerable time tweak Koha and putting the finishing touches on the interface as well as working with ACTEZ (Association of Colleges for Theological Education in Zimbabwe) to strategise a way forward on a Theological library consortium.  This will be of particular benefit for the college in Harare (there are about 10 or so up there) as they will be in a better position to share resources.  Down here in the Bulawayo area, we will try to work with a small sc ... Read More »

So, if you haven't already heard, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has once again devalued the currency, this time taking off 10 zeros.  So, what was 10,000,000,000 (10Bil) now becomes 1 Zimbabwe dollar.  The exchange rate to the US dollar just prior to revaluation was about 1 trillion to 1USD (using the RTGS or Bank Transfer rate).  If that sounds confusing it is because it is...  very confusing.  Because of the cash shortages, there have been two different rates on the parallel market (aka black market).  The higher rate (Bank Transfer) was in some cases 10 times higher than the cash rate (which ranged between 100Bil - 500Bil?).  "Why," you ask?  Well, checks take about 10 days to clear, bank transfers take over a week to be completed, sometimes as long as 2 weeks, and even if you had money in your account you were only allowed do withdraw 100Bil per day (that is 10 cents or 1 dollar, depending you which rate you use).&am ... Read More »

So I had yet more computer troubles.  To fill you in on the gaps, my computer stopped working in December when Kayle's parents came out for a visit.  The warranty had ended about 6 months prior, so there was not much that could be done except to get a new computer.  As you might imagine, this can be rather difficult in Zimbabwe as anything electronic (let alone a computer) is extremely expensive, selling for double than it would anywhere else.  This is due to a couple of reasons, the first being sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by England, the US, EU, Australia, etc.  Secondly, the government has recently been charging ridiculous import duty on items, in some cases 100% in foreign currency.  So, what would cost $1000 USD anywhere else would cost a Zimbabwean $2000 USD because of government greed.

Well, anyway Ken (Kayle's dad) and I had to make a quick trip to South Africa.  We ordinarily make trips over the border to buy ... Read More »