Life is so ironic, it takes sadness to know what happiness is, noise to appreciate silence and absence to value presence. Looking back at my life never did I ever think or imagine ever travelling to Europe. When God grants you his favour nothing can stop the blessings, he has in store for you. When he selects you, it doesn’t matter who else rejected you for his favour outweighs all opposition and this is the story of my life.
Having to travel to the Netherlands has been an enlightening experience overwhelming and exciting at the same time which am thankful for and would not trade it for anything in the world. Being in a first world country opened my eyes to a lot of things and I also learnt a lot during my visit.
A lot of things caught my eyes from the time I arrived at the airport, the first being the fast and free internet. Free WIFI is almost in every public place including the bus, train, restaurants just to mention a few. Not only is it free but fast as well.
Being a food lover, I must say I gained within a short space of time because of the delicious food that I have been eating. Food ranging from mixed grills, ice-cream, cheese, fruits, and not forgetting the amazing chocolates.
I was really amazed by the many different modes of transport they use which we take for granted, for instant they use bicycles everywhere they go but here it seems to be something of the past and out dated. Their modes of transport range from rail, road, water and air. The most common mode of transport in the area where I was staying was the bicycle. Most people cycle everywhere to work, school, shops or even the doctors. And when they work in another town, they ride their bikes to the train or bus station where they are parking bays for bicycles and leave them there or take them on board if they are fold-able bikes.
When I visited the hospital, I was blown away with the facilities found within the hospital itself. I visited one of the biggest hospitals in Groningen and within the hospital there is a huge shopping mall with shops ranging from salons, boutiques, restaurants, a mini museum, recreational park all the things and more found in a normal mall.
Talking about shopping, I really enjoyed going to the mall because of how efficient and fast shopping is. In most shops there is the self-service option where people get to scan and pay their own goods without the need of a shop assistance. There are a variety of shops to suit anyone, ranging from shops that sell the most expensive labels to the cheap shops that sell second hand clothing like the Dorcas which I mentioned in my last article. I also got a new camera at Anno Foto Bakker, a Lumix G80 camera that is water and dust proof and also records videos in 4k.
I also had the privilege of handing over the first magazine of Transport4transport to the alderman of Hogeveen which made its way to the papers, something I wasn’t expecting. The magazine was written in celebration of the organisation’s 10th anniversary, and I had the honour to edit and write most of the articles in it.
I also had the chance to visit the Dutch Reformed church where I was asked to say a few words about my reasons for visit, but because I was so nervous to say anything I had to sing first before saying anything.
Before leaving for Zimbabwe I went to the oil town of Schoonebeek and on my way there I also went to Germany. Whilst I was in Schoonebeek I was at the Kolkman Bakkerij one of the biggest bakeries in the town. I witnessed how they ran the bakery and how the business requires a lot of time and waking up early morning in order to meet the daily orders.
I had an amazing stay because of the hospitality I received from the van der Weide family, Kolkman’s, Robert Niezing and everyone who made my stay comfortable, thank you so much and may God bless you all.
In conclusion I would like to say, God does not stop every difficulty, every bad break but he will surely give you strength, the power, the grace to go through and he surely is doing this for me. Be kind, be grateful, be genuine but most of all be thankful.