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A Glimpse of the 2003 MWC Assembly Gathered Site

A very pleasant city. Clean air and safe drinking water. Wide boulevards with busy traffic, but minimal congestion. Lively outdoor markets. Large department stores. Dense population in some sections and huge estate homes on tree-lined streets in others. A relaxed, open atmosphere. Friendly people.

From these descriptions emerges a picture of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, the "City of Kings." This city will delight thousands of international Mennonite and Brethren in Christ visitors attending Africa 2003, the 14th Mennonite World Conference assembly, August 11-17. The landmark Fairspire, piercing the sky above the 17-hectare Zimbabwe International Trade Fair complex near the downtown, will draw them to the Assembly Gathered site.

The controlled-access complex, also known as the International Exhibition Centre, has wide pedestrian walkways encircling and radiating from a central hub. It has several large halls which seat from 3,500 to 9,000 people, and numerous smaller venues for performances, story-telling, group meetings and offices. The large halls will provide space for worship, other mass meetings and the popular "Global Church Village" exhibits. The final worship celebration may spill into an outdoor arena the size of a soccer field.

Dining halls with catered lunches, dinners and teas will be an easy walk across "the hub" from the large meeting halls. The "Our Family" art exhibit, collected from around the world by Winnipeg artist Ray Dirks, will move to the exhibition centre from the Bulawayo National Gallery in the downtown where it will be displayed for six weeks prior to Africa 2003.

The exhibition site has developed over 41 years as a renowned trade fair facility. It is neither primitive nor exotic, but clean and comfortable. There are plenty of washrooms and lots of phone lines. Electronic communication is not always dependable, but "we'll do our best," say officials.

While walking is encouraged, local committees plan to arrange shuttle service from hotels and numerous privately operated "lodges" (bed and breakfasts) where most registrants will be housed. Public transportation — buses, vans and taxis — is another option. It's a 20-minute walk to the city core where the Western influence is evident in the department stores, banks and restaurants, but the din of the outdoor markets, the food in the "take-aways" and the throngs of people walking the streets are delightfully African.

With a population of about one million, Zimbabwe's second largest city has many of the benefits and few of the problems of larger African cities. It has been said that Bulawayo "grows on a person." For Africa 2003 participants, six days will hardly be enough.

— Ferne Burkhardt, News Editor