RENEWED HOPE CHARITABLE FOUNDATION, INC.

Working Together For Zimbabwe's Future

Dear Readers,

Harare is a beautiful city this time of year, if one can look past the deteriorating infrastructure.  Everything is beginning to bloom in spite of the months of dry weather.  The rainy season is not far away.  The Bauhinia trees have been in full bloom for several weeks now.  The blooms can be white, pink or lavender.  The blossoms remind me of the small orchids used in making leis.  Jasmine is also blooming and my allergies are on high alert.  The last time we were in Harare there were a few Jacaranda trees beginning to bloom.  They form a spectacular sight when whole streets are lined with them in full bloom.  Normally they bloom in October.  The Jacaranda trees here at school have not yet started to bloom.

Ralph and I drove to Inyagui and Guzha yesterday to check on the progress of the projects.  The crew at Guzha number six and they nearly have all the foundation dug for the Feeding Center.  It has been so hot that they have been working mostly at night when the moon is bright.  They should be pouring footings by the end of the week.  At Inyagui, it has been necessary to soak the ground in order to be able to dig.  The ground is just like rock.  A small building that will serve as a kitchen is progressing well.  It should be ready to use soon.

We don’t quite know what is happening but the last time we were in town we witnessed long lines at filling stations.  Fortunately we had no problem getting diesel.  However, today we learned that there is no fuel in Murewa.  Black market fuel is going for about double the price at the pump.  Last week diesel went up $4,000.00 per liter.  It is costing us about the equivalent of $2.80 per gallon at home.  We aren’t looking forward to another price increase but feel that it is inevitable.

Mr. Bondeponde just came by to inform me that the teachers in their meeting today have requested that I teach a library lesson for the teachers.  Sounds like I will have to do some preparation.  There is never a dull moment.  We never know when we get up in the morning what we will be doing that day.  I promise it is never dull and there is little if any free time.

The electricians finished installing the fixtures in the Feeding Center today.  Before they went home they checked everything out by connecting the generator to the main panel.  There were lights.  How exciting!

Ralph spent the day gluing down vinyl cove base in the dispensary.  It was a special order to even get it.  Our supplier had never heard of it.  Always something new and unexpected!

The teachers celebrated Ralph’s birthday by singing Happy Birthday to him and presented him with a big card that one of the teachers had made.  It was nice of them to do that as birthdays are given little notice in this culture.  I am sure it is the reason that many people do not know their birth date or how old they are.

September 16, 2004

We have just returned from Harare where we spent four days.  I didn’t send a journal because I didn’t have time to write anything.   The truck needed service and Ralph wanted it gone through thoroughly because of the abuse it gets on the rough roads.  Parts were beginning to fall off.  That took two days and so we rented a car in order to get errands done at the same time.  Wow! What a shock that was!  Yes, and diesel has gone up in price.  It now costs the equivalent of $2.90 a gallon in USD.  We do our best to curb our driving but it isn’t that easy when one is trying to get things done.

Ralph and I have been on an emotional roll coaster since we returned.  We hadn’t even unloaded the truck until we were informed of an orphan who was not attending school because she was seriously ill.  It was felt we needed to check out the situation.  So we took Mr. Bondeponde and the nurse from the clinic to the child’s home.  I cannot begin to put into words what we found.  The girl 14 years old, legs was swollen and she was in so much pain that she walked like a bent over 90 + year old person.  She was sitting on a reed mat laid on a dirt floor in a room smaller than my closet at home.  The roof was bunches of weeds laid over a couple of poles.  It would all blow off if there were much wind.  The grandmother 85 years old was seated on the ground outside and did not get up.  The grandmother explained that the 14 year old was the breadwinner for the family and her caregiver.  The nurse found out that the young girl had rheumatic fever.  She is to receive a penicillin injection once a month.   We were then informed that in the other rondavel there was another person ill.  There we found a woman with a hard lump in her abdomen and in so much pain she could not sit up on her own.  We were informed she had been there for three years like that.  She is so frail there is nothing at this point one can do but pray.  I sat there thinking how can we even put her into our truck to take her to the hospital. Then we were informed that hospitals will not care for someone in such a condition.  They just send them home to die.

On our way back, the nurse asked us to stop and see another girl who was very ill, also an orphan.  Her parents both have died of AIDS and a sibling as well.  This girl is obviously in the final stages of the same illness.  Her head and face were covered with ringworm.  Her legs were so swollen that she could hardly walk.  Her eyes had no life in them.

The nurse encouraged the aunt to give approval for the girl to be tested for HIV.  That way we might be able to actually do something for her.  There is a mission hospital in Motoko where they are treating AIDS patients.

Then this morning three children were brought to us wanting assistance.  An emergency meeting was called of the Executive Committee to deal with the problem.  We first learned that the children are not even in our district.  They had walked an estimated 30 km and crossed a river to come here.  The oldest is 12 and the other two were 9 and 7.  They had left the 4 year old home alone.  The mother is dead and the father is a drunk and is abusive.  He beats the children if they don’t go find money for him.  If they are given food, he sells it.  It is obvious the children are starving.  They said they had nothing to eat.  They are not from our catchment area and yet how do you turn them away?  If we give aid, more and more will come.  Ralph and I prayed so hard last night for God’s guidance in dealing with the situation we encountered last night and then this came to our door this morning.  What are we to do?

It was decided in the meeting to give the children clothes.  What they had on were rags and filthy.  I outfitted them and gave them clothes for the 4 year old at home.  I wish you could have seen their smiles.  The 9-year-old boy was even dancing.  He was so happy.  One allotment of food was loaded into the truck and two members of the Exec. Committee took the children to the police station.  They were going to get a policeman to go with them to the children’s village.  They intended to have a meeting with the father and the Village Headman.  The responsibility for looking after the welfare of the children would be under the supervision of the Headman.  The food supplies were to be left with the Headman to supervise the use.  In the interim, the villagers will have to work out something for the care of these children.  The committee felt that was the best we could do.

We had just completed this meeting when two women brought a third woman to us.  The woman had recently given birth to twins.  The father had abandoned the family.  The woman is so undernourished that she is not producing milk in order to nurse the babies and she was dressed in filthy rags.  This situation is a bit different in that it is within our catchment area.  We gave her a dress for herself, shawls for the babies and temporary food supplies.  Ralph and Mr. Bondeponde are in Murewa now getting formula for the babies and medication for the girl we saw last night who had so much ringworm.  Is it any wonder we are totally drained at night?

September 24, 2004

Ralph has been so worked up over the conditions we found when we visited Elizabeth and her grandmother that he has had difficulty sleeping.  He finally decided to talk with the headman of the village and see if he could get the villagers to do something.  Earlier this week, Mr. Bondeponde received a letter from the Headman indicating he had volunteers if we had the materials.  So Ralph delivered cement, two door frames that were salvaged here from some remodeling, some timbers leftover from a building project and some extra roofing material to the site.

My one bright spot in the day is the hour or so that I spend in the preschool room each day.  Those little children are so cute.  Recently we have been learning English names for the basic colors.  This week we learned that a circle is round and we looked for round things around us.  Then I introduced crayons to the children.  They had to tell me the name of the color in English before they could color their circle.   The circles I had made on the computer and then ran off enough for each child.  I was amazed at how well they colored for not having had that experience in the past.   I am working with a total of 64 children, who will be moving on to first grade in January.  I take them in small groups of 10 or 12 at a time.  The younger children are in another classroom.

This term we have begun feeding lunch as well as breakfast to all preschoolers.  I wish you could see the feeding center when all of those little ones are seated waiting to be served their plate of food.  It is a room full I must say.  There are a total of about 120 children all seated at once.  I have not notice a morsel of food left on their plates when they leave the table.

Please continue to pray that we make wise decisions in dealing with these people.  It continues to be a constant challenge.

In His Service,

Ralph and Roberta

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Renewed Hope Charitable Foundation, Inc. | a 501(c)(3) charity | P.O. Box 1476 | Castle Rock, Colorado | 80104-1476

2004 Journal 05