RENEWED HOPE CHARITABLE FOUNDATION, INC.
Working Together For Zimbabwe's Future
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RENEWED HOPE CHARITABLE FOUNDATION, INC. Working Together For Zimbabwe's Future |
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| November 10, 2004 Dear Reader, I haven't been able to buy fresh milk for several weeks. Often it is even difficult to find shelf life milk, which is milk that needs no refrigeration until it is opened. Then it will only keep for a couple of days on ice. Powdered milk is usually available. All forms of milk are very expensive and the majority of the people cannot afford it. Children here do not get milk to drink. Petrol queues are back and the price of diesel has gone up again. We are now paying more than $3.00 USD for the equivalent of a gallon of diesel. Petrol costs even more. We had a short weekend in Harare and a very busy Monday. We always have twice as much to do as we have time to do. Most things were accomplished in spite of having to wait in a queue for diesel. We arrived at school about 7:30 in the evening, totally exhausted. Sad news greeted us. Mrs. Bondeponde's brother had passed away and they left early Tuesday morning for the funeral. Tuesday, we were invited to a gathering at Guzha. They had gathered all the guardians of orphans for a celebration of all the orphans getting new uniforms. The orphans all came out at once for a picture taken of them in their only clothing. Then they went to put on their new uniforms and have their pictures taken again. What a difference the clothes made in their expressions! Most were all smiles. The work on the feeding centers at both Inyagui and Guzha are moving right along. Trusses are to be delivered the end of this week. They will probably be set in place early next week. The builders will be over the hump so to speak at that point. There is no way that the buildings will be complete before we leave. However, they will be through the critical part of the construction before they are left on their own. It has been necessary for Ralph to check often on the construction. The goal is to have all remaining building materials on site before we leave. That has always been a stumbling block in the past. The cook center for Guzha was begun last Friday and by yesterday the foundation was in and they had backfilled for the concrete floor. I am sure they are bricking up by now. Last evening, when Ralph returned from checking on things at Inyagui, he found a grade five boy seated by the fence. The child's legs were so swollen and painful that he was unable to walk. Ralph lifted him into the truck and took him home. There he found the mother wrapped in blankets and suffering chills. It was only 100 degrees out. Ralph took both to the clinic even though it was after hours. Because it was Ralph they opened up. The nurse said that she suspected the boy had Rheumatic Fever. The mother had malaria. The mother was given a shot and medication. The boy was given a shot for pain. Ralph was told to have the child at the hospital in Murewa by 8:00 the following morning. Ralph is so exhausted that he felt he just couldn't do it. So he asked one of the teachers, who is a member of the Executive Committee, to drive the child to the hospital the following morning. The teacher and patients just returned from the hospital. The child was put on seven days of medicine and if he doesn't improve is to go back to see the Dr. It is irritating when the patient is not told the diagnosis. That is the way it is done here. Perhaps the Dr. feels that the patient would not understand anyway. This may be true in many cases. We finally have an individual staffing the clinic here at the Orphan Care Center. At the moment, the patients that are non-orphans outnumber the ones that are orphans. She treated approximately 50 children today and a couple of adults. I have a girl at the moment that is burning with fever. I have given her medicine to try and bring the fever down; not easy on such a hot day. We now have humidity along with the heat. The last couple or three days it has rained late in the afternoon or during the night. The clouds are building at the moment. It will probably rain this evening. Yes, this is the beginning of the rainy season. We haven't had rain in several days and it is hot. When you can't take a shower because the water in the storage tank is too hot; that is hot. The temperature on Sunday, November 14 was 106 degrees and there is no air conditioning. In spite of all this, we are both doing ok. We only have three short weeks to go before we leave. There is still so much to do. People are pleading with us not to leave. I must say that both Ralph and I need a break. You must be tired of reading of the demands being made on our little clinic that is really little more than a first aid station. It only proves the desperate need there is for medical care. Two secondary students came this morning wanting medicine for Bilharzia. We had nothing to give them. I sent a child that has no parents and is living with a grandmother to the clinic this morning to be tested for HIV. The clinic refused to test the child. They said they only tested adults. I guess the children are meant to die. What do we do? We need the money to set up a full-fledged clinic with testing abilities and treatment for AIDS, Bilharzia, etc. That is an enormous order. Another problem that is becoming a major concern is the number of mothers giving birth who are unable to nurse their babies because they are undernourished. We are now providing formula for three sets of twins. The mothers have no milk or insufficient milk. Bottles are difficult to find and very expensive. A little second grade girl has a large cyst under her chin. We paid for transportation for her mother to take her to the hospital in Murewa. They don't operate and referred her to a pediatrician in Harare for surgery. The mother has no money. Where is the money coming from? How can we deal with all of these problems? We feel so ill prepared for the many problems facing us. We are asking for your prayers. We need stamina and more especially wisdom to handle all the problems coming our way. 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 09 |