RENEWED HOPE CHARITABLE FOUNDATION, INC.

Working Together For Zimbabwe's Future

July 27, 2006

Dear Readers,

I am finally getting back to writing about our activities.  On Saturday, July 15 we attended the Ordination and Installation of Pastor Mike we had known from previous years at City Presbyterian Church.  He had recently completed his studies to become a Minister.  The church in one of the high density suburbs was packed and people were standing outside.  Pastor Mike was both surprised and very pleased that we had attended.

Pastor Reggie Mudenda from Bulawayo had come to Harare for the service.  Later in the day we drove to Bulawayo and Reggie rode with us.  It was well after dark when we arrived and we were very glad that Reggie was with us.  Ralph does not like driving after dark here in Zimbabwe.  A member of Reggie’s church had made arrangements for a place for us to stay.

On Sunday we attended services at Reggie’s church.  The congregation appeared to be children, many of them orphans, and elderly people, mostly women.  The congregation is struggling to construct a center where they can feed the needy children in their area.  The church finally has a well and they are in the process of clearing land for a garden.  The vegetables will supply the feeding program.  The building is partially constructed; but, they still need doors, windows and a roof.  The church had received a large sum of money for the project but the money was eroded by the inflation that is taking place in this country.

After church, we drove to Victoria Falls.  We had booked a Bed and Breakfast before leaving Harare.  We were very pleased with the accommodations.  We had large rooms and each room had a private bath.  Breakfast was served on the veranda where we could watch monkeys playing in the trees.

On Monday we toured the Victoria Falls.  It is the first time Ralph and I had walked the full distance.  Previously there had been so much mist it was impossible to see anything.  The falls is more than a mile wide.  The water falls into a 375 foot ravine.  While we were able to see the falls, the mist was still enough that we got pretty wet.  Ashley got some good pictures and had a good time until she saw people bungee jumping from the bridge that joins Zimbabwe and Zambia.  She wanted to try bungee jumping but Ralph and I were skeptical and did not want her to do it.  She changed her mind when she found out it would cost $75.00 USD.  We told her we didn’t want her to become dinner for a crocodile.

We ate lunch, after our visit to the falls, at a place high above a water hole.  We saw a herd of female kudu and their young come for water.  Ashley also got to see some Maribou Storks.  They are enormous birds.  Other animals were sighted as well.

The drive to Victoria Falls is a long one and Ashley was anxious to get back to the Mission.  She does not like traveling and she especially does not like Harare or Police road blocks.  Ashley thoroughly enjoys the children at the mission.  This morning she is with the preschoolers teaching them to play leap frog.  They love her and love saying her name.

Tuesday, July 25, Mr. Bondeponde and Ralph drove the Orphan Care Truck to Harare to pick up the transformer.  Now we are waiting on the power company to come and unload it and put it in place.  While the ZMP made the purchase, any community member that hooks onto it within 800 meters of the transformer must pay a portion of the cost to the Orphan Care Center before they will be allowed to hook on.  Ralph announced this at the community gathering that was held here on Monday, July 24.

I have found myself busy with the training of the person who was recently hired to staff the clinic at the Orphan Care Center.  I wish we could afford to hire a trained nurse but at the moment there just aren’t funds.  The individual that has been hired has had some Red Cross training however I find her lacking in ability to do many things.  She comes for my assistance many times a day.

This year my major emphasis will be on training the teachers to supplement their class work with some of the resource material that is in the library.  Mr. Bondeponde has requested that I teach each class of children a lesson in the library with the teacher as an observer.  When school resumes third term in September, I will be very busy.  Ashley has spent a lot of her time in some of the classrooms, playing Around the World with multiplication facts.  In the lower grades Ashley has played the game using addition and subtraction facts.  One teacher told her that some of her students that she expected to fail math actually passed.  Not only did the children pass but they did so with excellent scores.  Ashley had also spent time playing addition Bingo with the same children.

Some of the teachers have told me that they did not know about teaching by playing games.  Wish Ashley was going to be here longer to help me out.

Ashley has only one week left before her flight home.  While I think she wants to go home, she hates to leave.  She told us one morning recently that she couldn’t imagine leaving here and saying she will never return.  Yesterday, when Max Chigwida asked her what she thought of what her grandparents were doing, her reply was she thought she might be going to follow in our footsteps.  She added that it might have to wait until she retires.  Time will tell.

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

2006 Journal 02