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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| August 9, 2006 Dear Readers, School children are on term break. School closed a week ago and will resume on September 4 or 5. I have noticed an unusual number of children around this week though. They come to see Ashley. Right now they are having a party because this is Ashley’s last day here. Tomorrow we are going to Harare and Ashley flies home on Friday. Ralph and I are really going to miss her as are the children and teachers. Two things we had not done that Ashley had requested to do was to see the bridge that was built several years ago and also to visit some child headed households. So yesterday we devoted a chunk of the day to those issues. Ashley was very quiet during our visit to the child headed households. We visited two families that we have been following since the beginning of the Orphan Care Program. Jessica was one of the orphans we visited. She was a sibling of Vincent who you may remember died in 2001. At the moment Jessica is very sick and has been diagnosed with HIV. Ashley was very aware of her puffy face and distended belly. She is taken to the Dr. on a regular basis now and is on special medication. Her school attendance is erratic. Jessica is 14 years old and about the size of a third grader. It was not an easy visit. The other home we visited was the home of the five Masadza girls that we had helped get back together from extended family homes in 2001. It was at that time that we provided materials so that a small house could be built for them. The oldest girl is now at the Police Academy. The next oldest girl is in charge of the family. Actavia, the youngest of the family is ill. She has a terrible case of tonsillitis and is being tested for TB. She also has HIV and is not at all well. She misses months of school at a time. She found it very difficult to answer our questions. Tomorrow Mr. Bondeponde is taking her back to the Dr. I believe Ashley got a good idea of how far these children have to walk in order to come to school and the difficult conditions that they live under. Today, the Knitting Co-op came for a meeting with Mr. Bondeponde and I. They are requesting to make sweaters for the orphans on the same basis that the sewing women make uniforms. The orphans certainly need sweaters during the cold season and many do not have them even though many have been shipped. With so many needy children, it is difficult to keep up. We discussed some guide lines that they must follow and devised a method by which they will be paid according to an individual’s production. The matter will be taken to the Advisory Board. We have experienced a history making event. The first of August the Reserve Bank announced that it was eliminating three zeros from the local money. What chaos and confusion. This all will take place on August 21. There is a real scramble to turn in old currency for the new currency. It has been made more difficult because the banks do not have enough money to go around. They are still issuing old currency when a person writes a check. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out. What it was meant to accomplish was that people would not have to carry such large amounts of currency. Instead of a meal in a restaurant costing millions of dollars, it will now only cost thousands of dollars. However, along with this move the bank exchange rate with the U.S. dollar went to $250. /Z dollar. Everything immediately went up in price. Petrol is now costing 680 to 730 Z dollars per liter. That equals more than $2 USD per liter or about $10 to 11 USD per gallon. Only the very well to do can afford such prices. Bread went up about 25% in one month. A chicken in the market costs the equivalent of between $6.00 - $7.00 USD. The local people we work with cannot afford that much money. There appears to be no light at the end of the tunnel for the majority. Only God knows when it will change. The strongest will be the only ones to survive. Many are starving as I write this. The problem in this area is not as severe as it is in the Southwest of the country. We were made very aware of the problem when we traveled to Victoria Falls with Ashley a few weeks ago. On our way back to Harare we made some stops at roadside stands so that Ashley could select some gifts to bring home. More than once people followed us to our vehicle begging for something to eat. If Ashley bought something, they didn’t want money they wanted food. Unfortunately we had no food. The only thing eatable in the car was a couple of chocolate bars and a granola bar. We gave them what we had. A scramble developed to get a share of what there was. Life is tough and people are doing what they have to in order to survive. Ralph and I are feeling some of it as well. However, we have resources that many of these people do not have. Stands on the streets, that were bull dozed down by the army over a year ago, have begun to reappear on the sidewalks. We have observed people grabbing their wares and running, sometimes into traffic, to hide when trucks with army personnel are seen coming. We try to imagine ourselves in such a situation and it is absolutely beyond imagination. In closing I ask that you pray for Ralph and I. We ask for God’s guidance in the decisions we have to make. Some of these decisions are very difficult to make. We feel that a full time counselor is needed here to give the orphans the spiritual and emotional guidance that is so lacking. We need people who will come and teach the children about Jesus and salvation. Over the years we have gradually expanded the amount of physical care provided. We feel our weakest link is the spiritual health of these children. 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 03 |