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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| December 7, 2006 Dear Readers, I am so happy to report that Prosper, the boy with the serious leg infection, has responded very well to the antibiotic we bought for him. He says the wounds are healing and he no longer has pain. In fact he is now able to walk for some distance and has been helping his brother plow the fields with oxen. Prosper has even asked if he can enroll in Secondary School. He has been unable to attend school for several years because of the infection. The pain made it impossible for him to walk any distance. No one was paying attention to the seriousness of the infection. This is our last week in Zimbabwe. Last minute issues keep popping up. I hope that we can meet our scheduled departure date. Our plan is to leave Zimbabwe on December 13th. We have a flight home from Johannesburg on December 18th. We are delighted with the progress on the building for the sewing and knitting Co-ops. I think the builder plans to begin painting today. Fortunately, Ralph walked into the store room of the Building Supplier that he deals with. He spotted some buckets of paint with dust all over them. They happened to be from an older stock and the price was much less than the new prices. So Ralph bought enough paint for the inside and outside of the building. We are so grateful that the building will be complete by the time we leave. Tomorrow, I will meet with the sewing women and the knitting group for the last time. Mr. Bondeponde plans to pay them for the uniforms and sweaters that they have made recently. It will be a photo opportunity that is a must. The orphan girls, that are new to the group, will receive their first pay. I am certain that they will be overjoyed. I have encouraged the sewing women to consider taking on some more orphan girls, who have graduated from Secondary School, to train as soon as they are settled in their new facility where there is more space. For more than a week I have had to doctor a little first grade girl. She is a precious little girl. Her name is Chipo, which means gift or blessing. She has a serious burn on her chest under her left arm. I can’t figure out how she could get such a burn. The story I have been given makes no sense. The skin is completely gone and the flesh has been bleeding when I change the dressing. Yesterday, for the first time I felt that there was a slight improvement. Florence, the nurse aid will be back tomorrow, and she can take over Chipo’s care. A tractor broke down on the bridge and so they came here for assistance. Ralph drove there and hooked on with our truck but had no success. Now he has come to get Mr. B. and the Orphan Care truck. He plans to hook both trucks to the tractor to see if they can move it off the bridge. The main problem is the steep incline immediately after the bridge. Mission accomplished! The tractor is home. However, Ralph said that it wasn’t easy. It took every bit of power from the two trucks to get the tractor dragged up the hill. Life here is one challenge after another. Florence, the Dispensary Nurse Aide, is back after her two week refresher training course. She felt it was very worthwhile. However, she said she didn’t sleep because there was so much studying to do. Florence received special recognition for her achievement. She said that many of the young ones in her class failed and must repeat the class. We are so glad that it was possible for this training to be done before we leave. Ralph and I attended City Presbyterian Church in Harare for the last time today. Last Sunday, the first Sunday of Advent, we were asked to light the first candle, the candle of Hope. Rev. Chigwida made reference to the fact that it was appropriate that we light the candle of Hope since our home church was New Hope and our foundation is named Renewed Hope. December 12, 2006 We are in Harare preparing to leave for SA tomorrow morning. Driving around the city tying up loose ends, we saw many small children begging for anything people will give them. They tend to stand dangerously in the lanes with traffic. Ironically, on the street corners, hawkers were selling Santa hats. Something is wrong with this picture. It is so heartbreaking. As I close this chapter on Zimbabwe, Ralph and I ask that you pray for this country and especially for the people who don’t have any of the necessities of life. Pray especially for the children who have nothing and worse no one in their communities seem to care. 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 12 |