RENEWED HOPE CHARITABLE FOUNDATION, INC.

Working Together For Zimbabwe's Future

Dear Readers

Many changes have taken place in Zimbabwe in the six months since our return.  Not many of these changes are positive.  Mugabe still has a strangle hold on the government.  Unemployment has reached 80%.  Inflation has risen 1,000%.  Salaries have not gone up 1,000%.  It is next to impossible to withdraw cash from the banks.  The only way business can be conducted is by check.  Some businesses have ceased accepting checks drawn on certain banks.  Many people have quit their jobs because their salary does little more than cover the cost of transportation to and from work.  Gas is available simply because it is too expensive for most people to purchase.

Zimbabwe, the former breadbasket of Africa, cannot even feed its own people.  Only about 10% of tillable land was planted this season.  Seed and fertilizer were in short supply and too expensive for most of the indigenous farmers.  Many of the farms taken from white farmers are sitting idle.  Rainfall has been slow in coming and many are totally dependent on the rain to grow their crops.

Bread, formally a main food item for most families, is now a thing of the past.  People, except for the wealthy, cannot afford to buy it.  Main food items such as cooking oil, salt, flour, peanut butter, sugar and tea, meat and milk are either unavailable or too costly for the average worker to buy much less the unemployed.  All but the well to do families face starvation.

One might be tempted to say why waste the effort in such a hopeless situation.  My question is how can we turn our backs on those people in such great need?  

The children cared for by the Heather Chimhoga Orphan Care Center are innocent children left on their own when parents die.  Extended family and community often shun these children because of the stigma of AIDS.  Having another mouth to feed is too much for extended family of these children.  Most families can only provide one meal a day for their own family if they are lucky.  There is nothing left over.

Try to imagine a family of two to five children left on their own when parents die.  Imagine your own children perhaps no older than 12 left to face the world alone and with younger siblings to be responsible for. They have no money and little or no food.  They may or may not have a sleeping mat and very likely have no blanket.  If they are lucky, they may have one blanket that they share with another child or two.  There is no money for school fees or a uniform.

Is it any wonder these children often are expressionless?  They have been so traumatized that there is no life in their eyes.

Look at your own children and know how Blessed they are.

The Heather Chimhoga Orphan Care Center provides a hot meal once a day and a nutritious drink each morning for these children.  Supplemental food is provided for the child headed households.  In addition school fees, school supplies and school uniforms are also provided. Clothing and blankets, all donated here are shipped and provided to the most needy children as far as they will go.  Medical care and counseling are made available.  The Orphan Care Givers provide guidance to these children as they learn to face the world alone.  On the average it costs about $120.00 US to provide all of these services per child per year.  In other words, for as little as $10.00 a month you can assist the Orphan Care Center in providing these services for the children in such desperate need.  To assist the Orphan Care Center the villages that are a part of each school set aside 2 acres of land where they grow maize and vegetables for the Feeding program.  The schools are made up of five to ten villages.  This is their contribution toward helping in the care of the orphans.  At best this is only a portion of the need and of course, years when there is little rain the yield is minimal.  However, it is an attempt to make the program self-sustaining in the future.

We are still a little uncertain about our return date.  Several things have taken place here that may delay our departure.  Our plan at the moment is early July remaining there until early December.

In His Service,

Ralph and Roberta

CAN YOU HELP?

In 2003 two satellite-feeding centers were opened in temporary facilities at two other schools.   A total of 575 children were registered at the three centers as of June 2003.  Since then the number has risen to nearly 615.  A goal in 2004 is to provide permanent cooking and feeding facilities for the satellite feeding centers to replace the temporary facilities.  Wells for fresh drinking water are also planned.  With inflation as it is in Zimbabwe, we estimate that it will cost $5,000.00 US to survey for water, drill and case a well and install a pump.

A concern we have had for a number of years is the impact that pit toilets are making on the environment.   To date when a toilet fills up it is abandoned and a new one is constructed.   Not only is this unsightly; but, it poses potential risk of pollution to the wells in the area.  Recently, Ralph has explored the possibility of importing from South Africa a self-contained pit toilet.  It consists of a plastic tank that is set into the ground.  The portion above the ground must face the sun.  The way the tank is constructed it allows the liquid to evaporate and the solids to dry.  When the solids build up to the point the toilet needs to be cleaned, the solids are dry and environmentally safe.  It is possible to remove the dry solids through an opening on the outside.  The residue is safe to use on gardens.  The cost of purchasing one of these units is $500.00 US plus transportation costs from South Africa and import costs into Zimbabwe.  In addition a small building must be constructed over a portion of this unit or it can be installed in a house.

Additional classroom buildings are needed to replace ones that are near collapse.  Teacher housing is also a need so that it is not necessary for families to crowd up with two and three families living in one house.  The houses are often in deplorable condition.  One of our largest expenses in building is the cost of cement.  Right now the cost is about $6.50 US per bag.  A house requires about 180 bags of cement. That means the cement for one house is about $1,200.00 US.  Naturally a school building is more expensive.  The local people provide the brick, sand and gravel for the buildings as their contribution.

 If you can help, checks may be made to

Renewed Hope Charitable Foundation and mailed to P.O. Box 1476 at Castle Rock, Colorado 80104-1476.

This organization is a 501-C-3 tax-exempt organization.  There is little or no overhead.  All work is volunteer so all proceeds go to the designated projects.

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