Tariro Hope Project - Newsletter
Issue No. 20
May 2009
Matt. 21:22
Whatsoever you shall ask in prayer,believing you shall receive.
Dear Friends of Tariro,
I apologize for the delay in sending out this Newsletter. My computer has been offline for a time as I have been up to my neck in interior decorating. I hope and pray all has been well with all of you. Sadly, Pastor Roy has been ill for the past few weeks and we have not been able to have even one Tariro meetings to bring together any new fund-raising projects for the Team. But Rudi had a good trip to Zimbabwe in February and her report is written below. Pastor Roy was unable to make his proposed trip this month and the next trip will not be until July.
There has been some relief for the poor people in Zimbabwe, but the struggle goes on and it will be a very long time before we can say they have reached some sort of stability. In economic terms it is still dire in the rural areas and sickness and disease has not gone away. Many of Zimbabwe’s key people are still living in exile and the shortage of qualified medical and teaching staff continues, making the rebuilding of this nation a slow process indeed. Some schools have reopened but at extortionate cost for fees, books and school uniforms as the foreign currency, with which these have to be paid is not so available to all especially in the rural areas. For example, in the past we have been able to pay school fees to 17 different schools for our Tariro children from the £300 we sent each term, now we can only pay the fees to one school in Mutoko. Mutoko Secondary School is asking US$75 per child this term and we have 10 children who go to this school alone. Our entire schools budget is swallowed up in this one transaction. This is not to mention books, uniforms and shoes, which are all also compulsory before a child can receive education. This leaves many a parent unable to send their children to school and some have even had to choose between their own children, which one goes to school this term. We are still committed to building a school on site at Tariro Headquarters in Kazingizi to relieve the pressure on finding school fees for so many primary school children. The full cost of this is yet to be met but the plans move forward slowly. We know that KK has been meeting with the authorities and they came to see the ground on 24th March. He is awaiting the result of their discussions, but he will go and see them next Tuesday to hurry them along, if possible.
In our last news letter we focused on the food shipment we were undertaking with the help of our South African friends, unfortunately, by the time Rudi got there herself in early February the delivery had not yet taken place.
Frustrated by the delay, Rudi decided that the only way to get the food to the people before she had to return to UK was to go to South Africa and get it put on public transport herself. She sent a friend ahead by coach and flew down to South Africa on Wednesday morning. Arriving in Johannesburg, she met her friend there, hired a taxi and went straight to the Speedlink offices where she demanded the return of all monies and goods. They released the good to her but sent the money to Val’s sister Margie, as it was she who had paid for the goods for us. Rudi went to Margie and with the money returned to pay for the goods to be sent to the Coach Station where her friend and a cousin who was living in South Africa were paid to return with them to Harare. Rudi paid the costs and customs charges and flew back to Harare where she would meet the goods herself.
Shortly after she was informed that the first lot of goods had been impounded at the border and she would have to come a rescue their travelling companion and pay to collect them herself. Apparently, he had been the cause of the problem as he got quite stroppy with the border guards, due to his drinking on the trip. Her troubles were multiplying all the time but there was one part of this that was like a shining light in a tunnel. She hitched a lift to Beitbridge, the border town, on a passing Juggernaut on its way to South Africa and the whole time she travelled with them she was able to talk to them about Jesus. These guys were expecting to be stopped on the way at many roadblocks were set up just to make money from foreign drivers. They warned her of this. She prayed aloud much and they knew she was crying out to the Lord to get them there as soon a possible. At each and every roadblock, miraculously they were waved on and not stopped even once. The drivers said that they must be travelling with an angel for this had never happened before.
For more information contact :
Rudi Gray 01923 447366 or Betty Lawson 01923 6762980
Registered Charity No.1003525