ABOUT MOP

2019 MOP ANNUAL NEWSLETTER

Hello, everyone – another eventful year has passed, and below is what I hope is a succinct summary of both good and bad news....

Although seldom featuring in our newspapers, Zimbabwe has had a traumatic year, with two appalling natural disasters- the Imai Cyclone and a lengthy drought – as well as the eventual death of Robert Mugabe (which seems to have been marked with formality rather than sadness). Daily life is appallingly difficult for the majority of people – money is almost unavailable, food and water supplies extremely limited and expensive, jobs non-existent, and many people on the brink of serious starvation. We receive occasional reports from a journalist, Cathy Buckle, detailing her personal experience of living in these conditions –you can visit her blog if you wish to explore further.

Bonda Children’s Home, however, apparently has been repaired to some extent, with a new roof, and some other much-needed repairs. We sent some funds out for them to use, so it would seem this was welcomed and made use of. The 9 remaining resident youngsters are apparently healthy and still attending their various schools regularly (3 primary, 6 secondary), thanks to the support we are able to offer in terms of paying their termly fees.

Dumisani, as anticipated, is finding it very difficult to get any kind of paid work. We learned recently, however that he is ‘in business’ with a friend, trading in ink cartridges for printers etc., and this certainly shows his spirit of enterprise is not daunted by the current economic situation. 

The Avondale family centre in Mabvuku, Harare continues its extraordinary work with families, and sends monthly detailed reports which are full of thankfulness, optimism, and positivity – mentions of the difficulties of life are few and certainly minimised. They have seen several youngsters move into higher education.

I still have supplies of the postcard designed by the Bonda student (£1 for 4 cards), and would be happy to send these to any interested person on receipt of an e-mail or telephone request (see below).

St James’s Church Islington has again been hugely supportive, which is very much appreciated.

We remain enormously grateful for your continuing interest in, and support of, MOP and its work, and hope that this reminder may prompt you to either send a cheque (made payable to ‘TZABA (MOP)’) to Liz Martin at the address above, or (if you bank electronically) send direct to TZABA’s account at 40-52-40, a/c 00003254, using your name and ‘MOP’ as the identifier. You can, of course, also donate via the JustGiving button on the TZABA website, or at my page on the Just Giving site.

And finally – if you have acquired (or changed) an e-mail address, please advise me so I can send this electronically in future! Indeed, any alteration of address or phone number would also be appreciated.

God bless you all.

​

Jo Barton
UK Fundraiser

0792 914 3519