Journal 16
August 9, 2018
Greetings from Zimbabwe,
I returned to Zimbabwe on Tuesday evening. I didn’t get back out to HCOC until late afternoon on Wednesday. There are always many things to do when a vehicle goes to Harare. Unfortunately, not much happened while I was gone. I had suspected that would be the case.
This morning, Thursday, a group from Leeds and USADF were scheduled to come for their evaluation. The individual from the USADF office in the U.S. was in the country. She is the caucasian woman on the left. Her job is to evaluate the work that is being done with USADF funds. The gentleman in the left hand corner is from Leeds here in Harare. He is over the people that come here periodically from Harare to look over the project and to look at the accounting of funds. He is very familiar with the project. He has worked with this project from the beginning.
Before the team left they toured the poultry project. Since the first funding, the focus has been the poultry because it is a major source of income. USADF encouraged Albert to run the project at full capacity. I had been concerned that some of the space for chickens was being wasted. However, at the moment Albert is having difficulty getting day old chicks. For some reason day old chicks are in short supply. Albert explained that day old chicks are in high demand at this time of year. I feel that he should look for another supplier. It is a shame to have facility sitting idle.
Albert took the visitors to visit one child headed household. This boy lives alone. He takes turns with other boys herding cattle for his uncle. This causes him to miss school when it is his turn. We were told that he is not paid for herding the cattle.
His house is in a state of very poor repair. The only clothes he has are what he is wearing. They looked like if they were laundered they would fall apart.
This is an example of a child that should be in an Orphan Care Home
Albert is introducing Edwardo to the staff. Eduardo is from Brazil and has been in Zimbabwe since January. He will be returning to Brazil in October. Various families have hosted him during his stay but he indicates that he has not done much. He has visited Victoria Falls.
Eduardo was brought here on Thursday by a Rotarian from Harare. I have found him very interesting to talk to. He will be staying here for a bit over one week. I had an opportunity to spend some time with him talking about HCOC on Friday. He is so excited about Moringa and plans to go home and do some research. Both he and his brother are lactose intolerant. He is convinced that Moringa is the answer for them.
The foundation for the clinic is complete and it has been back-filled. It needs to be settled and compacted. Then water, sewer and power must be laid before the flooring is poured. I have no idea when this work will be done.
There are plumbers on site. They are working at the Moringa Processing building at the moment. I suggested to Albert that he get a quote from them for the work that needs to be done. I don’t know if Albert has talked to them.
Time schedules here are so different from the Western World. It is a big adjustment.
I am getting very nervous that I am not going to be able to begin training on the schedule I had planned. I had hoped to be able to begin training when I returned from SA. That obviously is not going to happen. It looks like it will be at least two weeks at the best before I can even begin with the training. That will leave me only two weeks for training and one week to observe the workers in action. It is not what I had hoped for. Beauty is already talking to me about extending my stay until October. I have told her that I can’t do that. I think one change is all you can make on a ticket. Besides, I need to come home. I will have been here five months. Much has been accomplished but there is much still to be done.
Please pray for HCOC as they continue efforts to become self-supporting. They are working in that direction but it will take time. They have to learn to work as a team. I feel in the past few months there has been some progress made, but there is a ways to go yet. To be honest it is a new concept to them. In the past it has been each person just trying to survive. That was accomplished by whatever means necessary.
I am also requesting your prayers for the orphans, especially the children who are living alone. HCOC does the best it can but much one on one attention is needed. This is often missing. I must say that Stewart has done a lot to help these children. They look up to him. His influence has made a significant difference in school attendance and has reduced the dropout rate.
In His Service, Roberta