Greetings from Zimbabwe,
Today is Saturday and Susan has only one more day here. On Monday we will be taking her to Harare to catch her flight home. She is not looking forward to getting on a plane again so soon. I am going to miss her terribly. I will be all alone after she leaves. Thank goodness I have a lot of things to accomplish and so I will be very busy.
Susan’s time here has been all too short; but she has been able to do and see a lot in that short time. Hopefully, someday she will be able to come for a longer period of time.
Albert and I will be staying in town overnight on Monday. I have reserved a room at Elizabeth’s for the night. I am hoping we can accomplish some things Tuesday morning before the Rotary meeting. Albert and I hope to make another trip to Harare Institute of Technology for further discussion about a solar dryer for Moringa. Tuesday morning before Rotary might be one possibility. I would like to get a solar system on site for testing before I leave, if possible.
Beauty took Susan and I to visit Maud on Friday morning. Maud is the girl that had been very ill in July when Deanna and Jackie were here. The grandmother resisted letting Beauty take Maud to the hospital. Eventually Beauty and Albert were able to convince her that it was the only way Maud could survive. When we saw her, one would never know how ill she and been. I gave Maud a quilt that Kathy Kramer had given to me just before I came on this trip. It was made by some Syrian women living in a refugee camp in Jordan. In the four corners are the words Faith, Hope, Love and Peace embroidered in both English and Arabic. The smile on Maud’s face says more than words. She loves the quilt.
Friday, USDAF inspectors arrived for a final audit. This is the end of the two year grant of $100,000. On the right is Doreen in the background. She is the USDAF representative here in Zimbabwe. The woman in red and the man next to her are from LEEDS, the audit firm used by USADF. They are the people who set up the accounting system at the beginning of the grant. I must say that is probably the most helpful thing they have done. It has been a real blessing.
The white gentleman on the left is the USADF representative from Washington D.C. The group was to arrive at 10:00 am but because of the poor conditions of the roads, did not arrive until nearly noon. They made a brief visit to the poultry project and then came to this house for a meeting. They went through the final report that HCOC must fill out before the end of the month. I must say, some of the questions were very probing and difficult to answer.
HCOC is hopeful of getting a renewed grant of $250,000 for five years. One of their goals is to purchase a large truck for hauling stock feed and supplies and the other is to build another poultry run to increase their production. Godfrey indicated that their profit is about $1.00 per bird. This is an improvement over the beginning. Profit in poultry comes from volume not individual price.
This picture gives you an idea how tall the maize is at HCOC. Unfortunately the massive rains they had early is going to effect the yield. Everywhere you look there is maize or some other crop growing. Every inch of tillable land has been planted and replanted with second crops. They have squash, green peppers, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, rugare and much more. Unfortunately, a lot of it will be ready for harvest near the same time. Some of it cannot be preserved.
Pray that God will lead us to find someone who can spend full time ministering to the orphans. They need someone who helps them know Jesus and turn to him for their support. It is so difficult for us in the U.S. to understand what these children have to cope with.
In His Service,
Roberta