We were doing the long route while Hannes and Marx, a freelance journalist, did the short trip in the UD 90.
We left Malelane on Friday the 15th and due to a late start, slept over in the trucks near the border to ensure that we will get a good early border crossing the next day, and praise the Lord we were all on our way into the mission field at 12 noon on Saturday the 16th. Once we got to the junction we stopped, prayed and said our goodbyes as Hannes and Marx headed for Bulawayo and Bob and I set off for Masvingo. Once again I can just say what a pleasure it is to be known by the Authorities on the roads who greet us with smiles and thank us for the work we are doing as our trucks and our mission are now well known. We arrived in Masvingo at 5pm and our faithful connection, Lulu Mc Kenzie and helpers were on hand to help resort the Masvingo parcels, after which we called it a day and met with Gerard Burger to stay over for the night.
We were accompanied again by Hannes Snyman’s “Clinics for Jesus” team consisting of Elbe Britz and Adri Mouton and we met up with them in Masvingo from where we traveled together around the country. They were with us to administer as much TLC as they could and find out the medical needs of the people for future trips.
These 2 ladies were STARS, driving all those thousands of kms with us, seeing each pensioner, giving them medicines, also giving them the necessary hugs and encouragement. We salute you and thank you for your sacrifice. Thank you, Hannes for organizing and making medication available for these folk. Bless you guys.
On Sunday the 17th we were up early and did the Pioneer Cottages, Frail Care and Kitchen as well as some of the folk in Emsley Close. Our aim is to get to see more of the folk personally and feel the beat of their hearts as they share with us. In the afternoon we did the Mucheke old age home and then retired for the day to Gerard’s home again.
On Monday the 18th, Ms Lulu Mc Kenzie had arranged for the outside folk to come to collect their hampers from us at Masvingo Chicks and once again we were able to chat with all who were able to come. We left for Mutare at 10.30am and took a comfortable slow drive up there enjoying the scenery as none of us had been that way before. We finally arrived at our appointed meeting place with Des Becker at about 2.30pm. We parked the trucks for the night at his workplace and proceeded to their home where we enjoyed a lovely lunch.
Des and Sally are very involved in helping the old folk in Mutare and have done a sterling job rebuilding and refurbishing the premises used by the pensioners in Mutare. They are wonderful hosts and we found it difficult to leave there after spending three days working amongst the three different establishments encompassed in the Eastern Highlands Trust. Here amongst these old folk we managed to see every one and do personal ministry to all, including the clinic personnel who were able to administer medication for “minor ailments” as well as do prescriptions for the next trip.
Folk, unless you can accompany the trucks or join us on a trip I doubt you will ever get the full picture of the situation that is “The plight of the Pensioner” in Zimbabwe today. Remember, trade in the Zim dollar has been “temporarily” suspended and all business is conducted in forex such as the US Dollar and the SA Rand. The government is attempting to pay all “workers” in US$ and the pensioners are not workers, so adding two and two together you will see that their income and spending power has been removed. In January, 12 digits were removed from the local currency reducing Trillion to Tens and Billions to nothing, overnight. It is only by the Grace of God that many of these people are able to even remain as inmates in some of the homes we visit. There are real good Samaritans who are paying the rent for a lot of these dear folk and by their own admittance, they would not survive without the donations of food and goods you wonderful people of South Africa are giving to them. God Bless You All.
Early on Thursday 21st we eventually left Mutare and headed for Rusape where we were able to hand out individual hampers to all the folk and enjoy a good cuppa tea administered by some wonderful ladies. After adding some quality “TLC” to the mix we left them in high spirits as they waved us farewell. Spending more time with the oldies as we did on this trip not only lifted them, but helped us to leave knowing we had touched hearts.
We pressed on to Harare where we offloaded the goods for the Pension fund and SOAP to be distributed by our good friends, Mike and Marion Futter as well as young Mark at whose home we stayed the following two nights. Thank you for your hospitality, kindness and love. Also thanks to the people of the Masonic Lodge where we were once again able to store our trucks safely overnight. A special thanks to Hugh Chisnall who is always on hand to see to it that we have open gates and a warm welcome.
We left early on Friday 22nd to do the Mazoe Trust Home in Bindura and later Malvern trust in Mvurwi. It was while at the home in Bindura as we helped carry the hampers to the homes, that Adri from the medical team, was using the bathroom of one of the recipients, overheard her praying and thanking God tearfully, for the food hamper, as they were about to run out of food that day. Needless to say she spent longer that usual in that little room. Another lady, overcome by gratefulness handed over a small hand made xylophone to her as a token of her gratitude and no amount of “no thanks” were listened to. It is in these moments that you realize how small you are and how big God is.
Our visit to Malvern trust in Mvurwi was quite different this trip too as we were taken to the “Coffin” room. Here, every person in the home has a coffin ready made by a local farmer in case of death and as the burial system in Zim has all but also collapsed, once cause of death has been established, the person is buried from the Chapel on the premises and laid to rest in the little cemetery adjacent to the Chapel. This gives friends and family time to come up and in a quiet atmosphere to have a memorial service at their earliest convenience. Some people think of everything.
There was also a water drilling rig on site, a relic from the distant past, drilling for water, another precious commodity in Zim, what with the cholera situation there. We headed back to Harare once after our chores were done. We dropped in at the West Gate Mall on our way home and established that the shelves were full and some people were buying even though on average the prices of goods imported from SA were between 2 to 4 times SA prices but as the floor manager assured me, prices were coming down daily. However, as I indicated before, the Pensioners will not in the near or distant future have access to these goods and rely on your generosity and our availability to live a reasonable life of dignity where they are. That night we counted our blessings as we read some of the Thankyou letters we receive each trip. Within the next few weeks I will be putting together a bunch of these for you to enjoy, as after all, they are meant for you, the donor and supporter of this great work we are doing.
Saturday 23rd, early, we set off for Sunningdale in Chinhoyi did the drop, hugged, cried, kissed and enjoyed some coffee with those precious old folk who are so tender hearted and loving towards us. The task is tiring but the rewards are great and make it all worthwhile.
After spending more than 2 hours there we set off for Westview in Kadoma where we left the trucks and slept at the O’Reiley residence. En route we had a front tyre failure on the Dyna, which I think is due to the many potholes which we cannot dodge as the roads are worse than ever.
Sunday 24th we offloaded the hampers, enjoyed some tea, said our “good-byes” and headed for Lynbrook in Kwekwe and on to Herbert Lee in Redcliff. At these two stops we chatted with the folk who “did not attend church”, they don’t have petrol so they are excused. The medical team were on hand to administer the necessary. Our man on the Spot, Ken Connelly and his wife Beda invited us for lunch at the local family day outing where “a form of cricket” was being played and enjoyed by all. Thank you Ken, we needed that break before we headed on. We then went on to Gweru where we spent the night with Attie and Anna Scheepers before heading for home via Masvingo at 4am the next morning. We arrived at the border at 2pm, cleared by 4pm and were home and dry by 9pm and so another trip to the oldies of the land of the Flame lily ended well.
As quoted earlier, Hannes and Marx took the other leg covering King Haven in Esigodini, all the Bulawayo homes and outsiders and moved on to do the homes Bobbies and Huis Vergesig in Gweru, MUUS cottages in Sherugwe, the folk in Zvishavane under the care of John and Lynne D’Ewes. They also encountered many heart-rending moments where the needy were calling to them for help. One needs to understand that the situation for our oldies is deteriorating by the day and more and more people are being added to the cauldron of hopelessness. We were fortunate that we could drop four new electric stove plates donated by Impala Electrical in Malalane at Verity Amm and have someone do repair work totheir existing electric stove. We are also in the process of getting an industrial size gas cooker for this “soup kitchen / meals outlet” so they can operate more efficiently.
Special thanks to Les Hunt and her staff at Southern Comfort Lodge in Bulawayo for once again opening their doors to the drivers of ZPSF and giving us sleeping space, security for the truck and good meals to boot. Bless you guys. Once again, we as the custodians of this operation, along with Hannes, the founder, want to thank you, the generous donors, prayer partners, public and friends of the Zimbabwe Pension Supporters Fund for all you do to make this task possible. We rely on your continued and loyal support in all areas.
God bless and prosper you all in every thing you do and may your baskets always be full.
Yours Sincerely.
Pastor Attie Botha
