It is with some trepidation that I sit down to write this report. My literary skills are somewhat challenging at times but here goes.
My brother Daniel fetched me in Gauteng on Saturday morning of the 25 November 2023. And we left for Malelane where we stayed overnight.
Bright and early on Sunday morning we arrived at the warehouse after a good night’s rest, where we were met by Linda and her son where we did a handover of truck keys and documents as well as some refreshments to keep us going on the trip. Preparing to leave, the truck would not start as the batteries were dead. Linda’s son and cousin soon jumped in and tried in vain to jumpstart the old girl. We eventually got help from a kind gentleman who sent us a truck to get us going and we managed to leave at 08:45am hoping that it wasn’t a sign of things to come. We arrived in louis Trichardt in the late afternoon where we refueled the truck then had relaxing evening and a good night’s rest after a few “refreshments”.
We left again early on Monday and headed for the dreaded sojourn at the Beit Bridge border post. On the South African side, we are on our own as far as customs and immigration goes, however things went a lot smoother than expected and we were soon on the Zimbabwe side where we were met by the very efficient and helpful Robert who always takes care of us on that side. For me it was real eye opener to see the massive improvements in the infrastructure and systems on the Zimbabwe side of the border post. It was a pleasant surprise and quite contrary to the South African border post where time has appeared to stand still.
After a relatively quick and uneventful processing we were on our way to Bulawayo in very hot weather and we were very thankful for the fact that the air conditioner on the truck had been repaired. That was not to last however as, soon after leaving Beit Bridge, the aircon stopped working again.
We arrived in Bulawayo at the warehouse at 3:30pm where we were met by Angela, her sister and their very able team who immediately, despite the late hour started loading our very valuable parcels onto the truck. Linda’s sister Caroline and Johan soon arrived and led the way to Caroline and hubby Willem’s home where we were entertained and fed by this lovely family before retiring to overnight at Coronation cottages for the evening.
Early next morning I was having a quick cup of coffee and realized that one of my very old friends Danny Rudman and his ever-delightful wife Pat were residents at the cottages, so I paid them a quick visit before we were picked up by Caroline and taken to the warehouse. We left Bulawayo at 07:50am and headed for Harare via Gweru. I must just add here that this was a very nostalgic part of the trip for me as I spent a lot of time in Bulawayo during my apprenticeship and military service and started my schooling in Gweru.
We had a brief courtesy stop at Westview home in Kadoma with Clive & Estelle O’Reilly who had received their parcels from the leading truck that had left the day before.
We left Kadoma and arrived in Harare at 15:30 and offloaded the parcels with the help of their team, at the home of John and Leonie Herbst who very kindly assist with distribution of the parcels from there. We finished offloading at 16:30pm and left for the home of Charlie and Glynnis Piers who very generously allow us to keep the truck at their home overnight where it is secure. They invited us to stay for welcome sundowners with them until we were whisked away by Linda Style to her delightful home where we had a quick meal and caught some very welcome shuteye. Up again early next morning to get the truck and after around a one-hour delay refueled at Vic Bon Giovanni’s Concrete Structures depot. Thank you to so much again to Vic for this most precious donation of fuel.
We left Harare at 10:45am and headed for the Eastern Highlands. We delivered a few boxes in Marondera where we have identified some needy folk and then stopped at Resthaven cottages in Rusape where the guys were extremely grateful for their boxes. Tony Anderson-Morshead quickly took charge of the clipboard and ticked away frantically until we were done. Thanks for your ever efficient hand dear Tony. We didn’t mind the rain that fell during our delivery as they are as much in need of rain as for their boxes. As always, the folk here gave us a warm cup of tea and some home-made snacks.
On arrival at 16:30 in Mutare we were met by the effervescent Des Becker and his team who quickly offloaded the Mutare and outlying areas parcels after which we were whisked off to Des’s home where his lovely wife Sally had prepared a delicious home cooked meal which we enjoyed after a welcome shower and sundowners. The hospitality we enjoy on these trips is absolutely mind blowing.
A huge thank you to everyone who puts us up and assists us with further distribution, your kindness is always appreciated as, without your help, the pensioners will otherwise be in dire straits.
We left Des’s warehouse the following morning at 07:30 and headed for Masvingo, Pioneer cottages. Here we were met by Cindy Valentine and her team who quickly offloaded the rest of the parcels and Cindy made us a great padkos of sandwiches which were quickly devoured en-route back to Bulawayo via Bala-Bala. We arrived back at the warehouse in the late afternoon on Thursday November 30th where Angela and her ever-willing team offloaded all the empty boxes where they will be assessed and repaired where necessary to be refilled with goodies for the next trip.
Thank you to Caroline for carting and fetching on this leg of the trip where we once again spent the night at Coronation Cottages and my brother made us a delicious pasta ‘a la Daniel. Well rested, we left the warehouse and refueled the truck with another very kind donation from the good folks at Colbro transport. Thank you again for the gift, it is people like you who keep the wheels rolling.
We left Bulawayo on December 1, 2023, at around 06:30 am and headed for Beit Bridge. After and uneventful trip including, again, a relatively short process at the borders we arrived and spent overnight at Three Bridges near Hoedspruit in Mpumalanga. The following morning, we headed out on the final leg to Malelane where we were met by Johan and Linda to handover over the truck and documents after which we headed home to Gauteng and Durban.
On this trip we were able to give gift parcels to all the pensioners and the staff at the homes. This was only possible through the kindness of donations from all our benefactors.
One thing that was evident for us on this trip was the number of improvements that are happening in Zimbabwe in some of the towns.
Having said that, nothing has changed for the pensioners we support, and their situations just get worse all the time. It is only through the kindness of all donations, no matter how big or small, that we can send these precious parcels out to our oldies. Please dig deep and keep up the support.
Thank you to Daniel for the company on the trip, it was a pleasure as always.
To all the beneficiaries and benefactors of the fund God bless you. Wishing you a prosperous and safe New Year. See you all in 2024!
Kind Regards
Neels Koekemoer
DANIEL KOEKEMOER
It was super special having my brother, Neels, along on this trip. He has the greatest love for Zimbabwe and a deep empathy with all those in need up there. Having recently retired, he’s gone to great effort to set himself up with licences and permits in preparation for helping the fund out wherever he can in the months or years to come. I have no doubt that he’ll be a great asset to the fund as and when Johan & Linda need him.
I have little to add to Neels’ trip report but must say that an extra special touch this year was the giving of Christmas boxes to the Staff at all the facilities that we visit around Zimbabwe. These guys are the mainstay of all these homes. They work tirelessly for these old folk with love and compassion that you only get in beautiful Zim. They were hugely grateful to the anonymous donor and the initiative of Johan and Linda for including them this year. The gratitude of all in Zim is what I keep going back for and I am privileged to feel that gratitude on behalf of the thousands of donors around the world that unselfishly care for these people so far away. I pray that each of you feels their thankfulness wherever you are.
I’ve noticed that there is some infrastructural improvement in Zim and there seems to be a renewal in economic activity. I’m no economist or politician (and there has just been an election), so my observations could be ill placed.
It scares me that this impression could have it seem that the old folk left behind are now better off. The opposite is true! With dollarisation and the influx of money from the diaspora prices have skyrocketed for everyone and it’s done nothing at all for the poorer folk in Zim. Until or unless there is a huge revamp of social services in Zimbabwe there will be no respite for these pensioners. Please don’t ever be fooled by this façade and please keep these old guys firmly in your minds. They are worse off than before and need our help more than ever. These special people have a terrible fear that they will be forgotten, and I have promised them often, and on behalf of us all, that that will never happen. Please help me keep this promise.
Linda often publishes “ thank you” letters from the Pensioners around the country and I know that with each wobbly stroke of their worn-down pencils they mean every word. They are so grateful.
Thank you again for the privilege of carrying your precious donations to the great old folk of Zim. God bless you all and God bless Zimbabwe.
Daniel Koekemoer.
Head office South Africa contact details:
Linda Schultz – linda@zpsf.co.za / zpsf@zpsf.onmicrosoft.com (C) 079 6082676 (T) 013 7900934
Johan Schultz – johan@zpsf.co.za – 082 4979328
Section 21 Co Reg. 2007/034036/08; NPO Number 096733; Section 18A PBO No 930031642
