"It's a long and winding road" ..... What an amazing and wonderful experience driving through the Honde Valley during our fact finding trip to Zim last month .
Our mission was to find one of the very neglected old age homes Community Action Trust have adopted . The splendour and stunning views however, took my breath away. Why had I never been there before? I had been to Inyanga on countless occasions. The surrounding mountains, glorious plants as well as the endless tea plantations were something to behold.
The peace and tranquility made me realise how much "noise" I allow in on a daily basis. The history though of the " bush war" and what happened there saddened me. But it is HISTORY and belongs there . So grateful for this beautiful memory though.
The Zimbabwe New Hope Old Age Home on the other hand left me heart broken. Yet another home just left to crumble to dust with it's residents in it . Many came to Zimbabwe from neighbouring Mozambique and Zambia . Some were placed there having had leprosy. Their living conditions although a little improved since we last received pictures still leave a lot to be desired. These old people are made to walk in the dark at night to latrines . The shower facilities are also 150 meters away from their dormitory with no roof and right now no water. ( The water they use for cooking and bathing is from a well that is nearly dry) C.A.T has secured a 5000 litre tank from a kind donor and we are now looking at securing a borehole pump , piping and solar panels just for lighting.
We are also talking to some like minded individuals and kind donors about much needed renovations to existing buildings as well moving the ablution block to their dormitory . On our arrival they were having rice for lunch. Just rice nothing else as that's all they had left from groceries that had been dropped off.
Team C.A.T Mutare had just arrived with that month's allocation. It does not go far . Much more needs to be done here but one step at a time. One of the residents had a huge growth on his arm that needed attention. CAT has facilitated this surgery and it is been carried out today. We await the results .
Thank you to all our donors for your thoughts, kindness and continuous support. We can not do this without you . "Together we are stronger "
