Urgent Need for Blankets in Zimbabwe
Dear Friends,
So many of you have sent encouraging words as you have read the reports from Zimbabwe. Thank you!
Although our communication has been minimal this trip, I was able to talk with Bruce last night.
After talking with him, I knew that I needed to share with you an URGENT need. On Bruce’s last trip to Zimbabwe, he visited a project called Hopley Farm. Hopley Farm is what is called a “re-settlement” community, but truly it is something like an internment camp where the desperately poor of Harare are forceably taken by the government. On Bruce’s visit last fall, there were 700+ children there….that number has grown to 2,100 children!
I listened to my husband’s voice break with emotion last night as he described the appalling conditions of the camp to me. We personally have seen great poverty in our travels, but Bruce assures me that we have never seen this…no food, no bathrooms or running water, the list goes on. Both the despair and stench are overwhelming.
It is winter in Zimbabwe and very cold. On Bruce’s first visit to Hopley last week, he immediately identified the need for blankets for the children. The people have NO possessions much less warmth. Bruce told me stories of families and teenagers building fires in the huts with no floor to keep warm at night, many of them asphyxiating by morning or their threadbare clothing catching fire. Bruce returned to Hopely last week to distribute 150 blankets to the children who are orphaned at this camp. The great joy that overcame him at giving away the blankets was quickly tempered by his sorrow that he could not give blankets to ALL the children and his concern for the welfare of those given the blankets….will they be safe from those driven to despair by the cold?
So, the plan is simple. New Name Mission Society has committed to buy blankets for ALL the children at Hopley Farm. Quality blankets can be purchased in Zimbabwe for a mere $7 each. Bruce has already organized vendors and a team of trusted friends to make the purchases and deliveries after his departure. We would so appreciate your help in bringing warmth to a desperately poor child. We do need your help to raise the $14,000 to accomplish this simple plan. You can purchase a blanket for $7, 10 blankets for $70, 100 blankets for $700.
We can’t express our gratitude for you considering the request. And for those who helped us purchase the 150 blankets (and so much more – reports to come soon) – THANK YOU! Your sacrifice has made all the difference to a lot of children in Zimbabwe!
Blessings,
Camella
Enjoy the picture of one little girl receiving her blanket last week AND the room full of children all received blankets in the first distribution.
