Food and Self-Reliance for AIDS Orphans

What uncertain and turbulent times we suddenly find ourselves in!  Times of confusion, fear of what tomorrow will bring, and if the ‘normal’ that we have grown to know will ever return. 

We have a new baby on the farm!  Sheila, one of our original does, gave birth to a bouncing little girl, weighing in at 7pounds 7 ounces!  Fred, our Saanen (Dairy) buck is the sire.  Sheila has given us some very good babies in her time with us.   

We have been connecting with several potential beneficiaries.  After some training and checking of shelters, the team has been able to transfer to four homes; that means at least 12 of our pregnant does have left the home herd to help establish herds and therefore independence in vulnerable homes in our community.  Exciting!   We will then have only a few pregnant does remaining in the herd, and those are pregnant by Fred, our dairy buck.  We will now wait a few months before we introduce any does to the bucks so they will not give birth in the winter months. Giving birth in our cold winter is hard on the mums and kids in our environment and we try to prevent pregnancies occurring during this time.

The little brown and white doe, Jakey, was returned to us by one of our beneficiaries, Victor, recently as the first of his ‘pay backs’.  The little black and white kid next to her, Jami, is actually Jakey’s mother!  Jami was handed out pregnant just over a year ago.  The reason I show you these pictures is to indicate how well the programme is working in our community. I previously introduced you to Easy, one of our beneficiaries.  Prayer would be appreciated for her health as she has been struggling for several months now.  With the Covid-19 now appearing in Zimbabwe, she could be very compromised.

As I sign off, I pray for safety and health for you all, may we not be brought down by fear of what tomorrow may bring.  People keep saying to me that they cannot wait to get back to ‘normal’.  What is ‘normal’, I ask myself?  Daily things change – what was normal last year or even 10 years ago, is not what tomorrow’s normal may look like.    We move on into different seasons and different experiences daily.  Let’s not be scared of change but embrace it (from a distance at the moment!) and be excited by what lies ahead after we deal with this virus that has caused such apparent havoc in our lives.

A quote I read today by Brene Brown spoke loudly to me: ‘We are being given the opportunity to stitch a new garment. One that fits all of humanity and nature.’  There IS a silver lining in it somewhere. Let us keep looking for it while we support those who have experienced loss and additional hardships.  

Everyone here at the American Foundation for Children with AIDS, and our partners in Africa. thank you for your continued support of this important project.  If you would like to learn even more about this project and others, please contact Tanya Weaver at tweaver@AFCAids.org. 

In last update, we all were praying the rains would not be long in coming.  The plants in the bush were sending out new growth hopefully and trees were starting to flower despite no sign of water.  I shared the purple Jacaranda tree flowers and this month we have amazing shows of the red flowers of the Flamboyant.  Our city of Bulawayo is awash with them as they take over from the purple to lift our spirits a little from the depressing Zimbabwean economy in which we are all trying to survive!  

Then after watching the skies for promising rain clouds, the rain arrived!  Delightful, refreshing and soaking rain.  Immediately the bush plants and trees were washed clean and new growth appeared overnight.  Also what appeared overnight were twin boys, Brad and Ben, born to the famous Piglet, the second doe in our original herd.  While in the community we discovered this sweet young donkey foal who we couldn’t resist sharing with you.  Although Brad and Ben are not yet sponsored they have been named after our grandboys! 

As a result of the struggles we had with water, this year, we have invested in water storage tanks that will be filled from rain water coming off the rooves of the new goat sheds, erected by the two AFCA teams who visited us this year.  The overflow will be fed into a holding reservoir.  In the last week we received about 5 inches of rain and the tanks are filling rapidly.  For us who live in a drought area, this is very exciting.  In one of the photos you can see a few of our team next to the one goat shed just after they had completed the installations.  This will be a huge benefit in the coming years.

Ruth, who visited us with one of the teams this year, ran an Embroidery Workshop for some of the ladies in our community.  It was such a great success that a number of the ladies have started a club in the hope of improving their skills.  I am not an embroider at all, but between us we are ‘playing’ and starting to develop ideas that may be able to supplement their income.  

Another year is nearly over.  Like everyone we have had highs and lows.  Fortunately, we had so many highs this year that we can hardly remember the lows!  As we watch our does produce such perfect little kids, it remains proof for us of our miracle-working God.  He is ever present in the little things as well as the big and nothing is too small for Him to involve Himself in!  As we finish this year may our own lives reflect the wonders around us. Despite the hardships and sadness we live through each year, may this Christmas and the coming year be filled with blessings.  As we enter our own 2020 race, whether it is a short sprint or a marathon, may we run it well and strong. 

The team here at the American Foundation for Children with AIDS thanks you for supporting this project and the work we do for the children in Africa.  As you start to make decisions regarding your end of year giving, please keep us in mind so we can continue our good work into 2020 and beyond.  We wish you a new year full of many blessings and as much hope as you have shared with us.  If you would like to learn even more about what we do or how you can meet some of the children you have helped, please contact Tanya Weaver at tweaver@AFCAids.org.