Help Feed Hungry Children in Zimbabwe

Dear Supporters, 

The New Year started with high hopes of a good rainy season and a bumper maize crop.  And what a season it has been, our area in the south-west of Zimbabwe has been literally awash.  Rivers that have been dry for years are now running, dams are full and the cattle and the wildlife, at last, have full bellies. 

But – and there is always a but in Africa – the welcome rain turned into a flood, particularly after the arrival of Cyclone Dineo, which first made landfall in Mocambique. The effects on the crops have been dire. They have either been swamped or washed away, as have many mud and thatch houses, which are simply not designed for such a downpour.

The photos attached are from a village near the school. The maize plants should be at least 1.5 m high at this time of the year, but all that is left are a few yellowing stalks. Fortunately, the big dam from which people draw their water is intact, though many of the smaller dams in the area, as you can see from the photo, simply couldn’t take the pressure of such a huge volume of water.

Thanks to you, though, feeding continues unabated at Marula school, to the relief of local families. As expected, the introduction of our “bond” notes as a result of the mysterious disappearance of real money has led to inflation, and prices of basic commodities have risen sharply in the last couple of months.

These problems, however, do not affect our leaders. Here is a report from a local rag about the President’s 93^rd birthday party that was recently held in our area:

“The Mugabe family and their cronies feasted on a 93 kg cake at a requisitioned school in Matobo where local people live in desperate poverty, their children starving, increasingly cut off from the outside world by decaying infrastructure.”

And here’s another eye-opener from the president's wife:  

“For her part, Grace Mugabe, as befits someone with a doctorate, takes a more scientific view. She wisely warns girls that they are more likely to get pregnant than boys and cites her evidence: ‘If you look at the statistics, girls have nearly 100% chance of getting pregnant, while boys have nearly zero chances of falling pregnant. This means girls have to be extra vigilant”

Thank you, everyone, for helping our little school – you’ll never know just how much it appreciated. 

Lastly, here’s a cheerful picture- one kind donor arrived with a box full of soft toys for our littlies, and the elephant was a favourite!

With Gratitude, 
Bookey Peek 

Dear Supporters, 

Our very best wishes to all our donors for 2017 from all of us at Marula Schoolease

To kick off the year, please watch our amazing choir practicing for their performing of Amazing Grace (video on our Facebook page). The choir is made up of both boarders and day scholars and lead by their gifted music teacher, Mrs. Dube. They sing like angels! Late last year, they competed in the national finals - having won on both the district and provincial levels. We can't believe that any other school will sing Amazing Grace as beautifully as they do!

We have had some early rains, which have been erratic, but nonetheless very welcome indeed. It remains to be seen whether the maize crop will be successful this year, but it’s certainly been a great start.

As one would expect, the sound of jingle bells and the rustle of wrapping paper are not a feature of the Christmas season in rural Zimbabwe.  Instead, the children are anxiously awaiting the start of the school term in the second week of January –when they will once again be receiving their daily lunches.  

The lives of all Zimbabweans have been made increasingly difficult because of the shortage of money – the banks having mysteriously run out of the US$ that have kept us going since 2009 when our local currency was scrapped.  In 2008, we almost made history with a rate of inflation of 89.7 Sextillion percent – when a single egg cost over a billion dollars.*   But here we go again.  Despite violent opposition on the streets, Government has once again introduced the dreaded “bond notes”, backed by fresh air and breezy promises that they will continue to be on a par with the US$, when the fact is that on the day that the first notes appeared, the fuel stations were already loading them with a 20% premium.

This, of course, makes food even less available to the vast majority of Zimbabweans (say, 99%), who at the very least need a regular supply of mealie meal – their staple diet. As usual, Government made no provision this year for grain imports, and what little did come in was earmarked strictly for party members only. 

For most rural people, their only assets are their cattle.  But stock losses in our district alone have numbered in the thousands as farmers cannot afford supplementary feed, and selling them is hardly an option with so many animals on the market.   So, this early rain has been a godsend for those that have survived (and of course for the wildlife!)

I’ll be posting some updated pictures when school opens, but in the meantime, our heartfelt thanks to you as always for helping these children  - and for giving them the best present they could ever ask for – one square meal a day.

* A few months ago, the son of the Governor of the Reserve Bank was detained at the border post with South Africa carrying US$7 million in cash.   

Thank you for your interest in our project and for your generous support over the 2016 festive season. Your donations will go a long way in 2017!

With Gratitude, 
The GVI Trust