 COVID-19 MAHEWU DISTRIBUTION Visions of Obert trying to capture and cook a tiny bird for him and his Gogo have again been haunting us since schools in Zimbabwe closed due to the Coronavirus lockdown. Last month we managed to reach 204 of the most vulnerable families, in one area, to deliver maize and soya from our Conservation Agriculture farmers. The relief and gratitude from elderly grandmothers and child led households was emotional. However before lockdown over 5,000 children were receiving a nutritious porridge-mahewu drink every day at school – we couldn’t help by worry, what are they having now? We had to be creative in making sure the children still received the mahewu – with 700% hyperinflation, a severe fuel and cash crises, lockdown restrictions and villages in impossible-to-reach locations – it had to be an impeccably organised operation by our small team, parent volunteers and school committees. The transport chain varied from large trucks with sacks of food to scotch carts and cattle navigating through dried up river ravines. We wanted to make sure we got food to the forgotten, beyond-reach children and families so everyone has an equal chance!   During our fundraising campaign we set a new challenge for ourselves – to add 1,000 babies and toddlers to our list of children receiving mahewu every day. We are so grateful to everyone who helped us reach that target and are happy to share with you that we have suceeded in delivering a supply of mahewu to 6,000 babies and children for the next 3 months! Parents came to the schools, in small groups, to collect the food according to the register and the number of children in their care. Everyone expressed sincere gratitude and had the opportunity to talk with school staff and our small team in an attempt to release the heavy burdens they carry.THANK YOU! Thank you to Ruff’s Kitchens, The Phyllis Aspinall Foundation, WTMD, some private philanthropists and our loyal monthly donors for enabling us to feed the many desperate families in Zimbabwe. “Us Zimbabweans know suffering! We have experienced very bad droughts, severe food shortages due to terrible economical problems and illness. But these days feel even more hopeless… all of those things just get worse. I can honestly say that it is only through people like you that we survive. We just don’t know what else to do or say… THANK YOU and please don’t forget us.” Teacher, Makonde District, Zimbabwe All donations are presently going towards nutrition relief to ease suffering from starvation and contribute to health and well-being (during the Covid 19 pandemic). PLEASE DONATE HERE |