Just thought I would forward this to you. This is about a village in the remote northern area of Zambia. This fellow, Alan Rise, has been emailing us in hopes that we will use some area initiative money to ship a container that he is filling to the village. He apparently built the school and clinic there for the village. Now that his has happened I don't know what he will want to do. Our superior in SA says we can help with the shipping if we want but he doesn't really think it is something we need to do. We were feeling that way too as it would take 1/3 of our initiative budget ($15,000) to ship the container. This emergency will likely change his plans somewhat -- OR I suppose he could want to get the container there even more so.
Nancy
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This is the report I just received from the local missionary in Tongwa about the disaster.The pictures are from the and around the clinic area. I am still waiting for the pictures of the school.
Report From Lewis Musonda on situation in Tongwa:
On Sunday morning, 21 February, between 4 and 5am, there was a flash flood through Tongwa and a large landslide in the village of Kalala. Thankfully no one was killed in Tongwa and there were only one or two minor injuries, but in Kalala eight people were killed and their homes crushed with huge rocks. Here are the details about these two situations. There had been many heavy rains up on the plateau. The rivers had been flooded there, and on the 21st, the water came down in a wall of water over 2 meters high. The water came down the small streams and joined into the stream that goes through Tongwa to the lake. The water brought many stones
with it and was too much to fit in the stream. The water flowed over the banks and rushed around behind the school and through the village past the headman’s house and around the clinic. Lewis was awake in the night before the flash flood occurred because of the heavy rain and thunder and lightning.
Right before the flood, a fisherman went to try to get his big fishing net out of his boat. He was at the boat when the flash flood came through and the boat was thrown on top of him. Thankfully he was able to swim down under it and escape, but the boat and net were lost. The fishing inspectors from Mpulungu were in Tongwa at the time and their boat with a 40 horsepower engine was also lost. Some people were able to pick up fish from the water that were brought down the mountain by the flood. The stream where the people in Tongwa collected their drinking water was expanded to several meters deep and is now filled with many stones that came down from the mountain. At the mouth of the stream, there is now a ridge of stones. The water is very muddy, but the people have no option but to still drink from it. For the first several days the stream was so wide and deep that no one could cross and they had to take a small boat from one side of the village to the other. The water eroded away the land several meters down
right next to the school. Now there remains only one meter of ground between the school and the drop off into the stream. The school has a large crack through the front and back walls and the floor. The clinic is standing, but the ground around it has been washed away by the water. The headman’s house was partially washed away on the first day and has now collapsed completely.
Several other houses and toilets have also completely collapsed. On that Sunday, the water continued running through the village until around 10 in the morning and the rains continued up until 12. The people were running around very afraid and not knowing what to do. Even up to now the people are afraid to sleep in their houses at night if it is raining for fear another flood will come and their houses will collapse on top of them. The children are in danger because they play on the edges of the areas where the water made valleys and these cliff edges are ready to collapse. These are on the sides of the stream and the sides of the path the water took through the village – around the back of the school and by the headman’s house and the clinic.
The headman went to Mpulungu to talk to the DC on that Sunday the 21st. Government officials have visited Kalala, the place where people were killed by the landslide and some have visited Tongwa. There were rumors that the government would chase the people from Tongwa because it is not safe, but Lewis spoke to the DC and it is not true. But the fishermen are not fishing now because they are afraid of what will happen in the village while they are gone. The school is also closed. Many people are saying that the cause of this disaster was witchcraft. The government promised tents and food to those who had lost their homes, but none have been provided yet. Many people lost food, and the water is very bad to drink. Some also lost cash that was washed
away in the storm. In Kalala village, next to Tongwa, the side of the village was built in a valley. The houses that were built here were completely crushed by a huge landslide. It is like a road of rocks now, leading from the mountain down to the lake. Stones as big as houses came down and crushed all the trees and homes. Eight people died including a pregnant woman and her unborn baby. The others were two men and three children. The men were from a nearby village and were there for fishing.
These people were the only ones staying there where the landslide happened, there were no survivors. Now you cannot even see that houses had been there. You can see large trunks of trees lying on top of and under the rocks. Teams of men have gone there to try to retrieve the bodies, but even with dynamite they are unable to find them.
My wife and I are still trying to assess the damages to the school but it does not look good at this point. Depending on the outcome we may be looking for volunteers right away to go fix the school or to build a new one. If you would like to come or donate to this project please let me know.
Thank you, Alan Riser
Showing posts with label Letter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Letter. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
Letter for the kids
Hi, I found this letter in some papers in the cupboard at the flat that was written by a previous missionary grandma to her grandchildren in 2004. I thought it was a good description of life here in Zimbabwe so I am passing it along.
Dear Grandchildren,
Come with me on an imaginary trip. Pretend you were born in Africa to wonderful black parents. But first, make a list of all the blessings you can think of because you were born in the great free land of America.
May 2004 - Zimbabwe, Africa
IF YOU WERE BORN IN AFRICA:
Many of you would be orphans. HIV/AIDS is taking a devastating toll on the people of Africa. Many fathers die young from many illnesses because of the weak immune system caused by AIDS they contracted because of their unrighteous life style. By the time he is dying of AIDS he has infected his wife, and if she is expecting a child, the baby is born with HIV/AIDS. Africa has many children with AIDS, most of them orphans. When a husband/father dies, his family can come in and take the home and everything the family owns (that the father provided). This is because of the Tribal tradition of Labola, the buying of a wife which the husband thinks he owns because he bought her. Many women are treated as chattel.
Many of you in the rural area live in a Roundavel, a round home made of stick walls or home-made bricks with a thatched roof and dirt floor, which your mother has made hard and shiny by soaking cow dung in water to the consistency of thick cream and spread it all over the floor which, when dry, is very hard with an earthy smell and can be swept with a broom made of the branches and leaves of bushes. You have no electricity. Usually there are three buildings grouped together. One for sleeping, one for cooking (or cooking is just done outside on a wood campfire) and one for a living room plus there is a small outhouse.
Some of you may live in a home a little better than a Roundavel. If there is electricity to the house, you still don't have use of it because your parents can't afford to pay the electric bill. With over 70% (now about 80 - 85%) unemployment your parents don't have a job! You have no TV, no computer, no phone and no hot water. You may not even have water in the house and you have to go to the 'borehole" (well) to get all the water you use each day. If you live in one of the villages, you may not even have a borehole, so you use surface water. In the rainy season, this becomes contaminated, and for some reason you have never been taught to boil this water before using it so you contract cholera, which can take your life. Your mother washes all your clothes in a tub or bucket. You use a bucket to wash yourselves and you are always very clean! Your entire family may live in one room of the house, with other families living in the other rooms of the same house. We have seen as many as 7 people all living in one 8 x 10 room. You sleep on the floor and may not even have a blanket and in the winter months you are always cold.
In the rainy season, the mosquitoes are bad, and in some areas carry malaria, which can take your life. The rainy season is a favorite time of the year because of all the bugs that arrive - it is now feast time! YES, you eat bugs. The rains come in the summer months of November through January, so Christmas is in the summer.
You have no toys, except the ones you make yourself. A favorite toy is a ball made of a plastic bag stuffed with paper or plastic, then wrapped with string to form a round circle. Another toy is made from wire and odds and ends to make a car with wheels that turn.
You don't have an automobile so you walk everywhere you go. Some people here in Harare walk three hours to get to the chapel for church every Sunday, many of them bare footed. The people in Zimbabwe are very religious and love the Gospel of Jesus Christ and are very happy to belong to the true church.
You love to sing and have beautiful voices. Many of you are very artistic and carve wonderful items out of wood or stone.
Many of you can no longer go to school because the government has raised school fees so high that you have to drop out. If you are able to go to school, you have to wear school uniforms. Everyone in your school wears exactly the same clothes as everyone else. The clothes you wear at home are very ragged but most are always washed and very clean.
Your favorite food is sadza, made from ground maize (corn) and cooked very thick. This you would eat three times a day if you had enough but usually you only have enough for one meal a day so you are always hungry. You eat your sadza with your fingers, forming a scoop shape that you can dip into a sauce that your mother has made out of any vegetables you are able to grow. Some people in the villages own cattle, so you sometimes have meat with your sadza.
All people in Zimbabwe are not poor. We see many Africans well dressed, driving expensive cars. We think that the people are divided into two classes, the very rich and the very poor. Even with all the poverty here the people are very happy. Most of the poor are kind to each other and try to help each other through all the hard times they are experiencing.
We love our mission and have learned to love so many of the beautiful people here. We will never be the same! We know that as Americans we are very spoiled!! We have much too much when so many in the world have next to nothing.
Now, please go back to the list you made (I hope you made one) and see how much you can add to it!!
Love, Grandma
That was written in 2004 but it is the same today in 2010.
Dear Grandchildren,
Come with me on an imaginary trip. Pretend you were born in Africa to wonderful black parents. But first, make a list of all the blessings you can think of because you were born in the great free land of America.
May 2004 - Zimbabwe, Africa
IF YOU WERE BORN IN AFRICA:
Many of you would be orphans. HIV/AIDS is taking a devastating toll on the people of Africa. Many fathers die young from many illnesses because of the weak immune system caused by AIDS they contracted because of their unrighteous life style. By the time he is dying of AIDS he has infected his wife, and if she is expecting a child, the baby is born with HIV/AIDS. Africa has many children with AIDS, most of them orphans. When a husband/father dies, his family can come in and take the home and everything the family owns (that the father provided). This is because of the Tribal tradition of Labola, the buying of a wife which the husband thinks he owns because he bought her. Many women are treated as chattel.
Many of you in the rural area live in a Roundavel, a round home made of stick walls or home-made bricks with a thatched roof and dirt floor, which your mother has made hard and shiny by soaking cow dung in water to the consistency of thick cream and spread it all over the floor which, when dry, is very hard with an earthy smell and can be swept with a broom made of the branches and leaves of bushes. You have no electricity. Usually there are three buildings grouped together. One for sleeping, one for cooking (or cooking is just done outside on a wood campfire) and one for a living room plus there is a small outhouse.
Some of you may live in a home a little better than a Roundavel. If there is electricity to the house, you still don't have use of it because your parents can't afford to pay the electric bill. With over 70% (now about 80 - 85%) unemployment your parents don't have a job! You have no TV, no computer, no phone and no hot water. You may not even have water in the house and you have to go to the 'borehole" (well) to get all the water you use each day. If you live in one of the villages, you may not even have a borehole, so you use surface water. In the rainy season, this becomes contaminated, and for some reason you have never been taught to boil this water before using it so you contract cholera, which can take your life. Your mother washes all your clothes in a tub or bucket. You use a bucket to wash yourselves and you are always very clean! Your entire family may live in one room of the house, with other families living in the other rooms of the same house. We have seen as many as 7 people all living in one 8 x 10 room. You sleep on the floor and may not even have a blanket and in the winter months you are always cold.
In the rainy season, the mosquitoes are bad, and in some areas carry malaria, which can take your life. The rainy season is a favorite time of the year because of all the bugs that arrive - it is now feast time! YES, you eat bugs. The rains come in the summer months of November through January, so Christmas is in the summer.
You have no toys, except the ones you make yourself. A favorite toy is a ball made of a plastic bag stuffed with paper or plastic, then wrapped with string to form a round circle. Another toy is made from wire and odds and ends to make a car with wheels that turn.
You don't have an automobile so you walk everywhere you go. Some people here in Harare walk three hours to get to the chapel for church every Sunday, many of them bare footed. The people in Zimbabwe are very religious and love the Gospel of Jesus Christ and are very happy to belong to the true church.
You love to sing and have beautiful voices. Many of you are very artistic and carve wonderful items out of wood or stone.
Many of you can no longer go to school because the government has raised school fees so high that you have to drop out. If you are able to go to school, you have to wear school uniforms. Everyone in your school wears exactly the same clothes as everyone else. The clothes you wear at home are very ragged but most are always washed and very clean.
Your favorite food is sadza, made from ground maize (corn) and cooked very thick. This you would eat three times a day if you had enough but usually you only have enough for one meal a day so you are always hungry. You eat your sadza with your fingers, forming a scoop shape that you can dip into a sauce that your mother has made out of any vegetables you are able to grow. Some people in the villages own cattle, so you sometimes have meat with your sadza.
All people in Zimbabwe are not poor. We see many Africans well dressed, driving expensive cars. We think that the people are divided into two classes, the very rich and the very poor. Even with all the poverty here the people are very happy. Most of the poor are kind to each other and try to help each other through all the hard times they are experiencing.
We love our mission and have learned to love so many of the beautiful people here. We will never be the same! We know that as Americans we are very spoiled!! We have much too much when so many in the world have next to nothing.
Now, please go back to the list you made (I hope you made one) and see how much you can add to it!!
Love, Grandma
That was written in 2004 but it is the same today in 2010.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
A Letter
This letter was written by a missionary serving here in Harare. His home is Kadoma, where we went last Saturday for the Young Single Adult Conference. The Elder wrote this letter to be read to his friends. We thought it was really good so I am sharing it with you.
Dear Brothers & Sisters,
After being made known unto me of the camp-out, I was filled with great love towards you, which love motivated me to write the words of wisdom or the words of my heart. First of all, I desire to tell you how much I love you and how I miss you, you are all that I have, without you there is nothing, without you I wouldn't have been here but because of you, here am I, working in the vineyard of the Lord. I'm so grateful for that.
Brethren and sisters, having an eternal perspective is a sign of Godliness, it is an element that should be in our hearts because it helps us to foresee things and enables us to work tirelessly towards immortality and eternal life. So its something to ponder about. Life might be hard for us to achieve our physical and spiritual goals which leads to heaven, but let us have courage to do all that we can.
There are some six points that are referred as marks, but I will dwell on two of them because of the weakness of my hand. One of them is the mark of courage. Courage becomes a living and
attractive virtue when it is regarded not as a willingness to die manfully, but the determination to live decently. So be willing to run where the brave dare not go.
The second, Mark of Prayer. When the burdens of life become heavy, when trials test one's faith, when pain, sorrow, and despair cause the light to flicker and burn low, communication with our Heavenly Father provides peace.
Having been able to make these words of wisdom to you, this I hope will help you as you will work so hard towards eternal life and exaltation. Brethren and Sisters, remember this life is for man to
prepare to meet God by performing our labours, but it is not only the issue of meeting Him, but of meeting Him and as well to be like Him, so which means for us to meet Him we need to live the principles given to us through his servants the prophets, but now becoming like him requires us to know the importance of the house of the Lord, referred as the temple. Brethren and sisters I write with respect and reverence toward God by saying the temple is the most holy place on earth and it leads man to be able to obtain the great powers and joy that Elohim has or possess. If you have not thought about the temple, think about it now. If you have not yet planned about it, plan while it is still called 'today'. If you have not yet executed your plan, put it into action. This will allow you to be even as He is. Brethren there is a relationship between elements and force or nature and human action. Our character and action can control the two, therefore which means we will be able to control the world due to much righteousness. Moses because of his worthy actions, controlled the Red Sea, Jesus Christ because of His perfection and righteousness was able to command the waves of the sea to calm and because of your great faith you can control all things.
Please live the gospel and be happy. Trials may gather as you will be working so hard to attain this perfection but listen to this. You know that at the sports all the runners run the race though only one wins the prize, like them, run to win! Now, every athlete goes into strict training -they do it to win a perishable wreath. For my part, I run with a clear goal before me, which is to work hard in the Lord's vineyard, getting married in the temple and live happily after and endure trials because trials time is the best time for me to increase speed or spirituality for my race.
Brethren and sisters because of the weakness of my hands I would like to leave you with these words, but before I want to bear record of Him who came as a God, suffered and rose as God that he lives and loves us. I know that there shall be a time whereby this race shall end. But what matters is by the time whereby this race shall end, did you prepare yourself to meet Him and be like Him. I want you to know that I love you and I shall be happy to meet you
again, during this life or the next veil.
Yours, Elder Sibesha, the servant of the Lord
Dear Brothers & Sisters,
After being made known unto me of the camp-out, I was filled with great love towards you, which love motivated me to write the words of wisdom or the words of my heart. First of all, I desire to tell you how much I love you and how I miss you, you are all that I have, without you there is nothing, without you I wouldn't have been here but because of you, here am I, working in the vineyard of the Lord. I'm so grateful for that.
Brethren and sisters, having an eternal perspective is a sign of Godliness, it is an element that should be in our hearts because it helps us to foresee things and enables us to work tirelessly towards immortality and eternal life. So its something to ponder about. Life might be hard for us to achieve our physical and spiritual goals which leads to heaven, but let us have courage to do all that we can.
There are some six points that are referred as marks, but I will dwell on two of them because of the weakness of my hand. One of them is the mark of courage. Courage becomes a living and
attractive virtue when it is regarded not as a willingness to die manfully, but the determination to live decently. So be willing to run where the brave dare not go.
The second, Mark of Prayer. When the burdens of life become heavy, when trials test one's faith, when pain, sorrow, and despair cause the light to flicker and burn low, communication with our Heavenly Father provides peace.
Having been able to make these words of wisdom to you, this I hope will help you as you will work so hard towards eternal life and exaltation. Brethren and Sisters, remember this life is for man to
prepare to meet God by performing our labours, but it is not only the issue of meeting Him, but of meeting Him and as well to be like Him, so which means for us to meet Him we need to live the principles given to us through his servants the prophets, but now becoming like him requires us to know the importance of the house of the Lord, referred as the temple. Brethren and sisters I write with respect and reverence toward God by saying the temple is the most holy place on earth and it leads man to be able to obtain the great powers and joy that Elohim has or possess. If you have not thought about the temple, think about it now. If you have not yet planned about it, plan while it is still called 'today'. If you have not yet executed your plan, put it into action. This will allow you to be even as He is. Brethren there is a relationship between elements and force or nature and human action. Our character and action can control the two, therefore which means we will be able to control the world due to much righteousness. Moses because of his worthy actions, controlled the Red Sea, Jesus Christ because of His perfection and righteousness was able to command the waves of the sea to calm and because of your great faith you can control all things.
Please live the gospel and be happy. Trials may gather as you will be working so hard to attain this perfection but listen to this. You know that at the sports all the runners run the race though only one wins the prize, like them, run to win! Now, every athlete goes into strict training -they do it to win a perishable wreath. For my part, I run with a clear goal before me, which is to work hard in the Lord's vineyard, getting married in the temple and live happily after and endure trials because trials time is the best time for me to increase speed or spirituality for my race.
Brethren and sisters because of the weakness of my hands I would like to leave you with these words, but before I want to bear record of Him who came as a God, suffered and rose as God that he lives and loves us. I know that there shall be a time whereby this race shall end. But what matters is by the time whereby this race shall end, did you prepare yourself to meet Him and be like Him. I want you to know that I love you and I shall be happy to meet you
again, during this life or the next veil.
Yours, Elder Sibesha, the servant of the Lord
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