Livestock for 300 Orphan Families in Zimbabwe

This is the season we watch carefully for the Flame Lily flowers.  They are not prolific in our area and when we sight them we quickly tell others where to see them.  The Flame Lily is our National flower, which also makes them special in our eyes.

After the excitement and relief of the first rains, we have received little more.  If we don’t receive more very soon many crops already in the ground in our area will die, causing more hunger and external dependency for this year.  A friend living in Austria who assists in many projects in our area contacted us recently and asked if people were already needing help.  We told him about the rain and crop situation and he immediately stepped up and sent food to help the most vulnerable in the area.  Several of our AFCA beneficiaries were on the list and in dire need of assistance.  We were blessed to be able to help them with the gift of corn meal and a few other food items.

Our kids are growing up quickly and will soon be ready to wean.  Always a hard time for them as they will be separated from their mothers for at least 6 weeks until the mums milk dries up and the kids can rejoin the herd.  Right now they are only separated at nights and spend the days with the herd when they can drink.  This is the time when we can see which of the does are good milk suppliers and we decide which buck we put them with for their next pregnancy.  The good milkers will be matched to Fred, the Saanen buck who is our dairy buck, and the others will be matched to Bruce, the Kalahari buck who is a good meat producing goat.  When we send does to beneficiaries we try to send a mix of both dairy and meat goats.

Our last kid to be born in 2019 was Gus, son of Clover.  Gus was her first born and is a tough little character who complains loudly when he cannot see his friends, who are a little bigger, more nimble and faster than him!  Every day the herd is checked for any health problems and are attended to where necessary.  Both the guys have been to several workshops where they have learnt about illnesses, correct goat nutrition and how to make supplementary feeds from the available plants in their areas. 

In the last month we have had a quieter time and were able to take more walks around the ranch and visit a few of our neighbors.  We also had a few visitors who took advantage of the climbing routes amongst the rocks.  It looks like it is going to be another hard year for the community with the continuing struggle for water for gardens and crops.  Even drinking water is likely to be a serious problem.  Our beneficiaries at least have water filters which are still working well.  However, this community are amazing in how they live with expectations and dreams of their situations improving.  If there is a word that I always think applies to people living with hardship, it is Hope.  Hope that there will be food for the day, money for school fees, an improvement in their day to day existence.  Life is so hard but whenever we visit people there is a welcoming smile.  Their lives are a lesson to us to be grateful for the little things we take for granted: a teaspoon of sugar, a slice of bread, clean water in our cup and a bed to lie in at night under a roof that does not leak.  Until next time when we HOPE to report a miraculous weather change that will supply our community with enough water to take us though to the next rainy season!  Be blessed!

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 giving for the new year, 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. 

Although we still have had no rain and plants and trees are looking stressed, the Jacarandas still show their beauty around the city and bring smiles to stressed faces. 

We have 5 new babies!  Not all have names yet but that will change shortly, either when we get sponsors or when we find fitting names for them, as it is very confusing having babies running around with no names!

The drought and lack of good browsing is having an effect on some of our pregnant does, especially our ‘first-timers’.  A few of our older goats and the feeding mamas are struggling to maintain good condition. We have lost several babies who were born premature and even aborting half-way through their pregnancy.  Reports have been made to us that this has also been happening within the community. On a trip to town this week I called in to consult our vet about this problem and he recommended some mineral and vitamin supplements but assured me that we were not the only one experiencing this at the moment.  He also puts it down to the extreme heat and dryness of vegetation.  We have purchased a lot more supplement to help them get through to the rains and new growth

One of our latest beneficiaries is Elaine, let me introduce you.  Elaine is a widow whose husband died of AIDS, leaving her with 4 children to bring up and educate.  Her father is a local village head.  She is fortunate in the fact that they all live in their own homesteads, and the homesteads are very close, making it safer for Elaine, a single parent, to have her own home while enjoying the security of family close by.  They are a very poor family and work their small gardens for food and to sell if they have extra.  I met Elaine some 11 years ago when she and a group of other ladies who had AIDS visited me and asked for help with food.  I was not in a position to give hand outs but suggested we look at what skills they had or would like to learn.  And so birthed the little Craft Group that meets at Morning Star regularly.  The club is made up of 8 ladies who have various skills.  One or two knit and crochet well while the others are better with sewing projects.  We have been able to make a steady but small additional income that has helped the ladies pay school fees for their children and buy groceries.

Elaine is a very strong character and a GREAT dancer!  Life is especially hard for woman alone in Africa. Although she lives close to family, quite a few of the family are AIDS sufferers as well and not strong.  She has been busy constructing a new home almost entirely on her own, with a little help from her father and brother.  It’s a start but there is lots still to do. When we delivered her goats, they were all close to giving birth.  After a week we received a panicked message to say they had run away.  The word was put out in the neighborhood that there were lost goats and to our delight after a few days they were reported to be about 5 miles from their new home.  Diamond and Thando went out and collected them and redelivered to Elaine, who was so very happy!  Although she was happy to get them home, over the next couple of weeks they all either lost their babies or aborted.  Desperately looking for reasons why this should have happened, we put it down to the stress of being lost and travelling so far before being found.  We have no idea what experiences they may have gone through.  We will collect them all as soon as the rains start and have our bucks cover them again.

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.