Year 4, days 1-3.
First of all, we would love to thank each and every donor who has put their hand in their pocket and who gave us money so that they could help those less fortunate than themselves. We have, so far, over 120 donors and every day it is growing! So far, the main event we did for sponsorship was a sponsored walk. Over the course of 3 days, me and Nicole managed to do 228km and raised €5000 doing so! So, thank you everyone. Now it’s our job to show you where that money will go…
Those unfamiliar with this blog, and who are perhaps new to what we are even doing in Zimbabwe at all, I’ll give a quick recap. It has been 4 years since we were last here, after all!
Nicole and I have been coming here since 2017 (known as Year 1 in this blog) and then returned in 2018 (Year 2) and 2020 (Year 3 when we came with 7month old Anderson). But then with Covid shutting the whole world down and the birth of our youngest daughter August, we were unable to return; until now.
In all that time we have raised over €25,000 and brought it here to Zimbabwe to make the lives of children who have less than nothing, more bearable and give them a future that is brighter and filled with possibilities. We have made beds and bedding, fitted plumbing and electrics, fixed rooves and walls, bought schoolbooks and uniforms, and fed and watered orphans and blind children… all with your donations!
This year, our main aim is to provide fresh drinking water to the orphanage that we found in Year 3. Back then, there was a little over a dozen children all in one tiny house, with only the floor to sleep on in the middle of a village called Rimuka on the outskirts of Kadoma, Zimbabwe. At that time, we were able to provide them with a gas cooker, and had triple bunk beds for 12 children made, with waterproof mattresses.
Upon our return to the orphanage run by Mrs V, the number of children has risen to 22, and the risk of a cholera outbreak has also risen. During the intervening years, Mrs V also suffered from the negative effects of diabetes and is now wheelchair bound, and had to have a leg amputated. She, and her husband, still plough on as best they can, but this just shows us more than ever that they need all the help that they can get.
When the rain comes, the water system in the whole area cannot cope, and contaminated wastewater makes its way into the drinking water, and everyone drinks it. They have no choice. It is a risk that everyone, everywhere takes each day.
Imagine being unable to trust the only thing that you have available to drink each day wont be the exact thing that kills you. The current cholera fatality rate is 2.6% and children are the most susceptible to being in that statistic. Currently their main source of drinking water is a pipe protruding from the ground, flowing into a dirty puddle over a kilometer away. The queues can be long, and the water is often brown and unsafe, but it’s either this, or go thirsty.
So, how can we make a difference to provide fresh drinking water to the orphanage?
This is where your donations come in. Today (day 3), we paid for a local and highly regarded water diviner to come to the orphanage and search for the best location to drill a borehole. As it had been so long since we were here, we had forgotten how small the plot of land that the orphanage was built on. Perhaps 40m2 of space was available at the very front of the house, and there was a very real chance that there might not be a viable location there to drill. But… today we were in luck!
The results were that at around 40-43m down below the surface in the front right corner of the garden, there is a relatively strong flow of water. Usual drilling quotes are based upon going down as far as 40m, so we will have to pay a little more than usual, but thanks to the overwhelming support of every donor, this will can be afforded.
With today being a Sunday, we will have to wait until first thing in the morning to phone up a selection of drilling companies and get the best, and cheapest, option available to start drilling almost immediately. In the meantime, we will have to remove 2 section of garden wall (which can be put back after the borehole has been drilled) and will have to remove 2 tree stumps, and 1 whole tree. 
We hope that tomorrow we should be able to make a start on making the space ready to drill, and hope that by midweek we will be drilling. These will all feature in the next blogs.
After that, we need to fit and secure a solar water pump, and connect the piping to a preexisting water tank so that they have an endless supply of clean water.
We cannot wait to show you the progress, and will document it all on this blog.
In the meantime, I always think that it really helps for donors to know who they are helping directly and yesterday we met the youngest member of the orphanage. He hasn’t been there very long, and he is only 3 years old, but he has already had a tough life. You wouldn’t know it from meeting him as he is as happy and smiley as any child I have ever known, but he bears the scars of his life prior to the orphanage. He showed us the scar on this throat where his mother had tried to kill him as she was an alcoholic who couldn’t provide for him and wanted to be “free from the burden of being a mother”. Luckily, she did not succeed. We don’t know what happened to the mother, but the little boy (Malvin) came straight to this orphanage from the hospital. 
If you would like to help Malvin, and the rest of the children, donations are still being accepted of course. Once we fit the water into their house, any extra funds will go on food, clothing, school materials etc. We work really fluidly, so if we see a need, and we have the funds donated already, we are able to quickly put those funds into effect, so the more that is raised, the more we will be able to do for the children while here.
Thanks once again and please keep reading the blog and supporting us with shares, likes and of course donations.
OurManInZimbabwe 