We are Home-Hartzell Students Need Help.

We are finally home, having stopped off in Namibia on the way to look for animals and birds. Zimbabwe is in transition, but only time will tell to what.  The sharing of governmental power by the two parties has finally begun, but it the long ruling ZANU-PF still acts like it owns the country. Inflation was so bad [ hextillions % per year !] that almost everything is now being charged in US$–which most people don’t have.  Moreover, those US$ prices are unrealistically high–one store wanted $40 for a jar of rubber cement!  Fees, uniforms, school supplies, food–almost everything–costs us much more than we were paying the bills in Zimbabwean money. We were able to use our buying power in exchanges for quite a number of extra ways to help.  That is now ended as our US$ costs for basics have increased by as much as 10 to 40 times.

There was no way we could pay the new fee of $50 per term for each of the 400 Hartzell Primary School children we have supported for a number of years.  This would have amounted to $60,000 for the year.  We bargained for an arrangement whereby we are keeping 120 in school for the year at a cost of $10,000. This is twice as much as we have been paying for the 400.  Our resources are stretched and there won’t be money left for the extra uniforms and supplies we have been helping with.

Whereas we have been running the High School sponsors program on $200 a year, including fees, uniforms, and supplies, tuition for just this Term is now $160 with clothes and supplies adding another$50+ with two more terms in the year to go.  It looks like we will need double sponsors for each of the 26 we have in the program this year.  Some of them had their homes destroyed in election violence last spring and have been put in boarding–at extra costs.

Past generosity has enabled us to expand the helping programs and give relief to some who had been burned out by ZANU thugs.  For this we are very thankful.  We have noticed however, that we are not being asked for many new or return presentations.  Our crafts projects have hit a number of problems–breakage, much higher costs, and lower sales–so they aren’t providing the support they once did.

In short–keeping the kids fed, clothed and in school is a major financial challenge! We are not despairing, but we could use help.