Sean and Debbie Mullens

recent newsletter

2011-09-19T10:27:00.001+02:00

Since getting back from the UK in July, Sean has been preparing for the launch of an evening church service in Avondale. We have secured the cinema as a venue at least for the first few months. The service will start in October, with a big event on Saturday night with the winner of Big Brother Africa being interviewed, and then an invite to hear more on the Sunday evening.
Sean has also been running Alpha with a group of homeless white guys who are living in tents at Cleveland Dam. They are usually found begging at Eastlea or Newland shops. They are all alcoholics and some have AIDS. After spending intensive time with them there have been many positive changes seen. Doug has now been off alcohol for 8 months and is now staying at the Salvation Army and helping at the AA. Peter and Linda have been off alcohol for 8 months, which has helped them rebuild relationships with their children who are in Harare Children’s home, and have enough money for food and school fees. They are also less abusive in the community and to each other! ‘Johnnie Walker’ who is also well known at the Eastlea shops has currently been off alcohol for 10 days. They are now meeting once a week on Tuesday mornings. The challenges have been confronting them on their begging, lying, lack of interest in finding work, alcohol, relationships with family etc. Through this group relationships with Alcoholics Anonymous have also been built.

Sean has also been running the Alpha Course at a Residential Centre in Braeside. The residents are mostly poor and elderly, and many are alcoholics or have other social issues. It has been hard work, but some good discussions.
Debbie is continuing her work with FSP, which trains farmers in Foundations for Farming. She does the monitoring and evaluation for the programme. The rains were pretty good this year, and with the more stable political situations we are seeing an increase in yields nationally, and especially amongst the FSP farmers. See www.foundationsforfarming.org for more information.
The children have been on school holidays, and whilst they go to a crèche during the holidays Kate has also enjoyed a holiday club at Granny’s church, and a week of gymnastics. However, they are looking forward to going back to their usual pre-schools and starting swimming etc. again next week.
Joe is turning 2 this month, and becoming very independent not wanting help with anything. He is also obsessed with cars, spending several hours a day sitting in ours. Debbie is building him a wooden car to tempt him into more child-friendly (and car-friendly) pursuits. He also loves balls, music, playing his ‘guitar’ (a tennis racquet) and his sandpit.
Kate is now 4 ½ and loving her pre-school, especially the art and craft, and playing with her best friend Ayla. The teacher has commented that she is the favourite in the playground because of her crazy imagination and the games she’s makes up. She loves pink, princesses, puzzles and presents!
As we go into September we are looking forward to the start of the church services, and then the run up to Christmas when Sean’s brother and his family come to out to visit, and his sister have their first child, due on new year’s eve.

Back from England

2011-08-17T09:41:00.002+02:00

Well, been back from England for a couple of weeks now. It's still freezing cold, but gradually getting a few warm days here and there.

Kids are now on school holidays, so Joe is enjoying a play group and Kate has been doing gymnastics this week. Her best friend from pre-school is there to so she is really enjoying it. We are not allowed to watch, but from her demonstrations at home, she seems to be doing well.

Sean is gearing up towards starting an evening service in Avondale cinema, to kick off in October, and then a big launch in January. Plans are coming together, we got the venue for a third of the price, which has been a big help, and a great team of about 30 people is coming together.

Will try and put some photos from England up soon!

Foundations for Farming newspaprer article

2011-08-17T09:09:00.003+02:00

Zim food situation

2011-05-20T10:27:00.002+02:00

This years maize harvest is looking like it might be the best in quite a few years. The information is still coming in from the various sites, but so far the average yields are 2.2t/ha, which is double last year's average! (More info available in a week or so.)

The food situation also seems to be improving with 82% of the farmers we are training still with food left over from last years harvest!

Although our farmers are achieving higher yields than the average, there is some improvement on a national scale, which is great for the whole country.

Kate's birthday

2011-05-20T09:43:00.001+02:00

Kate really enjoyed her superheros and princess faries party! She is now counting down the days until she turns 5! Photos coming!

Nyanga

2011-04-25T19:44:00.002+02:00

We have just got back from a 3 day trip to Nyanga for a quick break before lots of Easter events and stuff. We stayed in a nice house that Sean's sister was given the use of, unfortunately their was no power the whole time and we only had 2 candles! The house was in the middle of a nature reserve and on the edge of a dam, so it was a nice relaxing time.

Snake Stories

2011-03-14T17:38:00.002+02:00

Yesterday Kate woke me up by whispering that there was a snake in the bathroom. As it was very early, and she had woken us up several nights before with stories of snakes in her bedroom (which turned out to be untrue!) I wasn't very enthusiatic about getting up to check. But when I did I saw that there was a snake sitting by the toliet! Just what you want when your 3 year old has finally decided she can actually go to the toliet by herself!

A couple of weeks ago we another snake in the house. It was first thing in the morning, and Sean was boiling a pan of water to make tea (power cut), Joe was playing on the kitchen floor, when he spotted the snake and went to pick it up. Sean saw it happening, and shouted STOP, whilst dropping the pan of boiling water on the floor! Fortunatly Joe was so shocked at Sean shouting that he moved away.

From what we could see both the snake were house snakes, so aren't poisoness, but have a nasty bite.

Chickens

2011-02-26T13:39:00.002+02:00

The highlight of the week for the kids has been the 2 bantum chickens we were given. They live in the garden and roam around freely, but have taken to sneaking into the house to catch some of Joe's crumbs. We are looking forward to some cute chicks soon.

Kate also got moved up into the age 4 swimming class, as she is doing really well. I think she would rather stay with her friends though. It's the first lesson with the new class on Monday so we will see if she can keep up!

Sorry it's been so long!

2007-10-16T10:09:00.000+02:00

Things have been pretty busy, so apologies for not updating this blog often enough!

Since getting back from the UK, we went into a month of conferences, Farming God's Way, Reach the nation and Megavision, where we had Terry Virgo speaking. These all involved lots of communications stuff, which Sean was heading up, and some reports on Operation Joseph for me to do. So now we finally have a chance to catch up on other things!

Sean has just got back from a week in malawi, where they travelled about demonstrating farming God's way, putting in plots, and getting some video footage. He is going to be writing a report on the trip soon, so I will put that on here once it's done.

Kate is growing up so fast and has just started solid food this week. Although more ends up on the sofa and everywhere else, than in her mouth! She will be 6 months old next week.

Sean's hand continues to be a problem, with the operation seeming to have speed up the process of his fingers closing up, rather than slowing it down. He has physio 3 times a week, but it looks like further operations will be needed soon.

We have both just got back from a schools camp this weekend, where we had the leaders of the Christian Unions together, and helped them plan for the coming year.

I hope to write a proper newsletter soon, with more details, so i'll leave it there

love Debbie

Mullens family photo

2007-09-12T11:35:00.000+02:00

More Zim news

2007-09-10T09:58:00.000+02:00

Zimbabwe in currency devaluation

Zimbabwe has had to print new large-denomination notes to cope
Zimbabwe has devalued its currency as part of its battle to tackle its deepening economic crisis.
One US dollar now buys 30,000 Zimbabwe dollars on the official market, having previously earned 250 Zimbabwe dollars.

However dealers said that on the illegal market, $1 was buying 250,000 of the Zimbabwean currency

Latest figures put Zimbabwe's annual inflation at 7,634%. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned it could reach 100,000% by the end of the year.

Finance minister Samuel Mumbengegwi unveiled the devaluation in a budget announcement.

Other reforms included waiving taxes on some lower earners and increasing stamp and excise duties.

The devaluation announcement was described as a "move in the right direction" by former head of the National Chamber of Commerce, Luxon Zembe.

However he said that the gap between the official rate and the market rate needed to be narrowed.

Empty shelves

Zimbabwe's economic crisis has led to an estimated three million people fleeing the country for South Africa.

Unemployment stands at about 80% and there are mass shortages of fuel and foodstuffs.

Businesses were forced to freeze prices in June as President Robert Mugabe's government tried to stem inflation.

But some producers, fearing making a loss, cut production, meaning the move exacerbated shortages, leaving shop shelves empty.

Last month a new 200,000 Zimbabwe dollar note was launched, in a bid to tackle the country's inflation, the highest in the world.

The country's government has created a commission to find a way to control soaring living costs.

But correspondents say that as long as Zimbabwe has a shortage of staple foods, including maize, food shortages are likely to continue.

Critics have blamed President Mugabe's policies, especially the seizure of farms, for ordinary Zimbabweans' hardship.

For his part, President Mugabe has accused foreign governments of trying to interfere in Zimbabwe's affairs - saying some businesses had raised prices without justification as part of a Western plot to oust him.

BBC Website Q&A on Zim

2007-09-03T22:08:00.001+02:00

Zimbabwe has just about the worst-performing economy in the world. Some say the economic problems could soon bring down the government of President Robert Mugabe, although that has been predicted many times before.
People are struggling with soaring inflation, widespread joblessness and the exodus of millions of Zimbabweans, both to neighbouring countries and to Europe and the US.

What's going on with Zimbabwe's economy?

By any measure, Zimbabwe is in deep financial trouble.

In many stores, the shelves are nearly empty much of the time, and prices are skyrocketing for what goods remain as hyperinflation sets in.

About four out of five people are estimated to be out of work - at least as far as the official economy is concerned.

The situation is so bad that about 3,000 people a day are thought to be crossing Zimbabwe's borders into neighbouring countries.

And increasingly, many Zimbabweans are dependent on support from relatives and friends abroad to keep food on the table and roofs over their heads.

Hyperinflation - what's that?

This is what happens when the value of money plummets.

Stampedes have broken out when goods arrive at some stores

In Zimbabwe's case, the near-5,000% annual rate of inflation means that a loaf of bread bought today is about 50 times more expensive - in cash terms - than it was a year ago.

And prices are continuing to accelerate, in some cases doubling in weeks - or even, on occasion, days.

Wages, on the other hand, are nowhere near keeping up.

One correspondent recently told the BBC News website that one candle can cost twice the official government wage for a farm worker, while the price tag for a single banana is 15 times what she paid seven years ago for a four-bedroom house.

Another effect is that people simply do not hang onto money. As soon as it is earned, it must be spent - because prices will have risen sharply even by the following day.

How do people cope?

Barter is increasingly common.

So, too, is a reliance on remittances from abroad - in money but increasingly in goods. Several shopping websites now allow expatriate Zimbabweans to order food supplies to be paid for in foreign currencies and delivered to relatives at home.

Similarly, with petrol shortages endemic and prices spiralling - not to mention power cuts, often for 20 hours in the day - one enterprising firm now allows vouchers to be sent as text messages, to pay for fuel in US dollars.

Wherever possible, people exporting and importing goods do so on the black market, since a sizable slice of foreign currency exchanged at the official rate has to be kept in accounts which the government can use to feed its need for foreign exchange.

In any case, exchange rates on the unofficial or "parallel market" can be 20 times more generous than the official one of Z$15,000 to the US dollar.

How did it get to be like this?

For many people, the key cause of the current problems is Zimbabwe's land reform programme.

Most of the country's most productive farmland remained in white hands after independence in 1979, and through the 1990s the government of President Robert Mugabe worked to shift ownership.

By 1999, however, with little movement, the government unveiled plans to seize land without compensation - a process which started in earnest the following year.

Revaluations and new currency have failed to halt inflation

As hundreds of farms were taken over - sometimes by local people, often by senior government officials - production, and export, of grain and tobacco collapsed.

Huge spending on involvement in the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo was also a drain on the public purse.

The result was a food crisis, and a battering for the economy as foreign exchange earnings slumped - both from farming and from tourism, amid violence surrounding the land reform programme.

What is the government saying - and doing?

As far as President Mugabe and his ministers are concerned, land reform has nothing to do with the country's economic travails.

Instead, sabotage by the West in general, and the UK - the former colonial power - in particular, is responsible.

They point to sanctions imposed against the country - although these are aimed at leaders, rather than at the economy as a whole.

And the government has also taken a string of measures intended to stem the country's decline.

Among them have been limits on foreign currency movements, a revaluation of the Zimbabwe dollar, the introduction of vouchers instead of banknotes, and - most recently - the imposition of stringent price controls.

Cuts of as much as 50% on many commodities are now required by law, and thousands of businesspeople have been arrested for pricing goods at levels it sees as amounting to profiteering.

Meanwhile, the government is planning to "indigenise" foreign-owned businesses by making sure black Zimbabweans have majority control.

And Mr Mugabe is also promising to print even more money, should government projects require it.

Is any of this working?

President Mugabe blames foreign sabotage for Zimbabwe's ills

No.

The hyperinflation affects raw materials and wages as well as retail prices, after all.

So businesses argue that at the prices the government demands, they simply cannot afford to make or buy the goods in the first place.

The result, Zimbabweans report, is hoarding of what goods remain; stampedes whenever a shop acquires a much-needed staple like cooking oil or maize meal; and further hardship.

And the import restrictions may make things worse, since the collapse of domestic output means goods brought across the border are often the only thing on the shelves.

Printing even more money, meanwhile, will simply add to the hyperinflation.

Some analysts say the situation will lead to a complete collapse of the economy and the government by the end of the year but each time people have said in the past that things couldn't get any worse, they have.

So is anyone gaining from this?

A few businesses are making huge profits from the black market - for example those with good connections who can buy hard currency at the official rate and sell it to those who need it at a far higher price.

The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange has also been roaring ahead - it has been one of the best-performing in the world in recent years.

As the government prints money, and interest rates have failed to keep up with the rampant inflation, assets such as stocks have been one of the few places where Zimbabweans have been able to put their money so as to retain its value.

The result: share prices increasing even faster than retail price inflation.

Meanwhile, many South African shops are experiencing their own mini-boom.

As goods become ever scarcer, Zimbabweans are flocking across the frontier to stock up - and not only to stores in towns near the border.

And many of the million or more Zimbabweans already in South Africa are similarly buying up staples to send home.

Zim news article - July

2007-09-03T21:58:00.000+02:00

Zimbabwe has 80% unemployment and the world's highest inflation
A barefoot woman in Zimbabwe with a supermarket basket at her feet, toes squeezing the wires to prevent anyone grabbing it, was throwing pots of half-price moisturising cream into it as fast as she could.
Around her desperate shoppers at the Harare supermarket, with trolleys piled high, were lunging at shelves, fighting, shouting to get to products that had suddenly been cut by 50%.

"The staff had all evacuated apart from the till operators. At the back, even the storeroom doors were wide open and the place had been ransacked - there was nothing left, nothing on pallets," a bystander said.

This chaotic scene has been repeated across the capital in the last week following an order by the authorities that the prices of basic goods be halved.

It was mayhem... the riot police had to come because the tills hadn't the chance to sort out the pricing
Eyewitness

With inflation at officially more than 3,700% (some economists put it as high as 9,000%), supermarkets are unwilling to comply, so a price-control unit has been trying to enforce it with instant inspections.

On Sunday, the unit arrived at 0800 at a Bon Marche store in Harare, and gave the staff a list of goods whose prices had to be cut by 50%, including most Nestle products.

"I swear at 0830 (0730 GMT) there were droves of people running, not walking, running to the supermarket through the mall," an eyewitness, who asked to remain anonymous, told the BBC News website.

"It was mayhem in there. By 1030 the riot police had to come and sort it out because the tills hadn't had the chance to sort out the pricing."

Hoarding

She described how people with packed trolleys were accusing each other of hoarding.

They don't make bread because it's a controlled price... they add a few currants or change the shape of it - then it'll be classed as fancy bread - and they can charge what they like
Harare accountant

"I'm going to report you. You should share," one person shouted.

"I will share with you, if you give me half your chicken," the other retorted.

A 25 litre drum of cooking oil was reportedly cut by the officials from 15m Zimbabwe dollars to Z$3m.

"There weren't enough trolleys so people were going to the plastic-ware section and got buckets to carry the stuff in," the eyewitness explained.

When the police arrived, they ordered everyone out of the shop, and then allowed 20 people in at a time.

"But at that stage time was ticking and the doors closed at 2pm, so there was a commotion like you wouldn't believe outside - swearing and shouting," she said.

The next morning, scared shop assistants and managers wore plain clothes to work and began the massive clear up - returning the items piled in trolleys that were abandoned when the police arrived.

However, the prices were back to normal - no bargains were to be found.

Arrests

News of the price cuts have led some people to rush into town, only to discover that the supermarkets they heard about are no longer discounting.

Many workers are unable to afford to get buses to work

According to state media, at least 20 businessmen have been arrested in the ongoing crackdown.

Among them was the manager of a TM supermarket branch in Harare, detained on Sunday morning when he asked price-control officials, who had arrived at the shop, to give him an hour to re-programme the tills.

He was immediately handcuffed and taken into police custody.

An accountant in the capital told the BBC News website that sometimes inspectors force shopkeepers to cut the price of just one product.

"You'll be standing in the shop, when suddenly the price for something will go down - there'll be a mad dash, a free-for-all, and it'll all be gone within seconds," she said.

Smaller shops are suffering the most in the crackdown.

"A lot of the butchers are closing down because they've been told they've got to sell below cost," she says.

Meanwhile, buyers are reluctant to restock in case they are forced to slash prices again and this had led to some shortages.

Some people are profiteering
Harare accountant

"There're shortages of bread because now. They don't make bread because it's a controlled price. The bakeries make buns or something with a few currants in or change the shape of it - then it'll be classed as fancy bread - and they can charge what they like," the accountant said.

A Harare resident said she had been looking for eggs and milk since Thursday and another told the BBC there were rumours that goods were being moved from warehouses to residential houses to hide them from inspectors.

'Half-price war'

Petrol queues have formed again as garages are confused about what price to sell at.

A couple of fuel pumps opened on Monday night selling at Z$140,000 (just over $1 on the black market; $560 at the official rate), down from Z$200,000.

Mr Mugabe has said price hikes are unjustified

One family contacted by the BBC, who was cooking supper outside over a fire because of the now daily electricity cuts, said the fuel prices had not been reflected in lower transport fares.

The "half-price war" is not limited to basic products. Mobile phone companies have also been threatened, and Econet top-up cards were nowhere to be found in Harare on Monday.

Earlier this year, President Robert Mugabe blamed "unbridled greed" for the country's economic woes.

"Some people are profiteering," agreed the accountant, "but there must be a more logical way of tackling it. Asking to see invoices and working out the profit, perhaps."

Businessmen complain that it is a full-time job trying to keep abreast of new regulations that change daily.

Because of the chronic shortage of cash, employers have been told to pay staff who earn over Z$1m a month (a subsistence wage) by cheque, which means people have to open up bank accounts.

This is proving difficult as many do not have the correct identification documents and will face bank charges that shrink their meagre earnings still further.

No cheques of Z$50m or above ($416 on the black market) are acknowledged by the banks and there are limits on the amount of cheques that can be drawn each day.

When the ATM machines work, only Z$3m ($21) can be withdrawn.

It seems beating rampant inflation will prove a long-fought battle.

This report was compiled by the BBC's Lucy Fleming from the accounts of several Harare residents.

News update July 2007

2007-07-30T12:49:00.000+02:00

A quick update on life in Zim.

We have just returned from a month in the UK to find the situation here has deteriorated further. As a result of the government forcing shops to sell their goods at cheaper prices, many businesses have closed down, and those that haven’t are not putting anything on the shelves so that they do not loose money. Just some of the things that are short at the moment are bread, milk, sugar, meat, cooking oil and toilet rolls!

On top of this fuel, electricity and phone networks continue to be major problems. We arrived home on Monday to find there was no electricity, and this continued until Thursday, with the power only coming back at night. We are more fortunate than most as we do not have water cuts only reduced water pressure, but this is a daily reality for many.

As a result of all of this we were glad to leave Zimbabwe for a month to have a bit of break from it all, but we are now refreshed and ready to get back into the swing of things. Our trip was mostly to attend Debbie’s brother’s wedding and for Sean to have an operation on his hand. However, we also managed to see quite a few friends and family, and Sean spent quite a lot of time in Brighton, learning from others how best to communicate the initiatives we are involved in to churches, donors and the people who can benefit from them.

Sean’s operation went well, there was a high chance he could loose his finger, but fortunately they managed to keep it. He now has a pin in his finger, that has to be removed in a couple of weeks time, which will have to be done in the UK as there is no one who can perform the procedure here.

Kate is doing well, and is already 3 months old! She sleeps through the night, and is generally pretty laid back, which is a great blessing.

Debbie will be returning to work this week, after 3 months on maternity leave, but will be working from home and remaining part time so she will be able to look after Kate as well.

Sean is finding work pretty frustrating at the moment only having his left hand in action, this week has been concentrating on sourcing fuel and cash for the projects, which seems to take up more and more of his time, but is vital for the projects to continue!

Last month was the end of the harvesting season, so a team of volunteers have been out to visit the farmers who are part of our Operation Joseph programme so see how they have done this season, and compare their yields with those who used traditional methods of farming, I hope to be able let you know soon, as we are currently still analysing the data. Predictions by the major aid organisations are saying that the country has only produced 500,000 tonnes of maize, compared to the 2 million that is needed to feed the whole country.

Coming up:

August
– In UK for further treatment on Sean’s hand
- Site visits for Operation Joseph and CEDAR

September
- Reach the Nation Conference
- Megavision conference

dates we are in the UK

2007-05-22T17:15:00.000+02:00

We will be in the UK from the 22nd June to the 22nd July, and would love to see as many friends as possible! If you are in any of the places below at the same time as us please let us know!

These are our provisional plans so far:

22nd June
Arrive
Ian's birthday party - London pm

23rd - 30th in Enfield

28th June
Sean Dr in London

1st July - 6th July
Mullens family holiday

7th July
Bristol

9th July
Sean Dr in London

10th - 13th July
Sean @ New frontiers Conference - Brighton

14th July
David and Rachels wedding - Enfield

17th-19th July
Sean video training - London

20th July
Haselemere

21st July
Southampton

22nd July
Oxford
Depart for Harare

Kate has arrived!

2007-05-15T09:51:00.000+02:00

Kate Elizabeth Mullens arrived on the 1st of May at 6.15am in Harare, weighing 3.1kg (6.8lb).

More photos to follow!

Photo of us in Vumba

2007-04-04T13:07:00.000+02:00

BBC news article on Zim

2007-04-04T10:04:00.000+02:00

Zimbabwe strike 'poorly observed'

It was not the mass stay-away union leaders had wanted
A two-day strike called by Zimbabwe's trade unions in protest against the country's worsening economic crisis has been poorly observed on its first day.
The capital was slightly quieter than usual, but many shops and offices were open in the capital, Harare.
Correspondents say few people can afford to lose even a day's pay.
President Robert Mugabe had condemned the stoppage as part of a plot by the opposition to oust him and promised tough action against any open protests.
More than 80% of Zimbabweans live in poverty and inflation is running at more than 1,700% - the highest in the world.
The BBC's Peter Greste says with inflation so high and four out of five workers without a job, there is plenty to complain about, but opponents of President Mugabe are both broke and scared.
Images of opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who was savagely beaten the last time anyone tried to mount a protest, are still fresh in the minds of many Zimbabweans, our correspondent adds.

In anticipation of the strike, military helicopters were deployed over Harare on Tuesday while riot police patrolled the city centre.Zimbabwe's main trade union, the Congress of Trades Unions (ZCTU), said that given the level of intimidation the stoppage had been a success.
However, the government described the first day of the general strike as a flop.

"It was a dismal failure, not just a failure but a dismal failure... because people are going about their work freely as if there was no call for a stay-away," said Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu.

Zimbabwe's trade union movement said it called the general strike over the government's failure to respond to the economic meltdown and was pushing for wage rises.
"This ... is the only solution to make sure that the authorities should come back to the negotiating table," ZCTU president Lovemore Matombo said. "We are quite aware of what the government is likely to do."

A clothing factory worker in Harare told Reuters news agency that workers feared losing their jobs if they went on strike.
"I understand what the ZCTU is trying to do for us ... but things are so hard I cannot afford to lose this job, and although I get very little, I cannot afford to get nothing at all," Dickson Mapara said.

Meanwhile, South African President Thabo Mbeki says he wants to promote a compromise between rival factions in Zimbabwe but would not push for regime change.
Mr Mbeki said he would not cut power supplies to Zimbabwe
Mr Mbeki told the UK's Financial Times that there was no big stick available to change the government in Harare but there was a need to tackle Zimbabwe's elections.

"We have to get the Zimbabweans talking so we do have elections that are free and fair," he said.

Southern African leaders last week appointed Mr Mbeki to mediate between Mr Mugabe and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party.

On Saturday, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai said nine members of his party had been badly beaten up in custody after being arrested.
Last week, Zanu-PF announced that Mr Mugabe would be its candidate in next year's election, letting the president stay in power until 2013, when he would be nearly 90.

BBC News article on Zim

2007-04-02T12:37:00.000+02:00

Q&A: Zimbabwe meltdown

President Mugabe blames Zimbabwe's problems on the west
Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has been in hospital since he was beaten up whilst in police custody after trying to address a rally.

After 27 years in power and despite an economic meltdown, President Robert Mugabe say he wants to contest elections due next year.

What is life like in Zimbabwe?

Pretty terrible for most people. Many factories and other employers have closed as the economy has gone from bad to worse.
Most of the population is trying to feed itself by growing food but the rains have not been good and hundreds of thousands are going hungry.
Prices are rising by the day. Zimbabwe's annual inflation rate is 1,700% - the highest in the world.
Basic items such as bread, sugar, petrol are often not available in local shops.

What prompted the crisis?

Just about the only thing that all sides agree on in Zimbabwe is that land is at the heart of the problems.
The opposition says that Mr Mugabe's seizure of most white-owned farms since 2000 has wrecked what was once one of Africa's most developed economies.
Mr Mugabe says the redistribution was needed to make land ownership more equitable following the colonial era.
He says that western powers have sabotaged Zimbabwe's economy because they want to drive him from power.

So is Mr Mugabe in trouble?

Some say it could be the beginning of the end - but that has been said many times in recent years.
Mr Tsvangirai has been arrested several times
It is possible that Mr Mugabe's position has been weakened by his bid to stay on - those in his Zanu-PF party who wish to succeed him may be getting impatient.
His original plan was to change the constitution to postpone elections until 2010 but this idea was last December blocked by his party - a rare event.
Equally, some say the collapse in living standards is now affecting the soldiers and police officers who have been the bedrock of his support.
If they refused to carry out orders to fire at protesters, the fear factor would be removed, boosting the opposition campaign against him.
But Zimbabwe's economy has been in decline for several years - it is difficult to predict when the tipping point will come.

What about the opposition?

Mr Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change was formed in 1999 to oust Mr Mugabe but has so far failed to achieve that goal.
They complain that elections have been rigged and their activists beaten and even killed but from a political point of view, Mr Mugabe seems to have outsmarted them so far.
Two years ago, it split into two factions, making Mr Mugabe's life much easier.
The two factions have recently showed signs of coming together.
That could be why the police took such tough action to break up the rally and arrest Mr Tsvangirai and several of his colleagues.

What is the international community doing?

Following disputed elections, the US and the EU imposed targeted sanctions on Mr Mugabe and his close associates - they are banned from travelling and any assets they hold have been seized.
But African countries have been reluctant to openly criticise Mr Mugabe, who is widely respected as a hero of the fight against colonial rule.
Despite strong pressure, Zimbabwe's big neighbour, South Africa, has been reluctant to get involved, instead pursuing a policy they call "quiet diplomacy".
However, the government is understood to be particularly alarmed at plans to delay elections until 2010 - as this would coincide with South Africa's hosting of the World Cup.
Mr Mugabe has also moved closer to China, which is happy to continue business ties without lecturing about human rights and democracy.

Would Mugabe agree to step down?

He would have little choice if the Zanu-PF leadership united to tell him it would be better if he left - the party is not a one-man show.
But he may be worried about a possible prosecution if he was no longer head of state.
Mr Tsvangirai has repeatedly promised that Mr Mugabe would enjoy an "honourable exit" as the founding father of Zimbabwe.
But some of those who have suffered at the hands of his security agents would no doubt be tempted to take him to court.
One option may be for him to got to exile in Angola or Namibia, which have always remained his close allies.

March news update

2007-03-26T10:53:00.000+02:00

We hope you are well and that the weather in the UK is starting to improve by now.

We thought we’d send another update of what is happening here in Zim and what we have been up to.

Situation in Zimbabwe
The economic situation is going rapidly downhill with inflation going crazy and expected to reach 2000% soon. In February prices of many basic goods went up by 300%. For example, just this weekend petrol was $12,000 a litre, and then 4 days later we had to pay $24,000 a litre.

After a relatively quiet period politically things seem to be gaining momentum again in preparation for the 2008 elections. Violence broke out in a couple of the high-density suburbs a few weeks ago when rallies for the opposition was prevented from taking place by the police, even though they had obtained permission to hold it from the High court. More recently curfews have been put in place in the high density suburbs, and we have just heard that the leaders of the opposition parties have been severely beaten by police, but we heard that that has been in the news over there.

CEDAR
Our work with Operation Joseph and CEDAR continues to go well and be very busy. At CEDAR (HIV/AIDS project) we are in the process of introducing a more practical element to the programme to compliment the ongoing home based care and counselling that is currently provided. At the last count we had 2061 families receiving weekly help from volunteers. ARV’s are expensive and not readily available to the average family, so we have introduced herbs to treat the symptoms of AIDS, increase nutrition and boost the immune system. We are still in the early stages of developing this further but testimony’s that have come back so far have been very positive. The families are able to grow herbs easily in their gardens and they are cheap to buy and can be propagated so are sustainable for the long-term.

Operation Joseph
We recently went on a site visit to Murehwa to visit Operation Joseph farmers and see CEDAR in action. The rainfall has not been as good this year, but many of the farmer’s crops are looking pretty good, especially in comparison to those who had not used the conservation farming method. Operation Joseph had also been able to source and sell seed and fertilizers, which also helped them to get higher yields. The number of farmers in the programme has been increased from around 4500, to over 8000, with the introduction of farmer groups that meet locally to train their community, rather than farmers having to walk long distances each week.

Personal news
Apart from work we have been busy organising the house and getting things ready for our baby who arrives in about 5 weeks time. The pregnancy has gone well, and the time has flown by. The due date is 28th April, so we will let you know once baby arrives!

Sean hasn’t been too well recently, he came down with tick bite fever in February, but fortunately the Dr knew what it was straight away and the medication worked quickly. He is now much better.

We have been involved in quite a lot of things at our church as well. Including the start of our Friday evening youth service, which kicked off with a huge Gladiators event, followed by a talk. We had about 500 young people there from some of the boarding schools and other youth groups in the area. Sean is also doing a lot of the communications and media stuff for New Frontiers Zimbabwe, which is quite a big job and there is lots to learn. He has been designing and publishing magazines, producing videos and designing banners and flyers for several different events.

Please keep checking our blog page for more regular news on Zim, what we have been up to and photos. (Internet and phones have been a major problem here recently so please bear with us if it is not updated for a while.)

The phone numbers for one of the cell phone networks was changed last month, our new mobile phone numbers are:

Sean: +263 912 236124
Debbie: +263 912 773908

Thank you for your continued support,

Love
Sean and Debbie

sugar shortages

2007-01-25T11:52:00.000+02:00

Life without sugar

BY ITAI DZAMARA
HARARE - Zimbabweans might soon have to adjust to life without sugar as the country's sugar manufacturer, Zimbabwe Sugar Refineries (ZSR) has drastically scaled down production and is said to be nearing closure.
ZSR has not made supplies to the local market for the past few weeks and sugar was conspicuous by its absence from the shelves of supermarkets in major cities and towns.
Supplies were available on the black market for Z$6000 per 2kg pack, compared to between $1 500 and $2000 that it has been selling when available in supermarkets.
Sources in management at ZSR raised fears of an outright closure. "We have seriously scaled down operations. In fact there have not been deliveries for quite sometime now, save for trickle supplies here and there," a senior manager said. "It is possible we might have to close because the situation increasingly becomes untenable. The main problem is the balancing of huge production costs with government controlled prices."
A visit to ZSR headquarters in Harare last week showed a general lack of production at the plant whilst most of the workers were reportedly forced to take leave. A worker, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: "Very few of us are here as you can see. There is very little production. Isn't it they told you when you inquired that there is no sugar. We hear they are considering total closure."
Over 2000 workers employed by ZSR countrywide face a bleak future as they could soon join the swelling ranks of the unemployed.
Officials at ZSR ducked questions from The Zimbabwean citing their fear of reprisals amidst reports that some senior government officials had visited them threatening arrest if they increased prices of sugar or closed down operations.
Meanwhile Industry and International Trade minister Obert Mpofu said the shortage was an arm-twisting tactic by producers to force the
government to raise the price of sugar. He said hoarding was compounding the problem.

BBC news article on Zim

2007-01-12T10:33:00.001+02:00

Zimbabwean inflation hits 1,281%

Money worries have prompted many Zimbabweans to take strike action
Inflation in Zimbabwe has continued to spiral upwards, reaching an annual rate of 1,281.1% in December.
Domestic energy, gas and other fuel costs were behind the rise, the Central Statistics Office said.

On a month-on-month basis, inflation increased to 36.3% in December from 30.1% a month earlier.

Surging inflation has been blamed for a significant rise in the cost of living, and analysts have warned rising prices could prompt widespread protests.

Already the public health system has ground to a halt as nurses and doctors have walked out on strike amid demands for a significant wage increase.

Costs surge

As the figures were released, further research by the independent Consumer Council showed the cost of living in the country had jumped by 43% over the past month.

School fees recorded the biggest increase of 262%, while the cost of bread rose 180%.

The southern African country is facing its worst economic crisis since independence in 1980.

Many experts blame the government's mismanagement of the economy for the problems, but President Robert Mugabe says they are a result of domestic and foreign enemies.

The country has also been dogged by shortages of foreign currency to pay for fuel and food, which experts have blamed largely on disruptions to the agriculture-based economy after the seizures of thousands of white-owned commercial farms began in 2000.

Christmas

2007-01-10T13:56:00.000+02:00

Here are a few photos of us taken over Christmas. One is Sean at reach the nation conference, the only time he was in front of the camara, the other is of me in front of our Christmas tree, 22 weeks pregnant! Then one of the church office staff Christmas party, which was held at our house

Boys Camp

2007-01-10T13:48:00.000+02:00

CEDAR Report

2006-12-06T09:47:00.000+02:00

This is a report that was recently published in the Zimbabwe Newfrontiers magazine.

The majority of families in Zimbabwe have been affected in some way by HIV/AIDS. We currently have 1.3 million orphans in a population of 12 million, and more than 3,200 people die from AIDS related infections every week in Zimbabwe. 75% of patients in hospital beds are AIDS related. As a result children need substantial support to cope with the crisis they are facing.

As a church, River of Life’s response to this crisis has been to adopt an holistic approach to HIV/AIDS, and orphans and vulnerable children, by ministering to families through CEDAR Family Care.

At present CEDAR Family Care is working in 65 communities across Zimbabwe, and impacting 2061 families spiritually, emotionally and practically. Our site coordinators come to Harare quarterly for training at the Reach the Nation conference, and receive training in psychosocial, medical and facilitation skills. We are also training the pastors at each of the 65 sites how to respond to the HIV/AIDS crisis in their church and community.

The areas where we have seen the greatest impact is in the reduction of stigma, as people are now more open to speaking about HIV/AIDS, and as a result of community workshops held quarterly at each site, there is now greater knowledge and understanding about HIV/AIDS. We have also seen people who are seriously ill give their lives to God.

ARV’s are expensive and out of reach for most of our beneficiaries, so we are in the process of establishing a health and nutrition centre, where we will grow a variety of herbs and medicinal plants to supply the sites and churches, so they can treat beneficiaries infected with HIV/AIDS in a sustainable way. We are also empowering our beneficiaries by teaching them healthy eating.

Quick update

2006-12-01T14:43:00.000+02:00

This is just a quick update on what we have been up to.

In September we had our Zimbabwe New Frontiers Conference called Megavision, which is held annually at the church we attend. There were almost 1000 people there, and the speakers included people from Ghana and the States. Sean was videoing the whole thing so we spent much of our time behind cameras, but we will get to relive the whole thing many times once Sean starts editing, so we don’t feel like we missed out too much.

Sean was in Zambia for a few days at the beginning of November. He went with two other guys from church to visit church leaders there. He says it was a challenging time but he learnt a lot!

After that we attended a friends wedding that was being held in a place called Hippo Pools, which is in the middle of a National Park. Everyone was camping there for the weekend, but as we don’t have a tent we slept on the back of someone’s pick-up truck under a mosquito net. It was very hot so sleeping in the open was probably the best option anyway. It was great to be out in the middle of the bush and we heard the hippo’s munching grass all night a few feet from where we were sleeping!

We heard recently that the owner of the house we are renting is hoping to sell it soon, so we are making plans at the moment to either get a mortgage from the UK, or look for somewhere else to rent. Buying a house would be the best thing for us in the long term, as we feel Zimbabwe is where we feel we should be for the next 10 years at least.

I can’t remember if we had heard about my visa before we sent out our last newsletter, but in case we hadn’t. I was granted a further 3 years residency!! We had spent many hours sitting in immigration while they looked for my lost file on several occasions. But when we returned the last time we were directed straight to a different office, and my file was sitting on the lady’s desk! At the time I thought she was just giving me another 30 days extension as they had done the previous 3 times, because they hadn’t processed my application yet. Then when we left the building and checked the passport we saw it was 3 years!!!

Finally, we would like to thank you all very much for your support both financially and in prayer. If you have supported us financially by standing orders through Oasis, we trust you have received a letter from them a few weeks ago. As we are now working full time for Operation Joseph and CEDAR, Oasis UK will no longer be forwarding your support on to us, but have requested that you cancel your standing order, and set up a new one with Stewardship Services. (A form should have been enclosed in your letter). At the moment your support is going towards the general work of Oasis, so you will need to cancel your standing order through Oasis if you would like to continue supporting us and transfer your support to Stewardship Services. Or, if you would prefer to continue supporting the work of Oasis, but specifically the work in Zimbabwe, you will need to inform Oasis UK by sending them a letter or e-mail informing them of your wishes. Hope this all makes sense!

photos from site visit - finally

2006-10-10T17:48:00.000+02:00

Sorry for the delay - was having problems putting photos on the site, but it appears to be fixed now!
These photos were taken at the home of one of our Operation Joseph resident site coordinators. One is of us interviewing the site coordinator. Alan - the project director is on the stool, Senzeni - the project accountant and me are on the mat and Sean is behind the camara. The other photo is of the site coordinators family.

latest newsletter - Oct 06

2006-10-10T17:04:00.000+02:00

We hope that you enjoyed the hot summer in England, and any holidays that you may have had. We are just coming out of winter here, which is quite a relief as the houses are not built for keeping the cold weather out! Last night was the first of many to come where we were kept awake with the sound of mosquitoes buzzing around, and wondering where they are going to land!

It was our 2-year wedding anniversary last month, so we had a great weekend away in the eastern highlands. There is amazing scenery up there, and it is very peaceful. As well as celebrating our wedding anniversary, it was a nice break as we had just had two conferences one week after another, which we were both involved in.

The first conference was the Farming God’s Way Champions conference, where people come from different countries around Africa to learn more about Farming God’s Way and how to teach it in their own countries through the church that they attend. Sean has been putting together a DVD training series, which will be completed very soon and distributed to churches and organisations around the world who are interested in using this a tool to alleviate poverty and teach biblical principles of farming.

The second conference was the Reach the Nation conference that we have every 3 months. This is where 80 site coordinators from around Zimbabwe come and receive training in farming God’s way to take back to their communities and train others.
As part of this project, called Operation Joseph, we are aiming to give the poorest 10% of the farmers who attend training on site, free seed and fertilizer for next season. So my main task at the moment has been to identify the most vulnerable households from a list of 2500!

Church is pretty busy at the moment, as we have our annual conference coming up where all the Newfrontiers churches in Zimbabwe meet together for a weekend of teaching. Sean has been putting together the first Newfrontiers Zimbabwe magazine to launch at the conference so has been working all hours to get it to the printers on time. www.roleastlea.co.zw

I have recently applied for a 3-year extension to my residence visa, so we are hoping to hear soon whether it has been successful. It should be granted, but if not we could be seeing you back in the UK very soon! Currently they have lost my file, so we are going back every few weeks for temporary extensions!

Our other main news is that we are having a baby! It is due at the end of April.

We will keep this short as we hope you have been able to keep more up to date with our news from our web page www.seananddebbiemullens.blogspot.com. This is where we write more regularly about what we are doing and it gets updated about every 2 weeks. There are also a few more photos. It has helped us to keep to in touch with friends and family, without the frustrations of Zimbabwe e-mails!

For those of you who support us financially thank you so much for your ongoing support, we couldn’t do what we do without you! We hope by now that you have received a letter from Oasis with new standing order forms and a copy of our last newsletter. Please let us know if you have not yet received your letter from Oasis.

Would be great to hear all your news,

Love

Debbie and Sean

p.s the photo is of Sean's sister and her boyfriend, Gerry, his mum and us.

Article about Zim on BBC website

2006-09-19T19:22:00.000+02:00

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5359504.stm

This might give you some idea of what life is like in Zim! It also explains why most of you are not getting our e-mails!

Operation Joseph site visits

2006-08-29T12:06:00.000+02:00

Last week Sean and I went on a day trip to the north of the country to Rushinga, Dotito and Mary Mount to see some of the Operation Joseph sites that are operating up there.
We were picked up from our house before the sun was up so got to see an amazing sunset on the road.
The photo below shows the first home that we visited. Alan, the programme director is sitting on the stool, with Senzeni the accountant and me on the mat. Sean is behind the camara. This guy is a resident site coordinator, whose job it is to conduct all the on-site training, and more recently monitoring of the 60 farmers who are part of the programme at his site.
At each site that we visited we checked the farmers records of his yields, rainfall and attendance at training sessions. Sean also had the opportunity to take some video for OJ training videos.
Much of the journey was on dirt roads but as it is winter it was very dry, so no danger of getting stuck anywhere!
At Dotito we visited one of the rural New Frontiers churches, who are also part of the Operation Joseph programme.
We arrived back home at 8pm to find we had no electricity (no change there then!) so had apple pie for dinner!

photos on the way

New Currency!

2006-08-16T11:01:00.000+02:00

On the 1st August, the Governor of the Reserve Bank announced that we are going to have a new currency, it will still be called Zimbabwe dollars, but three zeros will be removed from the end. So 1 million dollars has become 1000 dollars (Zimbabweans are calling it the Kilo dollar). The reason for this is that the shops and banks computers were no longer able to cope with the huge long figures now being used as a result of the 1500% inflation.

Most people felt that this would have to happen at some point, but the crazy part has been that the announcement came on the 1st August, and the new money was introduced from the 2nd!

Both types of currency are currently in circulation until the 21st August, when the old notes will become redundant. So we are all busy spending our old money. The funny thing is when you go to a cash point or get change in a shop they give you old money, so you can never get rid of it! It is looking like they haven’t printed enough new currency to go around.

Businesses and banks were thrown into chaos on the 2nd as apparently it is not possible to operate accounts using two different currencies, so they all had to close down for a couple of days while they did financial year ends and wrote new software to handle the new currency! I don’t know much about accounts or economics, but when the 21st comes, it will be interesting to see what happens.

This has happened in a couple of other African countries before, but they were given at least 3 months warning, and 6 months to change over to a new currency!

Well can’t write too much in case I get in trouble, but you can read more on www.thezimbawean.co.uk, or any other Zim news website.

Back in Zim finally!

2006-08-11T14:26:00.000+02:00

Our trip to the UK went well, and we managed to see most of our family and a few friends as well, sorry to those we did not get to see.
Sean’s Dr appointments went okay, the tests for his diabetes showed there has been no damage done to his eyes etc. which is good news. However, the condition of one of his hands has deteriorated quite a lot over the last 6 months so he has been put on the waiting list for an operation, so we could be back in England fairly soon.
The New frontiers conference in Brighton was very good, with some great teaching, Sean had flu for half of it, so unfortunately we did miss quite a lot though.

The journey back to Zimbabwe is a whole story in itself. (It’s quite long, so get comfortable!)
We arrived at Gatwick 3 hours before the flight (usually sufficient!), with all our luggage, including two rugs that were given to us as Christmas presents. We were next in the queue to check in, when the Air Zimbabwe staff stopped us and told us the flight was now full! We asked how this could be, when we booked our tickets in January, but the explanation was ‘it just is’. There were also another 50 or so people behind us who also could not get on.
We weren’t worried too much as this is quite usual with Air Zim, and they put us up for a night in the Hilton Hotel. However, the next day all the Zimbabweans were asked to leave the hotel as Air Zim had not paid them! So we all went to the Air Zim desk at the terminal to ask what we should do now, and they decided to put us on any flight they could find to Africa! We were put with a group of 7 others and told to get to Heathrow and fly to Zambia, and we would be able to get a connecting flight to Harare from there.
So we all wait at the bus stop for the coach to Heathrow. When the bus comes the rest of our group get on, but Sean and I are unable to as the coach is full, this was a bit problem because the 9 of us were all traveling on one shared ticket! So they left without us, shouting out the windows that they would meet us at the check in desk. Another coach came along quite soon, but broke down half way to Heathrow! By this time we were beginning to think it was going to be a long day, and a sense of humour was defiantly required! We finally got to Heathrow only to discover that we were not actually guaranteed a place on the flight so had to wait until everyone else had checked in. One at a time, we heard the good news that we could board. In our group there was another couple that were farmers, a lady with her young daughter, a lady visiting her fiancé in Zim, a Yugalslav who owns a bakery in Harare, and another lady traveling to Zim for 10 days for work.

After arriving in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, we found out that the next flight to Harare was in 8 hours time, and there was only space for 4 of us! We considered drawing straws, but then decided to choose who would go based on greatest need to get back! The lady with the child, the Yugaslav and the lady visiting her fiancé were chosen, mostly because they were the most upset about being stranded in Zambia! The rest of us settled into the sofas in the departure lounge at Lusaka airport for the long wait. Finally after 9 hours, some space became available on a flight to Johannesburg in South Africa, from where we were reassured we could get on a flight to Harare. Once again, Sean and I were on the waiting list, whilst the other 3 travelling with us managed to get straight on. Fortunately they had space for us and we all traveled to Jo’burg.
Then more problems! One guy didn’t have a visa for South Africa, so went straight thorough to the transit lounge, while the rest of us went thorough customs to collect all the luggage. There we found that our rugs were missing. We still don’t know where they are, but suspect that may have gone back to the UK!
While we were trying to sort this out the other two ladies went to find out if we were booked onto the flight to Zimbabwe. They discovered that the flight had already left, and there was no way we could have made it in time anyway, so it seems that once again we had been put onto any flight without the connections being organized. Well in the end we finally managed to get on another flight, making it by only 2 minutes, after we managed to find the guy waiting for us in the transit lounge, and then lost him again when he went to find coffee. He had the ticket that we were all traveling on!

Well we made it back, minus two rugs and 3 days late, but happy to be home!

July newsletter

2006-07-22T09:37:00.000+02:00

Thank you so much for your support over the last few months. We hope that everything is going well for you.

We have been in the UK for a short visit, attending a New Frontiers leaders conference in Brighton, and for Sean to visit doctors for his diabetes and hands. He has been put onto the waiting list for an operation on his hands so we may be back within the next few months. The conference was great, and 40 Zimbabweans managed to attend. We were involved in organising for them to get over for the conference, which involved booking flights, helping with visas and organising accommodation. It was quite a big exercise, but it seemed to all come together in the end, even with Air Zimbabwe (or Scare Zimbabwe as it is now known) canceling flights at the last minute!

The situation in Zimbabwe – The situation in the country continues to decline, and inflation is now reaching 1500%, with the unofficial exchange rate at almost ZW$1 million to £1. Power cuts and water cuts are more frequent i.e. at least once a day, and finding fuel remains a problem. Sugar is a scarce commodity, which Zimbabweans won’t drink tea without! There will often be long, loud queues outside the supermarkets when a delivery arrives.

Here is just a brief update on the various projects we are involved in:

Church Projects • Operation Joseph
May saw the start of the harvesting period, and we were able to collect data from the various Operation Joseph sites around Zimbabwe, and found that the yields achieved by our farmers, are up to 10 times higher than the average yields achieved in the country. OJ farmers are getting between 2 and 5 tonnes/ha, whilst others are only achieving 0.5 tonnes/ha. As a result of this we have seen increased interest in Farming God’s Way from individuals, governments and the donor community. This year we are aiming to increase the number of farmers in our programme from 4,500 to 13,500.

Just before leaving Zimbabwe we had our 16th “Reach the Nation” conference, where 80 FGW (Farming God’s Way) site coordinators and 65 CEDAR Home Based Care coordinators from around Zimbabwe come together for training. These conferences are run quarterly, so we are already busy preparing for the next one!

Sean has been working alongside a professional video company to produce a series of training videos and DVDs to teach people Farming God’s Way. There has been a lot of interest in the Farming God’s Way initiative, so the video and DVD training series will make it accessible to all. FGW is primarily an evangelistic tool for planting and strengthening rural churches with an emphasis on income generation. FGW is helping to alleviate poverty by improving crop yields and bringing the gospel by teaching biblical principles of farming

• CEDAR
The number of sites we are working in has increased to 62, so now 2232 households are receiving home based care! This last few months CEDAR has been focusing primarily on teaching the volunteers how to care for the orphans, and children infected with HIV/AIDS, as this is an important part of the CEDAR initiative, but the most difficult to see happen because of cultural expectations and pressures.

Here is an extract from a report that Debbie wrote for Tearfund last month on the HIV/AIDS situation in Zimbabwe:

‘The number of people becoming sick and dying of HIV/AIDS does not appear to be slowing down, and as a result of the deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe many people appear to be losing hope. We are finding that often people do not value life enough to change their lifestyles even though they know the facts about HIV/AIDS. Even young people are asking why they should prolong their lives as they are going to die anyway. UNICEF has found that “in sub-Saharan Africa girls are getting infected quicker and earlier than boys, as a result of older men having sex with younger girls, and there is evidence to suggest that a large proportion of new HIV infections are due to gender-based violence in homes, schools, the workplace and other social arenas. Forced or coerced sex renders a women even more vulnerable to infection, and the younger she is, the more likely it is that she will contract HIV.”

Personal news
Our church is involved in schools work so Sean has been helping to run weekly meetings at his old school for the CU, focusing on discipleship, and we continue to lead a cell group and help out at the evening service.
We really enjoyed seeing family when we were in the UK especially our nephews Luke and Isaac. Our next visit in July will include Debbie's brothers wedding.

Thank you so much for your support.

photos

2006-07-22T09:15:00.000+02:00

Reach the nation conference

Our house!

Reach the Nation conference

2006-06-05T12:34:00.000+02:00

This week we have our Reach the Nation conference on, this happens 4 times a year, and all the site coordinators from the 80 Operation Joseph sites and 65 CEDAR sites come together for training. This time the CEDAR site coordinators are being trained in caring for children with HIV, helping children to deal with grief after the death of parents, and how to teach children about HIV/AIDS. As you can see we are focusing big time on children, this is because in the Shona culture children are often seen as not as important as adults so we are trying to address that and help the volunteers to care for the children, especially those with HIV/AIDS or who have been orphaned, and then to encourage families to do the same.
In the Operation Joseph sessions they will be discussing weed control, storage of seeds etc. and working out the details of how to increase the impact of the programme. Sites are being encouraged to set up farmer study groups; so more farmers can receive training. We are being closely watched by DFID, the UK gov development agency because if we are successful this is a model they would like to get all the major NGO's they support to adopt. Quite a lot of pressure to get it right! My (Debbie) role in the monitoring and evaluation will become busier, as we are hoping to expand the programme to include 13,500 families; also we obviously need to do lots of monitoring to ensure the new model is working well.

By the end of the week we should have some photos to show you.

Back from camp

2006-05-08T10:34:00.000+02:00

We got back from Zambesi Ministries Camp last week. It went really well, and the boys all seemed to have a good time, there were no injuries or problems like last time so it was a lot more enjoyable, especially for all the leaders! The morning and evening meetings went well and there was a good response to the talks.
It was a boys camp so I didn't have to do too much, but Sean was leading a dorm group (see photo!), doing a few talks and driving the motor boat for the water sports. He also ended up on a team for the Iron Man competition on the last day, so is now aching all over. Not as young as he once was! We are putting together a DVD of this camp to advertise camps in the various schools that the church works in, so will hopefully have a copy with us when we come to the UK in July.

March update

2006-04-24T11:21:00.000+02:00

30th March 2006
We hope you are having a good 2006 so far. Time has flown by since Christmas and it’s hard to believe its April already. We are settling into our new home well, and are enjoying life in Zim. We are off to South Africa tomorrow though for a conference, so are in for a long drive, but are looking forward to the MacDonalds, getting fuel from a pump, and nice chocolate! Although as I write this Sean is currently in hospital to stabilize his blood sugar levels, so won’t be joining me for the chocolate! He has been in for 4 days, and the Dr has adjusted his insulin requirements, so he will hopefully be released tomorrow morning.

The economy in Zimbabwe continues to deteriorate, inflation is now at almost 1000%, the highest in the world. It is making it hard for businesses to keep going, and institutions like schools and hospitals are struggling, so fees are constantly going up. However, it remains peaceful and has been relatively stable politically for the last few months. We have also had a long rainy season this year, which has been good for the crops, and we hope it will bring a big harvest and more food for people in the coming months.

Operation Joseph update
During recent visits to the Operation Joseph sites it was found that the number of people who have died from starvation and poor nutrition is much higher than last year, but there has also been more freedom to distribute food, which has hopefully helped.

At Operation Joseph we are moving away from distributing food, but will help farmers to sell their produce, and or trade it for seeds and fertilizer, which are currently scare in Zimbabwe. By doing this we hope the farmers will become self-sufficient and less reliant on donors. The farmers we have trained are getting better yields than farmers who are using the traditional methods of farming, and many are now able to save money from the produce they sell, and can buy seeds for the following season, educate their children and support their families.

Sean has been involved in a putting together a series of training videos that will be used throughout Africa to teach ‘Farming God’s Way’, which is the method that we are teaching farmers in Operation Joseph. It has been a lot of work, but the benefits will be worth it. Already there has been interest from many African countries, as well as China, Russia, Australia and India.

CEDAR Update
Running parallel to the Operation Joseph project is the CEDAR project, which Debbie is also involved in. It trains volunteers to care for people with HIV/AIDS and orphans. This project continues to go well and expand. It is now operating in over 60 communities across Zimbabwe, and is in the process of setting up a health and nutrition centre in Harare, where we will grow and process herbs that have been found to improve the health of people with AIDS.

Our church recently invited all 60 CEDAR site coordinators, 82 Operation Joseph site coordinators and 82 pastors from those communities to a training conference in Harare, which we call Reach The Nation. The aim of inviting the pastors was to inspire them to teach more about HIV/AIDS in their churches and to take more responsibility for the poor, sick and orphans in their communities.

Oasis Update
As you may have picked up we are working more and more with our local church, and so have reduced the time we work at Oasis. We know that many of our financial supporters began supporting us whilst we worked full time for Oasis, so we would like you to feel able to move your support to Oasis Zimbabwe directly if you would prefer to support their work. For those who wish to continue supporting us personally Oasis UK will continue to send us your support until another route has been set up, and you will be receiving a letter soon letting you know how this will work. Please e-mail us if you would like any clarification.

For now we are still helping with administration, overseeing the Oasis Global Action Teams and running the Youth Leaders Training Course. We will maintain strong links to Oasis so will continue to send you news. Currently the first intake of girls at the Tanaka project are all moving on, most are continuing with their education at local or boarding schools, and others have found work and are moving into their own accommodation. Sadly one girl died of AIDS, leaving behind her 1-year-old daughter who she had named Tanaka after the project. Please pray that suitable guardians will be found. 15 new girls will be moving in at the end of April.

Outside of work we have also been involved in school missions and youth camps. Our cell group is going well and we have just finished ‘purpose driven life’, and are planning to plant 2 more groups from ours in the near future.

It is quite difficult to describe exactly what we are doing, so apologies for the long e-mail! Hopefully we will be able to put some photos onto a website soon, which will help, but we will let you know.

Upcoming dates:
New Frontiers Conference in South Africa - 1st April – 4th April
Camping in South Africa for 2 days - 4th April-6th April
Oasis team arrives – 12th April
Oasis team retreat – 21st April-24th April
Oasis youth workers graduate – 24th April
Boys Camp – 27th April-3rd May
Reach the Nation Conference – 5th June-9th June
Visit to UK – June 29th-July 28th