June Newsletter

Our June Newsletter is now available.

Like many places, the Children’s Home is locked down and the schools are closed. At present there are no cases of Coronavirus at the Home and the health and safety of everyone at the Home is being well managed – no visitors are allowed to the Home and staff are only allowed out for essential items such as food and medicine. More widely in Zimbabwe, the new normal is wearing a mask wherever you are or face arrest.

With fundraising being a challenge at the moment any donations you can make through other routes is very much appreciated. See the newsletter for a list of ways you can donate. Thank you.

A drop in donations…can you help?

Since the Coronavius pandemic began we have seen donations for the Home drop off significantly as the ability to fundraise etc. has been interrupted.

The Home is now in lockdown but the needs of the children still continue. The latest update from the Home is here.

If you are able, please consider using alternative means of donating to help the Home…

If you shop on-line

We have set up FoMRCH as a charity on Amazon. This means if you purchase anything from Amazon you can choose to do so via their Smile link and nominate FoMRCH as a recipient. We then receive a 0.5% donation from Amazon. This is free to us and free to you – you just shop as normal.

Donate via your mobile phone

We have set up the ability for you to make donations via your mobile phone using Donr.

You can make either one off or monthly payments. Donr take a small portion of the donation. You simply say how much you want to donate to support the Home. For example:

Text RUSIKE 3 to 70085 – this will donate £3 to FoMRCH and will cost you £3 plus the charge of a standard rate message.

Text RUSIKE 10 to 70085 – this will donate £10 to FoMRCH and will cost you £10 plus the charge of a standard rate text.

Thank you so much for your continued support of the Home at this very trying time. Stay safe, stay at home.

Coronavirus – status update.

The Home is working very hard to keep children and staff safe. Staff who live off site are no longer able to work at the Home and no one is allowed to visit.

3 staff members (the Director, Matron and Nurse) are in charge and all the House Mothers and ancilliary staff remain isolated at the Home with the children.

The children are busy working in the garden, playing games and doing their chores. They are encouraged to wash their hands frequently.

All staff and children are well at the moment.

2020 Newsletter no. 1

Your March Newsletter is here.

Once again there is a mixture of news. 20 children from the Home and Community Outreach Programme started new schools, all with the equipment and uniforms they needed and school fees paid. However, the difficult economic situation is making for very difficult times in the Home in general, made worse by the extreme summer weather.

As always, thank you for your support.

December newsletter

In this Newsletter we report on the terrible drought conditions threatening the Home and the knock on effects the power cuts and the economic crisis are having on life, both at the Home and for the staff both at home and work.

To counter balance all the bad news we send our congratulations to Lucky Magombedze-who recently graduated with a degree in Mining Engineering from Midland State University and our thanks to Judith and Jim McMullen whose generous donation in Jim’s memory is funding upgrade work to the Early Childhood Development centre at the Home. Thank you.

Astonishment: Laying Ghosts in Mugabe’s Zimbabwe

Graham Jones’ book about former MRCH Home Superintendent – Astonishment Mapurisa is now available on Amazon.

The synopsis:

“An Englishman returns to Africa after nearly forty years in a bid to recapture his carefree colonial childhood. Through a chance meeting his life becomes entwined with that of a one-time child slave and cattle herd who’s on a mission to revisit his own early life on the other side of the racial divide. A moving story of nostalgia, race, reconciliation and God’s power to transform, set against the background of two brutal regimes racist Rhodesia and Mugabe’s Zimbabwe. When Graham Jones returns to Zimbabwe to recapture his idyllic Rhodesian childhood, a chance encounter leads him to meet a one-time child slave called Astonishment. Now dedicated to helping society s most vulnerable, Astonishment grew up on the other side of the racial divide and is set on revisiting his very different past. As they travel together, this remarkable Zimbabwean shares the incredible story of how he overcame grinding poverty and being sold by relatives as a slave. Both men lay old ghosts to rest as Astonishment forgives and reconciles his divided family and Graham reconnects with the land of his youth not through the places he knew, but through the people he didn’t. Set against the daily brutalities of racist Rhodesia and Mugabe’s bankrupt Zimbabwe, Astonishment is a moving account of nostalgia, race and reconciliation that celebrates the transformative power of forgiveness.”

Christmas Cards for 2019

The Christmas cards for this year are now available. Please note we are no longer supplying new designs, just selling off the remaining packs – at less than our original 2004 price – £2.50 for 10!

Please also note, packs are no longer automatically sent out to members. So, if you would like a pack or two please contact the Chairman to place your order.

You can see the remain designs here – 11, 13 and 14 – please state clearly which designs you want.

Septembers Newsletter is here…

As always the newsletter is full of information from the Home. This particular quote really struck me this time…

“You will be amazed how costs are rising. Yesterday morning I boarded a bus for town for $1.50, but after my exams-around 5pm-the bus fare was $5.00”.

On a more positive note the MRCH Big Sunday fundraiser raised £4,195 for the Home as well as receiving lots of goods in kind – though this is down on previous years.

Finally, a book by Graham Jones describing the life and work of Astonishment Mapurisa – a former Director of the Home is coming out in September. It will be available on Amazon ‘Astonishment:Laying Ghosts in Mugabe’s Zimbabwe’.