Easter message to all our friends . . .
Dear Friends,
Easter is almost here again and we are sending you just a short
Newsletter this year to thank you all for your support and kindness
to the Orphans In Africa.
It is almost impossible to list all the individuals and organizations,
churches, and non-profit charities who have helped in one way
or the other . . . but please all accept the greatest and warmest
THANK YOU from the team members of the project.
With kindest wishes that you & yours have a wonderful Easter,
God Bless you and thank you for your help.
Tim Mansfield
Webmaster & friend to the orphans
Easter message from Colin & Ann Harper . . .
All over the world, many people will be looking forward to
spending the Easter holidays with their families, even if it
means travelling a long way, and even if it means spending a
lot of money, the thrill of Eastertime is in the air. There
are so many choices because of the money available. Living in
Great Britain as I do, there are several selections, and one
of the favourites is the sea side resort of Blackpool, which
attracts 10 million visitors a year, and the Pleasure Beach
is open every day, and I can assure you that Blackpool has everything
to offer at Easter time.
But to the more adventuresome person, the Mediterranean resorts
are more appealing, or the Canary Islands, or a visit to the
Bahamas and Florida. Many will book their seats in economy class
and fly directly to South Africa and visit Cape Town or Durban
and even the exotic Sun City. Having thought so much about South
Africa and spending thousands of Rand, then the East coast of
Africa and Mauritius are bound to be an attraction.
Some are not so fortunate. There are orphan kids all over the
world who watch the world go by on their very own communal television,
or listening to casual gossip in the street. I can take you
to an orphanage in Zimbabwe, Mozambique or Zambia where the
boys and girls are being cared for, who eat a respectable diet
of food and water, and are able to attend local schools which
are well recommended.
Our aim is to assist these unfortunate children as much as
we can. For this purpose, we run this web site, www.orphansinafrica.org
with the kind help of our Commitee member & webmaster Tim
Mansfield, who lives in Spain with his lovely family. The children
rely on donations, and that is why our web site is equipped
with a Pay Pal system for making donations on-line by Internet
by people all over the world to look inside their heart and
either give a one off donation or subscribe $20 a month on the
‘How can I help’ page of the web site.
Ann and I have been involved with the orphan children for 12
years. We have travelled to Africa almost every year, to help
build a better future for these kids, using our gifts of Helps
and Teaching skills, and with God’s help we will continue,
as long as Africa and our support team remain behind us. We
want to thank the Lord for allowing us to go along and help
in this way, for so long.
Easter presents for the children
If you wish to send one or more presents or gifts, they should
be no more than 2 kg in weight including wrapping paper and
string. The organisation is now registered, and parcels should
no longer attract custom duty.
Be sure to use the postal address:
The Good Shepherd Center, PO Box 490, Chinhoyi, Zimbabwe, Africa.
Or:
The Orphan Children, C/O P Mulenga, PO Box 5985, Nelspruit
1200, South Africa. Or:
The Orphan Children, C/O I.Kapole, PO Box 420300, Mbala High
School, Mbala, Zambia.
Sponsor an orphan
If you are not already sponsoring an orphan please help by
joining this program - you can make monthly regular payments
using Visa via PayPal of US$20.00 for the benefit of all the
children, or send a one-off donation:
Just go to this page on your browser:
http://www.orphansinafrica.org/howyoucanhelp.htm#sponsor
An African prayer
Let us take care of the children, for they have a long way to
go.
Let us take care of the elders, for they have come a long way.
Let us take care of those in between, for they are doing the
work..
Orphans In Africa Project - March 2005.
We now have 3 areas of concern, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Zambia
athough the children of Zimbabwe will always be our primary
concern.
There is a major problem in Zimbabwe. The cost of sending just
one airmail letter costs around £3 to £4, and the
children simply do not have the money. One solution which the
staff now use, is to put around 20 letters in one envelope and
send them all to UK, and from there they are re-distributed
around the world. Another idea, was to send them all via Fax
machine, but this was discounted as it seemed so impersonal..
Exactly where do we stand today? Well Zimbabwe has an imminent
famine, there is a correspondence problem. There are children
affected with dreadful diseases and they need our prayers. I
spoke to a staff member in Zimbabwe, and she said “Do
you know that we cannot find the food we need, there is a famine
in the land”.
When our donations begin to affect Mozambique and Zambia, no
doubt we will be able to reflect the needs of those areas where
the orphan children live, and their day to day problems. Eventually,
a visit to each of these places will be possible, and a true
picture will emerge..
Our charity cannot raise sufficient funds except to help keep
the children alive and well. Thank you so much to all those
who give donations and subscribe on a monthly basis, without
your help these kids will perish. We need others to help with
the endless need for food, clothing, medical and school supplies.
Gone are the days of shame and embarrassment when asking for
assistance and help to keep these children alive. If you don’t
already donate, will you help support one child. £10 or
$20 a month will help tremendously toward supporting a child
for one month. £20 a month is required to feed, clothe
and educate each child. Of course there are always peripheral
expenses at the orphanage. But together, we can make a difference..
Zimbabwe is indeed experiencing a famine, and the people of
Zimbabwe, especially the orphan children need our prayers and
our help. There are those who are blessed with sufficient funds
and are able to buy the food they need, but when we talk about
the ordinary man on the street, the indigenous folk, they are
the ones who have barely enough funds to survive - and now the
stocks of mealie corn and mealie meal are not available..
Chat Room
I recently phoned the orphanage in Zimbabwe and one of the
older girls named Anna talked about the other children. She
said “Everyone is okay except for Cliff. He’s not
well and cannot go to school again until he is much stronger.”
Cliff is now under treatment with antiretroviral injections.
He is so weak that he cannot walk very far and has to stay at
the orphanage. Hopefully, as we pray for this young lad, and
as he receives treatment, he will recover sufficiently to go
back to school with his friends. “Uncle” Anna said,
“We have a problem sending airmail letters to all our
friends. I wrote a thank you letter to Aunty Susan Painter of
America in January on behalf of Naomi, but you say that she
hasn’t received it.” .
“Don’t worry Anna, I’ll see that she receives
an email, telling her that you have written, and I'll tell her
what you said, that you have received the Shona Bible, the shirts
and a doll.”.
“Thank you Uncle, I’ll get the younger children
to reflect their views and perhaps write their own name on the
letters. Can you speak to Anywhere, he is waiting to speak to
you. Please tell Aunty Ann we love her, and tell her that I
am now in Form 3.” .
“Uncle” said Anywhere. “We are now in the
Zimbabwe 3rd division football, and I need a pair of size 9
soccer boots. I’m the goalkeeper, can you help me.”
“We’ll pray about it my son, that’s all we
can do right now.” .
The good news is that the Zimbabwe orphanage has now been
registered as a charity organisation..Kindest wishes & God
Bless you all,
Colin Harper
Email: colin@orphansinafrica.org
PLEASE FORWARD THIS CHARITY EMAIL TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS . . .
. .
