An update from Louise...

January 2013

Fort Rixon, Zimbabwe, Community Project

SO, HERE WE GO -

WHAT ARE THE LADIES IN THE PHOTO DOING?

THE STORY STARTS WITH:
A LONG WAIT
A SUPERMARKET SHOPPING BAG
A BARE BOTTOM
DIFFICULT BUREAUCRACY

I first went to Zimbabwe in May 2011 as a volunteer with Cosmos Healthcare, a small
Christian health and development organisation based in Perth. They send 2 medical
teams to Zimbabwe each year to provide medical services to areas with very little access to
health care. I went as a general helper and educator. Suzanne Reynolds, a registered
nurse from Busselton, was also a part of the team.
Long wait, bag, bottom and bureaucracy: Many people have to walk very long distances
to reach our clinics and they can wait up to 5 hours to be seen by a doctor or nurse.
Before going I had been told it would be a good idea to take some fabric shopping bags
as the people would appreciate them. I was overwhelmed by the response to such a
simple gift. At one place where we camped I was sitting cutting up vegetables for our
dinner and a cheeky young boy came and took my glasses off and ran off. The view of his
disappearing rear end was a bare bottom as the seam on his shorts had come undone and
he had no undies. (He brought my glasses back.) I wished I had a needle and thread to fix
his shorts! Bureaucracy can wait for the rest of the story.
Last year in May, Suzanne and I went back to Zimbabwe with a
Cosmos Healthcare team. Lovely people, mainly in Nannup and
Busselton had made sewing kits and donated material for me to
take. I thought that, rather than give out bags, I would give them
the material to make one and a sewing kit to keep. I was NOT
prepared for the response to this!
Of course our primary reason for being there was to offer medical
services so I was not expecting to have much free timebut as it
happened the local authorities wouldnt recognise the training of
one of our nurses and after exhausting all avenues we had to admit
defeat. Bureaucracy! Good-oh thinks mewhile really feeling
sympathetic toward the nurse!
This meant we could share all the general running around and have time free to sew bags! We started at the first place with 8
ladies. It wasnt long before we were making trips to the local material shops (cheap fortunately) and spending evenings
cutting out bags. We would give them a small bag to make while they were waiting so they could finish it and know what they
were doing and then they took home the material for a large bag.
It can be difficult to communicate when they often dont speak English and we definitely dont have much hope with Ndbele but
I had done a sheet with pictures plus directions in Ndbele as we dont have spare translators. With that and a lot of waving of
hands we managed very well and they all helped each other.
Suddenly instead of it feeling a bit like them and us, we were all in together and there was lots of laughter and we did mana ge
a few basic questions like Children? How many? Like playing charades really. They were so proud of their bags! At one
place a lady walked 20km on sandy tracks with a baby on her back to come to our clinic. She made her small bag and then
walked homeand reappeared the next day with the full size bag made as she wanted to show us.

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Suzanne and I and 2 others had decided to stay for a few more days after the
Cosmos mission was complete hoping we would be able to find something helpful to
do.
Tatenda Toera is a local registered nurse employed by Sizolwethu, the local arm of
Cosmos Healthcare. One of the communities he visits is Fort Rixon which is 70km
out of Bulawayo (where we were based). We went with Tatenda and were able to
go to the primary school and give health education.
We also decided that we would take some material to make some bags. The school
is another HUGE storyyou might like to read our newsletter to find out about that!
Tatenda Toera

The headmistress at the primary school had given us a classroom to

use for the sewing and there were about 12 ladies. Fort Rixon isnt a
village as we would think of one where the dwellings are all together,
they are spread over a big area, which is why the people have such
a long walk.
I dont know how the word spread but ladies started coming.
(Occasionally we get a man.) And they KEPT coming. At one stage
I said we could take no more but the headmistress was
enthusiastically telling children to go and get more desks!
Finally we had 48 ladiesplus a lot of young childrenall stuffed
into the classroom! There was a buzz! The local pastors wife joined
us. The local chief came to check out what we were doing. I was
furiously cutting through as many layers as I could at once with some
cheap plastic handled scissors.

Even so, we had no hope of providing enough material for everyone to take home a
large bag to make. As it was we ended up with a queue lining up as at the end I still
had some pins.
The ladies were lining up to be given about 8 pins each to take home! We felt bad
that we werent able to give them all material so told Tatenda that we would get
more material if he would bring it out to them the next time he came.
Tatenda told the ladies that if they would organise how it was to be done that he
would bring the material.
One of the ladies immediately found some paper and started writing down ladies
names. She spoke a little English and came and asked me if only the ladies there
could put their names down for material or if other ladies could join the sewing
club. Wow!

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The group has become a wonderful place where ladies come and
support each other. Tatenda says their Christian lives have grown
and it is situation where he can give health and life skills education in
a non-threatening environment. The women have come alive.
Patience, a wonderful Christian lady volunteer has been coming out
from Bulawayo with Tatenda. She is a qualified tailor and has been
teaching, encouraging and being Gods loving heart to these women.
The group now has 70 ladies coming and they were keen to have
some hand-operated sewing machinesthere is no power.
Seven machines have been donated and the ladies take turns to use
them. They were so overjoyed when they arrived! They are now
enthusiastic to go further and hope to be able to get a contract to
supply school uniforms and start to make an incomeand they would
love more machines!
We know that God is the one behind this project. We certainly had
NO intention of going to Zimbabwe to start a sewing business. We
are trusting him to continue the beautiful things that are happening
and we want to supply another 20 machinesor more!
The machines are available in Bulawayo and are $85 each.

The sewing machines in use!

YOU CAN BE A PART OF THIS EXCITING PROJECT THAT IS CHANGING THESE LADIES LIVES!
If these ladies are able to earn an income then it changes the future prospects of their children, too. Zimbabwe badly needs a
new generation of children growing up with hope and the chance to make a difference in their country.
Donations can be made through Harvey & Partners Accountants in Busselton who are allowing us to use their Trust account.
Deposit details are as follows: Harvey & Partners Trust Fund Account BSB 086-565 Account 684478784 Transaction
Description Fort Rixon and if you would like to give $85 for a sewing machine, mark it Ft Rixon SM. Please send us an email
(using contact details below) so we can send a receipt.

Community Project
AUSTRALIA

in part

Fort Rixon

nership

with

We will be producing a newsletter once a quarter and if you would like to be on our email contact list please let us know.
Louise Furniss furniss5@bigpond.com or Suzanne Reynolds cleomacsr@gmail.com
Please let us know, too, if you know of any group that would like us to speak
and please ask if you would like to hear more of our other wonderful story
the school at Fort Rixon!

Living

Foundation
ZIMBABWE