Living Foundation Australia Ltd ABN 36162986156

in partnership with

† Living Foundation in Zimbabwe

Newsletter Edition 003

July 2013

I take a breath and take time to consider what our progress has been since the last newsletter. Most you will read about in specific snippets further on in the newsletter.

As a quick summary though: Our Memorandum of Understanding for the Fort Rixon project has been passed by the Insiza Rural District Council. Dull as this sentence may read, it is definitely NOT! This is what we have been waiting for and Tatenda has been negotiating over the last 6 months.

Wow!

It means we now have permission to go ahead with our plans for the school and can use the primary school classrooms for the sewing and craft work. We are required to report monthly with details of progress, budgeting etc for the school and will be given full approval once the council has been satisfied with this. In spite of the restrictions we were working under, the “Sewing Ladies” have become 4 groups - skilled sewers (new word needed here! sewpersons?), learning sewpersons, crocheters and craft people. With our new permission to go ahead we can be better set up to use the new sewing machines. We have been investigating what can be done about a water supply - necessary if we are to go ahead with a community garden and consider other possibilities such as raising chickens. An old windmill there was checked out but is beyond repair so solar, and a bore and pump are being considered.

Four young people have just left to start an 18 month course at Ebenezer Farm School. Check out this website for more information: http://ebenezerzimbabwe.blogspot. com.au/2012_10_01_archive.html At home we have had some opportunities to speak about Living Foundation, for which we are very grateful. There have been fundraising events. The Bridgetown ladies who support us have completed over 50 sewing kits for us to take with us when we go. There are so many needs we see and so many possibilities for what we could do but we know we cannot implement all our plans straight away. We need to concentrate on one or two and do them well. Thank you for the enthusiasm, energy, prayer, financial and fundraising support and encouragement you give us! Louise

We are going to Zimbabwe! Five ladies are booked to go to Zimbabwe on 1st September for 3 weeks! Suzanne and I plus Stephanie Camarri from Nannup, Trish Thiel from Busselton and Lorraine Griffiths from Perth. We hadn’t planned or gone looking for extra helpers and it took us a little while to take in that they were serious about wanting to join us. This opens up a lot of possibilities for what we are able to do while there and we are planning enthusiastically. When Suzanne and I were there last year we had no idea of what was ahead of us. Our visit to Fort Rixon was at the very end of our Cosmos Healthcare work and we left straight afterwards. This time we go intending to investigate and find answers to many questions, do a lot of talking with people etc. We want to come home with a much better understanding to help with future planning. Louise

Back Row: Left to right—Louise Furniss, Stephanie Camarri Front Row: Left to right—Suzanne Reynolds, Trish Thiel, Lorraine Griffiths

...FROM THE SEWING LADIES!...

What has been happening with the sewing ladies

since our last newsletter? We can’t wait to go to

Fort Rixon so we can really understand what the

ladies are doing. We knew that until the necessary

Memorandum of Understanding was passed by the

local authority that the ladies were not free to use

space at the primary school. However, they have

very clearly not been just sitting waiting.

We have had photographs of the skilled sewing

ladies, the learning sewing ladies and the crocheting

group! We have also had photographs of some

other craft work that has been done. Clearly we

can’t call them the sewing ladies any longer and will

have to come up with some clearer titles - not

sewing and not ladies!

Now that the MOU has been passed we can start

making some more concrete plans. A lot of

thought, talking and investigation needs to go into

this and we will be able to do this far more

effectively once we go to Zimbabwe. In the

meantime we are asking the ladies to produce quite

a number of items so that we can bring them back

to Australia to sell. It would be such a waste to go

over with full cases and not come back with full

cases too! This will give them something definite

to work towards as we work out a business model

and marketing strategies.

While we realize that we need to have “bread and

butter” markets … er “sadza” markets in Zimbabwe,

we do know that we can sell things in Australia

too. There will be a certain amount of trial and error

as well as research as we work out the best way to

structure things, the best ways to access materials,

the best items to produce etc. We are very open to

any suggestions or help as we do this. We are

looking forward with excitement to the next steps!

Louise

Personal Profiles Tatenda and Elizabeth Toera

Tatenda was born on the 5th of February 1981, in the

resort town of Kariba. He is the first born son in a

family of three and did his primary and secondary

education in Kariba and Murehwa respectively. After

that he completed his tertiary education at Mpilo

School of nursing in Bulawayo.

Elizabeth was born on the 6th of May 1982 , in

Mberengwa. She is the first born daughter in a

family of three. Elizabeth did her primary and

secondary education in Bulawayo and Masvingo

respectively.

Tatenda and Elizabeth are both Christians who met

at River of Life, Jubilee church, Bulawayo in 2007 .

From the day they met they knew this was a

relationship called from God. They then traditionally

got married in December 2009, before having a

wedding on the 4th of September 2010.

Currently, Tatenda is employed by Sizolwethu Mobile clinic where he is working as Registered General Nurse

and Elizabeth is employed by Standard Chartered Bank where she works as a Business Relationship Manager.

The couple have a baby boy, Daniel Tdiwanashe Toera who was born on the 27th of October 2011.

Thank you! Two weeks ago, the students at Enkanisweni School were blessed by the arrival of new desks and chairs. There is enough furniture to share with the sewing group as well. We are

grateful for this gift to the Busselton Lions Club, who responded to a specific request for help in this regard, and, like all of our generous supporters, have made such a difference to the lives of the students and community members of Fort Rixon, Zimbabwe. We humbly thank you all, and the words of Collins, our full-time teacher, express it beautifully:

‘We would like to express our heartfelt appreciation and joy for the extension of your gift to us. This has seen students being able to learn in a conducive environment and as a learning institution we believe we are on the path of fulfilling the "universal education for all" goal. May you never tire in doing good as blessed is the hand that giveth than the one that receiveth. May the Almighty God bless.’

THE SCHOOL LIBRARY

Donated books were ordered from http://www.betterworldbooks.com

who offer free shipping and quote— "We generate funding for leading literacy

initiatives around the world. Our partners build schools, start libraries, train teachers and

provide scholarships."

This was Tatenda's email response when the first parcel of books arrived:

Subject: Hey!! Date: Thursday, 25 April 2013 3:57 PM Guess what? I finally received the 29 copies of the books you bought from Better Books. I will get to see Collins this afternoon and cannot wait to see his Big Fat Smile! Louise

POSITION VACANT eBay / Gumtree / Quoka Salesperson

Sometimes we are given things to sell that

we know we would get a better price for on

eBay or Gumtree rather than putting them in

a garage sale or Trash and Treasure. We don't

have the time to do this and trying to sell

from outside the city is also difficult if

things need to be picked up, not posted. We

are hoping there may be someone who enjoys

fiddling around selling things on eBay etc.

and who would do it for us. At the moment we

have some camping equipment and a few other

items ready to be sold and we can drop these

things off to you when we are next in

Perth. If you are interested, please email

Louise at furniss5@bigpond.com

PUT YOUR HAND UP

if you have any fundraising

suggestions—we would love

to hear from you!

[ See the back page for our contact details ]

Suzanne

On Thursday, 20th June, Suzanne was delighted to accept a wonderful donation from her

granddaughter Hannah, on behalf of Hannah's teacher, Mr. Bob Cameron and the Year 5/6 class

at Cornerstone Christian College. The class had worked hard to produce a joke book, which was published and sold to raise money for Living Foundation Australia Ltd. Suzanne took along a large photo display from Zimbabwe and had a

great time answering really good questions from many class members. Our thanks to this

wonderful class and its teacher for their hard work! If you missed out on a fabulous joke book,

there are still a few copies left, at $2.50 each. Please ring 97541833 or email Suzanne at

cleomacsr@gmail.com

Suzanne

A fun and successful Trash and

Treasure sale was held at the Nannup

Hall on Saturday 22nd June. A great

time was had by all, and these local

children had a wonderful time searching

for treasures in the 10 cent bargain box!

Thanks to all who donated goods and

helped on the day!

Suzanne

Khayelihle

In our last newsletter we reported that one of the students, 19yo Khayelihle Ngwenya had lost her Grandmother and had to move away from Fort

Rixon to live with other relatives.

A week ago we heard that

Khayelihle’s father had also passed

away in a horrific accident.

Our wonderful students are showing solidarity to Khayelihle right

now and in the future, we hope to provide accommodation for disadvantaged students to be

able to complete their education.

One of our sewing ladies with her sleeping Baby on her back. Suzanne

We have had a number of donations offered for us to raffle so have decided to

hold a raffle to be drawn at Harvey & Partners on

October 7th.

Would you be interested in selling a book of

tickets? Please email Kay or Suzanne

all proceeds to

SATURDAY - 5th OCTOBER 7pm till late

Busselton Uniting Church 47 Kent Steet, Busselton

Fashion Parade of Retro, Recycled Designer &

Original Handmade Outfits SPOT PRIZES & supper Time to try & buy from the stalls & FASHIONS.

Tickets - $10.00

ECLECTIC

FASHION FAIR

Souped Up Film Night— 17th August—Movie “Quartet” with Maggie Smith. $10pp includes a steaming hot bowl of soup and bread. 6pm @ Nannup Shire, Shirley Humble rooms. Tickets are limited so please book early—call Kay on 0429 159 926 or call into Word of Mouth and buy a ticket from Lucia.

Eclectic Fashion Fair—5th October—See information below.

Quiz Night—currently being organised for early November. Watch this space!!

Sausage sizzle at Bunnings, Busselton—date to be advised by Bunnings, but probably Nov/Dec.

Joke Books—available now—$2.50—Please ring 97541833 or email Suzanne at cleomacsr@gmail.com

Raffle—See information below and contact Suzanne or Kay if you can help with selling tickets!

BANK ACCOUNT DETAILS

Living Foundation Australia Ltd BSB: 086 565 ACCOUNT: 944010935

Please send an email to Suzanne at cleomacsr@gmail.com

to let us know of your deposit so we can provide you with a receipt and thank you

personally for your donation.

Thank You !

Louise Furniss—furniss5@bigpond.com Suzanne Reynolds—cleomacsr@gmail.com Kay Savory—kaysavory@westnet.com.au

If you require further information or do not wish to receive these newsletters

please contact:

current financial Goals School lunches—currently not operating each

day, revision in progress and estimated to be $120pm + 12% exchange rate when resuming.

Sewing ladies—under revision but estimated to be $400pm + 12% exchange rate.

Administration, Zimbabwe—Petrol, toll fees, school photocopying costs, school supplies, internet etc.—$200pm + 12% exchange rate.

Teaching staff—$660pm + 12% exchange rate.

Administration, Australia—As our Board members and other volunteers have thus far willingly donated time, photocopying, ink cartridges, stationery, postage and many other incidental expenses, we are unable to specify a monthly expense amount. We simply thank all involved for their passion for this project, their support and their amazing generosity!

Tatenda and Nqobile with the four students who are currently studying at the Ebenezer Farm School: Faith Mathe, Angela

Mpofu, Sinenhlanhla Ndebele and Marlvin Sodinda.

So many people have been wonderfully generous to us, and it is impossible to personally name and thank them all. To thank some by name is not to discount the others, and so I hope you will all understand that, as I wish to personally thank St John of God Hospital in Bunbury, my previous employers, and especially Raymond Grapes (Mission Leader) for their generous support in providing for our first aid box to be situated in Enkanyisweni School in Fort Rixon. We have everything we need and more, and part of my plan for the coming trip is to educate the students on first aid and basic life support. These supplies will help greatly and serve them well in times of need.

I also wish to thank Mr Dick Smith of Dick Smith Foods who has shown confidence in our mission to Fort Rixon, by further donating towards our borehole project. Please consider buying Dick Smith food products. Ozemite is yummy and is all Australian! Suzanne

how your donations are distributed

To date, 100% of your donations have been distributed directly towards the project and all administration, travel, advertising and other sundry expenses have been absorbed by the volunteers. However, Living Foundation Australia Ltd is now legally obligated to pay Public Liability Insurance and this is currently the only administrative costs paid out of donated funds. Suzanne

to our readers Please note that our team will be travelling to Zimbabwe in around 7 weeks, fully self-funded. All costs to do with the Zimbabwe side of things will be clearer when we get there and have a good look at the operation from that end. Many discussions are expected, and plans made, according to what will work best for Living Foundation as a whole. Thank you, Suzanne