Worldwide Activity Report -- July 1997
FAR046 -- GP

Copyright 1997 by The Family

Where Dreams Meet! -- And Come True!
A New Start for 20 Blind Beggars and Their Children

By Andr and Mary, Harare, Zimbabwe

         When I, Andr, was growing up in France, my dream was to one day go to Africa and help the people there. Thirty years later my dream came true! In 1995, my wife and I and our two children sold everything we couldn't fit into our suitcases, and moved to Zimbabwe. Now we're busy helping others realize their dreams. Here's how it happened

Our first encounters with Shungu Dzedu
         In January 1996, a blind woman burst into the Harare Shelter for the Destitute, a downtown drop-in center for street kids where we do volunteer work.
         "Is my daughter here? Have you seen her?" she asked frantically. The woman's name was Rachel, we soon learned, and she was searching for her teenage daughter, one of three children she was raising alone. The girl had come to the shelter, it turned out, to escape squalid conditions at home.
         As we spoke with Rachel, she mentioned Shungu Dzedu ("our ambition/our dream" in Shona, the main Bantu language).
         "What might that dream be?" we asked.
         "Shungu Dzedu is a cooperative, and where I live. Nineteen other blind people and I operate it. We want to become happy, useful citizens. We want to be able to take control of our own futures and the futures of our children," Rachel explained.
         That is difficult enough for blind people of any nationality or culture, but considering the plight of Zimbabwe's blind -- estimated by the World Health Organization to be 100,000, or nearly 1% of the population -- it is ambitious indeed!
         From a medical standpoint, the main causes of blindness in Zimbabwe and other African nations are improper treatment of measles, poor nutrition and cataracts. But according to traditional African culture, when a person is sick, it is because he or she has done something to disturb their ancestors. In this context, blind people are seen to have done something terribly wrong, and they are ostracized. That stigma, added to their physical handicap and the fact that most of them are poorly educated, especially the women, virtually guarantees they will never have much in life.
         After talking more with Rachel, we decided to visit Shungu Dzedu, which is located a short distance from Harare, in the city of Chitungwiza. There we met some of Rachel's blind friends and co-workers. One of them was Gaudencia, a young mother of four, whose husband is also blind.
         "How is your group doing?" we asked.
         "We used to produce school chalk and cushions, but we haven't had any income from either of those for almost a year," Gaudencia answered with a brave smile.
         "How do you live then? What about food?"
         "We get a little money from the social welfare, but it barely covers our rents. We don't like to beg, but we have to eat. Until we can again produce something that will earn us money, we have no choice," she replied.
         From Gaudencia's answers to our next few questions, it was obvious that poor management of their affairs had put them out of business and forced them to beg for a living. This life was very difficult for the adults, but even more so for the children, who weren't able to attend school because they had to act as guides for their blind parents when they went begging.

Taking up the challenge
         It was clear that what these people needed most was to regain their dignity and develop confidence -- and another handout was not the way to go about that! The Zimbabwe Council for the Blind sums up the problem and solution in these terms: "The blind are not employed. They are malnourished, ill-clothed and lack basic shelter. The issue is to help them to be self-reliant."
         When we discussed the situation at Shungu Dzedu with officials at the Harare Shelter for Destitute, they said they would like to help but couldn't due to insufficient personnel and finances. Other organizations had helped Shungu Dzedu in the past, but at the moment they were without any outside aid. We felt the ball was in our court, so we committed ourselves to the task of helping them generate their own income, and went to work.
         The equipment they had used to produce school chalk before was in a state of disrepair, and they had no raw material or boxes to pack the chalk. We approached several local companies who donated the needed repairs and start-up materials. Production was going within two weeks.
         Gaudencia and Rachel stopped begging and started making chalk. That was a difficult step, considering that it would take some time to sell the first batch of chalk, and they and their children still needed to eat. To help them through the transition, we began taking them weekly food boxes made up of staples which local merchants had donated to our work.
         By February they had amassed a stock of their finished product, but had no customers. One day, while making a phone call from the manager's office in a downtown Harare stationery shop, Andr couldn't help but notice a memo posted by the phone: The head office of the stationery supplies chain urgently needed a large amount of school chalk! When Andr told the store manager that we knew a group of blind people who could supply the chalk, the manager put us in touch with his headquarters. That company is now the biggest buyer of the chalk produced by our blind friends.
         As the sale of chalk started to bring in money, word spread. Soon there were four, then six, and finally ten blind people who had quit begging and started to work for wages at Shungu Dzedu. Their world was starting to change!
         We also taught them to take their problems to God in prayer, and then follow through with the ideas He gave them. For example, when orders for chalk decreased, Lambert, the chairman of the cooperative, had the idea to weave baskets also. Soon he had trained two other blind men to help him. Now Shungu Dzedu also produces mattresses and cushions.
         God has gifted these blind people with talents that make up for their loss of sight. They have exceptional memory recall, for example, and they can do amazing things with their hands. Imagine weaving a beautiful basket when you cannot see what your hands are doing or visually inspect the finished product!

Getting involved on a personal basis
         Establishing clear lines of communication was not easy. Several sighted people had misused members of the cooperative in the past, so we had to win their trust -- not by words alone, but by deeds of love and kindness. Little by little they came to understand that we were only there to assist them, and they began to open their lives to us.
         There were hurdles to overcome and mistakes were made, but forgiveness and trying again were winning steps. Knowing we were missionaries first of all, they asked us to also give them spiritual training and counseling. That's when Edmore, a young Zimbabwean whom we are training for missionary work, found his special calling. In addition to helping them with their business, he prays with them and reads to them from the Scriptures or The Family's Daily Food Bible course. With his knowledge of the local language and customs, Edmore is better able to communicate with them and care for them more personally. It is wonderful to see their faith and understanding grow as they hear God's Word or touch-read it in their Braille Gospels.

A family affair
         Each member of our small family is involved at Shungu Dzedu. Andr helps manage the production. He also works to build better relations among the workers. This is especially important since love, understanding, honesty, forgiveness, unity and good communication are all essential to the success of the cooperative. He also applies his medical training in overseeing the health care of the adults and children of Shungu Dzedu.
         Mary brings a motherly touch. She organizes our weekly visits to the families, who live in difficult conditions with their often numerous children. Mary's happiness is to see the smiles on their faces as they receive gift boxes of food, clothes and shoes. She also arranges the donations to Shungu Dzedu from members of Harare and Chitungwiza's business communities.
         Our son Christoffer, 15, is the first to pitch in whenever there's hard work to be done. When the rainy season was making it impossible to dry the freshly made chalk outside, he had the idea to make an indoor drying room, then helped to build it.
         Rebecca, 13, brings a special sweetness. She is always eager to prepare food boxes for each family, which she delivers during our weekly visits -- not an easy job, considering that distribution needs to be done according to the size of each family, and some have special needs.

Other assistance
         In addition to the one day each week that we spend at the project site, reviewing the operation, distributing donated goods and counseling and encouraging the Shungu Dzedu members, we have helped in a number of other ways:
         * The sale of chalk and other products now generates a regular income, but it is not sufficient to improve conditions at Shungu Dzedu as quickly as we would like. We therefore continue to supplement their income with weekly donations of food and clothing, as well as building materials and other items as needs arise.
         * Our van has been the only vehicle available to the project. We log about 1,000 km each month, doing pickups and deliveries.
         * We installed toilet facilities at the compound, which dramatically improved the health standard.
         * We helped them cultivate maize in their five-acre field. Seed and fertilizer for the farming project were donated by local merchants. With proper care and a good rainy season, the plot should produce a year-round supply of this staple for all the families at Shungu Dzedu.
         * Lloyd, Rachel's 13-year-old son, had dropped out of school two years earlier, due to failing eyesight. When we took him to an eye specialist, we learned that he was totally blind in one eye and partially blind in the other. The good news: The problem was cataracts, which are operable. We contacted one of the best eye surgeons in the country, who agreed to donate his services, and the operation was a success! It's always a thrill to see Lloyd run to greet us -- eyes alight and smiling broadly -- each time we arrive at Shungu Dzedu. His world has changed so much!

A new dream for a brighter future
         So that's the story of how our dream to help some of the most destitute people in Africa, and their dream of a new start met through God's loving care! Our common hope now is that many other blind people will also have a brighter future as a result of this project -- either by benefiting directly, or by following the example of Shungu Dzedu.
         In closing, we would like to acknowledge and thank our supporters in Europe, as well as the local companies and individuals whose prayers and generous giving helped make this project a success. We couldn't have done it without you!

* * *

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Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family