Rhodesian Remembrance ’20


The annual July Braai in the UK hosted by the Rhodesian Pioneer Club was cancelled this year for the same reason many gatherings couldn’t go ahead.

Honours

Traditionally, on the Sunday, there is a gathering to remember those who were lost during the war, and those who have since passed.

Joe did a short chat instead, reminding us that loneliness is a killer, and urging people to support each other, and to reach out for support whenever they want it. It’s a big world. Nobody need be alone.

Thanks to J Amos & A Hutchison

Party Time

Friday and Saturday precede Sunday. It’s equally traditional to meet up with old friends, drink long drinks and tell tall tales.

The Mike Stewart Band last performed in Bulawayo, Rhodesia in 1980. The members now live on 3 different continents namely, the UK, South Africa and the United States. 40yrs later. They made a plan to entertain us.

Hey! Carrie Anne …

Jack Thain – founding member of The Silhouettes from Bulawayo, and the Rhodesian band “Lincoln” – All Vocals and harmonies sung by Rudi Gouma and Jack Thain. Backing is a midi file.

Zimbabwe Pensioners Support Fund

There is a lot of misery and tragedy in todays world. Pensioners in Zimbabwe are often forgotten, but there is one reliable service that continues to do all it possibly can. It’s not a big international drive, just dedicated people who actually do deliver help to the people who need it.

The Pioneer Club (Thanks, Bobby Knott and family!) donate a percentage of the July Braai proceeds every year. This vital initiative is now funds down due to the cancel. Please visit the ZPSF site, ask whatever you want to and then do whatever you want and can do? On the exchange rate, no donation is too small to matter.

Zimbabwean Pensioners Support Fund

Progress Report ZPSF

Dear Zimbabwe Pensioner Support Fund Supporters and Friends,

Our third and double box trip for 2020 has been completed and the drivers rested. This trip took months of planning due to the lockdown of all cross border travel with Covid-19, and all the “new” and “special” permit and paperwork requirements. A Big Thank You to Hannes, Johan and Frans who made up the team for this trip. Please enjoy reading this long anticipated Trip report.

For everyone querying where I am, I am still here, alive and well. Just been sorting out some issues and thank goodness Johan has also been brought in to help with some of the admin. So we are running as a tag team. Also please note Hannes Bothas’ email address [email protected] has finally died a lonely death, his new email is [email protected] .

Our general PayPal account Link – https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr… please see attached list of our various banking details or visit our web page www.zpsf.co.za

Saturday 13th June 2020
The ZPSF Nissan UD 90 Truck left Malelane for a double trip around Zimbabwe. The Driver was myself with Frans Schultz, my son as my co-pilot.

We left Malalane at 6:40 after we checked the tire pressure. Had a quiet and uneventful trip until we got the message from Linda at HQ that the que was about 10km long at Beit Bridge. We mentally prepared ourselves to sleep in the que. We arrived at Musina around 17:40 to park the truck at the NG Church where Tannie Rina the administrator was waiting for us (A BIG THANK YOU for the weekend help). We repacked a few things for the border crossing and to make more space in the truck for the sleep over. We waited for Hannes to get there at 19:00 when we bought some KFC for the next day’s food. We spent the night at Joe and Hester where we enjoyed some hot coffee and soup, being from Malelane we were freezing.

Sunday 14th
The next morning was an early one (03:00) and we expected to be in a good position in the que and get into the border at a reasonable time, but….when we arrived, the que we joined was about 2 km before the weigh bridge before Beit Bridge. The line was moving very slow the whole day and lunch was cold KFC…Dinner is chocolate, chips and cold curry but, luckily, we had a flask full of hot water and made a hot cup of coffee. At 19:30 there was a sudden big move towards the gate. We were standing still so long that we were preparing to sleep not moving, suddenly the line started moving, the truck would not start and so we scrambled for the chain. Hannes in the bakkie pull-jump started us with his vehicle. We had another big leap forward and could see the gate of the border. Just before 22:00 we got into the Border post and with some creative movements, made our way thought the SA side in less than an hour. On the Zimbabwe side, there was a COVERT 19 testing station and they had an issue with us being two in the vehicle. After showing all out paperwork and explaining we were transporting COVID 19 PPE for the Pensioners and having a letter of expediency from the Zimbabwean Department of Ministry of Trade and Commerce they allowed us to enter the Zim side of the border post. We joined the line for the Weight Bridge and after being weighed we finally just after 00:00 settled in to sleep in the dust bowl…….. To read more please open the full trip report below.

Trip Pics – Delivering PPE and Vital Supplies

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We are currently preparing for our next trip to Zimbabwe to deliver food aid and some more PPE’s to the homes that require this desperately needed aid. This as usual means looking for specials as we turn each cent 5x before purchasing our bulk stock. Then onto checking what are the paperwork requirements and which processes have changed since the last trip. Cause there is always a surprise in there somewhere. Never a dull moment.

This whole situation is having a severe on many of our Golden Oldies, some of whom we have been supporting since we started. Getting basic meds is almost impossible, one can physically the strain and pain on so many of their faces, the weight loss
and air of frailty that is hanging around these proud people. And with the current isolation it’s even worse. One can only spend so much time alone and while all understand it is for their own safety it makes it no easier at all.

Every 6 – 8 weeks more than 12 tons of food is transported in the truck and distributed to 25 homes / organizations. Wheelchairs, walking aids and basic medicine is also supplied to the pensioners. The supply trip lasts 8 – 10 days and a distance of
4000 kilometres will be travelled by the truck. The value of the food and the cost of delivering it to the pensioners in Zimbabwe is currently exceeding R350000 per trip.

Our general PayPal account Link – https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr… please see attached list of our various banking details or visit our web page www.zpsf.co.za

A Thank You email received from Edith Duly
Dear Donors

The Board and management of Edith Duly Nursing Home wishes to extend their heartfelt gratitude for the wonderful donation of equipment and consumables which will go a long way in ensuring the Home will be kept safe from infection by the coronavirus currently sweeping the globe.

We are especially grateful as the protective requirements are in short supply and heinously expensive in Zimbabwe.

We received:

2 Ultrasonic nebulisers and 2 bottle of saline solution
1 Touchless thermometer
1 spray knapsack
75lt concentrate disinfectant
25lt liquid hand sanitizer
5 1lt hand sanitizer gel
5 750ml hand sanitizer liquid
9 Hipex face shields
200 plastic disposable aprons

This has a huge impact in savings as we battle not only the additional costs incurred in ensuring the safety of our residents and staff against the virus, but also the spiralling inflation that has once again, tormented our economy

Edith Duly, although a private organisation, is a registered welfare facility and as such, we have parameters to which we are required to adhere. These include fee levels and financially disadvantaged residents all finely balanced with regulated wage levels and the daily rise in the cost of living!

May all the donors be abundantly blessed for their kindness and consideration of the elderly of Zimbabwe who have time and again, lost all that they worked so hard to achieve.

Sincerely
Leila Hunt
Administrator

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A Thank You email received from Barbara Burrell Home For The Blind

Dear Linda, Hannes and Johan,

It was lovely meeting you on your recent visit and getting to know about your wonderful and important work which you do for our community. The PPE goodies are a boon and it is so good not having to scrimp and scrape to buy one of anything and to have to search town for these important items especially as they close off town periodically and everyone is looking for these items so a shortage prevails.

Johan the little bottles lined up along the wall were for Sanitizer. Each nurse, member of staff and matron now has one on their person to use. Those that use buses are able to sanitize immediately. Each resident has one in their room and of course the super spray bottles that look like sanitiser instead of a soap/cream spray are in the important entrances. The thermometer is already in use. We are shortly to start spraying/spring cleaning each bedroom and the public rooms. I tried to phone you Johan to tell you the big container of pink sanitiser has not got much left after all the decanting but we still have the gel sanitiser. If you get this before you leave Bulawayo and have any of the pink sanitiser left (as you mentioned) we would welcome a bit more. The nebulizer is also appreciated and the protective clothing so necessary and needed, as well as the rehydrate and bath dettol.

Thank you as well for the groceries – sugar, rice, corn beef, spaghetti, tomato sauce pilchards, macaroni and teabags They are such a boon to us as just keeping the basics on the table is now becoming almost impossible and I don’t envy the matrons trying to juggle the menu.

Thank you for chatting to the residents – something they have been missing with this lockdown. I hope you keep well especially after inter-acting with so many folk on your trip.

You do such a sterling job and to Linda who is behind the scenes to keep things running smoothly and for fund raising, as well as your delivery staff here in Bulawayo. It is a huge job; after I saw the pictures of the warehouse I now realise just what an organisation you run.

Thank you all again
God Bless and keep you safe on your travels.
Best wishes
BEV LANDER
Chairlady/Administrator.
Barbara Burrell Home For The Blind
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Hopefully all of the safety items will help to keep all our Golden Oldies Safe during these incredibly scary times. From what I heard from the driver and his assistant at most of the homes they were just dropping and sanitising the boxes and then leaving, as a lot of the homes for safety sake are not allowing any visitors in.

These food hampers serve 2 purposes.
1 They supply much needed food to the pensioner.
2 The pensioner then knows that someone cares about them

This is a list of homes we support with just over 1250 people being supplied with food:

Gwanda Pensioners in their own homes.
Essigodini Kinghaven Moth Cottages
Bulawayo Edith Duly Nursing Home , Queen Mary House , Barbra Burrel Home for the Blind
Masonic Cottages Trust , Railsteen House and Pensioners in their own homes
Gweru Huisvergesig Old Age Home , Boggies Trust , Pensioners in their own homes
Shurugwe Muus Lodge , Pensioners in their own homes.
Zvishavane Mimosa Cottages , Pensioners in their own homes.
Masvingo Pioneer Trust, Pensioners in their own homes.
Chivhu Pensioners in their own homes
Mutare Eastern Highlands Trust, Murambi Cottages, Park Cottages , S.O.A.P Mutare. Strickland Lodge
Chipinge Pensioners in their own homes.
Rusape Rest Haven Cottages.
Bindura Mazowe Valley Trust.
Muvwri Malvern Trust.
Chinoyi Sunningdale Trust, Pensioners in their own homes
Karoi Pensioners in their own homes.
Kariba Pensioners in their own homes.
Inyanga Pensioners in their own homes.
Harare Pensioners in their own homes, C.F.U. (Displaced elderly farmers)
Kadoma West View Trust , Pensioners in their own homes
Kwe Kwe Lyn Brook Old Age Home , Pensioners in their own homes.
Red Cliff Hubert Lee Cottages, Pensioners in their own homes

We are an officially registered Non-Profit Organization and Section 21A in South Africa and are registered with SARS as a Public Benefit Organization in terms of section 18A the Income Tax Act (Which means all South African donations are issued with a Tax Certificate and can be claimed back). PLEASE LET US KNOW IF YOU WOULD LIKE A TAX CERTIFICATE STATING ALL YOU DONATIONS. PLEASE NOTE THEY ARE ISSUED BASED ON OUR FINANCIAL PERIOD SO THE CURRENT ONES ARE FOR MARCH 2020-FEB 2021. They will be issued once our Financial Year End has been processed, so from about mid-April 2021. UK supporters can be issued with a Gift Aid Certificate via Betti-Ann McLean and the USA account is now a Registered 501(c)3 organization and as such Tax-deductible receipts available for USA donors via Alice Short.

Thank you so much for helping us support our “Golden Oldies” during these very difficult times. Your support is invaluable to us and us at the ZPSF would never be able to sustain our regular supply of relief parcels if it were not for donations such as yours. Your continued donations are a very important life line to them reminding them that we are continuously thinking about them and still care. All of this happens because of people like you, our Donors ensure our wheels keep turning, you are all truly amazing. THANK YOU and God Bless.

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact us.

IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS DEVASTATING PANDEMIC ONE THING IS CLEAR — WHERE YOU LIVE SHOULDN’T DECIDE WHETHER YOU LIVE.
DOING WHAT WE SAY WE DO.

Kind Regards

Linda Schultz

Head office South Africa contact details:

Linda Schultz – [email protected] – (C) 079 6082676 (T) 013 7900934
Johan Schultz – [email protected] – 082 4979328
Hannes Botha – [email protected] – 084 5893221

Section 21 Co Reg. 2007/034036/08; NPO Number 096733; Section 18A PBO No 930031642
www.zpsf.co.za