When ZANE carers were asked to visit Sandy and Ian in their little flat, they were sad to find an elderly couple in deep distress. Sandy has been diagnosed with breast cancer, and Ian, needing a walker to get around after breaking his hip last year and not having access to proper rehabilitation, has not been fully mobile since.
The life story of this lovely couple could be the story of countless Zimbabweans.
Childhood sweethearts, they married but never managed to have any children. However, they had meaningful and happy lives, with Sandy working as a pharmacy assistant and Ian as an office manager for one of the big Zimbabwean corporations. They retired and moved to a small garden flat as their needs were not great and the complex had a lively community with a good bridge club, and both were avid players.
When the first crash happened, they somehow managed to survive, and the daughter of one of their closest friends helped them out whenever she could. Gradually, however, they started to lose control; they could not afford to maintain their flat or car, and soon they had to start selling things. Still, they carried on until they found that paying for their medical insurance was becoming more and more difficult. Then Ian fell and broke his hip, and Sandy was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Luckily, at that moment, someone called ZANE. The caregivers found them, and then the story starts to take a better turn:
After a gentle, painstaking interview took place, the ZANE carer realised that the couple needed to be in a nursing home so that they could receive the care they both needed. What seemed an insurmountable problem began to transform itself into a solvable one as the carer explained to them that they could use their flat to make the move. ZANE found a home that could accommodate both their needs, paid the deposit for them to move, helped them pack, and transported them over.
A group of volunteers went through the flat, moved what furniture could fit into their new accommodations, and transported the rest to be auctioned. They then cleaned the flat and asked an estate agent to sell it.
At the time of writing, Sandy and Ian are safe in their new surroundings and waiting for the money to be released after the sale of their flat and furniture, which will mean that for the time being, they will be able to pay their own fees.
When the ZANE carers last visited, they found Ian in great spirits because he had won a prize at bingo two weeks running and was loving watching TV again. Sandy is so happy to be out of pain and enjoying her daily walks in the lovely gardens. She is philosophical about the cancer and just enjoying the time she has left.
“This was such a good intervention,” reports the ZANE carer; “dignity has been restored and the lives of two lovely elderly people transformed.”
If you are able to help ZANE walk alongside folk like Sandy and Ian, please visit our website or click the link below – every cent goes to where it is most needed.
* Names and images may have been changed for privacy reasons
If you are already a ZANE donor, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. If you are not a donor but would like to be, please follow the link below and know that every donation, however big or small, goes directly to where it is most needed. If you would like to help but can’t donate, please join the ZANE family and ‘like’ or ‘share’ our posts or write us a Google review – every positive step helps spread the word about the life changing work ZANE does.
Thank you – Nicky Passaportis ZANE Australia
Please donate to support pensioners struggling to survive in Zimbabwe
Any assistance is greatly appreciated and goes a long way to giving our pensioners a better quality of life and lift the pressure of money worries which is very debilitating emotionally.
(Donations made to ZANE in Australia, are tax-deductible)