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March 4th, 2021 This week has been tough with not a lot of funny out there to write about. I had to drop off a Zimmer frame with an elderly lady trapped in her bed for nearly a week, because her legs have stopped working. She was crying not so much from the pain, but…

A message from our food distribution manager in Harare: With the new year well and truly underway, I just wanted to look back on last year. Leading up to Christmas there is always a mad scramble to collect gifts of food and other items and make sure that all donors who have pledged food products…

Hilda was limping and complaining of pain in her leg. She is desperately lonely and needs to talk a great deal, saying she is isolated, has no one to keep her company, can’t spend much time with the other residents as they are all difficult to talk with according to her. Jean is not a…

Sylvia phoned Sandy at 4.45 a.m. on Sunday morning, saying she urgently needed money to see her doctor for her painful leg. We delivered to her at speed on Monday morning, even though we knew we’d be seeing her on Wednesday. When I visited her on Wednesday, she was well and happy and had not…

Kathy came into the office to do her brother’s renewal form. For many years Kathy has been supporting her brother and paying his medical shortfalls. However, this is becoming very difficult as Kathy is now 73 and still working, but fears this will soon come to an end. Eric also came into the office to…

This week’s report, sent by a ZANE fieldworker. Peter is always gentle, quietly spoken, and very grateful for the help he receives. When possible, he repairs speed bikes for a small fee but for the past month has had no work. He is surviving as usual but I can see it’s hard on him. He…

News coming out of Zimbabwe both before and after Christmas shows how desperate the situation for the old folk has become. Here is one report sent by a ZANE fieldworker in December last year. We are now in an extremely busy time of year with assessments and renewals, deliveries to numerous people, visits particularly to…

Sandy and I did the weekly grocery deliveries which mostly went without a hitch. People continue to be enormously grateful and, as usual, we can see visible differences in their general well-being. I have always spent a lot of time with our recipients but adding groceries to the equation adds a different dimension which has…

CHRISTMAS 2020 Dear Friend of ZANE I hope you enjoy the ZANE Newsletter and Poetry booklet for 2020. You may wish to visit the ZANE Australia website (zaneaustralia.org.au ) to get an update on ZANE activities. You may not be aware that, in addition to general donations which are used to provide support across a range…

Dear Friend of ZANE When we sent out our Christmas greetings last year, little did any of us know what horrors 2020 had instore! Here in Australia we have been very fortunate through the course of the pandemic to have had suchgood leadership at both national and state level that, despite the bump in Victoria,…