CHARITY IN FOCUS

The following text is a direct quote from the newsletter from ZANE:

The coup of November 2017 resulted in joyous scenes throughout Zimbabwe. The end of Mugabe’s reign was greeted with celebration, jubilation and hope. Fast forward almost two years and the scenes that greeted news of Mugabe’s death were in stark contrast. There was no sense of release or relief. His legacy lives on in the carbon-copy oppressive nature of his successor. Zimbabwe is not in mourning for its former leader but rather for the promise of what could have been. Rampant inflation, relentless power cuts, water shortages, lack of access to basic healthcare and mass hunger dominate the lives of the people of Zimbabwe. Even the muchlauded education system is in a state of collapse.

Zimbabwe is a country gripped by fear; it is sinking under the weight of years of corruption, greed and mismanagement. The people once again watch helplessly as the new Zimbabwean dollar loses value daily, and savings and pensions evaporate.

My colleagues in Zimbabwe tell of pensioners cutting their tablets in half to save money; of some going to bed early to stave off hunger pains. It’s hard to see where it will all end.

Yet the situation would be so much harder for the thousands ZANE assists were it not for you. Your support keeps people alive. It enables ZANE to keep helping Zimbabwe’s desperate people under our care despite the escalating costs. We all know how much harder life would be for them without this help. For that, we thank you.

On behalf of the ZANE team and all those we are able to help, thank you.

Tom Beynon OBE

The ZANE-funded clubfoot correction programme continues to transform lives in Zimbabwe. Over 3,780 children have been successfully treated since its inception.

However, the economic turmoil in Zimbabwe has had a great impact on the work this year. Clinic numbers have decreased across the country as families struggle with the rising costs of travel. Essential resources such as plaster of Paris are harder to source and prices have significantly increased. The materials needed for the manufacture of boots and bars have also become scarcer. It is just another challenge to overcome and the team remains committed to continuing this life changing work.

ZANE’s education programme continues to thrive. We have seven popup classrooms running in a high-density suburb, benefitting 84 children. The children attending the classes all live in the local community. They are from impoverished families and range in age from six to 12; none has previously attended school.

Earlier this year, ZANE received funding from the Barnabas Fund towards providing a hot meal each day. The lack of food and associated hunger affecting the children had been a real cause for concern. Twelve-yearolds were easily mistaken for seven or eight year-olds due to malnutrition; many children told us they had a meal only every two or three days. The teaching mentors alongside a volunteer parent/ guardian prepare and cook the nutritious meals comprising mixed vegetables, kapenta (fish), peanut butter, soya meat and soya beans. The children are benefitting greatly from these regular lunches and the most desperate also receive extra E’pap (a nutritional supplement) to boost their diets. Concentration levels are much improved.

Although it’s early days, the children are already looking healthier and slowly gaining weight. For most, this is their only meal of the day so it is a joy and privilege to see them eating In the last six months, we have successfully streamed our classes into a beginner, intermediate and advanced group, and the children are adjusting well. It enables the teaching to be more focused and for the more able children to be better prepared for progression to mainstream school.

The beginner classes are currently concentrating on sounds and letter formation, while the intermediate group are learning to read simple words and how to do simple addition and subtraction. The advanced class have progressed to reading simple books and writing, as well as multiplication and division.

Our aim is for the more able children to advance from the pop-up classes to mainstream schools. To date, over 20 children have been able to do this and ZANE recently received funding for a further eight to move on in the coming year. As the children progress, we are able to take on more from the local community to join the popup classes.

Reasons to support ZANE

1. ZANE provides aid, comfort and support to 1,800 impoverished pensioners with nowhere else to turn. Only those genuinely in need of assistance receive it.

2. Donors can choose which area of ZANE’s work they wish to support.

3. ZANE was the Telegraph Group Overseas Charity of the year.

4. ZANE is looking after over 615 aged and frail veterans and their widows. These people fought for the Crown in the Second World War, Malaya, Korea and Aden. Despite their loyal service to the UK, the overwhelming majority are living with insufficient food and limited healthcare.

5. ZANE runs education programmes in the high-density areas assisting women and children living in extreme poverty.

6. ZANE funded the first clubfoot correction programme in Zimbabwe. Eleven treatment centres have been established and over 3,780 children have received treatment to date.

7. ZANE funds the provision of prosthetic limbs for victims of landmine explosions and treatment for people with hearing loss.

8. ZANE’s funds are subject to rigorous audits and ZANE is proud that since its foundation it has never lost money to collapsed banks, middlemen or corruption.

9. An independent consultancy reviewed ZANE and the report stated: “The charity thrives on its responsiveness, flexibility and lack of bureaucracy. Operationally, ZANE is frugal, focused and effective in delivering aid to the needy.”

Charities to be supported 2021

Charities supported in 2020

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