Update from Fountain of Hope

This is one of the hottest and driest communities of Zimbabwe. This season alone the community has received less than 10 mm of rainfall. This community is characterized by hunger, starvation, a lack of clean drinking water, and there is no school in Mtshazo village. Farming is not one of those things that is widely practiced and this is because people of this community fatalistically believe that nothing can come out of their land. Unemployment is very high in the community and many people go to South Africa for greener pastures although at the moment these youngsters cannot go because passports are not being issued currently in Zimbabwe. 

Our desire is to lift this community from abject poverty and create a green belt where people are growing tomatoes, vegetables, etc. to sustain themselves. Our long-term vision together with the members of the community is to harvest water from Mtshabezi river for drinking purposes as well as for productive purposes. This water, once it has been harvested, will change this dry dusty community into a green productive community. Thank you so much Bright Hope World for being part of this process. Please find herein below what has been happening and is happening at the moment in Mtshazo community: 

Recent Events

Foundations for Farming

This is one of our greatest means of breaking the cycle of poverty and hunger in downtrodden communities. We trained and empowered 25 people of this community with farming God’s way skills to grow maize and sorghum. We will try to help them grow cow peas which is a very good cash crop which does not take long to be harvested. 

The people who are receiving this ongoing training are also very excited and are looking forward to seeing their community being able to harvest something from their fields. This has never happened before but with this excitement, the limits are going to be broken. 

Thank you so much to Bright Hope World for giving this community another chance since most organizations have relegated this community to nothing and have caused some people to believe that nothing good shall come out of it. The 25 believe that with God they are capable of breaking the walls of poverty and hunger which for many years has made their community to be regarded as nothing.  

Clean and Safe Water

The community had a borehole which had not been used for many years but thank God for Bright Hope World for the installation of a solar powered pump to provide water to the community as well as to the Transformation Centre. A demonstration plot is going to be established at the borehole site and people are going to come and learn farming at this point. This is going to be the initial point of establishing a vibrant irrigation project in this community. The installation, which already has started, is going to be finished before the 7th of January 2020 and all appreciation goes to Bright Hope World.  

Transformation Centre

The Transformation Centre children are currently on holiday and will be recommencing school in early January 2020. Since the pump installation is going to be ready by the 7th of January, we believe that by the time the school opens there will be water for the children and the people from the community. These children are also going to be introduced to agriculture from their tender age at the community demonstration plot. 

This school has got 32 children at the moment and all are from Mtshazo community. 

Comments

Fountain of Hope staff members and management would like to hereby register our heartfelt appreciation to Bright Hope World for all the love and generosity that you are rendering to communities right here in Zimbabwe. We are very confident that though we operate through very difficult circumstances, these communities are not going to remain the same. Your support is breaking barriers, making people realize the potential they have, it is building bridges in communities, people who used not to talk to each other are now able to talk and work together, and above all the support is making Christ to be known in these communities. 

We are so persuaded that through the grace of God we are slowly stopping desertification of communities and will eventually make these dry communities ‘GREEN’. We have seen great changes already in Makamure which used to be a completely dry area but now people are driving from far away places to buy green veggies from this community which was once very dry and dusty.

Thank you that through your support orphans and vulnerable children have got a home, family, hope and a future at Peniel Centre. Thank you that through your support some schools are getting qualified teachers because your support improved their living conditions at these schools. Through your support communities like Mtshazo which used to live on food hand-outs are going to work in their fields and producing food on their own through the Foundations for Farming program. 

“May the Lord bless you and keep you; may the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; May the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you PEACE”

Thank you so much

Gideon & Jennifer Chishamba and the team (pictured)