Dear
friends,
In
the past few days dark clouds have been hovering over the Goromonzi District as
students, parents, farmers and the like keep their fingers crossed for a start
to the rainy season. Though officially the rains are expected to start falling
continuously on the 15th of November any rain drops right now will
bring in some respite to the dry and parched lands.
Earlier
this month the beautiful Jacaranda trees started blooming and with it the
thought of writing exams struck the children. The children have been in the
middle of writing their exams and we are hopeful that those that put in time to
study will do well. As the year is slowly drawing to an end Team Nhaka has been
working hard to ensure that the plans for the next year are firmly in place and
that we are able to deliver service, support and work with the communities to
create sustainable mechanisms for orphan care.
We
visited one school that benefitted from the Preschool renovation program a
month after the official opening of the two block classroom and we were excited
by how the children and teachers have embraced their new class and are learning
in a clean, spacious and health environment. The different creativity corners,
science and discovery areas and the drawings by the children that have been put
on the walls melted our hearts as children chanted different rhymes.
My
heart aches when certain communities fail to embrace the issues of ownership
and sustainability. When parents and caregivers feel that they will always be
recipients of donor aid in the form of cash handouts, food packs and school
fees assistance whilst they are not doing anything. Team Nhaka has for the past
4 months been working in one such community that has been slow to embrace the
fact that they have to work hard in order to provide the best for their
children and community. At times when the team reports back in meetings, the
easiest option is to simply to write to donors for a particular project and
tell them we are dropping the project. However because in Romans 5:5 we read
that “because the love of God has
been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us” we then have a renewed conviction of working
with everyone and leaving no child behind. Nhaka Foundation aims to “leave a
lasting legacy” and the team has realized that this is not going to be easy and
we need to continue moving forward and providing guidance and direction to the
communities.
Love
is the utmost virtue in life! “Love is patient, kind, not jealous, not
proud, not rude, not selfish, not irritable,
not unforgiving,not glad about injustices, but rejoices with the truth, bears
all things, believes all things, hopes
all things, endures all things.
Love never fails”
As
we move forward we thank God for the people and organizations who have blessed
us in so many ways and opened up the way for the work we are doing. Without
love and a gentle spirit, as human beings we end up not fulfilling the will of
God for our lives. My challenge to you friends today is to ask you: what legacy
are you going to leave behind?
Please
“Like” our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter on@NhakaFoundation .
Until
next time,
Patrick
Love is the greatest
power in life! 1 Cor. 13:13
