Rachel Tucker's Eyewitness Account

Please read the following article written by Rachel Tucker, a dear friend who was able to travel to Zim this summer. She shares the beauty of the people there, as well as a couple of links that feature informative news articles showing how the lack of fresh water is crippling public facilities such as schools and nursing homes. Thank you Rachel for sharing your time, heart, and memories with us!

"I would love to take you with me to visit the memories I made in Zimbabwe this summer. A beautiful country that sometimes reminds you of quiet towns in the Midwest, and sometimes of wild landscapes in a National Geographic magazine, Zimbabwe is full of complexity. She now stands in the midst of tragedy, but walking down the street you would hardly know it. The people that we met in Zimbabwe were so warm and open, and the joy they expressed was contagious. We were greeted in the churches as family members. At the end of many services people would line up with unspoken problems and pain to receive prayer and kindness. As we prayed for people they often put their arms around us, and laid their heads down on our shoulders. Sometimes we would feel their warm tears falling on us. This is the Zimbabwe that stays in my heart, a connection that lives on despite the miles. Like the events we have watched on television from earthquakes to floods to fires, it is more than the cataclysmic event- it is about the individual person that we see who singularly must face their own pain and loss.

We may not be able to turn the whole situation around but we can help individuals.

Life is very difficult in Zimbabwe. School children sometimes get no food before they walk to school, unable to take a bus that no longer runs or is unaffordable. Water is in short supply and that makes everything from cooking, to washing, to hygiene almost impossible. Some report that the lack of water has led to disease outbreak and death, as some children are asked to bring water to school."

Students asked to bring their own water
http://allafrica.com/stories/200709060985.html

Bulawayo's water crisis cripples AIDS efforts - Wednesday, October 10, 2007
http://www.medilinkz.org/news/news2.asp?NewsID=21966

The Andolsek Raffle

In a related project, well-known artist Barbara Andolsek generously donated a beautiful one-of-a-kind 8 x 10 oil painting to be raffled off on Thanksgiving Day. All proceeds from the raffle were designated to be donated to help drill wells in Zimbabwe. I am thrilled to let you know that Ms. Andolsek's generosity netted a total of $4200!!!

Flosites

Flosites is a grapic design firm which offers a wide range of services ranging from creating new logos to building completely custom blogs and websites from the ground up. Everything that I have seen from Flosites has been excellent and above par. Thanks to Flosites generosity and dedication to helping charities around the world, we will have a beautiful new blog soon! Thank you Ross and Flosites!

R.I.M.

Rancho International Ministries is the umbrella organization through which the funds for this project will be distributed. RIM is comprised of international partners throughout the world who strive to serve the needy. Over the last 12 years, RIM has been involved with various projects ranging from food relief and distribution and drilling wells for clean water to building a school for orphans in Uganda to bearing gifts and labor to benefit the local village communities of Ghana. They have also spent a significant amount of time serving the people of Guatemala, including Casa Bernabe Orphanage, and building homes in Mexico. The heart of RIM is to demonstrate love by serving the needy around the world.