HARARE, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe is in a “serious humanitarian crisis” with villagers surviving on wild berries and appealing for food aid that is not coming, the head of Christian Care in the southern African country has charged.The Rev. Forbes Matonga, national director of Christian Care, which distributes food for UNICEF in Zimbabwe, said in a March 5 statement that food security “remains particularly precarious” for Zimbabweans. “Faced with these challenges, it is not enough, ...to look east or west or to the hills for answers but to look up to the Lord and stand still and know that he is God," said Matonga, a United Methodist whose aid group is a member of the church-backed Action by Churches Together International alliance.
Containers of medicine and other supplies from United Methodists arrived in Zimbabwe the last week of February. The shipment was part of the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) ongoing work to provide assistance to Zimbabwe in response to ever-widening cholera and financial crises. In addition to medical supplies, UMCOR is delivering 400 metric tons of milled maize throughout 12 United Methodist districts in Zimbabwe during the month of March.
The most vulnerable families, receive 55-pound bags of grain to supplement their meager diets. Approximately 16,000 families will receive this important food staple.
The situation in Zimbabwe remains dire. More than 3,000 people have died in the cholera epidemic that has swept the country for months. Hyperinflation has led to economic collapse. UMCOR and the United Methodist Church in Zimbabwe are working together to provide health care and food and water in the most difficult situations.
UMCOR delivered 35 Medicine Boxes, medical books and a microscope in its shipment. Each Medicine Box contains basic medical supplies to provide for a community of 1,000 people for three months. The sterile bandages, vitamins, antibiotics and more in these boxes will assist 35,000 people over the next three months. Health care and supplies are precious commodities in Zimbabwe today. This shipment brings one million tablets of Fluconazole, a drug used to treat fungal infections in AIDS patients and others to United Methodist hospitals. Muslim Aid is also sending 100 Aquaboxes and 300 personal Lifestraw filters to be distributed to local communities to help stem the cholera outbreak that has so far sickened 83,000 people in the country. Each Aquabox contains 30 filters. One filter provides nearly 300 gallons of clean drinking water. Altogether, the 100 Aquaboxes will deliver some 900,000 gallons of safe water for Zimbabwe communities—a precious commodity in cholera-ridden times. In addition to the filters, the Aquaboxes contain chlorine to treat other water sources. The 300 Lifestraws will provide an additional 200 gallons of clean water for each personal drinking straw.
More than 14,000 school kits will give children basic supplies as schools prepare to reopen after being shuttered for months.
Zimbabwe Annual Conference is working with UMCOR, Muslim Aid, an UMCOR partner and United Kingdom-based relief agency. You can support UMCOR's efforts to give relief to the people of Zimbabwe by giving to Advance #199456, Zimbabwe Emergency. The Advance Special supports humanitarian efforts, emergency relief, and long-term development. On the bottom of the form you can give your local church credit for your online gift during the checkout process. If you are unable to make a donation online, call (800) 554-8583. You can also give a check, marked for Zimbabwe Emergency with Advance #199456, to your local church.
Excerpt from General Board of Church and Society website at http://www.umc-gbcs.org/