wfn.org | Zimbabwe: Local population is proud of its LWF project

[FRANK_IMHOFF.parti@ecunet.org (FRANK IMHOFF)]

The church has improved people's lives

MASVINGO, Zimbabwe/GENEVA, 30 April 1999 (lwi)   "I can see why the
Lutheran World Federation (LWF) has such a strong reputation. I was so
very impressed by how all this is handled. And I can explain with
convinced enthusiasm when I get home."

These remarks from Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) Bishop
Allan Grundahl during a visit to the LWF Zimbabwe program, summed up his
opinion of what he describes as an encouraging and informative time
spent at a water project in Zvishavane, in the south-eastern part of the
country.

Excerpts from his diary present an overview of the local situation: "In
this drought-prone area, they (the local population) now have water all
the time for their cattle. Before the dam was built, cattle had to be
driven some 10 miles (16 km) for water   they would die at times of
drought, or stay so skinny there was no meat. Now they water some 3,000
cattle and small livestock right in the area. And they are starting to
build irrigation channels in order to grow vegetables in the gardens."

However, the immediate task is to build silt traps at many places
upstream to stop the sand and silt from running into the dam. As the
traps fill up with sand and silt, the people dig them out and use the
materials to construct their houses. The dam, put up to catch rain water
is an ongoing project, and according to Grundahl, it is obvious the
local people are not only extremely proud of what they have done but
they also maintain the dam well.

Another day and another visit to a small village. Here, Grundahl and his
team which included Bishop Voitto Huotari, Finland, Mrs Marquise Sopher,
Canada, Mrs Helena Manninen-Visuri, Finnchurchaid and Leo Siliamaa, LWF
Department for World Service (DWS) representative in Zimbabwe, were
received with joy. From the project  raising turkeys  the people have
enough to eat and sell at the village market. They display their
confidence by talking about their failures and successes. They tell the
visitors how they once lost 200 birds to disease, but now they have
learnt to vaccinate.

At another project where construction of a water dam is in progress, the
visitors are impressed by the effects of team work. About 30-40 people
carry rocks while two tractors move in the earth needed to build the
center of the dam. A group of women pick up sticks and other materials
dug out from the earth. The people are divided into teams, working one
day per week per group. This way, they can continue to do their own
field work as well as help with the dam, experiencing ownership of it.

In another area, the people build channels to bring water to each garden
plot where individual families grow cabbages, bananas, oranges, sugar
cane, tomatoes and several other crops. However, only those who have
worked on the project may have vegetable plots. Nowadays unlike in the
past, safe drinking water is easily available as there are enough deep
wells, many of which have been put up with assistance from the LWF.

According to Grundahl, the group also had a chance to learn about a
simple and effective method to stop the spread of disease, when they saw
a model of a specially designed outhouse toilet, now to be found in
every village and in most homes.

For Grundahl, the visit to Masvingo was nostalgic as he had been a
teacher at a neighboring secondary school from 1963 to 1965, when unlike
today, such services as electricity were non-existent. He describes
morning prayer at the Bible school in the Masvingo mission where the
group was staying: "Even though we were only about 10 people, the
singing in the local language warms my heart with memories of living
here   a few tears came in realizing how meaningful and central the
Christian faith is for us all  which I learnt to appreciate in a new way
35 years ago when we (he and his wife Janice) lived here."

He continues: "The Christian faith is so evident in every gathering,
even in touring the LWF projects, as local people offer prayers at the
beginning of each meeting and before every meal, or ask one of us to do
it. Over and over again, we hear how the Christian church has changed
and improved the lives of these people."

The ELCIC bishop also describes one principle which he says he admired a
lot and which gives "tremendous credibility to LWF work." During each of
the group's visits to the project sites, Siliamaa picked up the local
area coordinator, who did all the explaining and interpretation to the
visitors as the latter is the person in charge of the area. This is done
intentionally to ensure that the local people sense ownership of the
project and take care of it.

Grundahl adds: "For in the end, the project really is owned by the local
people at every level, and thus they continue to make it work."

Zimbabwe is one of the 14 African countries where the LWF/DWS is
carrying out emergency assistance, rehabilitation and development
operations. With an annual budget of over USD 1.2 million, the program
includes such activities as environmental protection, water and food
security as well as income-generating projects.

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Lutheran World Information
Assistant Editor, English: Pauline Mumia
E-mail: pmu@lutheranworld.org
http://www.lutheranworld.org/