REYMAN E MAIL REPORT – 11 JUNE 2008
Hello from sunny and cold Alberton, South Africa. This is Karen wishing all of the fathers a wonderful Father’s Day! Yes, they celebrate it here, too.
TIGANE CHURCH OF CHRIST BUILDING
Paul goes to Tigane, a township near Klerksdorp, each week to supervise the building of the minister’s house and the toilet block. This week they had part of the house’s walls up and the windows in. He hopes it will be ready to put the roof on by next week. They plan to start putting the walls up on the toilet block this week. Patson Phiri is the minister there and currently they meet in a tin shack on the property.
XENOPHOBIA IN SOUTH AFRICA
About a month ago xenophobia erupted in one of the townships of Johannesburg. Those targeted were foreigners mainly from Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi. South Africans have killed about sixty people, burned homes, and looted foreign-owned businesses. The incidents then spread to other places in South Africa. People found refuge in civic centers and at police stations. Slowly it has subsided, but many of those targeted are now housed in makeshift tent cities, as they are afraid to return to the places where they were attacked. Others have lost everything and have nowhere to go.
It is estimated that there are about three million Zimbabweans in South Africa. Some are here legally, but most are illegally living and working here. This is due to the dire economic situation in Zimbabwe. Those living here send money and food home to their relatives in Zimbabwe. Without this help coming from outside Zimbabwe many more people would be at risk of starvation. The government of South Africa wants to send the foreigners back, but many are refusing to go. They say they would rather be shot here than starve in Zimbabwe.
ZIMBABWE ELECTION
Zimbabwe is scheduled to have a run off election for the presidency on June 27th. Since the March 29th election, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), which is the opposition party, claims that between sixty and seventy people have died in political violence. Hundreds more have suffered from being beaten, lit on fire and driven from their homes that have been destroyed. Hundreds more are in hiding, fearing for their lives.
The economic situation continues to deteriorate with inflation estimated at one million per cent. On Monday, the 9th of June the exchange rate was 1.3 billion one US dollar. Three days later, on the 12th of June the exchange rate was 2.5 billion to one US dollar. A friend commented in an email "surely this can't go on much longer." That is what people were saying five years ago. This week the government has stopped all Non Government Organizations-World Vision, Christian Care, etc.- from distributing food aid.
Khayelihle Children’s Village continues to care for the 67 children at the farm and about 100 children who are in the Community Orphan Care Programme. They make trips to Botswana for the food and fuel they need.
FAMILY FOOTNOTES
 Our daughter, Laurie, is on an island in Lake Victoria, Tanzania, working with a women’s project through her school, the University of Georgia. She will be visiting us from June 24th to the 8th of July. We are looking forward to having her here.
We enjoyed having Isaac and Karen Barringer from Joplin, MO, here. They flew up to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, saw African game at Kruger National Park here in South Africa and then went to the beautiful beaches of Durban. It was fun having them here in between their wanderings. |
