ELCA NEWS SERVICE

November 19, 2008  

ELCA Takes Action to Address Food, Health Crisis in Zimbabwe
08-195-MRC

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The economic, political and social decline
in Zimbabwe has taken a disastrous toll on the country's food
supply and medical institutions, including four hospitals of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zimbabwe (ELCZ).  To help sustain
the services of the hospitals, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America (ELCA) is providing $600,000 to the ELCZ.  The ELCA is
allocating another $330,000 for the purchase of 90 metric tons of
seed and fertilizer to help secure food production.
     "Just 10 years ago Zimbabwe was in a completely different
place.  The country was known as the breadbasket of southern
Africa," said the Rev. Benyam A. Kassahun, program director for
Southern Africa, ELCA Global Mission.  "Everything is now
destroyed," he said, due to political fallout, land confiscation
and mismanagement.
     In October Kassahun traveled to Zimbabwe.  He described the
situation there as "a human disaster."  Among those who suffer
most are "children, especially those under five, and pregnant
women, who do not know if they will be able to give birth just
because they are hungry," he said.
     Kassahun's trip included visits to the ELCZ hospitals --
Manama, Masase, Mnene and Musome.  The hospitals can no longer
attract and retain qualified medical staff, afford to purchase
food and pharmaceuticals to feed and treat patients, and provide
ambulatory services.  Funds sent by the ELCA to the ELCZ will be
used to restore medical services at the hospitals, such as the
purchase and storage of drugs, medical supplies and nutritious
food; improve shelter conditions for pregnant women; secure
telephone and fax machine capabilities; and provide
transportation for patients needing specialized care at other
medical facilities.
     "Nurses at the hospitals are collapsing because they are
also hungry," and "doctors are dismissing patients because there
is no food to feed them," said Kassahun.
     "I've never seen this kind of disaster and death," said
Kassahun.  "Churches are also in crisis, and pastors are having
difficulty surviving.  They are also tired of burying the dead
and consoling the living.  One bishop looked at me and said, 'My
monthly salary does not buy two liters of cooking oil.'"
     Between 80 and 85 percent of Zimbabweans are unemployed,
said Kassahun.  "A lot of men have left the country to look for
jobs in neighboring countries.  In a matter of one month, from
June to July, the inflation rate jumped from 11.2 million percent
to 231 million percent.  That means the local money is
worthless," he said.
     "It's hard to understand the inflation rate figure," said
the Rev. Rafael Malpica-Padilla, executive director, ELCA Global
Mission.  "To help make sense of that, consider the salary of a
pastor which is 300,000 Zimbabwean dollars per month.  That
salary only buys one loaf of bread.  But, even if you have money,
there is no food to buy," he said.
     In addition to the $600,000 the ELCA is providing to
stabilize and restore the services of the four ELCZ medical
institutions, Malpica-Padilla said another critical part of the
ELCA's response in Zimbabwe is to purchase food, seeds and
fertilizer for distribution to about 15,000 families in an effort
to provide "food for today and seed for tomorrow."  He said the
planting season is now.  "If seeds are not planted within the
next four to five weeks, it will be too late.  The plan is for
the seed and fertilizer to be purchased now through local
partners in South Africa and transported by truck into Zimbabwe."
     "Our hope is that these efforts will leverage the support of
the United Nations World Food Programme to assist in providing
food for the entire community.  This effort is a collaborative
one led by the Lutheran World Federation's regional expression in
southern Africa," said Malpica-Padilla.  He added that all funds
from the ELCA will be "carefully transferred and will not be
wired in one lump sum."  Funds allocated by ELCA Global Mission
came from the ELCA World Hunger and Disaster Appeal.
     "God is calling us to share, to walk with the hungry and, to
the best of our knowledge, speak on behalf of the voiceless.
Zimbabwe is only one corner of the world, yet the kind of
disaster happening there is happening all over the world," said
Kassahun.  "We are called to share from what we have, share from
what is at our table.  That is what the gospel is to me, what I
have come to realize.  To feed the hungry is where I find hope
and where God wants us all to be."
- - -
     A short video featuring the Rev. Ambrose Moyo, executive
director, Lutheran Communion in Southern Africa, and former
bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zimbabwe, describing the
situation in Zimbabwe is available at
http://www.ELCA.org/globalmission on the ELCA Web site.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
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