February 24, 2009
by Melissa Ramirez Cooper

Just 10 years ago Zimbabwe was exporting goods and was known as the "breadbasket of Southern Africa," according the Rev. Benyam A. Kassahun. Today Zimbabwe is in crisis with more than 5 million people struggling to feed themselves. "They are real people, and I've seen their faces and their smiles. But I know that when I return to Zimbabwe, some of the people I've met will no longer be (living)," said Kassahun, program director for Southern Africa, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Global Mission. He traveled to Zimbabwe just before Christmas.

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 ELCA is providing funds to the ELCZ. The ELCA allocated $330,000 for the purchase of 90 metric tons of seed and fertilizer for food production. Kassahun said that with the help of other organizations, more than 200 metric tons of seeds were distributed and planted in Zimbabwe the weeks before and after the new year, which was the planting season there. Between the planting and harvesting seasons, the ELCA is working to coordinate immediate food delivery through local Lutheran partnerships. The ELCA provided an additional $75,000 for food aid.

The good news is that it is raining there now, and that is essential for crop growth, said Kassahun. "By May or June there should be a harvest, and people will have something (more) to eat. But the rain is also a curse, because it causes the spread of disease like cholera in communities and villages surrounding the ELCZ hospitals. It would only take one spoonful of bleach, mixed with seven gallons of water, to clean and stop the spread of cholera, but doctors have told me there is no bleach available." Kassahun said that the overall need in Zimbabwe is "overwhelming. But with the support of others we hope that giving will multiply. It is my hope to look back (on this crisis) and say, we've come a long way in saving human lives."

ELCA News Service