A community team from Hanover has returned after their recent visit of supporting people in Zimbabwe.
Team Leader for the Hanover Hope Community Church’s compassionate aid project Barry Mutrie says, the team returned home May 26 after two weeks of connecting with the children and workers at the Village of Hope and Vimbainesu Children’s Home.
The Village of Hope is located just outside the country’s capital of Harare.
“The purpose of our trip is to connect our community as partners with the Village of Hope in Zimbabwe and to attempt to encourage the people there, so they know the people here in our community and in particular our Mission Zimbabwe people that work each year to support them, are there for them and working with them,” says Mutrie.
Nine people made the trip, which included those from the church community and the local community.
Mutrie says while there, the team took a field trip with the children to an amusement park and built a gazebo for parents and students to get out of the rain.
Additionally, the team also attended community outreach programs outside the Village of Hope at Beta Bricks School and Star Community, where they handed out over 100 food hampers to families.
Before leaving May 25, the team presented gifts of medical supplies, sports equipment, and backpacks, as well as a donation of $550 US for school supplies.
“When we go there, there are times that are very heartbreaking and there are times that are really inspiring and those times that are inspiring are those times when you see the children and how they are supported and encouraged and loved at the Village of Hope. The heartbreaking part is when you go into communities such as the Beta Bricks School and Star Community where people literally have nothing and are just struggling day to day to feed themselves,” says Mutrie.
Mutrie says their support for Zimbabwe started in 2006, when they made their first trip to the country in 2007.
“I took eight men from our church back in 2007 and went to the Village of Hope and at that point, there was almost nothing there. They has bought 22-acres of land and there was a few buildings but hardly any, and we went to actually help build part of the school. I am not sure that we did as much as we hoped to do in terms of building, but we were really inspired by the people there and the potential to help their community,” says Mutrie.
He says three things sparked from that trip in building a long-lasting project to help the people they met in Zimbabwe.
“One was to get children to go to school, because there you have to pay go to school, so we felt that was important. We said we would do community events, so we do a lot of community events to raise money as well as raise awareness about the village and we do that every year, we do at least three events a year, and then the third thing we do is take a team every year, so this has been my 15th trip to the village,” says Mutrie.
Mutrie says they plan to hold a fundraising barbecue and concert on June 10 at the church starting at 5:30 p.m., with all proceeds going towards the Mission Zimbabwe Project. Tickets for the event can be purchased on the church website here.
Those interested in supporting the project can contact Mutrie by emailing abmut01@gmail.com or calling 519-270-4461.
