Greetings to Everyone
And all the best for this coming new year. Thank you once again for your verykind donation to get us going. All the plumbers have returned safely from theirrural homes and so far we have all managed to keep free of cholera! Sadly allour problems are still with us and I understand that once again our talks havefailed. Besides that we are all well and happy?@%* and are very proud to saythat we are now able to do normal shopping but of course you must have the rightmoney. Yes there are those products which remain in short supply for examplefresh milk and bread and continuous flow of fresh vegetables and fruit. We areable to get some water either through municipal sometimes or boreholes which webuy. If we were able to get some tablets for the water I think it would be agood idea and have spoken to Christoph about it but am looking into which is thebest and cheapest method. Electricity is still a problem and people have towork around these problems somehow. Recently I was advised by my agent (wholooks after our family home I live in a flat) that the trees on the main roadoutside my yard were about to fall all over the gate and wall and could I pleasecut one down and trim the other two myself. The municipality who are supposedto be responsible could not undertake the work as they have no fuel tools oranything. The tree cutter that had given a quotation wanted US200?@%*. I hadno choice but to pay and then shared all the wood with the plumbers so now theyhave some means of cooking and boiling their water for a few weeks.
Christopherour main person kindly transported the wood to each person's house thats to yourgenerosity with the fuel coupons. I am disappointed to tell you though that ourfuel coupons are dropping in price though. For instance I see that you pay 67pfor a litre which is equivalent to about 94c but here they are redeemed at 60c alitre. I don't understand why I can only think it is about politics and alsothat the fuel coupons have flooded the market because we were using them as ameans to purchase anything. This brings me to another topic which is that theftseems to be on the increase. Thieves are using bolt cutters and crow bars tocut through metal screen doors and force doors open to steal. We are now havingto rethink our security and are interested in purchasing a security screen doorfrom trellidor. Their webside is www.trellidor.co.za. If it meets with yourapproval I was wondering if we could receive the cash instead and put it tobetter use such as the gate instead of loosing your hard earned donation throughdevaluation. We could also improve the staff wages and give them hard currencywhich seems to be the only means of survival when we have enough fuel.But all is not bad. With your donations and our hard work we have managed tosave some money and are now opening a small hardware. This will help us withour stock as well as keep our prices competitive. We have three new membersjoining the team in February and March which is about the time we hope to openthe hardware. I hope to send some photos soon as we are in the middle ofdecorating our offices and new shop. I will tell you more about it as time goeson. I think it is a good thing and will boost our company by creating more workas clients come and look for competitive prices and a good plumber or visaversa.We pray that this year will bring a lot of happiness for us all and that a badbeginning makes a good ending. (Recession and wars) We are thinking of you alland appreciate all your help as you continue to carry heavy burdens yourself.God bless and keep you all safe.
From all of us at Mardon plumbers.
With a little help..
Some world events are closer to home than others and when we got to know Sammy, the owner of Mardon Plumbers in Harare, Zimbabwe, she lived here in Newcastle. Then, 2 years ago, when the situation in Zimbabwe worsened, she decided to go back and look after her 12 employees in Harare whose livelihood depend on a job with her company. Unfortunately, it didn't get any better since. Zimbabwe is suffering an economic and political crisis, with annual inflation of 100,000%, and unemployment at 80%. There are severe food and fuel shortages and recent outbreaks of Cholera. Some friends and colleagues decided that maybe we could help. Since then we have been supporting Sammy, the employees in her business and their families with fuel vouchers, because fuel is the key not only to transport and enabling business and freeing up resources but these vouchers can be traded for other vital goods such as food or medicine. It works via an organisation called Mukuru that organises the supply of goods and money in some countries in Africa. We buy the vouchers online and Sammy gets a code on her mobile that enables her to pick up the fuel at a petrol station in Harare. Since January 2008 we have been sending close to 2,000 litres of fuel and Sammy has been stressing that every litre of that has helped Mardon Plumbers to stay in business and support the families of the staff. We would like to continue this journey for as long as the situation is precarious. Here is an opportunity to read, comment and maybe join in.
Christoph
Christoph
Tuesday, 20 January 2009
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