Shipments arrive in Zimbabwe

Very good news. The authorities in Zimbabwe have cleared our two shipments from UK and from China to be duty exempt. The two shipments have arrived in Zimbabwe. The one from China was by DHL and DHL are claiming charges for things that they have already been paid for in China. They are adamant that we need to ay. It is very sad when people do business this way. Will try to avoid DHL for next shipment. The other big shipment has not yet been opened. We think it will be Thursday, but it has already been cleared. ___________________________________________________________________________ )1/08/2012. There have been problems and the shipment is still not released in Harare. We are doing everything we can to have it released. It is costing a fortune in calls and updates. Will let you know if it is released and if everything sent is safe. This is the time when things are looted.

Shipment due in Harare on 14th June

All being well, the long awaited shipment to Zimbabwe is due in Harare soon. The contents on the last shipment were unfortunately looted at Customs depot. We sincerely home that this shipment will arrive at destination intact. the effect would be a lot more than if the items were stolen and put in individual ownership.

There will also be a follow up shipment of items that can be used for training. We believe that a well trained individual will be able to train others in his/her area of specialism. We also believe that good training materials and equipment breed well trained individuals.

We are asking for help from those with time, expertise and are willing to lend a hand. This charity only works with volunteers who can visit our projects and focus on improvements for a few weeks, then leave locals to carry on. The more locals do things for themselves the more they develop skills to do more. We like to simply give them a wide range of options.

We are very grateful for the contribution we have had from China for some of the equipment in this shipment.

Make a real difference

In the developed world are many hand tools that are no longer used but could make a huge difference in income to someone, somewhere on earth. These range from hammers, chisels, sewing machines, old computers, old musical instruments, old mobile phones, wood lathes, bread rollers, to name a few.

In 2005 one of our trustees visited Zimbabwe. Just before he went he bought two spoke keys for aligning bicycle wheels. He gave these to an unemployed man who can asking for gifts of cash to help his family. He also showed him how to use them and gave an idea how much to charge people. On our trustee's next visit in 2008, he found the same man working at about 8 bicycles per week and getting USD40-50 per week for his new skill. Each spoke key had cost our man USD 0.60.

A range of old woodwork tools you good people donated helped us to cut together a wood workshop in 2009, which now employs four young people.

We ask for your help in sourcing any tools you no longer need. We have a team of advisers who can formulate income generating projects from very small tool. Income only needs to be a trickle for it to bring significant change to the beneficiary's family life.

Email us on helpinternational03@yahoo.co.uk if you can help in any way or you have a question on whether something you have can be used.

Thank you.

Clothes for Tanzanian children

The community of Dorridge, near Birmingham have recently shipped 4 boxes of children's clothes to Tanzania through HELP International. The clothes will be distributed by friends of the charity to street children. I will keep in touch with the lady to find out other needs in the area and report back. So watch this space!

Lots of books from Derby College to Zimbabwe

Derby College library has contributed a large number of books towards the libraries in Zimbabwe, including a large collection of Encyclopedia Brittanica. The books, which were carried in three car loads, have joined the shipment on its way to Zimbabwe by sea, a journey which will take 8 -9 weeks. In the shipment is an assortment of things including, woodworking tools, children's musical instruments, sewing machines, poultry incubators, Jam making kits, school chemistry sets, crayons, pencils, and so on, all donated by someone near you in the UK. The jack hammer for helping in well digging is shipped directly from China. The oil expellers are shipped directly from India.

These simple items will train young school leavers as well as our cared for children, to be self reliant and prepared for independence.

We thank all those who have taken part in this shipment. Pictures will be available later in the year 2012.

Recent Trip to Zambia

H.E.L.P International Trustee, Grace Walsh, has just returned from Zambia. We will be posting her report soon.

Shipment to Zimbabwe in two weeks.

A planned shipment to Zimbabwe is due to leave the UK, China, and India soon. We would like to than all those who have helped with this collection of tools and other equipment. A Chinese company has helped in sourcing and shipping a petrol powered jack-hammer to help with hand well digging in Zimbabwe. This will speed up the process and help to provide clean water for many. The digging team, trained in 2009 can dig to 20 metres depths, using basic digging tools. The machine from China was half paid for by the supplier.

Two small seed oil extractors were sourced from India at a reduced cost than normal. We are very thankful for the help. These will be used to train youth to extract oils from a variety of seeds, as a self help project.

We thank schools and colleges in the UK Midlands for donating books from their libraries, for rural libraries in Zimbabwe. In particular, St Josephs High School, Endon High School, St Margret Ward High School, in Stoke on Trent and Derby College, have taken an active role in preparing this shipment.

We thank The Women's Institute (Blithe Bridge) for their collective donation of sewing machines ad books. These will be added to the Dress making project used by different rural schools in the areas near Chatsworth, Zimbabwe.

We thank all others who have donated a wide range of tools, particularly long awaited Woodwork Tools for our flagship community project.

Where ever you are, we appreciate your contribution.