In order to thank The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for clean drinking water, toilets, new beds and more, Rusike School and Clinic held a grand event attended by the Minister of Health and other officials. Present was MP Kakonye of Goromonzi, South Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development, various local Village Chiefs and Village heads, Directors of Ministry of Health and Education, local Councilors, Pastors of ZAOGA and representatives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, including Elder Stephens representing LDS Charities, Bishop Jack and Ken Sharpe, National Public Affairs Director for the Church.
| Temple Square is always beautiful in the springtime. Gardeners work to prepare the ground for General Conference. © 2012 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. | 1 / 2 |
The Church used local workmanship where possible done by artisans in the area so as to have local ownership and empowerment.
The same water provision was done at Rusike school with a total of nine boreholes supplying enough fresh clean water for all the excited children there.
The school Choir sang a poem they made to show gratefulness to their counselor, MP and especially to the Church for their humanitarian effort that will improve and enhance the lives of those in the community. They sang a song about how we can all join hands in Zimbabwe to bring much needed development into the country!
Ministry of Health representative Mr Chonzi said, “To see what Latter-day Saints have done today is truly a joyous and monumental gift. I want to thank them for the maize grinding mill, the repairs to the roof and painting at the Rusike high school, the repairs and painting to Clinic and installation of our first toilet and clean water for a shower and kitchen. Most importantly I thank them for the enormous water project of some seven water wells, towers and pumps with pressure tanks to give us constant water supply.
The pupils recited a poem “We salute you Sister Stephens, We salute you Elder Stephens, We salute you Latter-day Saints for the work you do with love as good Christians!”
A group did a play in which they acted as local members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints singing in Shona “We rinse and wash our hands with soap and we clean the dishes and we clean the walls and floors.”
The Deputy Minister Kagonye expressed her gratitude to the Church through Elder and Sister Stephens and the resultant contribution to MDG no 7 to have by 2015 a larger proportion of the people having access to sustainable clean water. Orphans will benefit from the grinding mill and the feeding plan provided by Latter Day Saints. She talked about all the work that was done at the clinic and the number of boreholes done in the whole ward. She said "Even the ladies giving birth will not feel the pain of delivery because of the good beds provided by Latter-day Saints. They are our true friends, our brothers and sisters. All the indigenous churches must join in following the Latter Day Saints example to do good things."
Other donations of the Latter-Day Saints included Hampers given to the elderly women. A total of 34 boreholes have been completed in the area and the Church is currently drilling nine more.
After the plays, singing and dancing, the ribbon was cut as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints officially turned over the completed renovation projects to the community. All those in attendance left with a smile and hope for a brighter future.