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As a car owner, you know how important a reliable set of wheels is to get you where you need to go.
Working in the deep-rural Amangwe tribal area (population 45,000), spread over a vast 66 square miles, access to a reliable vehicle is paramount for our outreach work. One of the area's most defining features (besides the beautiful rolling foothills and stunning Drakensberg mountains, of course) is the lack of proper roads and access to essential services. With the exception of the two main arteries, all roads are gravel or dirt. Most of these have large potholes which can turn into a slip and slide with deep clay mud after each heavy rain. From the farthest village, it can take up to 40 minutes riding a public "mini-bus taxi" on the rutted dirt roads, and up to an hour to access a doctor at the government hospital. It's an understatement that the folks who live out in the farthest reaches of the Amangwe community have a hard time accessing resources. It is for this reason that we provide care, support and health education throughout the area. Today we need your support to help us continue to safely and reliably get out into our community. While Thembalethu's 1999 Isuzu bakkie (South African term for pick-up truck) has served us well over the years, it is now past its prime. Each year our repair costs have been increasing, and our bakkie has become increasingly unreliable. A reliable bakkie is required for our nurse and social worker to get out into the community to do home visits and transport patients to access services. As I write, we are unable to do as many of the home visits as needed, because the Isuzu is again in for repairs. Your help today will enable us to purchase a replacement vehicle so that we can continue to visit the sick and support the vulnerable in their homes and community without interruptions. We need to raise $30,000 to purchase a good second-hand bakkie. As the only home-based caregiving organization in the vast, deep rural community, your gift will provide care to an individual or family made vulnerable by HIV or other life-limiting illness. Your gift will give us a reliable vehicle with which we can provide in-home support and serve the broader community so the Zulu people can live in health, to their fullest God-given potential. Will you join with others in giving a special gift today to help us provide wrap-around support to the sick and vulnerable? Keep the home visits going. Give today. Thank you so much! Your partnership makes this work possible. |