BBC recently reported that 11 members of Saltash Methodist Circuit in the UK travelled to Harare to

The members of Saltash Wesley raise funds to enable more children to go to school in Zimbabwe (Photo from BBC site).

stay with local families and provide support to an orphanage in Mbare.

The two groups have built up a strong relationship over recent years. Teams from Mbare have already visited the Cornish town in the UK.

Bob Mahy from Saltash said, “The infrastructure is much poorer and the people are poorer but what we found was a fantastic welcome. It was a privilege for us to go there.”

The partnership started around 20 years ago. More recently the congregation in Saltash started fundraising for various projects in Mbare.

Mr Mahy added, “We provide money which the [Methodist] church uses to help older people who are looking after their grandchildren. Or they use the money for younger women in the congregation to start small businesses. “Then when they can afford to repay the money, it gets lent to other people.”

“We now raise money for school fees for children which we send out every term. When we were there a group of children we had helped came to sing and dance for us and showed how appreciative they were.”