TNC in the News
Elsa Zollars has written a series of articles focuing on people who has taken mission trips to Nyadire in 2010. The articles were published in regional editions of In Community magazine. The articles are listed below, by region, as PDF files.
Bethel Park
Chartiers Valley
Mt. Lebanon
Shaler
Upper St. Clair* * *
2010 NYADIRE MISSION TRIPS
Click here to see what it's like to be in Zimbabwe with
The Nyadire Connection.
Great video by Seth McPherson, who was there with the Aug. 2010 team.
NOTE: This is a large video file and will take some time to load even over fast Internet connections.
* * *
Three Volunteers In Mission (VIM) trips to
the Nyadire United Methodist
Mission were completed in 2010. Have you ever wondered
what one does on a Nyadire VIM trip?
The short answer is a lot. Most volunteers would say relationships, And if you ask trip leaders, they will tell you that there is always a focus and much to do.
The April Trip Team unloaded and distributed the contents of the ocean container sent by The Nyadire Connection (TNC) and Brothers’ Brother last November. Medical supplies and equipment, medications, items for the Home of Hope, books for the community library, educational materials for the early childhood programs at Nyadire and neighboring schools, textbooks for the Teachers’ College, and Croc shoes and clothing were some of the items that were taken to their new homes. Setting up the 43 Apple computers throughout the Mission was also a priority. In the process, an Internet Café was established to provide internet access for personal use. Work on the community library involved processing the 4000 books donated by Half Price Books.
The July Trip Team included pastors from the Western PA UM Conference, and our own senior minister, Rev. R. Duane Thompson. They convened with the pastors of the Mutoko/Mudzi Region in a Pastors’ Conference to discuss how ministry is done in the Pittsburgh region and in rural Zimbabwe. The July team visited neighboring rural schools to meet and photograph orphans who hope to be sponsored by the Home of Hope Outreach Program for their school fees and a backpack of school supplies.
The August Trip Team conducted a Vacation Bible School for the children in Nyadire one week and managed to buy the materials for a chain link fence, then enclose the garden at the Home of Hope Orphanage (HOH,) The fence will prevent wandering cattle from ruining the crops. They also repaired an x-ray machine, and created a miniature water reservoir so that the orphanage will have running water. During their final days in Zimbabwe, the team took the 31 children and about 20 caregivers from the Home of Hope Orphanage to Imire Game Park for a three-day safari. (More about the excursion in the October edition of the CUMC Reporter.)
Ben Dempe, a rising junior at Allegheny College majoring in economics with a focus on international affairs, was the first TNC intern at the Nyadire Mission. Ben was part of both the July and August teams. He spent 10 weeks there, living with a Zimbabwean family and tackling a variety of projects: 1) assisting the new Internet Café by advising them on income and expenditures and surveying the usage of the Café; 2) developing a micro-lending program offering small loans to locals at a low interest rate; and 3) assisting the Home of Hope Administrator with the Home of Hope Outreach Program. His insights can be seen on his blog: http://www.nyadire.blogspot.com/
