We have received letters of thanks in response to our latest donation to our sister club in Harare, Zimbabwe https://sigbi.org/harare/, and also from our Rishi Sunak MP, our local MP and Chancellor of the Exchequer. The President of Harare club said:
Dear SI Richmond and Dales,
Thank you very much for your unwavering support. We are truly honoured and humbled by the generous support you have given to Chikupo and the other projects we support.
We will most certainly distribute the allocated funds to Chikupo as requested and we will distribute the remaining funds between the TBAs and SODA.
I take this opportunity to thank SI Richmond and Dales for your kind support.
In friendship
Tsitsi Machingauta
TBAs are the Zimbabwean Traditional Birthing Attendants, the local women to assist at child delivery, as there are no qualified midwives. We and Harare Club have contributed to their training and provided supplies to help them in their work. SODA is a home for destitute elderly people which is supported by the Harare club, providing a home for those without family to care for them.
Chancellor Sunak wrote to member Sandy Baxter, who has been raising money for Zimbabwe from her bees’ honey and from Face Mask making. He says –
I was most impressed to learn recently of your fund raising activities on behalf of the Soroptimist charities in Zimbabwe with funds generated through your enthusiasm for beekeeping and the making of face masks.
It is very laudable that you and fellow members of Soroptimist International Richmond and Dales have kept in mind the plight of others, particularly children, in the rest of the world when we are pre-occupied with major issues linked to the Covid 19 pandemic in the UK.
Congratulations on your efforts. Please pass on my thanks to club members who also contributed to the fundraising.
Kind regards,
Rishi Sunak
Member of Parliament
RIchmond (Yorks)
