Harborne mum bids to help crisis-hit Zimbabwe

Jul 10 2009 by Jane Tyler, Birmingham Mail

A BIRMINGHAM mother had a reality check on a mercy mission to crisis-torn Zimbabwe.

Abigail McMillan, aged 38, has now vowed to raise as money as she can to help the country’s poverty-stricken people.

The mum-of-two, from Quinton Road, Harborne, went to Africa with the Catholic aid agency CAFOD, where she is a manager for the Midlands region.

CAFOD is one of the few aid agencies allowed to help the most vulnerable people in Zimbabwe through its partners in the Catholic Church network. Abigail said: “The reality in Zimbabwe is bleak. The time of empty supermarkets and wheelbarrows full of Zimbabwe dollars worth only a few pence is over for now, but this doesn’t mean the nation can feed itself. “Only an hour out of the capital, Harare, people are barely surviving. Hospitals and schools are barely functioning.”

Abigail said she was “shocked” at the difference from her last visit to Zimbabwe on holiday 12 years ago. “This country is ravaged but what hadn’t changed was the spirit of the people and their determination to make something of their lives,” she said. “It’s for these people that I’m going to organise talks and fund-raising events around Birmingham so we can help support them in changing their lives.”

Two years ago, people throughout the Midlands gave £212,000 towards the £2 million donated to CAFOD’s emergency appeal. The money was spent providing thousands of families with emergency food parcels, seeds for vegetable plots and health care but the cash has now run out.

Abigail said: “I met so many families and vulnerable communities who have benefitted from previous CAFOD funding. I saw for myself how this money is reaching those most in need.”