We think our cooks and volunteers who help us in Zimbabwe are wonderful! In fact, all our cooks and volunteers are and if it wasn’t for them, things would come to a standstill. They bring the energy and support which helps make everything else work together so well. They would probably think that they aren’t all that important in the grand scheme of things, but to us, they really are. They are vital to our projects and programmes running effectively and efficiently and play a huge part in the day-to-day life of Smile.

We want to particularly think about and remember our cooks and volunteers in Zimbabwe this month. The work they do is very selfless, and they carry it out in difficult surroundings. There are no ovens, no big sinks with taps and running water to wash things or fill up pots and pans; there’s no electricity, or even easy meals that can be prepared. The traditional meals all take a long time to prepare and then cook, making the job each day very time consuming. They cook on open fires, which are very smoky and extremely hot too, and they stand and stir for long periods of time. Why do they do this? Because they are passionate about seeing children and school staff being fed and love playing a part in enabling this to happen. Our cooks and volunteers live locally, they are from Zimbabwe themselves and so they know the challenges that everyone faces. They know that if it wasn’t for the feeding programmes, the children and staff wouldn’t get fed and they appreciate that the struggle for food is very real.

We love that they want to make a difference in this way, that they share the desire to see everyone fed and happy. We admire them for their dedication and strength as they too face difficulties and struggles in their own lives, yet sacrificially give of their time and energy to help those who need it.

Please remember our dear cooks and all the volunteers that bring everything together to make our programmes function well. Give thanks to God for them as they tirelessly give of their time and energy to help make a difference to those around them and we ask you to pray for their own families and home situations. We ask you to pray for extra strength for them all as they carry out this work and do so to put smiles on people’s faces.

If you feel you would like to gift a Smile Hamper to one of our cooks or volunteers and make them smile, then please follow the link below to order them a well-deserved treat. Thank you.

https://www.smileinternational.org/shop