We recently received an e-mail from Fr. David Barry, with news from Zimbabwe.  He talked about a whisper of hope in the air now that the opposition party of Morgan Tsvangirai has joined Robert Mugabe’s government.  He writes:-

 “We continue our work at Silveira House where I am the director of a development institute that has been in operation for 45 years.  It was born in the crisis of the early 1960s when there were clashes in the townships and we seem to have been in some sort of crisis ever since.  We work in awareness building, advocacy, conflict resolution, research into the situation, HIV&AIDS awareness, technical skills and small business creation and other things.  Our plant has deteriorated over the years and we have to do something to improve it soon.  But my more immediate worry is the number of urgent requests that come to my door.  Through the Di Paola Trust where I lodge the money I receive, we have been able to help hundreds of young people to go to school and university.  As our economy shrinks – we have 93% unemployment – there are more and more desperate parents.  We just have to do what we can”.

The Parish sent £500.00 last month to support Silveira House, and our parish Justice and Peace Group aims to raise more money to help Fr. David and other causes.
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