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Funding for the Struggle
We are receiving funds into the SA account and this is helping with
the
struggle here in Zimbabwe. I thought I would remind you of the
details so
that if you think you can help you could send funds to the SA account
- no
matter how insignificant. 10 pounds will pay for one delegate to go
to
Congress. US$500 will pay for a bus or for fuel for a truck to carry
delegates. We have to move up to 15 000 people to Congress and then
feed
them and get them home again.
We have cut our budget to the bone - no T-shirts, no caps or
bandana's.
The cost of printing documents for Congress has been taken up by one
donor
and we have about half the food we need. The stats are just enormous
-
nearly 100 000 meals will be served, thousands of copies of the
policy
document, new constitution and the reports. The transport bill alone
will
be at least Z$30 billion.
We have told delegates they must get to Congress on their own steam
and
rural folk are selling goats and cattle to raise the funds. They are
borrowing the cash from their communities and I must tell you that if
you
come from Binga - your personal transport costs will exceed Z$6
million.
If you break these huge numbers down to US dollars they seem
manageable -
US$140 000 would pay for all the delegates for example.
My own District has rented a truck and they will get up in the early
morning and travel to Harare some 600 kilometers away. When they get
there
they will camp to save money. They will pass through armed roadblocks
on
the way and face possible harassment and detention. This does not
deter
them in the slightest and our problem is space - we could have
doubled the
number of delegates.
If you live in Zimbabwe you can help with food - maize meal, beans
and
meat are all needed. You could also help with fuel - at Z$200 000 a
litre
this will cost a bomb. If you live in Harare why not offer to
accommodate
delegates? We have not been able to allocate a cent to this and are
going
to ask all delegates from out of town to sleep at the homes local
Harare
members.
If you live outside the country - send your donations to the
following
account:
ZIMFUND
Account Number 1589406079
Branch Code 158952
Bank - Nedbank, South Africa
Swift Code NEDSZAJJ
Every bit helps. A similar account is being opened in London but will
not
be ready in time for Congress. There are no administrative charges or
overhead to this operation - it is entirely managed by local members
of
the MDC who are totally reliable. They will give you a receipt if it
is
requested and we can even tell you what your gift was spent on.
After Congress we start the campaign for a new constitution - we hope
this
will be short and effective. It simply will not work if we do not
have the
funds. If you live outside Zimbabwe this is the one way you can have
a
direct impact on events here. Many people are sitting on their
chequebooks
because of the recent split ion the Party - we have put that behind
us and
you should to. We have the future to capture and this is now in our
hands,
not Mbeki, not the UN or the USA or the EU - OUR hands. Yours and
mine.
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