Sunday, February 1, 2009

OLZ Operation Love Zimbabwe

Wecome to the first day of Operation Love Zimbabwe! Esmé's Mommy writing here.

Our family has been in Mozambique since May 2007, moving from the US six weeks after Esmé was born. This is Esmé's blog, though I hijack it from time to time. And her experience proves that joy can be found in the rockpiles of Africa.
So what does this have to do with Zimbabwe? The first time we took a serious look at the situation in neighboring Zimbabwe was in August 2008, when I caught a glimpse of this photo in my dad's email inbox.
The email was from Paula Leen, a 74-year-old American running an orphanage not far from the Mozambican border, close to Mutare, Zimbabwe. Her stories of dire need, needless deaths, and struggles to get just the basics for her orphans and their community captured our attention. Zimbabwe is in a crisis beyond our wildest imaginations. How can we sit back and let it happen? Yet what can we do?

In November 2008, my husband spent a week at Paula's orphanage getting some of her old vehicles back on the road. While he was there, I posted about Zimbabwe again and was amazed at the concerned responses. The idea of Operation Love Zimbabwe was born.

The operation is simple. Two weeks of African-themed giveaways to attract attention of readers throughout bloggyland. And mixed in with the giveaways, posts that give you a glimpse of the real tragedies in Zimbabwe, as well as ideas on how you can make a difference in the lives of Zimbabweans.

Have a look around. Check back throughout the operation, which ends Valentine's Day, February 14. Enter the giveaways. If you have questions about Zimbabwe, leave them in a comment for our upcoming Q&A post.

And let others know about Operation Love Zimbabwe. Post about it on your blog. Put our button on your site.

<a href="http://moziesme.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee24/summeresque/operationlovebutton2.png"/></a>

We want to get the word out. Maybe we can't make a big difference by ourselves, but collectively we can.
Thanks for visiting, and God bless...

---------------
Thanks to Summer at Summer's Nook for designing the Operation Love Zimbabwe button.

18 comments:

Donna said...

I put the button on my blog! That picture just breaks my heart!

Denise said...

Such a needed mission.

Carla said...

That picture should be shown on mainstream media. Maybe it would help people to realize the suffering that is happening in the world!

Sherry Go Sharing said...

I put on my blogs Sherry Contest and Another Contest. Hope more people will know..

Sherry Go Sharing said...

also added button to name sherry and iluvcontest blog.

Lucy said...

Have added the button on my blog. Such a worthy and much needed cause.

Jody said...

Thanks for highlighting the suffering that is going on. I think it is fantastic that you are trying to bring more attention to how horrible the situation is.

Anonymous said...

I finally got my laptop back up and running today so I'm able to catch up on everything. I just love this idea and so glad you are making it happen!

Melissa B. said...

Thanks for doing this. I just finished When the Crocodile Eats the Sun, a memoir about growing up in Zimbabwe. What a sad and powerful story!

Unknown said...

Fantastic cause...I just blogged to spread the love...

Rachel Lundy said...

Thank you so much for sharing about this.

Michael J. Bennie said...

Sorry I'm slow on the uptake...but I'm posting your button on my blog as soon as I comment here. Seems like I either have time to write my blog or read others' blogs...today inside my snowed-in mountain cabin with the girls down the mountain I'm dreaming of having time to do both someday. But then what would I have to write about? :)

Kelly @ Sufficient Grace Ministries said...

What an amazing mission you are on...praying God's blessings on you and your family as you serve the Lord by caring for those in desperate need.

Marilyn - A Mixed Bouquet said...

Coming in toward the end, however, I'm hoping my post will send others here!

Praying for these children!

Mana Laura said...

I must just be so lame but can't figure out how to add the button to my blog! When I try, it says it contains illegal characters! What I did was CTRL-C the info, then in Blogger, I clicked on add a gadget, my own, then pasted the text from your blog. That's when it came up saying it contains illegal characters I should fix. As if! Is there an easier way? Help!

Colette S said...

Is there a way to get a button that doesn't show an expire date?

What LinkMosaic..? said...

thank you for the image,
you might want the url to forwad to
http://moziesme.blogspot.com/2009/02/operation-love-zimbabwe.html

rather than the blog.

Imad

Anonymous said...

Just saw this or I would've done it sooner. Sorry!

Best wishes.