The Pajero

The roads in Zimbabwe leave a lot to be desired and in the south, in the low veldt where we work, they are mostly dirt, totally potholed and rarely maintained!

Hence the need for a reliable vehicle and in December 2013 our AFADU Pajero 4X4 was purchased to ensure Board member, Wendy “had wheels” while she was staying at Edenvale Ranch and working at the Lirhanzo Children’s Village, a 25 min drive away, towards Chikombedzi.

The money was donated by a wonderfully generous couple from Melbourne, Robbie and Rose Unger who I had met on Hamilton Island, who had known Wendy for many years.

Since then it had been used by all the Field Trippers for Project work and in an emergency situation when other vehicles were off the road or being repaired and has become an integral part of AFADU and its ability to give ongoing support.

An email from Ezelle came out of the blue with very bad news!!!!

“We used it on the weekend to attend Dr Mutengerere’s wedding in Mutare.

Before going we already looked at the tyres and discussed that they were very worn. They are still the same tyres that Wendy bought the car with, so their life is now over.

The long stretches of potholes on the way to Mutare did not help and we lost one tyre. We bought a second hand one to stand in for a spare tyre in the meantime, but all the tyres need replacement.

The radiator also needs replacement, we had to fill it every now and then as the core is still blocked after they flushed and repaired it.

Luckily it was me driving, so we stopped immediately when anything shows to be a problem and first made sure there is enough water so as not to cook the engine.

The brake pads are also very thin at the back and needs replacement.

I could again take the car to SA so that they fit all there, as that would be cheaper.

I would wildly guess that all this would cost in the region of about US$1500.

Whitsunday Lions Club one of the mighty service clubs in the very community minded area I live, were approached.

They had been very supportive in the past and last year had funded new batteries for LCV and this year extra funding to grade and repair the horror road from the main Chikombedzi road to the children’s village.

They didn’t hesitate to open their hearts and a cheque was made out to AFADU to cover the repairs and an extra $1000 more which will be put in a Pajero contingency fund.

It was tearfully accepted.

Pam Harrison
Sponsorship Director
And Proud friend of WHITSUNDAY LIONS CLUB