Thank you for visiting this fundraising page, which has been set up by the Stebbing/Dunn/Sylvester families in memory of our mother/grandmother, Dorothy Stebbing.  We are raising money for an urgently needed borehole for Shearly Cripps children's home in Zimbabwe. 

About the home

75 children in one place need a lot of water, for cooking, for washing, to flush toilets and to keep the place clean. Shearly Cripps Children’s Home, 30 miles from Harare has 75 delightful children but a very poor water supply. It is shared with a secondary school of 400 children. During 8 months of the year there is no rain and all the surface water dries up. A borehole of their own is the only answer.

They also need water to grow vegetables and keep their poultry alive. Inflation doubles every month and it is impossible to buy food for 75 children. They must grow  their own or go without. The children work on the vegetables, look after the rabbits and chickens, grow their own maize. Thus they learn to feed themselves. But without reliable water this will all die off.

Can you help? We need about £10,000 (US$20,000) to sink a borehole and put in a pump and new piping.  We have increased the amount from the original £7000 as there is such a great deal to be done at the home.  Can you make a donation, small or great?  These children have been abandoned by parents through poverty or orphaned by AIDS. They are lovely, affectionate children who need much help to make a good start in life.

This project is being sponsored by the Community of the resurrection,Mirfield. The administrator of the Home in is Mr Arthur Maobvera, a retired book keeper and he is supported by retired Bishop Peter Hatendi. We have worked out accounting procedures that will ensure the money does not get swallowed by inflation but reaches its proper destination.

A note from Owen Sheers, author of the Dust Diaries:

‘I first met the children and staff of the Arthur Cripps Children’s Home when I was researching Arthur’s life for my book The Dust Diaries. In this book I was tracing, and trying to capture, some of the generosity of spirit, toughness and determined persistence in the face of massive odds that characterised Arthur’s life as one of the first European social activists in Southern Rhodesia . I discovered fragments of Arthur’s character and beliefs throughout my travels in Zimbabwe – in people who had known him, worked with him, been helped by him, or even just read his work or about him. In the Children’s School, however, I found the very embodiment of everything that Arthur valued. Giving shelter, care and above all hope to those who thought they had lost of all those qualities from their lives. The children were, and are, so impressive. Hard working, clever, funny and grateful for anything that improves their lot. Obviously in recent years that lot has got much worse in the face of Zimbabwe ’s steady decline. The staff of the Home are trying their very hardest to keep the home going despite these worsening conditions, and, amazingly, they are succeeding where many others are, tragically, failing. It is so important the Home is helped through this most difficult of times in Zimbabwe . Not just for the Children under its care now, but for the thousands of children not yet born who will benefit from its work in the future.’

Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to donate: Community Of The Resurrection will receive your money electronically and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in Gift Aid will be added to your donation at no cost to you.

Please donate generously.

Many thanks for your support.