Please click the link below to find out more about ZANE An Introduction to ZANEOver the last week we have received many emails arising from the following Facebook and whatsapp message that has been circulating: I am writing this with a very heavy heart and it’s a plea to the world out there. We are... Read More

Over the past few weeks we have been posting about the difficulties in Zimbabwe as the country goes once again into meltdown and how ZANE is stepping up to try and offer protection and help to the elderly victims who have nowhere else to turn for food, medicine and shelter in this deepening crisis. Sometimes... Read More

Dear Family and Friends, All semblance of normal has gone. Three months since Zanu PF returned to power for the 38th year, under a new President, the wheels in Zimbabwe are falling off. The nightmare combination of no fuel, no bank notes, no medicine and a growing list of food and toiletries that aren’t available,... Read More

Things in Zimbabwe have really never been worse for the old age pensioners who ZANE supports. Sadly most of them have never had a choice about whether to go or stay as simply applying for a migration visa to any other country in the world is impossible when you have a Zimbabwean passport and no... Read More

Helen* has just died. Seven or eight years ago we used an advertisement with part of the letter she had written to raise money for ZANE. Helen wanted to thank us for the assistance we had given to her and her husband after they had been rendered destitute by the land grabs. An orphan from... Read More

When I began the trail, living from a backpack was foreign to me. Home was my room, my house, my neighborhood, my town. Somewhere along the way, however, those defaults changed. Living on the trail became a home of sorts. Packing and unpacking my world each morning and night became as familiar as all my... Read More

After more than four months on the trail, Mike is getting near the end of his walk. If you read through his post below you will see how it has inspired and uplifted him but while he has been on this beautiful, though admittedly challenging, journey, Zimbabwe has been on its difficult journey through elections... Read More

Sharing and Helping In between the beautiful bits, the trail is hard. It can be hot, wet, demoralising, lonely, fearsome, and it sometimes feels unfair. In fact, it’s just when it feels unfair – when I start anthropomorphising rocks, roots, or gradients, heaping curses on them or seeking to report them to higher authorities –... Read More

Hikers and Other Animals The Appalachian Trail often brings to mind bears. I have seen three bears, singly, on my walk, all in Shenandoah National Park. Each one seemed vaguely put out coming across me in their patch, and they all moved off, albeit one with a little huffing and puffing. I’ve also come across... Read More

Mike recently took a few days R&R to dry out and have a bit of respite! He took the opportunity of calling in to see how things are going and something he said has fixed itself in our minds: “Often while I am walking I find myself thinking especially about the elderly in Zimbabwe and... Read More

You Are What You Eat Imagine a doctor prescribing all the foods you should avoid lest you end up with premature maladies of the cardiovascular system: Trail nutrition means cramming as much of those foods as you possibly can into your belly. And when that’s full, carry on cramming up to your neck, your cheeks,... Read More