Kerri’s Kitchen
Dear Friends,
In November of 2021, the extended AAF family lost one of its treasured friends, Kerri.
Kerri has been a friend to our family since 1975 when she bounded into our lives as a vivacious, articulate schoolgirl. Decades later, her teaching skills, coupled with her love of books, and her fluency in the Zulu language enhanced our AAF school partnership program due to her understanding of the unique needs of the people she loved. As a life long bestie to my big sister Kate, Kerri was always available to serve and simultaneously love our family as we worked from Australia relieving the pain resulting from HIV/ AIDS.
When life became increasingly complicated with the Covid-19 pandemic, Kerri’s encouragement and advocacy for the Zulu people she loved only increased. Her heart beat compassionately for the lost and broken souls and practical love followed. She will be deeply missed. May she rest in peace.
The AAF teams in South Africa and Australia grieve her loss and wish to bless her husband and four sons at this tragic time.
So, as a way of honouring Kerri’s legacy, AAF is proposing to develop a new program that will teach cooking skills to carers of children suffering from HIV/AIDS. Kerri loved big, and she often loved through her kitchen. This new cooking program would serve three key purposes: honour Kerri’s memory, fill hungry bellies on our camps, and teach micro enterprise skills to families; so they can sell food in their villages.
In mid 2020, fire swept through our historic Zamimpilo campsite which is the epicentre of the work with our youth. Through your generous donations, we were able to resurrect the ruins with a significant rebuild of children’s huts. The bathrooms where also given hot water capability. It is now obvious that the kitchen at Zamimpilo sustained some fire damage, however what the fire didn’t damage, a rat plague did! It is our great hope that we can transform this broken kitchen into a vibrant place of learning, joy and opportunity. This will be the only purpose built teaching kitchen in the region – equipping carers to understand hygienic food preparation and teaching safe food service skills.
Kerri’s kitchen will be a place which exemplifies the life and character of our beloved friend. Kerri would surely approve. A soft landing place for the hurt and the broken where their unique gifts can be found and developed. A place where we teach that the self discipline of hard work can yield fruits… that are sometimes edible!
As you celebrate the joy of the Christmas season with all the food preparations in your kitchen, would you consider a donation to help us rebuild and create ‘Kerri’s Kitchen’ at Zamimpilo?
With warm regards and blessings for the Christmas season,
Jane Gray