Children

The underlying purpose of our Society is to empower Zimbabwean orphans and give them a chance to lead a fulfilling life. We seek to give the children long-term help in their own community in order to guarantee their basic education and general welfare. We place special emphasis on the education of girls.

At the end of 2009, we had 438 orphans in our programme. Of these, 285 were receiving full support. They were attending a total of 13 schools, 180 at primary level (Grades 1-7), 95 at secondary level (O levels and A levels) and 10 at tertiary level (university or technical college). The programme adapts to the needs of orphans in Dzivarasekwa, and in the course of 2010, the number of full-support children will be 330.

We try to keep the overall numbers low enough for staff members to be familiar with the home conditions, school performance and personality of all our children. We keep a record with photographs of every child.

We purposely maintain the gender balance so that it favours girls, as girls still need more support in Zimbabwe than boys. Of the 285 children receiving full support at the end of 2009, 177 (62%) were girls and 108 (38%) were boys.

Altogether 38 secondary school pupils, 26 girls and 12 boys, are currently at boarding school.

Our first university graduate, Blessing Chitanda, gained a Bachelor's Honours Degree in History and Development Studies from Midlands State University in August 2008, and another student, Brenda Mbengo, was awarded her National Diploma Level I in Pharmatechnology from Harare Polytechnic in November 2009. She intends continuing her studies to National Diploma Level II.