MIDLANDS CHILDREN’S HOME

“ROSEDALE”

GENERAL REPORT - 2016

1. Introduction

“Rosedale” Midlands Children’s Home is situated at number 2091 Parklane, Athlone, Gweru

Zimbabwe. It is a registered Non Governmental Organization (W.O16/67). The following is a

brief report on the activities at Rosedale as by the year end of 2016.

2. Total Number Of Children

There was a lot of movement of the children during the year 2016 that by the end of the year the

home was caring for 63 children which comprises of 27 boys and 36 girls.

Table on total number of children by the year end 2016

Girls 36

Boys 27

Total 63

3. Gender of children at Rosedale by end of 2016

Pie chart on sex of our children

Girls 57%

Majority of our children that is 36 (57%) are girls and 27(43%) are boys.

4. Education

Among these, 2 are in technical colleges and 2 are in training courses. 31 are going for primary

education and 7 have finished grade 7 which marks the end of primary level and will be going

for secondary school next year. 22 are in secondary education, out of these 22, 7 have written

their O’Level Final Exams and the results will give a direction on which training to take or to

continue into A-Level that is, Form 5-6 earmarking for university. All such decisions will be

based on O-Level results. 6 are toddlers, out of these toddlers we have one baby girl.

Table on level of education Boys Girls Total

Under 5. 2 4 6

Primary 13 18 31

Secondary 10 12 22

Colleges 1 1 2

Training Centers 1 1 2

Total 27 36 63

Like any other facets this heavily relay on donations in the

purchasing of uniforms, pens, exercise books and text

books to mention but a few. The educational trips are also

another area where a lot of financial resource is needed.

Through the donations the children can also go to such

trips like any other children from the normal homes, this

can avoid discrimination and they could also feel that they belong.

Mathew who was doing building is finishing his course this year, this will leave us with three

children on training courses, Shingi is doing accounting, Prisca doing home craft while Moses is

doing building at St. Joseph’s Mission. This is another area where we heavily need financial

support for the fees and requirements are higher than those in primary and secondary schools.

This home is a Christian home and all the children go to church as this contribute very much

towards their mental, moral and spiritual wellbeing and mold them for a better future. We take

pride in the fact that our children are elected to be the leaders of the different children’s

associations. They also go to different support groups and gatherings. Through these activities

they also meet children from other areas and some would be in the same situation as they are and

this helps them to realize that they are not the only ones in such situation and this cannot be an

obstacle for their better future.

5. Discharges

The discharges of these children were done after the information of the whereabouts of their

relatives was discovered by the Ministry of Social Services and Child Protection. Two of them,

surprisingly, the mother of the twins (Charity and Claudius) was located in the other part of the

country through the family tracing process, which lead to the discharged of two children joining

their family. Then Tadiwa’s relatives were also found and she was reunited with her paternal

relatives. While Blessing’s maternal relatives were identified. Efforts of the follow up are still in

progress by the Department of Social Services and there is also a free movement or visiting

between these children and the home staff members if possible. Therefore by year end of

December 2016 four children were reunited with their parents or relatives.

Table on number of discharged children

Girls 2

Boys 2

Total 4

6. Investigations on possible/potential discharges

At the same time Mr. Shoko who has been in jail for gold panning has been released and efforts

of reunification with his two children (Stephen and Memory) is in the process. The Mauseni

family members have also shown interest in return of their three nieces (Sibongile Agnes and

Enia) who have been in the home for 12 years now. The Department of Social Services are still

investigating if this can be a good move to reunite these children with their maternal relatives. If

all goes well these children will be moved to their respective homes by the beginning of 2017.

7. New Arrivals

At the same time we also received a baby girl during the year,

namely Mary Tendai. Mary is not a healthy child as she is

said to be suffering from asthma. Mary was admitted during

Easter day and she was baptized then. Her Godmother is the

Priest’s Secretary of our Parish St. Theresa’s Cathedral.

8. Pamusha

As we are facing a lot of challenges on our quest to harvest

water as the boreholes are drying up due to the persistent

drought which are being experienced especially the 2015-

2016 rain reason. Our dearest friends tried to drill a new

borehole with a further depth unfortunately there was no

water found, so our wishes never dried up, we are still

trying to drill another borehole as we are still threatened by

the shortage of rains maybe due to the global warming. At

least if we have adequate water supply this will help us to

maintain our fields and be able to have quite a good food

security for the children, especially for the vegetables and also our domestic animals where we

can get fresh food for the children. This can also be an added advantage for our young adults

who are staying at Pamusha as they can learn more on self survival skills/hands on especially in

agriculture for their future. So if we have adequate water this can not only give us food security

but also, very positive for the young adults.

9. Staff Members

During the year one of the staff members who were working in the kitchen (Mrs

Chirambamumwe) experienced a long illness the previous year and was advised to leave the

work by her doctor and the employment bodies on the basis of poor health. This left us with 9

staff members, because of this move we have asked one of the house mothers who had retired, at

the end of the year due to old age Gogo, to resume her post, she was very willing to rejoin the

organization. The staff compliment is currently 3 men and 7 women. The staff members are very

dedicated to their work and treat these children as their own this helps in their healing process

and adjustment to the home environment and also feel safe and protected like their own parents.

10. Strengths

Our strength heavily lay on our Swiss and Germany friends who always stand by our side

through thick and thin. Truly with their continuous support we are able to take care of these

needy children just like any other children in the community. Given our economic situation, we

always wonder if we would make it to the year’s end but with their unwavering support we are

managing. We also want to thank the local people for their support they give especially on the

upbringing of these children. With all the support we are getting we are finding our job to be

very easy and enjoyable. Self reliance on food security through the projects we have is another

strength we are proud of. Our committee and staff members are very co-operative and

knowledgeable.

11. Christmas Holiday

Like all the years, on Christmas each child and staff member

managed to receive a present, of which can positively contribute

towards their healing process also children feel the sense of

belonging. At the same time this is the time when the former

children visit the home and share joy with their young sisters

and brothers like any other families, as this is the only home

they know.

One of the local companies also came through to play with the children during the festive season.

While one organization come towards the end of the year to celebrate the birthdays of the

children and their staff members at once.

12. Challenges

The economic hardships we are currently facing is leaving us without any local contribution and

the companies who used to give as their social responsibility are also finding it hard to donate

and the individuals with the 90% unemployment rate very few if not no one, are coming up with

the support, and this leaves us to heavily rely on overseas donations. Like this year only one

company managed to donate three solar geysers.

Due to the current situation where children in need are increasing the department is forced to do

family tracing and the children will end up reunited with those relatives without proper and

adequate investigation and the children end up bouncing back to us for this is their only known

home.

As for the electricity and water bills are increasing we are opting for the solar systems as was

always advised before, this will reduce both bills of electricity and water as both will be powered

by solar.

As it was mentioned last year our rabbit cages need repairs that we can safely revive the rabbit

and turkey projects after they were attacked by wild animals previous year to boost our food

security.

The children’s mattresses need to be repaired, while some need replacement as most of them are

approximately over 20 years old.

With the current economic meltdown we see no chances of starting a piggery as planned last year

since it can be expensive to run yet it can be difficult to find market.

Currently, like any other Zimbabweans we are experiencing shortage of medical supplies from

the hospitals and we are also heavily relying on private supplies which are another area of

concern.

During the year we experienced an accident where one of the staff cottages was burnt due to

electrical fault however Old Mutual paid up for the costs.

13. Concluding Remarks

In general the home is very lucky to be associated with the kind people who always work hard

for the good of these children, we always consider these children as the fortunate ones. We thank

you all for the positive support you always give us and we are confident that we will have a

better future through your support.

15 January 2017 L. Ndete-Kamwendo

ADMINISTRATOR

PICTURES FROM DIFFERENT OCCATIONS