Over the last 2 “covid” years the children in Zimbabwe have only been in school for approximately 6 months – but they’ve still received the mahewu food from us for the full 24 months. In fact, during the pandemic, we scaled up by including babies, toddlers and the elderly. We’ve had so many messages of thanks and relief but the real thanks goes to Ruff’s Kitchens, WTMD and you!
If you have made a donation to us between 2017 to date we are asking that you kindly gift aid it. For every £1 you give us, we can claim another 25p bringing your total to £1.25.
We are updating our records in order for us to continue claiming GIFT AID for your generous and loyal support to Zimbabwe’s Children
All we ask is that you send an email to sharon@zimbabweschildren.org, then copy and paste the information below into your email. It should only take 1 minute of your time and will make a world of difference to us.
Name:
Address::
I confirm that I wish Zimbabwe’s Children to treat all donations that I have made, in the past and future, as gift aid donations. I confirm that I pay sufficient income or capital gains tax to cover the tax reclaimable by the charity in respect of these donations.
We will use this information to update our database of donors to make sure you receive information on how your money is being used and updates on the kids you are helping. Alternatively if you are someone whose contact details have changed, please let us know.
NONE OF THIS INFORMATION WILL BE PASSED TO ANY THIRD PARTIES, IT IS SOLELY FOR OUR USE ONLY.
Thank you
from all at Zimbabwe’s Children
We’re not going to lie – it’s been another very difficult year but having the support of our donors and watching even the smallest achievements happen, only makes us more determined to keep going!
We’ve been very fortunate to have grown our team with four more skilled and experienced volunteers but it can (honestly speaking) feel like our small team has a whole country on their shoulders. They have done you all proud though – making sure that every dollar you donate is able to reach as many children as possible.
We just couldn’t do it without your support and generosity so a HUGE BIG THANK YOU from all at Zimbabwe’s Children.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO)Conservation Agriculture is key to the future of food security with the world facing climate change and 9 billion mouths to feed by 2050.
We are proud to have been pioneers of this method of farming in the district we work. In 2010 we started training farmers to use this new method of farming however, even after the success of the first years harvest, they were not convinced! We supported them through overcoming their scepticism with consistent evidence of success and now the word has spread – far and wide!!
We’re currently working on getting back to our TEACHER TRAINING programme – you wouldn’t believe the difference – have a look for yourself…
Our training partners, Redearth Education use a rigorous teacher training process, which has shown to contribute positively to pupil engagement and academic progress. Most importantly – it is designed to meet the needs of the teachers and pupils in a Zimbabwean context. The training is experience-based and builds the capacity of Zimbabwean rural teachers (ie. teachers in remote, often hard to reach destitute areas, with no access to support) to better understand how to support children’s learning in very challenging circumstances, especially large classes with NO books or learning aids!
In the photos below, rural teacher empowerment and pupil motivation is at an all time high. The Redearth teacher training programme has provided our Zimbabwean teachers with the knowledge, practice and creativity to turn the most basic shelter into a wonderfully stimulating learning environment.
 COVID-19 MAHEWU DISTRIBUTION Visions of Obert trying to capture and cook a tiny bird for him and his Gogo have again been haunting us since schools in Zimbabwe closed due to the Coronavirus lockdown. Last month we managed to reach 204 of the most vulnerable families, in one area, to deliver maize and soya from our Conservation Agriculture farmers. The relief and gratitude from elderly grandmothers and child led households was emotional. However before lockdown over 5,000 children were receiving a nutritious porridge-mahewu drink every day at school – we couldn’t help by worry, what are they having now? We had to be creative in making sure the children still received the mahewu – with 700% hyperinflation, a severe fuel and cash crises, lockdown restrictions and villages in impossible-to-reach locations – it had to be an impeccably organised operation by our small team, parent volunteers and school committees. The transport chain varied from large trucks with sacks of food to scotch carts and cattle navigating through dried up river ravines. We wanted to make sure we got food to the forgotten, beyond-reach children and families so everyone has an equal chance!   During our fundraising campaign we set a new challenge for ourselves – to add 1,000 babies and toddlers to our list of children receiving mahewu every day. We are so grateful to everyone who helped us reach that target and are happy to share with you that we have suceeded in delivering a supply of mahewu to 6,000 babies and children for the next 3 months! Parents came to the schools, in small groups, to collect the food according to the register and the number of children in their care. Everyone expressed sincere gratitude and had the opportunity to talk with school staff and our small team in an attempt to release the heavy burdens they carry.THANK YOU! Thank you to Ruff’s Kitchens, The Phyllis Aspinall Foundation, WTMD, some private philanthropists and our loyal monthly donors for enabling us to feed the many desperate families in Zimbabwe. “Us Zimbabweans know suffering! We have experienced very bad droughts, severe food shortages due to terrible economical problems and illness. But these days feel even more hopeless… all of those things just get worse. I can honestly say that it is only through people like you that we survive. We just don’t know what else to do or say… THANK YOU and please don’t forget us.” Teacher, Makonde District, Zimbabwe All donations are presently going towards nutrition relief to ease suffering from starvation and contribute to health and well-being (during the Covid 19 pandemic). PLEASE DONATE HERE |
  Conservation Agriculture Farmers Feed 204 Families The CV-19 lockdown has been extended indefinitely in Zimbabwe as cases continue to rise – making the hunger crises even more urgent. As Zimbabweans battle through the fourth year of drought, those farmers who received training in our Conservation Agriculture programme are successfully harvesting their crops and were able to ‘pay it forward’. Following the plan set out in our last newsletter – and after having enough food for their own families – we have spent the last 2 weeks working with those famers to deliver 12 tonnes of maize and soya to 204 vulnerable families within our school communities. We made sure we followed all the social distancing procedures including sanitisers, masks etc for all who were helping, as well as those who were handling the sacks. Thanks to you – our donors – for making this happen! Seeing the tears of gratitude from elderly grandmothers, who have so many mouths to feed, was an emotional experience for everyone.Our next newsletter will show you how we have adapted our feeding programme to deal with the CV-19 hunger crises and our determination to feed over 6,000 children! 100% of your donations received here are being used to support this programme. Conservation Agriculture Training (Pre-Covid)We did not have a chance to let you know about the Conservation Agriculture trainees, from our school community, who were chosen to attend an advanced CA course “I WAS HUNGRY“.These participants had already received basic training and had excelled, proving they wanted to improve their own lives and weren’t afraid of hard work. The intensive course was held over a 2 week period in February 2020 at the Foundations for Farming head office in Harare. Amongst those chosen were struggling single mothers, widows, illiterate grandmothers, grown-up orphans who are responsible for their younger siblings, men who support huge and extended families and a young woman who single-handedly takes care of her own children, as well her deceased sister’s six. In total, 30 participants LEARNED and worked vigorously on only natural techniques for soil management, household herbicide remedies, planting stations, mulching, composting, agronomy, moringa plants, field mapping, agroforestry, financial planning and social harmony. All plots created through this training will be strategically placed in central, roadside positions so people walking by can see and learn from our participants. Rewards and incentives are in place for passing on their training. Thank you Foundations for Farming!   ART GIVES BACK We urge you to read this inspirational story of one of Zimbabwe’s most talented artists who, in spite of his own formidable hurdles, chooses to give to so many others. Valentine Magutsa was born in 1975 in Mberengwa, Zimbabwe, but lived with his uncle, who worked at a tea estate in Chipinge, Manicaland. While at the tea estate he was surrounded by tea pickers and coffee pickers. This scenery formed part of his early painting subjects, inspiring Valentine to view life from a different perspective. He was fascinated by the reciprocal relationship between human beings and nature, and how each can influence the various conditions they find themselves in. His artistic talent was nurtured at Hartzell high school near Mutare – a scenic mountainous area with many waterfalls and forests. Valentine was continually inspired and enrolled at Chinhoyi Technical Teachers College to study Art for both Industry and the Education sector. Valentine taught Art in Chipinge and Bulawayo until the year 2005, when he decided to pursue a full-time painting career after building a name internationally in the Arts field. In November 2011, however, he was struck by crippling rheumatoid arthritis which has left him more or less bedridden and confined to using a wheelchair. Despite all these challenges, Valentine has a resilient spirit to continue doing his work in whatever limited way he can, by selling reproductions and a few of the available original paintings. In 2019, after much rehabilitation, Valentine has taught himself to paint again. Valentine has generously given a percentage of his sales to support our cause – we are honoured to work with such an inspirational and dedicated human being. https://www.valentinemagutsa.com/  For £30/year a child in rural Zimbabwe can receive a quality education, a nutritious meal every day and their families given a route to self-reliance. PLEASE DONATE HERE |
