Zimbabwe has got 1.6 million orphans (one in four), that’s the world’s highest rate of children who have to grow up without parents.
In Kambuzuma, a slum and cholera area of Zimbabwe’s capital Harare, KAITE has been working with 30 orphans since 2007. The children are between 7 and 18 years old. The orphans grow up in extremely incriminating circumstances, mostly in the homes of relatives or without any adult guidance in child-headed households. Some of these children are already HIV positive.
KAITE is running a “drop in center” and a garden for the education, nutrition and feeding of the children. With the assistance of well-wishers, KAITE was able to erect a 5000l tank, which now caters for the requirement of reliable and clean water at the drop in centre. The water is mainly used clean safe water for the children to drink and to water the nutrition garden, which is producing enough herbs and vegetables for the daily meal of the children also in the dry season.
The schooling system in Zimbabwe collapsed in 2008. With the introduction of the use of foreign currency in Zimbabwean economy schools have opened again. However, school fees are payable in foreign currency.
KAITE acknowledges the importance of education and holds dearly the notion that each child has a right to be educated. The centre caters for 28 school children who range from grade two to form 6. Most of our children are highly successful in school and KAITE offers extra lessons where younger children learn from older and university students volunteer to teach.
A small amount for school, exam fees and uniforms enables these children to take their lives into their own hands.