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
Under 5.
Primary
Secondary
Colleges
Training Centers
Total
Boys
2
13
10
1
1
27
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
Girls
4
18
12
1
1
36
Total
6
31
22
2
2
63
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 20152016 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