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April 2008
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The Goromonzi Project
Feeding and educating orphans and vulnerable children in Zimbabwe
Food Program
It is not always easy to find food in Zimbabwe at this time but we are delighted to announce that with typical Zimbabwean initiative and resourcefulness, our administrator, Patrick Makokoro, and his team of local GHUCO (God help Us Children Organization) volunteers managed to find food for 148 orphans and vulnerable children! They were also able to distribute sufficient food for the children to last for 2 months in the pre-election period.
Accounting Report
Our financial records were recently audited by an independent accounting firm in Harare. They reported, “We are satisfied that the funds raised in the US are being disbursed and accounted for in a wise manner. The financial operations of GHUCO are sound. We feel that GHUCO is reaching their goals and objectives financially.” The accountants will review the records on a weekly basis to cope with the spiraling inflation, which is now over 160,000%.
Schooling
The children have been on school holidays (vacation) during the election period and all of our GHUCO volunteers agree that being at home is the safest place for them. Most of the children are motivated and doing well at school.
The two children at boarding school are doing especially well. The teachers of Enet Chasi say she is doing “a fantastic job”. She is over her initial unhappiness at being away from home. Phillip Madhuvanhu recently won an art award and e-mailed to tell me his artwork had been on Zimbabwe television three times!
Healthcare
We have paid for several children to have treatment for bilharzia and scabies and other minor ailments at the local clinics in Goromonzi.
On January 21st, the GHUCO volunteers came together as a team when Pastor Sikiyani burst into the God Help Us Children’s Organization management meeting with the news that one of the children had fallen seriously ill. Isdore Magodhi hired an ox cart and ferried the child to hospital. Eleanor and Benigna visited the child in hospital and brought her meals. She was treated and discharged after three days. Patrick paid for the cart and hospital bills. Everyone’s assessment is that team work is the reason behind GHUCO’s effectiveness.
Volunteer Training
Several members of the GHUCO team have received outside training to increase their effectiveness in the field. Courses provided through funding from our General Fund include Motorcycle Riding, Motorcycle Maintenance and Safety and Personnel Management.
Future Plans
Some of the Goromonzi Project board members will soon be visiting Zimbabwe. We will conduct an Appreciative Inquiry workshop for Preschool Teachers. Participants will stay overnight at a local training center to address the question, “What makes an ideal preschool in Goromonzi?” Health workers who are interested in preschool age children from the health perspective will also be invited. Community leaders will be invited to contribute “in kind” matches for the preschool project. Contributions such as labor and time for repairing classrooms, yard work, together with donations of lumber for building benches and tables, and carpentry skills will increase their stake in the success of the preschool program.
Renew Your Sponsorship Today
We are grateful to each of you for your commitment to the welfare of the children of Zimbabwe. Please send your $350 Sponsorship Renewal or contribution to the General Fund to The Goromonzi Project, Inc. at P.O. Box 791, Placitas, NM 87043. Be sure to visit our Photo Gallery and enjoy the photos of the children.
For copies of our brochure, please email me at janet@goromonziproject.org
Janet Shaw
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Newsletter
Archives
December 2007
May 2007
February 2007
September 2006
June 2006
May 2006 Letter from Fiona
February 2006
December 2005 Christmas letter from Fiona
December 2007 Newsletter
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May 2007 Newsletter
Highlights
in this newsletter:
- May trip to Zimbabwe
- New Website – coming soon
- www.goromonziproject.org
- Opportunity to start your own project
- Time to renew your sponsorship
I feel truly blessed. Everywhere I went in
Zimbabwe this April I was blessed. People I have never met,
but who have heard about our program, came up to me in the
streets of Harare and told me, “May God bless you.” Considering
that there are around 1.3 million orphans in Zimbabwe (about
10% of the population) and we are only sponsoring 91 children
and providing some support to another 300, I feel humbled by
this blessing. I’m not a particularly religious person
but I want to pass the blessing on to you. Without your support
for The Goromonzi Project, these children would not be going
to school or preschool, and they would not walk to Pastor Sikiyani’s
house twice a month to get supplementary food. May God bless
you.
While we were in Zimbabwe, we implemented
some changes in the way that the Goromonzi Project works. Several
local people who are interested in the plight of the children
in Goromonzi have been meeting together on a weekly basis.
They have now formed themselves into a cohesive group called
God Help Us Children’s Organization (GHUCO), which is
in the process of being registered through Goromonzi Social
Welfare. GHUCO consists of twelve members, including five coordinators
whose stipends are paid by The Goromonzi Project. Representatives
from the local health, education and agricultural committees
are also members of GHUCO, along with two youth representatives
and Pastor Sikiyani, who is the founder. From now on the Goromonzi
Project will be working through GHUCO. This relationship enables
the community to determine for themselves what is best for
their children.
While I was in Goromonzi I met with Chief
Rusike, various headmen, community leaders, headmasters, teachers,
ZANU PF representatives, MDC representatives, the local Councilor
and the social welfare officer. I asked about the impact the
Goromonzi Project is having and inquired as to whether they
wanted us to continue. The answer was a resounding “Yes!” They
sited many specific examples of children who have benefited
from our program.
We held an Activity Day for more than 300
orphans and vulnerable children. Many of them had walked more
than 14 miles to attend. There was plenty of food for them
all. They designed headdresses with ribbons, blew bubbles,
played soccer with real soccer balls and generally had a delightful
time. The most rewarding part for me was that Rumbidzi Pascar,
the little girl (11 years), who followed me everywhere at our
last Activity Day, has put on 10 to 15 pounds since September.
She is still thin, but she is no longer skeletal. Her younger
brother Nelson is also looking healthy. They are both attending
school in neighboring Dudzu.
Other events included a visit to the local
health clinic that is now operational, a retreat for the 12
GHUCO members, preschool training for preschool teachers (we
were expecting 9, and 38 attended) an Appreciative Inquiry
workshop for the young adults, a meeting with the adult committees.
GHUCO members held a tea party for all the non-governmental
organizations that work in Goromonzi to network with one another.
The Goromonzi Project financed the completion
of a hand drawn well constructed of bricks and mortar and metal
welding, that will serve as a back up for the electric pump
in the borehole. A reliable water source and backup are essential
for the welfare of the children. We also established that the
knowledge and expertise for many building projects is available
within the community. We even set up Pastor Sikiyani and three
of our caregiver/coordinators with cell phones!
In cooperation with GHUCO the Goromonzi Project
is planning to undertake the following programs in 2007/2008:
- Continued support of child-headed households
- Continued individual sponsorships and
support of Preschool Program at Rusike (Pastor Sikiyani ‘s
compound)
- Expand A level and Vocational training
program to sponsoring 10 (currently sponsoring 3)
- Preschool Programs in Mwanza, Mrewa and
Dudzu (breakfast, stipends for volunteer teachers, training
and supplies)
- Breakfast Program at Dudzu Junior School
with 380 children (200 are orphans)
- Provide financial support for field trips
and supplies for the special interest youth groups (needlework
and craft group, bookbinding group, gardening group)
- Cosponsor a weeklong trip to Kafunda Sustainable
Learning Center for the Mr. Fixit Club and Gardening Group
(20 boys age 16 to 22)
Our vision of the future is to facilitate
partnerships between US and Africa that are based on the Goromonzi
Project model. Pastor Wonder Kasimonji lives in a community
on the other side of Goromonzi. He heard what we are doing
in Rusike and he has invited us to expand into his area. If
you are interested in starting a project along the lines of
the Goromonzi Project then please contact me at j_m_shaw@comcast.net
Thank you for sponsoring a child or service
through The Goromonzi Project. If you have not already renewed
your sponsorship this year, now is the time to do so. Please
send checks to The Goromonzi Project, PO Box 791 Placitas NM
87043.
If you wish to make a broader impact in the
community please look at our Sponsor a Service (click on Sponsor,
Sponsor a Service, to see ideas from $5 to $5000) or consider
an additional gift to the General Fund. Your money goes a long,
long way in Goromonzi!
God bless you. Thank you for sharing generously
Fambayi Zvakanaka (Go
well)
Janet Shaw
P.S. If you have any questions please e-mail
me at janet@goromonziproject.org
February 2007 Newsletter
It seems hard to believe how far we’ve come and how we’ve
grown since starting The Goromonzi Project just over a year
ago. We have gone from sponsoring 15 orphans and vulnerable
children at the beginning of 2006 to sponsoring 84 at the beginning
of 2007. Sponsorship means that a child is provided with a
school uniform and their school tuition for the year and food.
We also provide dried beans and cornmeal so that their caregivers – usually
their older siblings or extended families –
can supplement the family’s food, and the child is no
longer considered to be a burden.
Some of the Highlights of 2006 include:
- The AIDS Orphan Day and launching event in Corrales in
May
- We held three Census Days where detailed medical and social
histories were taken from each child who attended. We counted
734 orphans and vulnerable children, although it is estimated
that there are well over a thousand vulnerable children in
the Goromonzi area.
- We held Appreciative Inquiry Workshops for the adult leaders
and young adults of Goromonzi in August. The community formed
various committees where they took responsibility for what
they want to create as a community.
- We held three Activity Days for the children of Goromonzi,
including a Sponsors Day where each child wrote a letter
to his or her sponsor, and a Bead and Necklace Making Day.
- We distributed 340 blankets to the children in June when
the winter weather in Zimbabwe was unusually cold.
- The young adults held a Youth Day in November where they
put on an AIDS play they had written and produced. They displayed
their artwork and gave singing and poetry performances
- We helped 30 orphans in the city of Bulawayo with school
supplies and uniforms for 2007
I see 2007 as a year of exploration
and laying down the groundwork for future expansion. With
1.3 million orphans in Zimbabwe and an estimated 380,000
child-headed households, we have plenty of opportunities.
Up until this time we’ve been addressing
problems as they arise, and this has worked at the level that
we’ve been operating at. The Board of Directors has been
actively involved in strategic planning.
These are our goals for 2007/2008:
- Build and strengthen our organizational infrastructure
- Build and strengthen the Zimbabwe programs
- Create revenue streams to support our goals
In the midst of all our successes and achievements, and all
of our plans, strategies and dreams, it is important that
we remember the children:
Amen Makuvasu (age 14) wrote in a letter
to his sponsor, “I
write this letter to thank you for the great help you have
given me. I don’t know who you are but with your help
I’m already at school, together with my sisters.”
Hassan Makuvazu wrote, “I would like to thank you for
everything you did for me. I am a boy aged 11 and doing Grade
6. When I grow up I want to be a doctor. I like to play soccer
at school. I thank you once again. I pray that God may bless
you. Your friend, Hassan.”
If you have any questions or if you would like to discuss
any of our programs further, please e-mail me at janet@goromonziproject.org
Janet Shaw
Founder and Director of The Goromonzi Project
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September 2006
Dear Everybody,
I’m
back from my trip to Zimbabwe and Goromonzi. Patti Smith who
is on our board of directors came with me and led two workshops
for the community. One workshop was for the adult leaders of
Goromonzi and the other was for the young adults, 16 to 22
years old. We used the Appreciative Inquiry process, which
worked extremely well, and by the end of each session the participants
had a clear vision of how their community would look in 20
years time and what resources their community already possesses
to fulfill on this vision. Part of their vision is that there
will be no orphans in Goromonzi. They formed committees and
now have concrete plans in place for what they will accomplish
during the next year. Please go to http://appreciativeinquiry.case.edu/ and
look under “Appreciative Inquiry in the Goromonzi Rural
District of Zimbabwe” if you would like to see a full
report on the workshop.
While I was in Goromonzi I was introduced to ten new orphans,
the youngest of whom was orphaned at birth. His name is Nyasha
and when I met him he was 6 weeks old. This brings the number
of orphans in the area to 642.
The vegetable garden at the God Help Us Orphanage has now
been planted with Maringa trees. These trees are legumes and
the leaves and seeds can be eaten and are a good source of
protein. It is a widely held belief that these trees help to
boost the immune system. The roots can be used to purify water.
It will take another 2 or 3 years before the trees are fully
grown. My sister Fiona has ordered ten 50-kilogram bags of
sugar beans and twenty-two 50-kilogram bags of corn from one
of the local farmers who came to the workshop. She is looking
into the idea of making muhewu for the children. Muhewu is
a protein drink made from maize and ground millet.
Some of you have asked about HIV education.
The Ministry of Education has mandated that there is age
appropriate sex education for all children in every grade
at school. At the same time one of the committees that was
formed at the AI workshop has taken it upon themselves to
educate the community about HIV transmission and one of the
youth committees has written and produced a play about AIDS.
Many of the children look happy and
plump and are at school especially the ones who live close
to Pastor Sikiyani and the 66 children who have been sponsored.
However, it appears to me that the further away from the
compound that the children live the thinner that they are.
We had a play day and lunch for the 66 sponsored children
and about 250 children showed up. Some of them had walked
20 kilometers to get there. Until this time I had always
secretly thought that Fiona was disorganized. She never managed
to get all the children’s photos and
she was slow to collect their information. After this event
I had to apologize to her. She mentioned that Pastor Sikiyani
does not know how to say no. I apologize that some of you will
not get a picture of your particular orphan this time.
At the play day the children played
jump rope and Frisbee; they made paper flowers and played
with Playdoh. The biggest hit of all was that every child
made him or herself a bead necklace. There were beads absolutely
everywhere and the noise they made was very loud and wonderful.
Each child had a plate of food at lunchtime. Mbuya (Grandmother)
Sikiyani and her team cooked up sadza (the staple food) in
two enormous drums. At three o’ clock the children
gathered to sing some songs for us. I told them that I brought
them love from all of you and that my wish for them is that
they have enough food to eat every day, that they get an
education and also that they grow up to be happy and healthy
and to lead productive lives. Then the ones who had to walk
started back on their long journey home. I am still haunted
by one little girl in a torn blue school uniform who followed
me everywhere that day.
With love and thanks to you all,
~~~Janet Shaw~~~
Founder and Executive Director of The Goromonzi Project
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June 2006
Dear Everybody,
I talk with my sister Fiona who lives
in Zimbabwe every one or two weeks or so. I write reports
for the board members so they can see what is going on in
Goromonzi. They have requested that I write a similar report
for you, the orphan’s sponsors,
so that you may see what is going on as well. I’ll be
sending you a composite report on a quarterly basis. After
this first report I’ll be e-mailing the reports to you.
If you have any questions you can e-mail me at j_m_shaw@comcast.net
Fiona went out to Goromonzi last Saturday with the high school
students that she teaches at Gateway School in Harare and also
another group from Gateway School called the Outreach Club.
She reports that the children from the Outreach Club (first
time visitors to Goromonzi) appeared to be overwhelmed by the
situation of the orphans.
They called the day Sponsors and Sports
Day. First the children had to write a letter or draw a picture
for their sponsor and then they played games and had sporting
activities. The students from Gateway helped the orphans
to compose letters and took dictation from the smaller ones.
They took some wax crayons and colored pencils for the children
to use and apparently the children did not want to stop drawing.
Pastor Sikiyani invited sixty-six identified indigent orphans
and one hundred and ten orphans showed up. They all wrote
letters to their sponsors - even the ones who don’t
have sponsors. Then Mrs. Sikiyani cooked lunch for everyone.
Then they played “mingle, mingle, mingle” and
other Zimbabwean games.
Fiona’s plan for next time they go out is to have lots
of areas set up for fine motor skills activities. She says
the children and the girls particularly seem to be very hungry
for that sort of thing – beading, drawing, making paper
flowers and other things. She says her twelve high school students
get a lot out of contributing in this way and particularly
the three who are AIDS orphans themselves. Gateway sent
out a trailer load of warm clothes that were collected on Fancy
Hat Day and those were distributed too.
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Report from Fiona
May 2006
Fiona went out to Goromonzi on Saturday with her high school
students and also another group from Gateway called the Outreach
Club. She reports that the children from the Outreach Club
(first time visitors) appeared to be overwhelmed by the situation
of the orphans.
They called the day Sponsors and Sports
Day. First the children had to write a letter or draw a picture
for their sponsor and then they played games and had sporting
activities. The students from Gateway helped the orphans
to compose letters and took dictation from the smaller ones.
They took some wax crayons and colored pencils for the children
to use and apparently they could not stop drawing. They invited
the 66 identified indigent orphans and 110 showed up. They
all wrote letters to their sponsors - even the ones who don’t
have sponsors. Then Mrs. Sikiyani cooked lunch for everyone.
Then they played “mingle, mingle, mingle” and
other Zimbabwean games.
Fiona’s plan for next time they go out is to have lots
of areas set up for fine motor skills activities. She says
the children and the girls particularly seem to be very hungry
for that sort of thing – beading, drawing, making paper
flowers and other things. She says her high school students
get a lot out of contributing in this way and particularly
the three who are orphans themselves. Gateway sent out
a trailer load of warm clothes that were collected on Fancy
Hat Day and those were distributed too.
Pastor Sikiyani has bought 2 by 50Kg
sacks of sugar beans and is negotiating to buy another 10.
The beans are distributed amongst the neediest cases. Fiona
took out 350 blankets and these have been distributed. 66
children have had their school fees paid for the current
term. Pastor Sikiyani bought 1000s (?!) of exercise books
for the children to use at school. Simon Muchinani – the
young man studying mechanics in Marondera has been at school
for two weeks and Fiona needs to send more money there. Fiona
paid Pastor Sikiyani his stipend of $25 backdated to January
and she reports he is using most of it to pay for transportation
to and from Harare. She is using all of her stipend on petrol.
The electricity for the well is still not connected. Someone
stole some oil that Zesa (electricity people) needs for something.
The thief was apprehended and put in jail but the oil is still
missing.
Cynthia’s box arrived on the Friday before they went
out. Bright’s shoes fit him perfectly and one of the
shirts was given to a boy who was not one of the 66 on the
list but whose clothes were so ragged they were about to fall
off him.
Pastor Sikiyani, Fio, Carrie and Kumbu (the pastor at El Shamar
church) met in Harare on Tuesday. They talked about a job description
for a coordinator in Goromonzi and came up with the idea that
they would like to employ someone full-time and thought that
the Goromonzi Project could contribute part of the salary of
this person. El Shamar will pay the rest. They see a strong
need to get an agricultural program going in the area and to
get the children involved.
Fiona’s immediate needs are to
identify someone who can do clerical work and who can create
some kind of filing system.
One of Fiona’s students identified
a young girl with a horribly swollen stomach. The child is
9 but looks like she is 5. Alisha Sikiyani (the 2 year-old
in the pink shorts) broke her collarbone. Fio says it would
be a good thing to have a doctor to go out there once a month
to run a clinic for the children.
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February 2006
The Goromonzi Project
I want everyone to see Africa as a
rich and vibrant continent full of possibility and I want
everyone to see that poverty in Africa is not an insurmountable
problem. I'm starting in the rural area of Goromonzi, which
is in the area where I grew up. There are more than 600 AIDS
orphans in Goromonzi. The
ones that I’ve met are all great kids. Fifteen of them
stay with Pastor Sikiani at the God Help Us Orphanage. When
he is able, Pastor Sikiani takes food out to the other orphans
in outlying areas. Some of the families out there are headed
by a child as young as eleven or twelve. They don't have money
for food or school. I’ve worked out that it costs about
US$350 for food, school uniforms and school fees to sponsor
one child for a year.
One of my partners in this project
is my sister. She’s
an English teacher at Gateway School in Harare. The A level
students at her school have developed a community project where
they will be responsible for helping the orphans to write to
or draw pictures for their sponsors. My sister’s friend
Amelia who is a financial advisor in Zimbabwe will be taking
on the disbursement of funds for the orphans.
Some books that you might like to read include:
Love in the Driest Season by Neely Tucker – the true
story about the process of adopting one of Zimbabwe’s
orphans – you’ll cry
Ending Global Poverty by Stephen C Smith – this is inspiring
from an economist’s point of view – you feel that
you can make a difference
Thank you for your interest in The
Goromonzi Project. If you have any questions or you’d
just like to talk to me about these children some more, please
e-mail me at j_m_shaw@comcast.net
Best wishes,
~~~Janet~~~
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December 2005 (Christmas Letter from Fiona)
Dear Everybody
On Christmas Eve I made the first trip out to Pastor Sikiani's
homestead after we had made a plan on how to access the money
you have given for these children. I had shopped the previous
day, hoping to make their Christmas meal the next day a good
meal, buying some special treats, (chicken, mangoes, fruit
juice, condensed milk and some sweets) together with some more
basic, but not always available, supplies: bread, salt, a large
bottle of cooking oil, cabbages, peanut butter, mealie meal,
tea and sugar (currently a great scarcity). We also had some
cast-offs I had collected and two parcels from Cynthia. They
were all a little preoccupied as a group of Mormons, who are
helping establish a viable and productive vegetable garden
had just arrived and were singing carols with everyone in the
church. Pastor Sikiani came and received all your gifts. He
was thrilled and so were some of the smaller children who were
not in the church!
Bright and Munashe Ngwerume were called in and chose some of
the clothes in the boxes from Cynthia. They were both a bit
overawed, sitting next to me and choosing even the colour of
their underpants!
Our visit in the New Year was specifically for school fees
and clothes. I went out with a member of our church, her step-daughter
from Cape Town who had a box of 'old' clothes from her children's
school, and two members of SEED, a recently started non governmental
organisation involved with community development. When we arrived
I recognised quite a few garments from my own family, those
left with us by church volunteers from England and some from
the parcels from New Mexico!
While they all showed round the visitor from Cape Town, Pastor
Sikiani and I worked on the school fees and school clothes,
working out just how much was needed for which child in which
grade. We then put names to all photos which Jan had sent out
in October(!) and had just arrived and delivered them to the
children themselves, together with any letters and photos which
had been sent
by yourselves for 'your' child. I realised afterwards that
not only had many of them never had a photo before, but some
of them would never even have seen themselves. Each of the
other visitors went around reading the letters to those who
couldn't, or translating into Shona. Each child with a letter
or photo was probably surrounded by another five or so straining
to see or hear, all
focused with rapt attention or faraway looks on their faces.
It was a very fulfilling moment.
Thank you! School starts on Tuesday 10 January and all fifteen
of the school going age children who have sponsors will be
starting the new school year, equipped with the proper clothes.
God Bless you all
Love
Fiona Thomson
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