Valley sponsors visit Zimbabwe
1 May 11
Editors note;
Some time ago the Valley Voice carried news about the efforts of a small group of Valley people supporting the efforts of resident Susy James who was keenly interested in supporting a children’s home in Zimbabwe.
This report is by Wendy and Cooch Allan and Susy following their visit there late last year.
Visiting Matthew Rusike Children’s Home ( MRCH) in Zimbabwe had been on our wish-list since we first heard about the home from Susy in 2007.
We started sponsoring Ester (age 5) and had helped Susy with small fundraising ventures for the Home.
Our main focus prior to the trip was to raise as much money as possible to take with us to set up the “Chook Project”. Poultry sheds were built at the Home in 2000 which have a maximum capacity of 3,000 chickens. But due to the unsettled political and financial environment of Zimbabwe over the next few years, the Home was unable to continue to keep chickens. Wendy had placed, on the counter in her shop, “Oshun Leye”, in Kangaroo Valley, a photo of some chickens and a collection box with a simple sign asking people to “sponsor a chook”. Cooch sent emails to many people, including all NSW Fire Brigade firefighters, outlining the project, and asking for support.
So, armed with $2,500.00 USD, 6 kgs of vegetable seeds donated by Fothergill Seeds and Bishops Produce in Nowra, a digital camera for the Home, 3kgs of vegetable dyes for painting, songs and stories and puppets for the crèche, and gifts for staff, we set off in August 2010 for our African Adventure.
And as if that wasn’t enough, we had in our luggage 2 granite statues that were carved in Zimbabwe around the time of the liberation from the British. These had been in the private collection of Pete Townsend (of “The Who”). He had given them to Archie, a man whom Susy had met prior to our trip. He asked that we return them to their homeland. They are basic carvings of a man and a woman and weigh about 4kgs each. They are now guardians of the Home.
Nothing could have prepared us for the welcome we received at Harare Airport. 10 staff and 6 children were there to greet us.
We were greeted with open arms and open hearts. It was beautiful.
Our home for the next 16 days was House 5 with Shamie (the housemother) and at that stage 5 children (a lot of the children were still away for school holidays, either staying with foster families or relatives). There were 3 babies (2 – 3 years old) Patrick , Nyasha and Clothilda, and 2 older girls, Portia and Priscilla. Shamie had given up our room for us, which was quite large with an ensuite.
She normally shared this room with the babies. It was such a generous thing to do.
Lunch on the first day was our introduction to the staple diet - sadza and kale. Sadza is finely ground corn meal that is cooked in boiling water until it becomes a thick paste. It is served with kale, a green leafy vegetable that is a cross between cabbage and spinach. It is grown in gardens behind every House, as well as in the large common vegie garden. It is shredded and cooked, sometimes with peanut butter. Both of these are traditionally eaten with the hands. Night-time meals were TVP (textured vegetable protein) stew, or shepherds pie (again with TVP) or broad beans with rice and kale. Breakfast was mealie meal porridge which is sadza with more water added, or scrambled eggs (which we bought). We also bought bananas, apples and cabbage which we shared with the children and staff. All this roughage was needed to combat the “glue” effect of the corn meal. Talk about blocked pipes!!
Taking tea was a daily ritual at 10am and 4pm, and quickly became our favourite times of the day. The best of the best was having afternoon tea with Mercy (housemother of House 4, where Susy stayed) on her front porch, being visited by lots of children.
We very soon became adoring fans of Mercy, who not only cooked for the children in her home, but also for 16 staff at lunch-time, as well as for the 3 Aussie visitors. She did this with or without power or running water. Both of these were a sporadic commodity. However, she always had meals ready on time and with so little fuss. Also provided by Mercy was hot water, for cups of tea or for bathing. Showers were non-existent due to no piped hot water and lack of pressure in the cold water system.
The availability of power and water became an important part of our life. If there was water available from the taps, everyone collected as much in buckets as they could as it may not be available again for a couple of days. If there was no piped water available, then the children did a bucket brigade as required, carrying 20 litre buckets on their head 150 metres up an incline from the hand operated bore. Baba Cooch (the name given to John by the children) assures me that this is no mean feat, having attempted it himself! Likewise with no power, that meant cooking and heating water over an outside fire. Bathing was ½ a bucket of warm water poured over the body using a metal cup. The children use cold water to bathe, and do their washing on the rocks behind the houses.
Religion is very important to the children and staff. All the available staff gather in the old dining hall for “devotions” before they start work each day. We attended some of these and found them to be welcoming and enjoyable. Singing and drumming is an integral part of this. The Methodist Church is one of the major supporters of the Home.
The main focus for Baba Cooch was doing repairs to the poultry houses, and the repairing of fences for a chook run. Once this was completed, he was asked to check over their vehicles and do any repairs needed. He was able to do basic safety checks and minor repairs, but could not tackle such things as worn wheel bearings, or gearbox problems, because there were no proper tools, and no money to buy tools or spare parts.
One difficulty that we encountered was seeing jobs that needed to be done but not having the resources to carry it out. We also quickly learned to settle in to “African Time”. Often we would set out with a list of jobs for the day but would be unable to complete them because materials hadn’t arrived or the person essential for the job was not there and may not return for some time. So the only thing to do was have a cup of tea and relax into African Time.
Susy and Wendy spent a lot of time with the children, both from the Home and from the surrounding community, doing art workshops.
We had taken 3 kgs of vegetable dyes with us for this purpose. Our aim was to return with some paintings done on canvas and material that would be sold at a Charity Auction to be held in November in Sydney by the QANTAS Cabin Crew Team, a supporter of the Home, the proceeds of which would go back to the Home. We brought back 1 large and 12 smaller fabric paintings to be sold. The children loved using the paints and being creative. This is something they had not done before. We actually had to teach the kids how to hold and use artists paint brushes. We loved working with them and were delighted every time a child started to sing, immediately joined by many voices, so we were treated to these wonderful impromptu concerts.
The children love to sing, and do so often.
At night in House 4, after dinner it is the children’s job to wash up, clean the kitchen and scrub the floor. All of the children do this together, entertaining themselves as they worked by singing and drumming.
Their harmonies are amazing and we never tired of listening to them.
Each day, as the house began to wake, we were amazed to see the older children helping the babies to bathe and dress, then sweep floors, also sweeping all around the outside of their house, cooking breakfast – all before they got ready for school, leaving at 7.30 am. And this was all accomplished with no fuss or fighting!!
The housemothers are exceptional, caring for between 7 and 15 children. They do this 7 days a week for 1 month, and then have 10 days off to go home to their own families. It is hard work, given that they often cook on open fires and have limited access to water. We found them to be caring and kind to the children.
Over many nights, we visited each of the 8 houses in the compound to hand out photos of the children that were taken 12 months ago, and gifts sent by sponsors. This was a delight to see the joy on the children’s faces as they opened presents, read letters and gazed at photos of their sponsors and families. It gives them the biggest boost to know that someone cares for them from so far away.
Each weekday, children from the surrounding community come to the Home to have schooling and be given a midday meal.
This may be the only meal these children have each day. Matthew Rusike Children’s Home also runs similar projects in nearby communities where it is operated out of church halls.
The staff of MRCH train community people to run these centres. We were made very welcome at one of these centres in the village of Chitungweza, about 30 kms from the Home. We also went around to the homes of some of the people in this village to distribute food and supplies. In two of these homes, which were about 2.5 m x 2.5 m , grandmothers were caring for their grandchildren, whose parents had died of HIV/Aids. Very sad to see.
We planned to have a party for the children one Saturday afternoon as a special treat for the kids. Baba Cooch and Wendy went shopping in downtown Harare for supplies, accompanied by Matron Rairo and Finance guru Tapiwa. That was fine. We felt totally safe, although it was strange being the only 2 white people in sight. Many western foods are available in the supermarkets, too many that are highly processed for our liking. We were able to buy vegetables and limited fruit. Rairo went to another market in the afternoon to buy meat, which the children very rarely have.
The party was a fun event for all involved. It was held in a large hall in the compound. The housemothers spent all day cooking chicken and beef, making coleslaw, potato salad, rice, and soup (a sauce to be poured over the meat and rice). Each child also received a banana or apple, and a soft-drink, which was hilarious to watch as some of the children had never experienced such a sweet drink before.
A disco was hired for the evening – it was very loud! Or it may have been that we are just getting old! The children danced and danced and danced in the dark, or by the light of head-torches, as the council power was again absent, and we had to use a generator for the disco. The children are superb dancers, and we had a great time trying to keep up with them.
Baba Cooch and Wendy were in awe of their travelling companion Susy, the sponsorship coordinator for the Home. Whilst there, she compiles profiles of new children, helps the housemothers complete the Annual Child Development forms, has meetings with the Head of the Home, Astonishment, and the Head of Finance, Tapiwa, conducts fun workshops for the children, photographs every child for the sponsors, visits all the children and staff and organises a party for the children and staff, providing treats that they would otherwise never receive. Paramount to all of this, though, is the beautiful, patient and respectful way that Susy approaches both staff and children at the Home.
Thank you to all the Valley people who donated to our “Chook Appeal”. The children now have a sustainable supply of eggs and chicken meat to help in improving their diet.
We loved our visit to Matthew Rusike Children’s Home and will definitely return to help out again.
If you would like to find out more about the Home and sponsoring a child, please go to www.mrchsponsorship.com, or contact Susy James at susy@mrchsponsorship.com
Footnote: Our house-mother Shamie sadly passed away, from TB, on 2nd February 2011.