The day I met a young girl called Nyasha

As I was sitting in my office I heard rufus our dog barking loudly at the gate. I knew that that meant that someone had come but was too afraid to enter. I got up and went to see what the racket was about.

At the gate was a young girl of ten years, I later learned that her name is Nyasha which means grace. I remember having seen Nyasha months before, she and her siblings walk from gate to gate asking for food or clothes or even if they can do any work around the house for a few dollars.

I knew that I had seen Nyasha before beacuse she was wearing a Jersey that had once belonged to my daughter Panashe who is also ten years old. The jersey was now coming apart perhaps due to being worn daily. I had not asked Nyasha the first time I met her anything about herself but this time I did and the story she told cut me to the heart!

Nyasha and her three siblings Jane 11, Takunda 13 (a boy), Gamu 14 (a girl) & her cousin Chiedza 11 (a girl) are all orphans who live with their elderly grandmother in the township of Epworth. They stay in a one room shack and their grandmother does not work. She cannot feed these children and at the same time she cannot throw her own blood out onto the street.

Jane, nyasha's sister joined us and also narrated their ordeal. She told me that only Takunda her brother goes to school, he has been able to find a sponsor but she, her other siblings and her cousins do not attend school. Instead, to put food on the table she and her siblings go from door to door begging and asking for work. They do this everyday of their lives in different suburbs.

I looked at these children, they seemed bright and really well mannnered. I dreaded to think what would happen to them should they loose their grandmother. I thought of this strong woman who has managed to keep this family together even through the hardest times. Sometimes people need help, some relief, this can get too much for anybody. I thought of the children and what their future holds.

I made a decision there and then that by January 2010 the beggining of the School year Nyasha, her siblings and her cousin need to be enrolloed in school. The grandmother needs help with food and also help with starting some income generating project as the kids will no longer be going door to door.

I am going to visit the childrens grandmother... Will keep you updated!