Christmas is a time of loving and giving. I think it's the best season of the whole year because there is an increase in goodwill and love just flows.
All our children are doing well. The school year just came to an end and the kids are enjoying a six week break before they enroll into their new classes.
I would like to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a blessed new year.
Sunday 12 December 2010
Friday 5 November 2010
Getting Stronger
I really feel that as an organization we are getting stronger. We are still taking baby steps but with much more confidence. Thus I feel that soon we will be running.
We are now taking care of six children. Two in Secondary school and four in Primary school. I was so proud the other day when I went to Elizabeth's School and the teachers told me about how well she is doing and how well she has blended back into school. Even when you look at her you see a young woman who is content and who knows where she is going. God really is a God of second chances.
Patrick & Gift are two brothers whose parents passed away some years ago and they were brought up by their 17 year old brother at the time. their brother sacrificed school so that he could find a job and be able to take care of his siblings. With the economic hardships in Zim the last few years he has been unable to find work and thus has been unable to pay fees for the children. We have children who are living hero's and many times they go unnoticed and unthanked. They take on the role of parents without hesitation even though they are children themselves. God bless them and may he shower them with more than they could ask or imagine.
Faith and her four siblings lost their mother two months ago. Faith who is the oldest is seventeen and the youngest child her half brother is only one year old. Faith's Father died about six years ago leaving her mother to raise four young children, a story that is all too familiar and one that is told over and over again in different families.
Thier elderly maternal grandmother has come from the rural area to live with the Children in their homely two roomed house. She like many of her age mates has taken up the responsibility of raising her childen's children. And though many times she may not be able to take care of all their financial needs she certainly gives love, warmth, security in a world that has been turned upside down. we salute her and many women like her.
There is a need for these families to start income generating projects. I have learnt however, that many times it is difficult to talk to someone about projects when they are hungry, have no money and don't know how to send the children to school. the important thing at times like this is to meet the immediate needs. We need to provide food, fees, clothes, money and the like.
We have also started working on our initiative to give children more access to books, the building up of libraries and creation of a reading culture. One of the schools we are working with has indicated that they would like some help in building up their library so that is where we start. I will be giving you updates as we go along and I promise I will start to make our updates more regular.
If you would like to help with donation of books please contact me.
We are now taking care of six children. Two in Secondary school and four in Primary school. I was so proud the other day when I went to Elizabeth's School and the teachers told me about how well she is doing and how well she has blended back into school. Even when you look at her you see a young woman who is content and who knows where she is going. God really is a God of second chances.
Patrick & Gift are two brothers whose parents passed away some years ago and they were brought up by their 17 year old brother at the time. their brother sacrificed school so that he could find a job and be able to take care of his siblings. With the economic hardships in Zim the last few years he has been unable to find work and thus has been unable to pay fees for the children. We have children who are living hero's and many times they go unnoticed and unthanked. They take on the role of parents without hesitation even though they are children themselves. God bless them and may he shower them with more than they could ask or imagine.
Faith and her four siblings lost their mother two months ago. Faith who is the oldest is seventeen and the youngest child her half brother is only one year old. Faith's Father died about six years ago leaving her mother to raise four young children, a story that is all too familiar and one that is told over and over again in different families.
Thier elderly maternal grandmother has come from the rural area to live with the Children in their homely two roomed house. She like many of her age mates has taken up the responsibility of raising her childen's children. And though many times she may not be able to take care of all their financial needs she certainly gives love, warmth, security in a world that has been turned upside down. we salute her and many women like her.
There is a need for these families to start income generating projects. I have learnt however, that many times it is difficult to talk to someone about projects when they are hungry, have no money and don't know how to send the children to school. the important thing at times like this is to meet the immediate needs. We need to provide food, fees, clothes, money and the like.
We have also started working on our initiative to give children more access to books, the building up of libraries and creation of a reading culture. One of the schools we are working with has indicated that they would like some help in building up their library so that is where we start. I will be giving you updates as we go along and I promise I will start to make our updates more regular.
If you would like to help with donation of books please contact me.
Friday 9 July 2010
Step by step
Hi all!
I know that its been a long time since I posted anything but i have not stopped working for this cause.
Elizabeth is in school and doing really well. She was at first afraid that other children would give her a hard time about having been pregnant at such a young age and losing the baby. Fortunatly through God's grace she has not faced those kinds of problems. God really is a God of second chances. She is settled back into the school system and doing well at school. She has a future!
I think what helps too is that she has has some good support from her paternal aunt. Even though the aunt cannot carry her financially she has provided her with a roof over her head and makes sure that she has food in her stomach. She is lucky because not many children have that.
There are two more children we should be taking on board for next term. It's two sisters. they are orphaned and live in a home that their parents left for them. The older child is 14 and its a child headed home. Currently there are battles with other family members who want to take the home away from them and convert it for their own uses. This is one of the other problems that children face beacause as adults we fail to write wills. Relatives take advantage of this.
As you probaly know the World cup is being held in one of our neighbouring countries South Africa. Many of the proceeds of the games are going towards a campaign called One Goal. They have given us statistics that there about 72 Million children in the world that are out of school and 60% of them are in Africa and most are girls. That is a lot of children!
You know we can make a difference to just one childs life. You can change a childs past by making the future brighter. 72 million uneducated struggling adults is what we will create if we do nothing and the poverty in Africa will not end.
So we have a chance to make a difference now. Yes it's long term but we can do it. And we will do it, step by step.
Zimbabwe is currently working on a new constitution and one of the things that we want to advocate for as Bright Minds Bright Future is free primary school education so that at least every child gets a chance to learn how to read and write. We are also still working on creating libraries in various schools and locations so that children get exposure through reading. So if you have any books you would like to donate let us know.
Take care for now.
I know that its been a long time since I posted anything but i have not stopped working for this cause.
Elizabeth is in school and doing really well. She was at first afraid that other children would give her a hard time about having been pregnant at such a young age and losing the baby. Fortunatly through God's grace she has not faced those kinds of problems. God really is a God of second chances. She is settled back into the school system and doing well at school. She has a future!
I think what helps too is that she has has some good support from her paternal aunt. Even though the aunt cannot carry her financially she has provided her with a roof over her head and makes sure that she has food in her stomach. She is lucky because not many children have that.
There are two more children we should be taking on board for next term. It's two sisters. they are orphaned and live in a home that their parents left for them. The older child is 14 and its a child headed home. Currently there are battles with other family members who want to take the home away from them and convert it for their own uses. This is one of the other problems that children face beacause as adults we fail to write wills. Relatives take advantage of this.
As you probaly know the World cup is being held in one of our neighbouring countries South Africa. Many of the proceeds of the games are going towards a campaign called One Goal. They have given us statistics that there about 72 Million children in the world that are out of school and 60% of them are in Africa and most are girls. That is a lot of children!
You know we can make a difference to just one childs life. You can change a childs past by making the future brighter. 72 million uneducated struggling adults is what we will create if we do nothing and the poverty in Africa will not end.
So we have a chance to make a difference now. Yes it's long term but we can do it. And we will do it, step by step.
Zimbabwe is currently working on a new constitution and one of the things that we want to advocate for as Bright Minds Bright Future is free primary school education so that at least every child gets a chance to learn how to read and write. We are also still working on creating libraries in various schools and locations so that children get exposure through reading. So if you have any books you would like to donate let us know.
Take care for now.
Saturday 13 March 2010
Moving Forward
It's a long time since my last update. We have been moving forward step by step. I have learned that it is so much harder than I thought it was to get a charity up and running. I understand now that one cannot just sort out all problems overnight but the charity grows day by day.
Well a quick update on Nyasha and her siblings. They eventually got into school sponsored by a church organisation. She came over to tell me. And the good thing is that I have not seen her or her siblings begging of late and thats a good thing. I have also learned that there are many charities / trust funds that have been set up all over Zimbabwe. The challenge however, is to be affective, to make a difference and not lie dormant.
We have a young girl that is starting school in the second term. We will call her Elizabeth although that's not her real name. Elizabeth is a vulnerable child. She lost her mother some years ago and had to stay with her aunt. After starting secondary school she got pregnant at 13 years of age and was sent by her aunt to stay at her boyfriends rural home. She gave birth to a little girl who lived for only a week.
Having lost her baby and with a boyfriend that was obviously not interested in her she decided to return to her aunts house. She has decided that she wants to go back to school and approached us for funding. We have decided to sponsor her and give her a brighter future.
The country is full of young girls who fall prey to older men because they many times have no source of income and think they are running for a better life. In reality these men are struggling themselves but to a young girl who has nothing they seem like they are the answer. My hope is that we can begin to empower these young women to know that there are other ways to survive and that they must perservere with their education because it will open so many doors for them.
We have also decided to steer the focus of the organisation to building libraries as well as sponsor school fees. There is a need to encourage a reading culture. Exposure to books and computers opens up a whole world for each person.
So if there is anyone out there who would like to donate books we would really appreciate it.
Until next time, stay blessed.
Well a quick update on Nyasha and her siblings. They eventually got into school sponsored by a church organisation. She came over to tell me. And the good thing is that I have not seen her or her siblings begging of late and thats a good thing. I have also learned that there are many charities / trust funds that have been set up all over Zimbabwe. The challenge however, is to be affective, to make a difference and not lie dormant.
We have a young girl that is starting school in the second term. We will call her Elizabeth although that's not her real name. Elizabeth is a vulnerable child. She lost her mother some years ago and had to stay with her aunt. After starting secondary school she got pregnant at 13 years of age and was sent by her aunt to stay at her boyfriends rural home. She gave birth to a little girl who lived for only a week.
Having lost her baby and with a boyfriend that was obviously not interested in her she decided to return to her aunts house. She has decided that she wants to go back to school and approached us for funding. We have decided to sponsor her and give her a brighter future.
The country is full of young girls who fall prey to older men because they many times have no source of income and think they are running for a better life. In reality these men are struggling themselves but to a young girl who has nothing they seem like they are the answer. My hope is that we can begin to empower these young women to know that there are other ways to survive and that they must perservere with their education because it will open so many doors for them.
We have also decided to steer the focus of the organisation to building libraries as well as sponsor school fees. There is a need to encourage a reading culture. Exposure to books and computers opens up a whole world for each person.
So if there is anyone out there who would like to donate books we would really appreciate it.
Until next time, stay blessed.
Wednesday 6 January 2010
Searching
Happy New Year!
I know I promised to give you an update on my visit to Nyasha's home to speak to her grandmother. Well here is what happened. The first day i followed Nyasha's directions and caught a combi (taxi) to the township of Epworth, I disembarked where she had told me and followed the directions until i had reached the '' pink tuckshop'. This is where I now got confused with her directions. After speaking to the sales lady at the tuckshop I followed a dust road but the house number she had given me 2037 was nowhere in sight, infact the house numbers here were all in the six hundreds which was a far cry off.
I then made a u-turn and followed a tarred road, I must add that the sun was beating down on me. Thank goodness i had an umbrella which I promptly put up to shield me from the heat. Unfortunatly I could not find the house and decided to go back home.. I would just have to wait for Nyasha to come round another day. Of course i was disappointed but what could i do.
Days passed and no sign of Nyasha or her siblings and then on the fifth of January she turned up at my gate again with a friend. She had her signature smile and a new red dress that someone must have given her for christmas. I cannot tell you how excited I was to see her.
I told her that I had come looking for her house but had gotten lost. She gave me the directions again and this time told me that she would wait for me by the pink tuckshop. Unfortunatly Nyasha was not at the tuckshop but I followed the dust road once again. This time i got to the banks of a river, I had to take my shoes of and roll up my trousers and wade through the river to get to the other side.
Low and behold on the other side I found the houses in the number 2000 region. After much searching I found number 2037. How excited I was, until of course I was told that this was not where Nyasha lived and that the number 2037 was also in two other regions of epworth. I was now exhausted. Fortumatly the lady I was talking to was very helpful and told me story's of other children who were in the same predicament as Nyasha and her family. Two young boys the oldest who was perhaps ten whose parents had died. They go begging daily to survive and do not attend school.
I then visited another family, grandparents who are taking care of grandchildren. One of their daughters died the other daughter went to South Africa seven years ago and never returned leaving two children in the care of her parents. The couple both don't work, The husband having retired some years before. All the children have not attended school for the last two years.
I took all the details to see how we could help. Unfortunatly not even one of the children has a birth certificate which is another challenge.
The situation indeed seems desperate but not insummountable, the number of children in need is incredible. We will overcome one step at a time.
And Nyasha? I will just have to wait for her to come round one more time.. This time i will have to go with her and hopefully in the end get her and her siblings into school.
I know I promised to give you an update on my visit to Nyasha's home to speak to her grandmother. Well here is what happened. The first day i followed Nyasha's directions and caught a combi (taxi) to the township of Epworth, I disembarked where she had told me and followed the directions until i had reached the '' pink tuckshop'. This is where I now got confused with her directions. After speaking to the sales lady at the tuckshop I followed a dust road but the house number she had given me 2037 was nowhere in sight, infact the house numbers here were all in the six hundreds which was a far cry off.
I then made a u-turn and followed a tarred road, I must add that the sun was beating down on me. Thank goodness i had an umbrella which I promptly put up to shield me from the heat. Unfortunatly I could not find the house and decided to go back home.. I would just have to wait for Nyasha to come round another day. Of course i was disappointed but what could i do.
Days passed and no sign of Nyasha or her siblings and then on the fifth of January she turned up at my gate again with a friend. She had her signature smile and a new red dress that someone must have given her for christmas. I cannot tell you how excited I was to see her.
I told her that I had come looking for her house but had gotten lost. She gave me the directions again and this time told me that she would wait for me by the pink tuckshop. Unfortunatly Nyasha was not at the tuckshop but I followed the dust road once again. This time i got to the banks of a river, I had to take my shoes of and roll up my trousers and wade through the river to get to the other side.
Low and behold on the other side I found the houses in the number 2000 region. After much searching I found number 2037. How excited I was, until of course I was told that this was not where Nyasha lived and that the number 2037 was also in two other regions of epworth. I was now exhausted. Fortumatly the lady I was talking to was very helpful and told me story's of other children who were in the same predicament as Nyasha and her family. Two young boys the oldest who was perhaps ten whose parents had died. They go begging daily to survive and do not attend school.
I then visited another family, grandparents who are taking care of grandchildren. One of their daughters died the other daughter went to South Africa seven years ago and never returned leaving two children in the care of her parents. The couple both don't work, The husband having retired some years before. All the children have not attended school for the last two years.
I took all the details to see how we could help. Unfortunatly not even one of the children has a birth certificate which is another challenge.
The situation indeed seems desperate but not insummountable, the number of children in need is incredible. We will overcome one step at a time.
And Nyasha? I will just have to wait for her to come round one more time.. This time i will have to go with her and hopefully in the end get her and her siblings into school.
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