Help us help ourselvesBackground
Orphaned and Vulnerable children are faced with a myriad of challenges in both their formative stages as well as when they transition into adulthood at the age of 18 when they have to leave foster and children’s home to secure their own independence. Due to the increasing cost of Early Childhood Development (ECD) education, the vulnerable children in the society have significantly lacked nurturing in various aspects including physical, social, emotional, intellectual, cultural and spiritual.
Meanwhile, high unemployment rate coupled with limited opportunities for self-sustenance have also affected the independence of children who are raised at the Children’s home in the event that they do not perform well in their academics.
Graduates
Established
Projects Done
The government of Zimbabwe also introduced a new compulsory education system for primary education system requiring them to go through nine years of primary school starting from the age of three or four years. This is out of the realization that early childhood development experiences are essential prerequisites for later success in school, the workplace, and the community. In addition, quality education is also critical in the formative years of a child as it stimulates the confidence to get up and talk in front of people as well as socialise with peers.
While all this is necessary not all parents worse still, children’s homes in Zimbabwe can afford the tuition fees of several pre-schools as the cost has risen and become pricier than that of some universities. This has made life difficult for some parents to enrol their children in early learning institutions. A snap survey shows that pre-schools in Harare’s low-density suburbs levies between $200 – $300 per month excluding transport and food while those in high density suburbs charges $100-$150 per month, which sometimes includes transport to and from home. The inhibiting cost has kept a lot of children out of pre-school thus greatly compromising on their childhood development.
Many young people particularly in rural areas and worse still those who are raised in children’s homes face a daunting task when they reach 18 years of age as they are required to have their independence and leave the children’s home. With limited economic opportunities, the main source of livelihood has mostly been subsistence farming due to the climatic conditions. One of the rural areas where Shungu Dzevana Trust has been operating falls under farming region 2b, which receives average rainfall, with good soil suitable for cash crop production.
Most crops grown are maize, ground nuts, round nuts while livestock production is also practiced with the rearing of cattle, goats, poultry, and piggery. However, the transition into adulthood for some young people in this area has not been supported by effective livelihood training.
Most young men have sought alternative economic activities such as artisanal mining as well as necessitated rural urban migration in search of economic livelihoods. Young women are more vulnerable as they have risked their lives by engaging in prostitution, concurrent sexual relationships and polygamy as an escape from poverty.
With the realization that failure to live an independent life is a result from lack of adequate support during the formative years as well as limited opportunities for children transitioning into adulthood to organize and use the available resources to lift themselves out of poverty, Shungu Dzevana Trust proposes to embark on interrelated projects that facilitates children enrolling into pre-school and providing opportunities for economic independence that facilitates smooth transition into adulthood.
Human resources
The human resources relevant to the project involve; the project/programme officer, construction workers.
Material/Equipment resources
The material resources shall include sand, basaltic stones, crushed gravel, wood of assorted sizes, ply wood, steel bars of assorted sizes, ordinary Portland cement, aluminum roof sheets, angle bars, Zink nails, wood nails of assorted sizes, reinforcement binding wires, electricity wiring fittings/accessories and doors/window iron mongery(Locks, Hinges etc.). Meanwhile equipment resource shall comprise the wheel borrows, spades, shovel, pick axe, crow bar, head pans, and water drums. Equipment resources shall also include the hiring of a 7-ton truck vehicle for transportation of materials from suppliers or stone/sand from quarries to the project site.
Financial resources
This shall include contributions in-cash, and donor contributions. This is the major input that shall enable the acquisition of all the resources in the project .
Results Achieved so Far
Since its establishment in 1992, Shungu DzveVana Trust has been producing responsible citizens who have attained various qualifications. To date there have been about 63 university, teacher training and nurses graduands. The institution does not place much emphasis on academic achievements alone but will also nurture children’s various talents. As such twelve of the children are now into motor mechanics, electronics and marketing, while four have joined the uniformed services. Meanwhile, with the cost of vocational training sometimes beyond the reach of many in the rural population, it has been prudent for the institution to restore hope through resilience and income-generating projects.
As such, Shungu DzveVana Trust has been operating in Mhondoro District in 2002 and it has successfully implemented a project to assist orphaned and abandoned children with a gardening as well as piggery project. The implementation of project activities in the project implemented between 2003 has to a large degree contributed towards strengthened and coordinated response to the needs of orphans and vulnerable children by giving them support to lead a normal life while other success stories have also been recorded in children who have settled well with foster parents
- To offer quality and affordable childhood development for orphaned and vulnerable children through the construction of a pre-school to reach out to about 100 children.
- To provide economic independence for orphaned and vulnerable children who have attained 18 years by facilitating start-up of income generating projects
- At least a batch of 150 children are provided with quality and affordable pre-school education
- Income generated from enrolment fees contribute towards maintaining pre-school and orphanage premises.
- Enhancing livelihoods that will ensure sustainable food reserves and economic empowerment for target beneficiaries who will impart skills on various projects
- To offer quality and affordable childhood development for orphaned and vulnerable children through the construction of a pre-school to reach out to about 100 children.
- To provide economic independence for orphaned and vulnerable children who have attained 18 years by facilitating start-up of income generating projects
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- i) Project appraisal and needs assessment with the beneficiary population have been performed resulting in the formulation of this project proposal:
- ii) Project design and consulting on the proposed structure, model of implementation as well as feasibility studies
iii) Land acquisition for the construction of the pre-school while the income-generating village has been constructed in Mhondoro but will require resuscitation of infrastructure
- iv) Fundraising contacts are underway
Activities still to be carried out
- Holding planning meetings for start-up of the project implementation stage activities
- Construction of pre-school classroom blocks, fowl run and fish pond for income generating projects in Mhondoro
Sustainability
The sustainability of the projected is rooted in the firm foundation of project components that combine personal capacity development as well as the creation of a conducive environment for self-sustenance of targeted beneficiaries hence the results achieved can endure beyond the project period.
The project has been conceived with the needs of target beneficiaries, therefore ownership of the project activities is increased. With increased ownership, the sustenance of project results is also community owned hence the activities can be maintained beyond the support of this project. Individuals who take part in the project are working with skills that they are comfortable developing hence they are more than committed to the success of the project.
A group of trained individuals are bound to gain new skills in leadership, income-generating and community involvement which they can use to undertake the various initiatives that improve the welfare of the affected people as well as their families. The follow- up and business development support will be able to assist other beneficiaries to be self-employed or seek employment using the skills acquired from the project.
Monitoring and Evaluation
The first phase monitoring of the project shall involve the collection of data to determine whether the estimated material and financial resources are sufficient and adequately used and also ensuring that the activities that are being carried out conform with work plan; and to determine whether the work plan has been achieved and has produced the original objectives.
The second phase monitoring of the project will be after the completion/handover of the project, to determine the impact of the project on pre-school enrolment, income from fees as well as the contribution of the income generating projects to the livelihoods of the people in the community.
Annual evaluation will also be necessary focusing on the relevance, effectiveness and immediate outcome of the approaches in reaching the project objectives as well as look into lessons learnt and the perspectives for future outcome/impact of the project.
INPUTS
Human resources
The human resources relevant to the project involve; the project/programme officer, construction workers.