The challenge that the project addresses
The project seeks to address the social exclusion, educational literacy, hunger and economic sustainability of orphans in their lives.
What is your project doing to respond to this challenge?
The project in 2018 will be addressing educational challenges for the orphans at the Wings of Grace Orphanage in Mufakose Harare Zimbabwe. Assistance for school fees for the kids will be expanded also to include donation of books through the “4-4-Each”initiative of setting up a small library at the orphanage which will house a collection of educational books. We aim to have at least four books for each orphan of school going age in the collection hence ‘4-4-Each’. The Big Brothers and sisters will encourage reading by initiating and sustaining reading sessions. Beyond supplying food for the orphanage the big brother big sister approach will now seek to enhance literacy and also cultivate a reading culture infused with mentorship. A system of managing the small library will be put in place and the orphanage will be encouraged to put in place a reading hour on its daily time table. The library collection will also seek to provide information on sexual and reproductive health and HIV for adolescent orphans to enable them to adequately respond to the challenges of everyday life and health.
The second initiative for 2018, is the “entrepreneurial step”initiative to encourage entrepreneurship among school going orphans and have them to sell something so that they can have a revolving fund for their orphanage. This is critical in building entrepreneurial skills at a tender age and teach them self sustenance as they grow older and leave the orphanage. Talks and training on entrepreneurship are a critical resource for building the entrepreneurial capacity.
Describe the project's impact
The project provides a basic support structure for the children at Wings of Grace Orphanage which is vital for their social development. Providing urgently needed sustenance alleviates the pangs of hunger and affords the children the opportunity to attend school without suffering from exhaustion and distress. A Christmas party, organised by the project, brought joy and happiness to the children; they felt worthy and loved.