VOCATIONAL TRAINING FOR 200 ZIMBABWEAN ORPHANS

Zimkids has been mighty busy since our last update in April.  You can check out the latest news from us on our facebook page. Just search Zimkids Orphan Trust. There you will see a short video of the construction of our latest effort, a Sewing Training Center.

Thanks to you not only were we able to train 25 new kids in all areas of construction. In the new pink building – constructed by our seniors under the supervision of two of the older boys, Foster DIngani and Collen Makurumidze, we trained during the building of our complex.  Now boys and girls are making patterns, cutting cloth and sewing school uniforms, pillows and slipcovers, all trained and supervised by two of our Seniors, Lindiwe and Charity. This project was born out of our realization that since no child is permitted to attend school without a uniform, there’s a near-limitless market for such items, which are absurdly expensive in town. Opening a uniform business, then, allowed us to meet two goals: moving us along our path to self-sustainability and providing young people with skills they can eventually use to open their own enterprises. We have to thank our Texas Grandmother, Dee Duhe, who collects and sends us all of our sewing machines. Also thanks to the Shea Family Foundation and the Independent Pilots Association for grants that funded the building of the center.

Ngqabutho and Zibusiso added a a dollup of creativity when they constructed a big zipper sculpture for the front of the new building and also welding a security door with the same zipper motif.  As a result, when visitors came one day they told others about the center and we got our first order for a sculpture for a new peace center. Denver, Ncosi and Brighten created the piece.

Meanwhile, Hlonaphile and Engeline just received their first order – for a set of shoe racks – and are busy designing something “out of the ordinary,” what we hope will become Zimkids’ hallmark. And serious solicitation of more orders has finally begun!

Although this is dry season and no rain will fall before November, our greenhouse – maintained by our older children – is bursting with tomatoes and spinach, collards, onions and garlic. Our hungry workers – and our littlest children – have to eat, after all, and we are producing an increasing amount of our own food.

In the Resource room, our 35 youngest children are finishing up their afternoon nap after a full day of lessons in the ABCs, computer games, sports, and art. Run by Zimkids alumnae sent to special classes for government certification, the pre-school will soon open its doors to paying parents while continuing to charge nothing to orphans. We never expected to turn it into a training and income-generating project; we were just trying to provide an educational and social opportunity for children ages 3-6. But the Grade 1 teachers in the area were so enthusiastic about our little ones that local parents lined up at our gate. We had another terrific opportunity to meet our dual goals, so we jumped at the chance to expand our operation.

In the midst of all the activity, the older young people are learning about costing and marketing, about recordkeeping, careful pricing of goods, and sales. After stabilizing a bit once the government gave up on the local currency, the economy has begun sliding back in the wrong direction. So far this year, Zimbabwe’s Registrar of Companies has struck more than 176 companies off the register and they expect to deregister another 634 companies over the coming months. More than 70 percent of the country’s exporting companies have shut down. Every day, we hear about another business that has filed for bankruptcy, another shop that simply can’t make it. Our young people, then, need not only practical skills but also training in running small businesses, which are their only realistic hope for independence.

That’s what they’re getting at Zimkids, and every month I feel more confident that our model is working: Our “alumni” are teaching the younger children, who are becoming more confident, more organized, more skilled – and more on target for bright futures.

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