Annual Report 2003
ZIMBABWE AIDS ORPHANS DZIKWA TRUST Annual Letter 2003/04 July 15, 2004 (revised) Dear Friend & Supporter The year 2003 marked already the 11th year of this Dzivaresekwa orphans’ basic school education project. Once again, we want to thank you all for your unwavering support, to share with you some highlights of the year 2003 and summarise the project plans for and most recent developments in 2004. VITAL STATISTICS It seems like ages ago since Seppo started paying for just one boy’s school fees back in 1993. The project has really escalated year by year, since 1996, and by the end of 2003 we had 85 children in a number of schools, of whom:
We still purposefully maintaining the gender balance such that it favours girls, as the girl children still need more support in Zimbabwe. Out of the 85 children at the end of 2003, 50 (60%) were girls and 35 (40%) were boys. Altogether 13 older children, ten boys in O-levels and three girls, one in O-levels and two in A-levels, attended a boarding school in 2003. For talented poor children boarding school provides a safe, disciplined and more conducive environment for studies than their home environment. In boarding schools children are also provided with daily meals and their schedules are more focused on organised studying even after classes. Homes are crowded, often they lack electricity and sufficient furniture, and time spent on schoolwork is not always appreciated at home because there may be more pressing duties in looking after the smaller ones, otherwise helping out in housekeeping or even trying to make some money for the extended family by selling vegetables in the busy streets of Dzivaresekwa. All our children come from a very poor high-density suburban township of the capital city Harare, called Dzivaresekwa. The children are orphans or at least one parent (usually the father) has passed away. Their families are extremely poor and cannot afford to pay any school fees or uniforms, however small these sums are in our standards! We endeavour to select children who are bright and eager to learn. In most cases the respective Head Masters or “Teachers-in-Charge” have recommended the children to us. In some cases children and their guardians have learned about the education support facility through children already in the programme and have accordingly approached us directly. Before taking him/her onto our project, we always establish the child’s situation thoroughly, visit their homes and check facts with the school. SCOPE OF SUPPORT The fundamental purpose of the project is to provide resources to poor Dzivaresekwa orphans for their basic education and welfare. In addition to the government school fees (three terms per year) we also pay for school levies, uniforms, sportswear, schoolbooks and accessories, as well as occasional medical fees. In the last two years we have introduced among other things:
The daily mealie-meal or sadza (maize) “catering” is handled by a couple of trusted mothers at Dzivaresekwa No. 4 Primary School where Seppo originally started the programme. We are currently purchasing a monthly supply of 400 kgs maize flour from the Grain Marketing Board. Maize is the staple food in the Zimbabwean kitchen and due to severe, extended economic hardships in Zimbabwe it is often in short supply these days. Seppo ends up spending quite a bit of time every month driving around sourcing the food and delivering it to the Dzivaresekwa No. 4 Primary School where they have kindly organised facilities for safe warehousing of the supplies. In addition to mealie-meal, the daily meals also include vegetables and meat or fish. Every second month we have a cow slayghtered to secure meat for the children. Our small library is also situated within the Dzivaresekwa No. 4 Primary School premises. It was originally started with funds provided by our German friend, Mr. Wolfgang Ellermann from Hanover. He generously made a well-appreciated donation on account of his 50th birthday in May, 2002 to the project. Many children enjoy reading. Right now the library is looked after, on a part-time basis, by one of our senior girls, Blessing Chitanda who was also our first child to write her A-levels in November, 2003. Congratulations to Blessing! Right now Blessing has also started tutoring the smaller children in mathematics and in English. Mathematics lessons for more senior pupils were originally conducted by a university student but, unfortunately for us, he later on decided to venture into gold panning 150 km west of Harare! As Blessing will start her University studies at Africa University in Mutare in August, 2004, we have to try to secure other resource persons to look after the library and to give extra lessons. HAPPY EVENTS IN 2003 The second Sports Day for our children was held on August 24 on the grounds of Dzivaresekwa No. 4 Primary School. A total of 71 children participated. Competition events were running distances of 75 400 meters, long jump, ball throwing and shot put. Seppo had secretly trained his shot put in Siuntio and came third, after the two 17-year old Kindoni twins. Every child received a price but the three best in every age group in each discipline got special prices, such as school articles, soap, toothbrushes and toothpaste and tennis balls. In November 2003, Seppo took eleven children to a children’s movie, called “Daddy Day Care”. For most of them, it was the first time in their lives to go to a movie. During the year several children accompanied Seppo to the Chipangali Wildlife Orphanage, which is a wonderful establishment close to Bulawayo, in Matabeleland South, some 460 km southwest of Harare. Chipangali looks after wildlife orphans, has breeding projects for rhino, leopard, lion etc., conducts research work on wildlife and looks after wild animals that have been captured either as true animal orphans or because they are considered to be harmful for cattle and other domestic animals in the farms. Some highlights from Chipangali visits: During the May visit, two boys played happily with two 1-month old lion cubs. In November, two girls started running away from four lion cubs (which had grown in the meantime) and guess what this aroused the right instinct in the lions and they chased the girls! Luckily however, there were no real casualties, except perhaps pride … and a major loss of one girl’s sandal to a young leopard called Raza. Visiting Chipangali is really wonderful for us and for our children. Wildlife is the pride of Zimbabwe but normally poor children from townships seldom get to see it at close range. THE “DZIKWA TRUST FUND” Since September 2002 our legal vehicle in Zimbabwe has been the Dzikwa Trust Fund. We felt that a formal arrangement was desirable in case of receiving general donations, acquiring assets and making longer-term legal commitments in Zimbabwe, such as rental agreements. A copy of the Trust Deed is available on request to our supporters. We remind you that “Dzikwa” actually means, “firmly planted”, in the Shona language. Seppo came up with the name as an abbreviation of the word “Dzivaresekwa” and Steve Chifunyise was the one explaining the meaning of the Shona word “dzikwa” in its own right. The Dzikwa Trust nominated two new Trustees in 2003. They are Mrs. E. Dick-Malunga and Mrs. P. Takawira. Currently the Trustees are: Mr. Stephen Joel Chifunyise (a playwright and previous Permanent Secretary of Education) Mrs. Yedzai Ruwadzano Dune (teacher at DZ No. 4 Primary School, contact person since 1993) Mrs. Elisabeth Dick-Malunga (business woman in Harare) Mr. Takunda Tivaone (a practising lawyer from Harare) Mr. Seppo Ainamo (project originator & coordinator and fund-raiser) Mrs. Oili Wuolle (Central Banker in Finland; project promoter and fund-raiser) Mrs. Priscilla Takawira (a primary school teacher and Secretary of Dzikwa Trust) In 2003, there have been five meetings of the Trustees. Seppo attended all of them and Oili attended the September meeting. Ms. Petronella Moyo has acted as the Field Officer for the project and Mr. Assan Mponda has taken over the bookkeeping. As the Field Officer, Petronella collects and updates information on the children and their school-related needs, liaises with the two key teachers, Mrs. Dune and Mrs. Takawira, runs errands for the project and helps Seppo to purchase the required uniforms and other supplies. As the book-keeper, Assan records the expenses and prepares the required financial reports. The Dzikwa Trust has already obtained some assets for its operations. The digital and conventional cameras, which have been generously donated by Canon Finland, have been most helpful. The Trust also has acquired two second-hand computers. Towards the end of the year the Dzikwa Trust finally got its own letterhead and logo. PROSPECTS FOR THE YEAR 2004 Zimbabwe is still going through an extremely difficult period economically and socio-economically. One of the biggest obstacles for learning is daily hunger as staple food like bread, maize flour, cooking oil etc. is not always available in shops, and due to annual inflation of up to 600 per cent basic foodstuffs are available only at prices not affordable to our children. Zimbabwe has experienced a contraction in its GDP-growth for the last six years and at the same time inflation is rampant making any economic planning quite tedious. For our project these hardships have meant, among other things, that all local cost estimations are very short term to remain valid at all and that we must direct more resources to ensuring that each child gets at least one decent warm meal daily. In the year 2004, we have 118 children in our programme. One of the biggest developments is the number of children leaving primary school and attending secondary school on a boarding basis. We have made arrangements for 9 more children (in addition to the one A-level and 12 O-level students already in Chingombe) to attend secondary school in the Chingombe II High School in Alheit, about 300 km south of Harare near Gutu. Chingombe was originally established by the Dutch Reform Church almost 100 years ago and still has a good reputation It is already very familiar to us through the one girl studying over there since 1998, and it is affordable to our programme. The Head Master, Mr. K.T. Munozogara, has also been very supportive to the project. In 2004 our programme has 95 children attending the following schools in Dzivaresekwa:
Dzivaresekwa Government Primary School No. 421 children Gillingham Government Primary School22 children Gombo Government Primary School19 children Nhamburiko Government Primary School20 children Other Primary Schools in Dzivaresekwa12 children Dzivaresekwa No. 1 & 2 Secondary Schools 13 children
In 2004 arrangements for boarding school attendance are:
Chingombe II High School in Alheit, Gutu,22 children PLANS FOR 2004 SPECIAL ACTIVITIES Our ambitious plan is that again in 2004 every child will be participating in a special event, like going for a movie or visiting a game farm or Chipangali Wildlife Orphanage. In addition all children will again be invited to the Annual Sports Event, which will be held in August 2004 during school holidays. We are still planning to introduce more arts, such as Shona stone sculpture, music and theatre to the children. The purpose is to identify those children with distinct artistic talents and to give them an opportunity to develop their gifts. Our Trustee, Mr. Stephen Chifunyise is instrumental in advising us how to expose the children to arts and in initiating special events for the artistically talented. A special effort to provide extra lessons in mathematics and in English for both primary and secondary levels will be continued and strengthened. Children will also be given an opportunity to learn computer skills in small groups using the equipment acquired by Dzikwa Trust. Dzikwa Trust is also in the process of finding funding to acquire a 0,5 hectare stand in Dzivaresekwa in order to build a small but safe community centre for our AIDS Orphans. This arrangement would enable our children to attend secondary schools in the district and reduce the need to send children to a boarding school far away, which is proving to be even too expensive for many of our sponsors at ever-increasing local rates. The centre would also provide temporary housing for some families and children without permanent shelter and this way ensure that lack of accommodation does not become an obstacle to going to school. The building would also house the offices of Dzikwa Trust. ZIMBABWE AIDS ORPHANS R.Y. & SPECIAL FUND-RAISING EFFORTS IN FINLAND In 2003 we established a registered supportive association in Finland, called Zimbabwe AIDS Orphans Society (“Zimbabwen Aids-Orvot ry.” in Finnish). This step may prove useful should we want to apply for funding from formal organisations or receive larger donations to the project. The inauguration meeting was held in Seppo’s and Oili’s hometown, Siuntio in April 2003 and in conjunction with the meeting we also took the opportunity to display and sell some handicrafts from Zimbabwe. The Executive Committee for the society has met a few times to carve out action plans. The society has now been officially registered and we will keep you informed about the developments and all our sponsors will of course be invited to join as members. Sponsorship is not tied to the Society membership. Those sponsors who also want to become a member of the Society are kindly asked to inform Seppo and Oili accordingly. The annual membership fee of € 20 is payable to Zimbabwen AIDS-Orvot ry. account No. 157 235 168 497 at Nordea Bank in Helsinki In 2003 we had two fund-raising events in Finland, one during the Siuntio Day in August and one at the Christmas Fair of the Bank of Finland in December. On both occasions we sold Zimbabwean handicrafts like tapestry, hand-printed cushion covers, plate mats and other materials, Shona sculpture etc. In January 2004, the Siuntio communal library offered us an opportunity to organise a small exhibition featuring the project and an informal discussion meeting telling about the lives and dreams of our Dzivaresekwa orphans. The local newspaper “Kirkkonummen Sanomat” has carried articles about the events and the project itself. In 2004, the first special fund-raising opportunity will be on Saturday, May 8th, at the Spring Fair of the Helsinki International School in Ruoholahti. Oili has reserved a table there. CHANGES IN OUR GROUP OF CHILDREN Observing the guiding principles of the project we have suggested to the respective sponsors that seven of our children have been dropped in 2004 because of consistently poor school performance in the year 2003 and even before. In all cases children have all been given “warnings” already a year ago and they have been offered extra lessons and other support but still the performance remains quite poor. Our normal procedure, when the child is having serious learning problems, is that we investigate the reasons for poor performance with the child, with the teacher as well as with the guardian. After the first disappointing term the child is normally given at least a full year to improve his/her performance. However, if the child continues to under perform we feel that we should rather give the opportunity to those needy children more eager to learn. This guiding rule is thoroughly explained to the children when they enter the programme. During the year 2003 seven other children stopped benefiting from our project, due to moving away from the township of Dzivaresekwa or stopping to go to school for other reasons summarised here:
This brought the number of children we support down to 78. In early 2004 we selected, however, another 40 children to increase the total number to 118. As you may remember, we have decided to set the maximum number at 120 in order to keep the situation with each child under strict control and to be able to manage the project hands-on. The newcomers have been chosen mainly based on recommendations by the respective teachers from six primary schools. OUR FRIENDLY SPONSORS In 2003 we were happy to have 72 sponsors who cover the costs of 78 children, as some sponsors are looking after more than one child. Out of the totals, 69 children are looked after by Finnish friends, 7 by German friends and 2 children have enjoyed the support of a Norwegian friend. The year 2003 proved to be a good year in terms of sponsors’ visits to Zimbabwe! In May, Vilja, a mother of two from Siuntio (and secretary to Zimbabwen AIDS-orvot ry. and to Keski-Siuntion Martat homemakers club who are sponsoring two children), familiarised herself with the project on the ground and upon her return she wrote a nice little article to the local newspaper. Riitta and Henning from Hanover spent a week with Oili and Seppo in Harare in September, followed by Seppo’s daughter Saara in October. The longest visit was made by a young friend from Germany, Kristian, who ended up helping Seppo for 6 weeks in the actual day-to-day running of the project! Kristian has also kindly started organising energetic efforts to find further help form German sources to the project and we thank him once again for all his support! During the festive season we were lucky to find 16 new sponsors but as the number of children is increasing we still need sponsors for another 21 children. In case you know of anyone interested to become a sponsor, we warmly welcome newcomers and can readily supply information on the project, how it is run and on children. A special birthday donation was made in November by one of our longest-standing sponsor couple. Seguru Tapio’s (= respected uncle Tapio’s) 75th birthday brought in a respectable sum which goes towards paying for their god-son’s, Levie’s education after finishing high school. The generous support of all the sponsors is the very backbone of our project. Our sincere thanks go to all of you! Oili and Seppo will continue to cover the costs for those children who do not yet have another sponsor. Early in 2004 one of Oili’s ex-collegues made a donation to the project, which enables us to cover 60 % of the food costs for the entire year 2004. Seppo has calculated that we are providing 26,000 meals / year, and Antti’s generosity pays for 15,600 meals! In the middle of 2004 we have 99 individual sponsors covering practically the costs of every child in the project. In addition we have six other sponsors, who give donations for the food, health and administrative costs of the project. SUPPORT FEES, PAYMENTS AND LOGISTICS The grave economic situation in the country has meant that fees and other costs are going up locally, sometimes at a drastic pace especially for the boarding children. The applicable annual sponsorship fees, in terms of Euro, for the year 2004 are as follows:
These fees also cover one daily meal, the use of our library, the extra lessons in Mathematics and English and basic lessons in computer skills, as well as costs for basic medical treatment and annual special activities occasions. The fees are payable to Zimbabwen AIDS-Orvot ry. Account No. 157 235 168 497 at Nordea Bank, Senaatintori Branch, Helsinki, Finland. IBAN: FI9015723500168497, SWIFT Code NDEAFIHH. SEPPO’S PLANNED STAY IN ZIMBABWE IN 2004
In the year 2004, Seppo continues to spend part of his time in Zimbabwe, mainly taking care of this project, as follows: January 20-March 3 May 3-June 11 August 13-October 11 October 26-December 11
In late February Oili visited Zimbabwe for 10 days and she will be joining Seppo again in mid-August to mid-September. WELCOME FOR A VISIT We continue to rent a house in Harare for ourselves with three guest rooms. In case any sponsor wants to come and meet his/her “child”, free accommodation in Harare is readily available! Our maid Future assisted by her daughter Violet and also Shepherd’s wife Janet are happy looking after your meals, house cleaning, laundry etc. friendly and efficiently, and our gardener Shepherd will see to it that the sauna bath and the swimming pool are clean and inviting. Household dogs Esko and Mikko are glad to keep you company! Seppo is quite famous for his guiding skills both in the busy streets of Harare City and in the winding dirt roads of the Dzivaresekwa-township. He can also organise visits to the Wildlife Orphanage of Chipangali and to other wonderful well-known Zimbabwean attractions, such as Victoria Falls, Great Zimbabwe and lake Kariba, and Zimbabwe’s many truly exiting safari camps where seeing the “Big Five” is as good as guaranteed. CONTACT INFORMATION Seppo Ainamo & Oili Wuolle in Finland Address:Säästöpankintie 23, 02580 Siuntio Telephone:+ 358 9 813 7207 Cell-phones:+ 358 40 5922 543 (Oili) or +358 40 721 1405 (Seppo) E-mail:seppo.ainamo@kolumbus.fi
Seppo Ainamo & Oili Wuolle in Zimbabwe Address:12 A, Findowrie Drive, Chisipite, Harare Postal address:P.O. Box HG 916, Highlands, Harare Telephone:+ 263 4 497 487 Cell-phone:+ 263 91 - 210 855 (Seppo) E-mail:dzikwatrust@africaonline.co.zw SUMMER GREETINGS We thank you from the bottom of our hearts - Kiitos! - and wish you an enjoyable spring / summer season..
Lämpimin Terveisin & Warm Regards from Siuntio,
Oili Wuolle Seppo Ainamo |
Zimbabwe AIDS Orphans Registered Society, Siuntio, Finland
Copyright Zimbabwe AIDS Orphans Registered Society 2004-2006