One
day in December 2006, Diana and Kim visited rural Kadyamadare
School, about an hour from Harare (Zimbabwe's largest city).
We had selected this school for our initial project, the HopeFirst
Backpack Project. Kathy C from Harare International School (HIS),
has been working with Kadyamadare for more than a decade. One of
the biggest challenges for AIDS orphans is attending school. There
are school fees to be paid, school uniforms are required, and these
children need to find a way to support themselves and other children
in the family; attending school does not bring in money and it does
not buy food. School becomes an unaffordable luxury. The BackPack
Project would provide some supplies to these children, and some
cash donations that HopeFirst received would be used to help pay
school fees for a few of them.
Two
schools, the South Whidbey Intermediate School on South Whidbey
Island in Washington, and the Edwin Rhodes Elementary School in
Chino, California, collected an incredible amount of school supplies
to stuff into backpacks HopeFirst purchased. Unfortunately, school
was not in session while we were in Zimbabwe. But we did have the
chance to go to the school, tour the grounds, and meet the headmistress,
Sekayi. We had filled the backpacks with items, not realizing that
each
backpack would be emptied and every item counted and distributed
in a very carefully designed manner. A pencil is a treasure, not
to be treated casually. Along with the school supplies, the USA
students sent letters, photos, and drawings. We are receiving letters
back from the Zimbabwe children to give to the children here. We
want this program to be not only about giving, but a global exchange
between children. Diana is talking with teachers on Whidbey Island
about developing a school curriculum on children learning the importance
of becoming global citizens. Working with our youth is critical
in creating global solutions. HopeFirst's ongoing involvement with
the BackPack Project will be to continue working on the exchange
between children here in the USA and Zimbabwe. We also heard from
many teachers that they wanted to help the teachers in Zimbabwe.
We
hope to facilitate that exchange as well.
To
learn more about the HopeFirst Backpack Project, go
here.
At
our first visit with Kathy C, a teacher at Harare International
School, Diana and Kim had the pleasure of meeting Simba, an HIV
positive man who is doing fairly well thanks to a government drug
program that allows him to get ARVs (Anti-retroviral drugs). He
spoke a bit about the drug program and about how difficult it was
to get in, but how once you were added to the program, it was usually
fairly easy to get the drugs. However, he added, he might get one
particular prescription, and then the next visit, if that wasn't
available, he'd be given something else in its place.
Simba
had first visited HIS to deliver a talk on living with AIDS. He
told how after being diagnosed as HIV+ he joined a support group
for HIV+ survivors. Most of the members had children and they came
to realize that the children of the dying parents were the ones
really in need. Simba's "organization" evolved for which Kathy has
raised some funds for food and supplies. The day we met Simba, he
had meticulously written out the names, addresses, and other vital
information about 30+ orphaned children in his neighborhood of Mt
Pleasant, an area in Harare. These children listed were the ones
Simba was particularly concerned about. Five of the children were
HIV+. Many of the children were not able to go to school because
they were not able to pay the required school fees. Some lived with
relatives, some lived in child-headed households.
On
this particular day, he was in the process of organizing a food
distribution event for the orphans that would happen the following
week. He had received what was to him a sizable donation of about
$60 U.S. which enabled him to purchase a significant amount of mealie
meal (cornmeal - staple of the Zimbabwean diet), and assorted other
food items, including a nutritional supplement.
With
the support of HopeFirst Foundation, Kathy and Simba have spent
many hours going to the schools of these children, begging the headmasters
to readmit the students and to reduce the fees, and paying what
is settled upon. On the books, there is governmental support for
school fees for the orphaned children, but that is often not provided
outright. In paying for the school fees for these children, HopeFirst
assumes some obligation to continue support if at all possible.
While we would like to assist as many children as possible with
their education, we see the wisdom in providing five children with
three years of school fees rather than 45 children with fees for
one quarter. Difficult choices. Schooling provides so much for a
child, especially the orphaned child. The school day does not just
include academics, but a place to socialize with other children,
to learn cultural values, to learn life skills like how to keep
water and food safe, to learn health skills like how AIDS is contracted,
to have exposure to nurturing adults, to maybe get some food or
medicine, to play.
HopeFirst's
involvement with the Mt Pleasant orphans is to continue providing
school fees for the orphans, particularly the child-headed-household
children.
Daisy
and Tony Maulana founded the Maulana School for Orphans for
1400 orphaned children in Epworth, a high density suburb near Harare.
We first met them at Irene Chigamba's, a nationally recognized performer
in Zimbabwe. We were so impressed by their traditional dance performance,
a visit to the school was warranted which happened the day before
we flew home. We drove up and down, up and down, up and down a dirt
road trying to find the entrance. Finally, several people, thinking
we were out of our minds, I'm sure, directed us through what looked
like the front yards of dozens of houses. We were greeted enthusiastically
and taken for a tour of the school. The classrooms were literally
in the boulders. GR 2, etc was spray painted on the rocks. Maize
was growing in the "classroom," because as Daisy explained, the
growers didn't understand the vision of the school. There was the
broken-plywood-covered septic, which was "a challenge." Herb garden.
Three-room schoolhouse, very compact, one room didn't have a roof.
A large tent donated by a British NGO for rainy times, certainly
not large enough to hold all the children. A stone "stage."
Daisy
and Tony gathered the children and they put on a dance performance
for our carload of guests. What an honor. The children don't live
at the school, though several of them stay there awhile when "times
are hard" at home. Farai Makoni also arrived at the school, on foot,
during our visit. He is a founding member of the Maulana Child Protection
Organization, a sort of social worker.
We
discussed how we would like the school to forward proposals for
projects that needed funding. It was not appropriate to offer money
to these people at this point, so instead we left them some school
supplies and mahewu, a nutritional powder that is mixed with water,
and our words of intention to further our connection with them.
After that visit, we have had a friend return to the school with
food for the kids, purchased by HopeFirst Foundation. Since returning
home, we have learned that there is a group in California, Sahwira,
that is hoping to do some work at Maulana. We are in communication
about how to coordinate our efforts. HopeFirst's involvement, in
line with our mission, will be accessing clean water for the children,
assisting with psychosocial support for the children, and providing
marimbas to a school committed to retaining the cultural identity
of orphaned children. Tony also put in a special request for a guitar
(not electric, if you please).
Supporting
HopeFirst Foundation translates into supporting the following projects:
each
backpack would be emptied and every item counted and distributed
in a very carefully designed manner. A pencil is a treasure, not
to be treated casually. Along with the school supplies, the USA
students sent letters, photos, and drawings. We are receiving letters
back from the Zimbabwe children to give to the children here. We
want this program to be not only about giving, but a global exchange
between children. Diana is talking with teachers on Whidbey Island
about developing a school curriculum on children learning the importance
of becoming global citizens. Working with our youth is critical
in creating global solutions. HopeFirst's ongoing involvement with
the BackPack Project will be to continue working on the exchange
between children here in the USA and Zimbabwe. We also heard from
many teachers that they wanted to help the teachers in Zimbabwe.
We
hope to facilitate that exchange as well. 
Simba
had first visited HIS to deliver a talk on living with AIDS. He
told how after being diagnosed as HIV+ he joined a support group
for HIV+ survivors. Most of the members had children and they came
to realize that the children of the dying parents were the ones
really in need. Simba's "organization" evolved for which Kathy has
raised some funds for food and supplies. The day we met Simba, he
had meticulously written out the names, addresses, and other vital
information about 30+ orphaned children in his neighborhood of Mt
Pleasant, an area in Harare. These children listed were the ones
Simba was particularly concerned about. Five of the children were
HIV+. Many of the children were not able to go to school because
they were not able to pay the required school fees. Some lived with
relatives, some lived in child-headed households. 
Daisy
and Tony Maulana founded the Maulana School for Orphans for
1400 orphaned children in Epworth, a high density suburb near Harare.
We first met them at Irene Chigamba's, a nationally recognized performer
in Zimbabwe. We were so impressed by their traditional dance performance,
a visit to the school was warranted which happened the day before
we flew home. We drove up and down, up and down, up and down a dirt
road trying to find the entrance. Finally, several people, thinking
we were out of our minds, I'm sure, directed us through what looked
like the front yards of dozens of houses. We were greeted enthusiastically
and taken for a tour of the school. The classrooms were literally
in the boulders. GR 2, etc was spray painted on the rocks. Maize
was growing in the "classroom," because as Daisy explained, the
growers didn't understand the vision of the school. There was the
broken-plywood-covered septic, which was "a challenge." Herb garden.
Three-room schoolhouse, very compact, one room didn't have a roof.
A large tent donated by a British NGO for rainy times, certainly
not large enough to hold all the children. A stone "stage." 
Daisy
and Tony gathered the children and they put on a dance performance
for our carload of guests. What an honor. The children don't live
at the school, though several of them stay there awhile when "times
are hard" at home. Farai Makoni also arrived at the school, on foot,
during our visit. He is a founding member of the Maulana Child Protection
Organization, a sort of social worker. 