Project Update October - December 2018
1. INTRODUCTION:
The end of year saw the children closing of schools. Most of the children who sat for their end of year exams passed with flying colors. The grade 7 children also did quite well, and will be starting secondary education next year. We continue to wait for the O and A level results that are expected to come out in February 2019. Some of the children had an opportunity to attend the sleepover night and received some hygiene packs. This quarter also saw the returning of one of our girls whom we had lost to satanism.
Through our coordination activities, another sister orphanage was visited in Harare on a look and learn exercise. The Superintendent also attended a Director summer school in Bulawayo. The home had the privilege of receiving some donations from Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) and seed from SEED Company (SEEDCO).
Our sustainable projects are doing well in terms of productivity. The onset of rains also saw the planting of maize seed donated. The vegetable garden is also doing quite well, and significant bundles were sold whilst the children still had enough to consume.
The beginning of the year also saw the enrollment of 7 children at Emmanuel Homestead. The first housing unit has been finally occupied and we are grateful to the Lord. These children shall be under the care of two godly mothers on a two weeks in and two weeks out work schedule. All of them are attending schooling at a nearby school.
2. EDUCATION AND HEALTH SUPPORT:
The girls under the academically gifted program did quite well in their exams. Only one did not perform well because of ill health. Three of them managed to get into the first classes for Form 3, where they will be taking subjects relevant to their aspirations and purpose. Save for this one girl, the health status of the children was a delight by God’s grace.
School Fees:
School fees were paid for all the children at primary and secondary levels, including the slight increases requested by schools to cushion them because of the price hikes experienced during the quarter.
School Uniforms:
No uniforms were procured in this quarter.
3. LIFE SKILLS DEVELOPMENT:
Besides the usual life skills development activities at the home, some children were also exposed to carpentry and brick-laying at our Chisiya sanctuary in Masvingo rural. This opportunity was to their delight since they literally enjoyed the cool weather in this part of the district.
4. SUSTAINABLE PROJECTS:
The piglets have own up and were weaned 2 months ago. Their mother (sow) was serviced last month, and we expect it to farrow again in 3 months’ time. An additional 3 gilts were also serviced. One of the sows got injured while trying to come out of the pigsty, however is recovering from the wound. Most of the pigs are showing signs of a typical large white variety because of adequate feed and proper care. We acknowledge the good work done by the caretaker.
Vegetable production:The vegetables planted at the backyard garden are doing quite well. Both the cabbages and covo are ready for consumption and surplus can also be sold. Tomatoes and beetroot did not do quite well because of too much manure from the fowl run. Following the onset of rains, donated maize seed was planted on one hectare of land.
Traditional chickens:
Our traditional chickens continued to do quite well in the season and an additional 19 chicks were hatched. A total of 40 chickens are roaming around the field at Emmanuel Homestead.
One of our goats has given birth to a kid. We managed to purchase the 10 goats from a different place- Shurugwi.
Layers project
The layers continue to grow with proper nutrition and are 15 weeks old now. Some medications were administered just to prepare them for laying well in 3 weeks to come. The broiler project continued to thrive and to date, the last group of the second batch has been sold out (see spreadsheet attached). The exorbitant prices of both feed and chicks has hindered continued growth or expansion of the project since a bird cannot be sold for more than $12. However, production of own feed after next year’s harvest shall circumvent the challenge.
5. CHILDREN AND YOUTH MINISTRY:A sleep overnight was conducted in November. The trust was on building resilience of the children, identifying who they are in Christ, and taught to follow their dreams for nothing is impossible with God.
There were distribution of hygiene packs comprising of toothbrush, multipurpose soap, body lotion, a set of 3 pants, sanitary pads for girls and a bathing towel all packed in one gift bag. The objective was to promote personal hygiene while reducing absenteeism in school among girls during menses due to the fear of spoiling their uniforms because of unavailability of sanitary ware or underwear.
A youth and Sunday school service was conducted were they led all the program activities. Indeed it was a hilarious moment as they show cased their talents and gifting in ministry.
One of our girls whom we had lost to satanism returned in this quarter to our delight. We thank the Lord Almighty for bringing her back. To date she has been delivered from satanism and was enrolled back to school this year. We held a thanksgiving ceremony as a family on Christmas to welcome her back into our family, and to show her the love of Christ. She is a precious child as her name suggests.
6. EVANGELISM
The Chisiya building project shall be completed in this month of January. Once completed, commissioning will subsequently follow. Much work has been done and the sanctuary is 75% complete. Evangelism continued in the area and some people are giving their life to Christ because of the permanence registered by CFI in the area by virtue of this structure. As people come to witness this great work in their area, an opportunity for evangelism is seized.
7. PARTNERSHIPS
The orphanage has gotten into partnership with Downview Park children home in Kuwadzana owned by Eternal Word Ministries. Through this visit we realized we share the same thrust of raising able ministers of the word. They have made strides in this respect and we drew a leaf from what they are doing. The home had 16 children at the time of visit and we encouraged them to have the home registered with the Department of Social Services and embark on projects for self-sufficiency.
8. COORDINATION:
Coordination continued with key stakeholders through meetings and workshops. We had an opportunity to meet the Patron of the association for Masvingo Residential Care Facilities (MARCF), who wanted to engage with member organization for Masvingo. SEEDCO also donated maize seed (10kg) and fertilizers (2 bags Compound D) to several institutions including Emmanuel Homestead. It was also through our association that ZIMRA donated cooking oil, washing soap (bars), washing powder and some clothes to Emmanuel Homestead. These donations were distributed to the children and some caregivers as per instruction.
The Superintendent also attended the annual event for Directors, the Director Summer School in Bulawayo. As usual the objectives were to share experiences, best practices, identify programming gaps and to map a way forward for the upcoming year.
9. CHALLENGES:
In the quarter of project implementation, the hyperinflation resulted in exorbitant prices for commodities.
10.FUTURE PLANS:
In the ninth quarter we envision the following:
1. Payment of school fees for the children.
2. Purchase of uniforms for the children
3. Conducting a Christmas party for the children
4. Training of caregivers on food preparation, processing, preservation and storage(4Ps)
5. Embarking on look and learn visits
6. Conducting social marketing of the Home in Harare
7. Distribution of hygiene packs and sanitary wear for girls
11.ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
We are grateful unto the Lord for the continued partnership with Change a Life Foundation, International Cooperating Ministries and Every Home for Christ-Canada.