Fountain of Hope, the leaders of Mandiva village and the community at large would like to hereby appreciate very much Bright Hope World for all the financial, moral and spiritual support being rendered to this community. Without the financial support from Bright Hope World, this community could not have achieved what has been achieved so far. Gratitude is also given to the honourable councillor of the area ward 22 for his contribution and participation to ensure the smooth running of the projects. We appreciate also pastors and church leaders for their cooperation even during the whole year and also during this evaluation. Please find herein below the evaluation report, recommendations and the current situation of the community after the floods.
This community has suffered famine for many years due to erratic rains received each season as well due to their loose sand soils. The church in this community has been praying for enough rain to take people out of hunger and poverty. We thank God that in this season rain came but unfortunately the community received more than enough rain resulting in floods all over the community and other communities in Masvingo province. This normally dry area was covered with water which had never happened before in this community in the last 64 years.
The floods brought a lot of damage to the roads leading to this community (see photo), homes were destroyed, children couldn’t go to school for almost three months, fields were waterlogged for many weeks, and the community was unreachable for weeks because of much rain. The rains stopped in the community on the 20th March after starting on the 25th December raining daily non-stop.
The joy that the people had when the rains started was finally sapped up soon after floods affected the community. The community is very much appreciative to God that no life was lost during the floods as they kept on warning each other of the dangers.
The challenge the community is facing again is that they are going to experience another drought after receiving more than enough rain. The leaders of the community are however grateful for the rain because the grazing areas for their livestock are very much green and therefore there is enough for cattle and goats.
We thank God that the borehole was drilled right on time when this community of more than 200 families was struggling to get water for drinking purposes. It was drilled in December and thanks to Bright Hope World for this gift for this community.
The community is harvesting about 5,000 litres of water per day from this borehole which was installed with a solar water pump (see photo of solar panels to generate power). It was initially earmarked for a community garden but since the community currently has no other source of drinking water the villagers have agreed that they use it for drinking purposes until the community manages to fix the other bush pump in the village which then will be used for drinking purposes and the new one will be for the community garden.
This community is one of the over-populated villages in Chivi district of Masvingo province and this borehole is already going a long way in reducing water-borne diseases which were rampant in the village as the people now get safe clean drinking water. Since the borehole can only harvest 5,000 litres of water, there is water rationing per family so that everyone gets a share of the precious water.
The garden fence has already been erected although it still doesn’t have crops at the moment because the water is only being used for drinking purposes as per agreement with the community leaders.
Challenges: The water from this borehole is being used for drinking purposes only instead of being used to run a nutritional garden for orphans and vulnerable families in the community. The bush pump which was in the community died a long time ago and needs attention so that the people can have two sources of water in the village. The bush pump also was already producing water infested with rust probably from old water pipes and this is a very big challenge that even if it is fixed, the water will still be unsuitable for drinking purposes.
Recommendations: The community agreed on fixing up the bush pump and asked Fountain of Hope to assist if there is any technical assistance needed.
They recommended the use of the garden once the other borehole has been fixed.
The community also recommended the upgrading of the new borehole for it to harvest more water than what it is harvesting at the moment.
30 families from this community were equipped to practice Farming God's Way in their fields to improve food security at a family and community level. The people of this community are so much persuaded that this is the best farming method which they can apply in their fields to maximize high yields in their fields. All the 30 farmers who were trained were equipped with farming inputs for a plot of land which will be able to feed the family for a whole year. These farmers prepared land right on time and seeds were distributed by Fountain of Hope also on time before the first rains. Just like the farmers in Makamure community, some of these farmers would go into the bush to get green leaves to mulch their land.
All of them planted all the seeds they were given by Fountain of Hope soon after the commencement of the first rains and were expecting a bumper harvest this time around. The challenge only came when they received more than enough rainfall.
Challenges: The rain was too much, leading to waterlogged conditions which resulted in leaching, leaving most maize crops yellowish in colour and without fruit. Apart from the leaching, there was also an outbreak of army worms which destroyed some of the crops especially the first batch that was planted by farmers.
Recommendations: The farmers were so much grateful to Fountain of Hope that all was done on time as this is one of the principles of Foundations for Farming - preparation was on time, seed distribution was on time etc. and may FHF keep this up and do things on time.
Farmers also asked FHF to consider buying rain gauges for the farmers so they are able to measure the amount of rainfall they receive daily, monthly or in a particular season.
If possible FHF should also consider helping the farmers with some insecticides that kill or repel pests or insects.
More lessons on climate change would be appreciated if they are given.
60 goats were distributed in Mandiva community and 200 chickens as a way of improving the economic situation of orphans and vulnerable families. The goats and chickens will go a long way in helping these families in the long run to have finances for school fees for their children. Chickens were distributed to 20 families in January 2017 and we expect that by mid-year they would have multiplied and the people would start to sell them and earn finances out of them.
Impact of the Project
Poor marginalised families now have livestock of their own through this program
Children are able to get very nutritious milk from the goats
Since soils in Mandiva are very poor, the poor families are now able to get organic manure from their own pens.
The goat and chicken projects are helping the beneficiaries to enhance nutrients into their fields.
Challenges: The rainy season brought many diseases for the goats resulting in some of the goats dying of sickness.
Recommendations: The goat and chicken projects are one of the best community based projects which do not need much capital to run once the project has been started, so the villagers are really appreciative of this project and have been recommending that the project should multiply in other villages so that many people have goats or indigenous chickens for economic benefit.
They encouraged FHF to consider advocating for them to have veterinary shops in the community or close to the community so that they can get medication within a walking distance.
The aim of transformation centres is to provide integrated services to orphaned children and youth in communities that we work with and these include (1) Extra education/homework clubs, (2) Psycho-social support interventions, (3) provision of nutritious meals on a daily basis to OVCs, (4) life skills education and counselling support, and (5) base for school fees and food assistance to support extended families in the community who care for OVC (orphans and vulnerable children).
The Mandiva transformation centre has 25 children who all come from vulnerable families. They have been supported with Sadza (our staple food) on a daily basis as a way of fighting malnutrition amongst vulnerable children. The food that they receive on daily basis goes a long way in assisting the children to remain in school especially during the lean season where there is literally no food in the homes where they come from. Apart from food two children were helped to get birth certificates since most of these children do not have identity documents. Important advice was given to other guardians of children so that they help them to apply for birth certificates. One of the children from this centre did very well in his grade seven exams such that he is now doing his high school training at a better school.
Impact of the Project
- School attendance of children increased by 100% because children were getting food on a daily basis.
- Knowledge and understanding of diseases like HIV/AIDS increased amongst these children because of the training they received from FHF.
- Some children managed to get identity documents thereby opening the doors for them to participate in public examinations
- The program reduced the number of orphans and vulnerable children who are dropping out of school as the emphasis of this program is creating a better future for the children.
Challenges: There is no library or an education centre to support the feeding program. If the feeding program ends in April 2017 what will happen to the children since the people are not going to harvest enough from their fields?
It is a big challenge for guardians to apply for identity documents for these children.
Recommendations: FHF should consider opening up an education hub for children both in high and primary school where they would come and not only have food but are assisted to study.
A community based library should be opened so that the children may have access to books just like their counterparts in town.
A life skills centre for orphans out of school should be considered by FHF so that the children will learn to have skills that will help them to earn a living.
Apart from all psycho-social support activities which the village appreciates, FHF should consider helping all the children to have birth certificates for they are essential documents which unlock a lot of things in the lives of children. FHF should help not just children in their program but all other children in the community who do not have these documents.
The feeding program should not stop in April but continue up until there is food in the community.
Payment of school fees in this community ended in 2016 and the people were very much grateful for helping them to see their children going to school. We hope and pray that the goat and chicken projects will go a long way in assisting these families to send their children to school.
Mandiva is one of the communities that are overpopulated and the environment has been damaged due to overpopulation. One of the things that are slowly disappearing in the community of Mandiva is trees. Since this community does not have any other source of power for cooking other than firewood, trees in this community have been sadly cut down. Deforestation is very high in the community such that it is expected that there will be no trees remaining except shrubs in the next 10 years due to the way the people indiscriminately cut down trees for firewood and other domestic purposes.
Fountain of Hope has been teaching the people of the community to come up with ways to preserve nature by using other sources of power. People in this community were taught to use a rocket stove which does not need lots of firewood but just a few sticks of wood to boil water or even to cook beans.
Challenges: This is a new way of cooking and it takes time for people to adjust to it.
Impact: This new way of energy has a long term impact as trees will be given the chance to regrow again. If all people would turn to this way of using rocket stoves for cooking, then we will have a thick forest again in the next 10 years in Mandiva community.
Recommendations: The community would like to be empowered to practice afforestation. Other sources of energy should also be taught in the community so that people can stop cutting down trees. The village head should come up with by-laws that prohibit people from indiscriminately cutting down trees. People should be encouraged to grow fruit trees in the community.
1) The community would like to open up a skills training centre for out of school orphans and vulnerable children.
2) The community would love to see more water and sanitation projects being run in their community as they want to improve the health status of the villagers.
3) They propose to build a small dam to harvest water for their animals to have water throughout the year.
4) They would like to see Fountain of Hope establishing Self Help Groups (SHG) especially amongst women to improve their economic status.
5) Resuscitation of the bush pump in the community.
6) Repairing of the roads that were damaged by floods.
7) More orphan and vulnerable children training should be given to the community so that the community can be able to establish a viable Child Protection Committee.
The community, through their village head Mr Makugwe, appreciated Fountain of Hope and Bright Hope World for their involvement in the development of this community. The support that is being rendered to this community has undoubtedly taken the community from a lower place to a better place. They are grateful especially for the borehole project which is now giving them precious water which has been like gold in the community.
Thank you for this support. Thank you for all the other projects you are running in the community, says the community leader.
Blessings
Gideon & Jennifer
(on behalf of Fountain of Hope team)