Fountain of Hope Foundation Report August 2021

This community of 10,000 people is just a stones throw from the second largest city of Zimbabwe, Bulawayo. The community was established in 1891 by the first missionaries who came to Zimbabwe. They were given this land by the reigning king of Zimbabwe called King Lobengula. After independence the land was left in the hands of the locals whose families started to grow hence now the people are from very few families but the land has got so many people. It wasn’t established as a farming area because apart from being in climatic region 5 of Zimbabwe, the land is very rocky making it difficult for people to practice farming in this community.

This is one of the communities that is regarded as one of the poorest of all communities in the nation of Zimbabwe. One of the things that has caused the community to be poor is that by virtue of it being close to the city of Bulawayo, many people who do not have proper places come into this community to establish squatter camps. These informal settlements have sadly been incubation grounds for prostitution and all kinds of criminal activities as well as drug abuse centres. Children who are born in these places sometimes do not go to school or they just drop out of school because of the lack of school fees. It to this backdrop that Fountain of Hope is running a Transformation Centre as well as assisting some of these children to go to school. 

Recent Events

Transformation Centre & Education Assistance

This Transformation Centre has been seeing an increase in the number of children joining and this is mainly because of the challenges of COVID-19. The community part from the children who come from the squatter camps has got so many people who lost their employment in South Africa because of COVID-19 and the children of these people are the ones who have become part of this Transformation Centre. The centre has got over 120 children now who come on a daily basis to be provided with a meal as well as psycho-social support interventions. School fees are now a bit expensive in Zimbabwe and Fountain of Hope is currently able to pay fees for 10 of these children. It is costing us $50 to pay school fees for one child per term at the moment hence we are only able to pay fees for 10 children.

We are glad to report that one of the children whom we have been paying fees for who is a vulnerable young girl is now at University doing Environmental studies. She has got high hopes of doing well in life and breaking the power of poverty. Apart from her this Transformation Centre has just initiated a Bridging School Program, which is a program whereby young people who have never been in school are given a second chance of learning again. Fountain of Hope has trained teachers who are going to be part of this Bridging School. Our desire is to create a better future for the vulnerable members of our society.

This transformation centre also endeavours to serve the grandparents who stay with these young people through the provision of health assistance. Each month these old ladies are given food hampers as well as medical tablets since they are not able to go to the nearest hospital in town. Those who have got chronic illnesses like high blood pressure, sugar diabetes etc are helped monthly by being provided with the necessary medical drugs. We thank God that Fountain of Hope is elongating life in a community where there is no hospital or clinic.

Furthermore, Fountain of Hope is going to open up a junior school for small children from this community. The school is just for those who are vulnerable, those who do not have anyone to pay school fees for and those who live with old frail grandparents. The school is going to use the grade 0 curriculum of the government of Zimbabwe. It will only have only one classroom of between 20 and 30 vulnerable children below 5 years of age. This is our small way of creating a better future for orphans and vulnerable children.

Challenges: 
Due to the challenges of COVID-19 the number of children in need keeps on increasing such that our resources are no longer enough to feed all of them.

Our staff members are also no longer enough to minister to the ever increasing number of children at this Transformation Centre.

School fees are now so expensive such that education is just for the rich hence many children are now dropping out of school.

There is a great need for counselling since most of these children have not just lost their parents but also their grandparents.  

Some of the children who are now in school or at University level do not have a smart phone, laptop or computer which they are required to have so that they may be able to research and learn online.

Resolutions:
1) The community, Fountain of Hope and the nearby primary school agreed that the children from the Bridging School will be accepted at the formal school after spending a year in the Bridging School.

2) The Community suggested to Fountain of Hope to consider establishing two classes for the small children who are going to be part of the Elementary school that will be opened by Fountain of Hope in September this year.

3) The community implored Fountain of Hope to have a Community Impact Worker who will provide counselling to the members of the community including children.

4) There is a need for the Transformation Centre to have laptops and computers so that it may run its programs smoothly.

5) The garden should be extended so that the Transformation Centre is able to produce enough green vegetables for the feeding program.

6)  Fountain of Hope was challenged to fully support all the vulnerable children who are either at high school or University level.  

Comments

Fountain of Hope staff members would like to hereby register their deep appreciation to Bright Hope World for all the support that is being rendered to the communities and villages that we are working in. Thank you so much for partnering with us in bringing hope to the hopeless, our communities are slowly but surely getting transformed through the support that comes from you. Your support has undoubtedly brought hope to the young people whose hopes were dashed by a myriad of challenges that we are going through right here in Zimbabwe. The farming God’s way program has brought smiles on the hearts of the families that used to struggle with food insecurity. 

Our economic challenges coupled with the deadly pandemic issues has really brought many communities to their knees. Most of our communities were and are really affected by COVID-19 and many people lost their jobs, while a number of grandparents who were now the sole providers of orphans and vulnerable children are succumbing or have succumbed to the deadly pandemic. In one of the communities that we work with, this year’s winter season really brought a dark cloud over the community since a day would barely go by without the death of an old person. Children are left with no food and some of them without shelter. Thank you so much Bright Hope World that through your support, we are able to provide shelter at Peniel Centre as well as feeding these children at our Transformation Centres. 

The support from Bright Hope World has opened a great opportunity for our team to be able to disciple the people from the communities that we work with. The support for the Transformation Centres is helping us to touch the lives of children, the youth and the community at large. The Foundations for Farming has brought a number of people to Christ and now we are coming up with farmers groups which are smaller groups in the villages that we work with where farmers meet together to learn and to pray together. The skills development centre has gone a long way in taking young people off the streets and these young people are being taught to know God and make Him known.

Thank you so much Bright Hope World for the support.