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Executive Director's update - August 2009
Just Children Foundation
September 15, 2009

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Dear Friends

It is good, once again, to give you all an insight of what God has been doing in, and through us, as we continue to assist needy children in Zimbabwe. We continue to be beneficiaries of His endless mercies and faithfulness as we run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus Christ the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12: 1-2).

I however regret to inform you all that one of our security officers, Mr. Justice Muyekeri, lost his wife who went to be with the Lord in August. Our prayers are with the family she left behind.

We have also recruited two house parents at Come Unto Me Centre to cover the gap that was left vacant following the death of Sakina Mbaula in July and earlier resignations.

1. Situation in the country

I am happy to say while Zimbabwe is yet to find a firm footing, especially in the economic arena, our conviction is that this is a birthing process through which God is restoring life and vibrancy to a nation that has been rocked by turmoil over the past few years. The recent injection of funds by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) into Zimbabwe's otherwise depleted coffers has induced a healthy dosage of hope, and behind it all, we see the hand of God Who has never left us nor forsaken us.

2. Highlights of children's issues

The month ended with a total of 119 children in residential care, 51 of them at Faith & Hope Centre and 68 at Come Unto Me Centre.

(a) Reunifications & Follow Up Visits

• There was a positive response from Patience Nhemachena's aunt who took Patience under her care. We now want to ensure that she gets a place at a local school in Nyamhunga, Kariba.
• We did follow-up visits for Eva and Isaac Svikiro, during which we spoke to the siblings' brother, although he did not indicate an intention of taking them as yet. He was happy at seeing them.
• We also did visits to the homes of Makiwa Chibika and Nhamo Ndlovu We also visited Nyamakate in attempts to trace Makiwa Chibika's father. Although we failed to locate him, we extracted information to the effect that he went to Zambia, although the information still needs to be authenticated.
• We also managed to trace Nhamo Ndlovu's relatives after securing a birth certificate for him through a painstaking process. The re-unification however could not be done immediately, but we believe the groundwork we laid we come in handy in the near future. We established that Nhamo has relatives in Bulawayo, Mtchabezi and Maranda areas.
• We have had contact from Enety's aunt who says she wants to take care of Enety and we are now working towards that goal.
• We were also contacted by Last's brother as well as Takunda and Audrey Sibanda's brother. To us such contacts are encouraging because we are provided with a board to draw our plans from.
• Two other children, Preference Jemu and Talent Musukutu, who are at Faith and Hope in waiting for the move to take them home to their families.

(b) Skills Training

• Some of our staff members, including one house parent, attended a seminar hosted by Southern African Dialogue with the theme 'Back in my stilleto'. The seminar was meant to cater for women who work with children and it focused on their health and the handling of issues at work and at home.
• Nine (9) more children attended a training workshop in mushroom production at Kufunda Village and Come Unto Me Centre, bringing the total of children who have received training in mushroom production to twenty (20). If all the required resources are made available, we believe that they are going to scale up mushroom production at the two centres both for domestic and commercial purposes.

(c) Health

• Nyasha Pasi fell from a bunk bed and injured her neck and was taken to the hospital where she received treatment.
• Preference Jimu has not been feeling well for the greater part of the month and is still under treatment and has since been registered for check ups at a local clinic.

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