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Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
A BINGA philanthropist has built a children’s home with the aim of providing foster care to underprivileged and vulnerable children across Matabeleland North.

Kabwe Children’s Home, located in Pashu area between Tinde and Kariangwe, about 106km from Binga Centre and about 33km off Binga-Cross Dete road, was opened in February by Hope Ministries founder Dr Jabulani Mudenda.

The orphanage has a capacity to accommodate 32 children according to the approved plan and currently is home to 10 children aged between nine months and 17 years.

“We managed to register a home and built two houses each with a capacity to accommodate eight children. Currently we have 10 children drawn from Victoria Falls, Lupane, Bubi and Binga. We expected more from Binga last month but that was delayed because of Covid-19 and lack of transport,” said Dr Mudenda.

He said the orphanage will cater for the whole province.

The children will be raised in a family set-up with access to family love and education.

“We are a private organisation working in partnership with Government. We don’t identify kids but we get them from the Social Welfare Department.

“We decided to have it in the rural areas because most of these projects are in urban areas yet the country’s larger population is out there. We have brought a small town in the middle of the village. Our concept is a family set-up and currently we have two houses each with three bedrooms, a sitting room, kitchen and bathroom. Each has a mother. Each kid should attain certain skills during their stay here. We want to make sure that during weekends they are all involved in various projects like carpentry, building and gardening among others so that when they leave, they have skills that can help them earn a living. Our desire is for every child to go to university,” said Dr Mudenda.

Dr Mudenda’s wife, Zondiwe, is the advisor to the shelter mothers.

The children are reportedly running a viable vegetable garden selling their produce to villagers to cushion their personal and home’s income.

Dr Mudenda said modalities are still being worked out on how and when the children will be released from the home.

He called upon families that may want to foster any of the children to approach the home or Social Welfare.

Besides taking care of the orphans, the home is also feeding 96 other children from the surrounding community with free lunch on a daily basis as part of a social safety net for the community.

The home is also running a goat project which has been in place for three years where a family gets a seed goat which is handed over to the next family after two years.

“About 60 families have benefited from the goat project and some now have about 10 goats and are able to pay school fees for their children,” said Dr Mudenda.

The orphanage is also training villagers on intensive gardening, particularly growing vegetables in sacks to maximise on land using minimal water.

There is a resident qualified social worker Ms Muzomuhle Moyo whose role is to integrate Government policies with the home and community activities.

Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Paul Mavima is expected to visit the orphanage next month.

Matabeleland North Provincial Social Welfare Officer Mr Macnon Chirinzepi said the province now has five orphanages namely Rose of Charity in Victoria Falls, Sunrise and Kabwe in Binga, Khayelihle and Family Harvest in Umguza. -@ncubeleon