Guernsey and Sark as seen from Denneville

A sponsored walk across Herm, Sark, Alderney and Guernsey

Contact: info@justchildren.org.uk

A sponsored walk through Kent to Rochester Cathedral. There will be various routes on offer from a short ramble suitable for buggies and wheel chairs to demanding two day walks with overnight accommodation.

See the walk website for more details.

We are happy to announce that the Just Children Foundation UK can now accept text donations from mobile phones. For more details please visit the donate now page.

Following the resignation of the Executive Director Philani Nyatsanza the board has appointed Noma Kasimonje as the acting Executive Director. Please pray for the board as they consider applicants for this post (closing on the 14^th July), Nooma Kasimonje as she takes on new responsibilities, and give thanks for the faithful service of Philani Nyatsanza whilst he was in this position and the many ways God blessed this charity under his guidance.

Children’s Issues

For the greater part of the month, our children enjoyed good health, with the exception of a few.

• One child has been suffering recurrent infections, after which an HIV test was recommended. It turned out positive. He has since been put on anti-retroviral therapy.
• One of our older girls also suffered a flu bout and abdominal pains and was attended to.
• Samuel hurt his forefinger whilst playing and has been attended to. The wound is healing well.
• Nine toddlers and three babies were taken to the local clinic for weight check-ups. Only one baby had suffered weight loss due to a bout of flu.

Education

Schools opened on the 3^rd of May 2010 and all pupils went back to their schools. We have started paying school fees for children in schools out of Harare. As we are now in winter, the school going pupils need jerseys and winter uniforms. JCF managed to buy 21 jerseys that were given to the children. School shoes were bought for only those who did not manage to have new pairs in January. All fees were paid during the first week of the school term.

One of the older boys who had been on attachment at Innscor secured a place at Chinhoyi University where is going to study for a degree in hospitality and tourism.

At Come Unto Me Centre (CUMC) all the children went to school as usual and the term started well. The fees were paid and a few pupils managed to have jerseys this winter. The rest of the bigger boys and girls did not manage to have jerseys. One of our children was however denied a place at Larche after doing all the necessary preparations for him. His fees were paid in time but they returned the money back. He will go back to his old school in Karoi.

Chikomba Education Outreach

The outreach team managed to do a visit to Maware primary and secondary schools as well as Chisangano primary and secondary schools to collect results of the 2009 public examinations for children under the education outreach programme. One of our children at Chisangano who is partially deaf did well and we are organizing that he goes to a suitable college.

Partnerships

We have continued to enjoy financial support from our partners such as the Child Protection Society (CPS) which has continued to partner with us in our projects.

Mercy Corps has also come into the picture, extends funds to us so that we can procure food and hygiene baskets for children under our care.

Donations

Donations have also continued to come in from several individuals and this has seen our children having the traditional three meals per day. We would want to thank God for them.
We received donations from:

• Connecting Classrooms
• United Methodist (Kuwadzana Extension)
• Joshua Nkomo Scholarship
• Seventh Day Adventist Church (Whitecliff)
• Interdenominational Church (Kuwadzana Extension)
• Mercy Corps
• Mr. Lee
• Soroptimists

Children’s Issues

The year started off with 108 children in residence. Come Unto Me Centre (CUMC) had 66 (16 boys and 40 girls), Faith & Hope Centre (FHC) had the remaining 42 children (30 boys and 12 girls).

Although most of the children enjoyed good health during the months under review, Primrose’s health had continued to deteriorate, necessitating regular medical attention.

Fungai in Karoi reportedly encountered mysterious experiences, with things that looked like small stones issuing out of her eyes. Efforts are underway to trace the child’s maternal relatives in Masvingo.

In February, a number of children at FHC suffered a bout of diarrhea and treatment was quickly sought for them.

Enert has joined Shaping the Health of Adolescents in Zimbabwe (SHAZ), an organisation in Chitungwiza that offers education concerning basic health care and life skills to adolescents.

Education

We thank God for one of our children, Blessing, who did very well in his O-Level public examinations and has proceeded to A-level at Kuwadzana High 1 School.

Another child under the education programme in Chikomba, Evidence, also did exceptionally well and efforts are underway to secure an A-Level place for him.

We also received a generous donation from the Queen Elizabeth School in conjunction with the British Council to cater for our education requirements. The donation followed our children’s participation in a fund-raising sports gala at the Prince Edward School.

Staff Training

Our Projects Manager, Martha Damu and Social Worker, Robert Makura, attended a Child Protection Workshop in Bulawayo between February 22 and 26. The workshop was organised Tearfund. The duo has since drafted a Child Protection Policy for JCF meant to enhance the safety of children under our care.

Reunifications

The reunification team has of late embarked on a massive reunification drive. Since the beginning of this year, we have reunited eleven (11) children with their families.

Partnerships

We have continued to enjoy financial support from our partners such as the Child Protection Society (CPS) which has continued to partner with us in our projects.

• Mercy Corps has also come into the picture, extending funds to us so that we can procure food and hygiene baskets for children under our care.
• Donations have also continued to come in from several individuals and this has seen our children having the traditional three meals per day. We would want to thank God for them.
• Some staff changes might still take place but we remain vigilant to the call in spite of all the challenges we are facing.

Donations

We received donations from:

• Helpage – cooking oil, beans and maize
• Iranian Embassy – mealie meal, matemba and drinks
• Econet Joshua Nkomo Scholarship Fund – assorted clothing, toys, exercise books and foodstuffs
• British Council
• Netview College (Glen Norah) – assorted clothing, shoes and groceries.

Just Children Foundation would like to say a big thank you to the staff of the Norvic clinic (a unit of the Norfolk and Waveney Mental Health Partnership) who competed in the Norvic Challenge Triathlon on the 17th October raising £1141 for the Just Children Foundation. The same amount was also donated to the Indian charity El Shaddai.

The pictures show the three aspects of the triathlon which were a run from the Norvic Clinic to Little Plumstead Hospital, cycling to Salhouse Broad and a canoe circuit on the broad. Thank you again, this time to Rojo Levein who supplied the pictures.