How we built hope, our Story
In October 2002, Regina Dururu was in the United States of America on a business trip. While watching a Christian program showcasing the plight of children in Sudan, she was moved and wanted to help. She sent a gift and a request to join the team going to Sudan to work for some weeks with the children. Though, unfortunately, she was not able to connect for the trip to Sudan, Regina was challenged by the work being done there, and a seed had been sown..
Charity begins at home so Regina Dururu decided to start in her country Zimbabwe. The name that came to her was Tariro House of Hope (THH). She knew she could afford to buy a house in Epworth to house the children even if it meant making a difference “One at a time”, feed them, clothe them, send them to school and pay foster parents to take care of them, this would keep them off the streets.
Regina then invited Madrine Chiku to work with her and Tariro House of Hope was launched with its center of operations in Epworth. Previously, in that same year in May 2002, Regina asked Madrine to find her children who needed assistance with school fees. Madrine and her husband Oliver were Pastors at Christian Assembly Fellowship in Epworth. When they surveyed their congregation they were shocked by what they discovered. Most of the parents/guardians had not yet paid school fees. Among these children, some had been chased away from school, and one had since stopped going to school. A 10 year old who was supposed to be in grade 3 had never attended school because the father was not working and could not afford fees. The total number of children sponsored then was 13. These became the first beneficiaries of the now launched organization, Tariro House of Hope.
Oliver Chiku, was a part of the team on ground until October 2012, while Madrine Chiku left THH in June 2014. To date Tariro House of Hope has not housed children but has taken care of them in partnership with the children's guardians.
Charity begins at home so Regina Dururu decided to start in her country Zimbabwe. The name that came to her was Tariro House of Hope (THH). She knew she could afford to buy a house in Epworth to house the children even if it meant making a difference “One at a time”, feed them, clothe them, send them to school and pay foster parents to take care of them, this would keep them off the streets.
Regina then invited Madrine Chiku to work with her and Tariro House of Hope was launched with its center of operations in Epworth. Previously, in that same year in May 2002, Regina asked Madrine to find her children who needed assistance with school fees. Madrine and her husband Oliver were Pastors at Christian Assembly Fellowship in Epworth. When they surveyed their congregation they were shocked by what they discovered. Most of the parents/guardians had not yet paid school fees. Among these children, some had been chased away from school, and one had since stopped going to school. A 10 year old who was supposed to be in grade 3 had never attended school because the father was not working and could not afford fees. The total number of children sponsored then was 13. These became the first beneficiaries of the now launched organization, Tariro House of Hope.
Oliver Chiku, was a part of the team on ground until October 2012, while Madrine Chiku left THH in June 2014. To date Tariro House of Hope has not housed children but has taken care of them in partnership with the children's guardians.
© David Thomas
In Zimbabwe, HIV/Aids is killing the young and productive generation at the peak of their lives. Young parents are dying within months of each other after exhausting all the family resources in treatment. As a result children are left alone or in the care of relatives who may be old or destitute. It has now become usual for a child to change homes more than twice because each time the care giver dies from either HIV/Aids or old age the child has to move elsewhere. In each case the child has to adjust to a new situation with little or no emotional and/or financial support and may suffer exploitation and abuse.1 Some of these kids end up on the street emotionally damaged.
Endemic poverty and the effects of hyperinflation2 have exacerbated the gloomy fate of Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVCs) in Zimbabwe today. A lack of income puts extra pressure on children to contribute financially to the household, in some cases driving them to the streets to work, beg or seek food.3 Apart from missing out on an education, OVCs may also miss out on valuable life-skills and practical knowledge that would have been passed on to them by their parents. Without this knowledge and a basic school education, they are more likely to face social, economic and health problems as they grow up.4
Endemic poverty and the effects of hyperinflation2 have exacerbated the gloomy fate of Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVCs) in Zimbabwe today. A lack of income puts extra pressure on children to contribute financially to the household, in some cases driving them to the streets to work, beg or seek food.3 Apart from missing out on an education, OVCs may also miss out on valuable life-skills and practical knowledge that would have been passed on to them by their parents. Without this knowledge and a basic school education, they are more likely to face social, economic and health problems as they grow up.4
THH is located in Epworth, a peri-urban suburb located 20km east of the capital city of Harare. THH answers the call of providing shelter; food, education, health and psychosocial services to HIV/Aids affected and infected orphans and vulnerable children, as well as eradicating community poverty. What separates THH from other nonprofit organizations is that we are "of the people, by the people, for the people". One shall chase a thousand and two shall chase ten thousand has come alive in this work as children have been and are systematically identified, monitored and then fed, clothed, placed in schools and most importantly loved and valued.
10 Things you should know about #THH
- 1. THH was founded October 2002 and in 2004 THH became a registered Dutch Foundation KvK No. 27266848. In 2013 THH was registered as a Trust in Zimbabwe. THH Netherlands raises funds for THH in Zimbabwe.
- 2. We are powered by 2 Board of Trustees that also volunteer as the Senior Management Team (SMT) and we have 3 paid staff members. The staff members are made up of a housemother, and two program assistants & caretakers. Our staff is also made up of interns and volunteers. We believe in a holistic health approach so the SMT and staff work together to nurture and support the children's mental, emotional, physical and spiritual needs.
- THH owns a house in Epworth, which was purchased in 2002 by the founder and Director General Regina Dururu and she donated it to the Trust. The house operates as a Center for the children. The Feeding Program was started in 2006. Before then the children only received food hampers and school fees support. At the moment, we feed our children one meal a day Monday to Saturday. We also provide free after school tutoring and extracurricular activities. Since the inception of THH Regina Dururu has been the major benefactor, she provides 95% of our funds. We are trying to raise funds to expand our programs and services. We also want to reach out and assist more children.
- Currently, we cater for 68 Orphaned and Vulnerable Children (OVC). The majority of the children are complete orphans while some have one parent. There are 5 who come from a Child Headed Household (CHH). The children we work with face different challenges. Some are: malnourished due to extreme poverty, have never attended school, and/or abused by their parents or guardians. Whatever obstacle they face they have no reliable social safety network, which is why they come to us, or community members bring them to us.
- We procure the following on a monthly basis: mealie meal, kapenta, dried beans, soya beans, cooking oil, vegetables, firewood, and other basic needs. As of March 2014 we added meat to the menu. The children have also been provided with clothes, shoes, soap, books, stationery and toys - a result of the generosity of some individuals and organizations.
- Everyday in Zimbabwe 400 people die of AIDS-related diseases. Zimbabwe has more orphans as a percentage of the population than any other country in the world, largely because of HIV. Our ultimate aim is to be registered as an orphanage in Zimbabwe so we can house children from Child Headed Households. In order to achieve this aim we need to make a number of changed to the house to comply with the requirements of the Department of Social Services. A lack of funds has delayed the achievement of this goal.
- We provide free counselling services and we are advocates for our children. We work with their families, doctors, schools and government agencies to ensure their needs are being met and supported. Along with counselling services THH provides a secure and supportive environment for HIV testing and care. All these life saving services are free for THH children.
- We had a School Fees Program from 2002 up to the end of 2009 but due to the Dollarization and subsequent budgetary constraints, we had to place the children with other organizations. We resumed the School Fees Program in 2014 and as new kids come on board we discover children not attending school, or attending farm schools, which are inadequate on all fronts, for example a 10-year-old can't write her name. Children attending farm schools are sent there because it is all their parents or guardians can afford. We created our Sponsor a child Program to address these challenges. From March - May 2014 we placed 5 kids who were not going to school and transferred 22 children into a good school. Two examples from this group; a 16 year old boy who was not going to school joined THH in November 2013 we placed him in grade 6. When he begins high school he will be turning 19 and his classmates will be 13. Example #2 is of two sisters: the older one used to come for the Feeding Program carrying her little sister, a toddler, on her back. In January 2014 the older sister was supposed to be in form 1 but her mother couldn't afford neither her fees, nor that of the sister who was ready for grade 1. We have two teens age 17 who are not attending school that need to be placed urgently and we still have a number of children attending farm schools. Using our Sponsor a child we hope to raise funds so we can help them get a quality education.
- In July 2013 a student that we sponsored throughout University graduated with a BSc Pharmacy from the University of Zimbabwe. He is now working as a Pharmacist in Harare. His brother was sponsored for form 5 & 6 and THH facilitated his placement at Venda University in South Africa, he just completed a BA in Accounting in 2014. THH supported a disabled young man since he was 11 years old. He was on our school fees program from 2005 - 2009. From 2010 Capernaum Trust sponsored his academic fees. He attended Danhiko and graduated in June 2014. Another child of ours, we sponsored from 2006 - 2009 then he was picked up by Capernaum, he graduated in September 2014 with a BA in Sociology from the University of Zimbabwe. These two boys were in the first group that received food hampers and subsequently became beneficiaries of the Feeding Program.
- We are dedicated to providing equal opportunities to the underprivileged. We also commit ourselves to helping Zimbabwe redress its adverse societal and cultural conditions, which is why we are avid about empowering girls and women. On March 16th 2014 we launched a new project, Free to Reign that provides free sanitary pads to THH girls.