Contact Persons:
Sister Gertrude Bobo - Administrator
Bishop Alexio Churu Muchabaiwa
Bishop Patrick Mumbure Mutume
WHO WE ARE
We are the Home of Hope - Zimbabwe located in rural northeastern Zimbabwe in the scenic area of Nyanga. We are operated by the Sisters of the Divine Child Order of the Mutare Diocese of the Catholic Church.
The above three contact persons may be contacted directly and are responsible for the day to day planning, development, and operation of the new children's home in Nyanga, Zimbabwe. Nyanga is a beautiful mountainous rural area about 225 kilometers east of Harare, Zimbabwe.
We are a children's home campus which has been many years in the making and were inspired by our earlier work of many years at the well known children's home campus of "Mother of Peace" in Mutoko, Zimbabwe. After many years of service at Mother of Peace, we saw the need to take the model developed at Mother of Peace and open a new children's home campus in Nyanga. Indeed, the AIDS pandemic of Zimbabwe has not spared the children and families of Nyanga and the surrounding rural area and we felt a calling to begin to provide care and support for the children of this area who have been touched by HIV/AIDS.
OUR HISTORY
With the blessings of Bishop Alexio Churu Muchabaiwa of the Mutare Diocese of the Catholic Church, a special designated savings account was estabalished in April 2002 to receive donations from private donors for construction of the proposed new children's home in rural Nyanga.
We raised about $12,600,000 (ZIM$) at that time from private donors for the construction of the proposed children's home in Nyanga. Our principle donors for this initial effort were Zimbabwe AIDS Relief, Friends of Picardy Drive and St. Lawrence-O'toole Catholic Church in Oakland, California. In August 2003, $3,500,000 (ZIM$) of additional funds from the Mutare Diocese were used to fully purchase a suitable parcel of land in rural Nyanga on which to build the new children's home campus.
Two small parcels of land each with a small single family residential house were purchased as a base from which to establish the new children's home campus and to serve as the living quarters for the Sisters who manage the new children's home campus. There is a small guest house which is in need of repairs but which will serve as a place for volunteers and visitors supporting Home of Hope.
After 3 more years of fundraising, a European donor provided the funding needed to begin construction of the new home campus. The inital phase of construction began in 2006 and the building of the first two "duplex" style homes began on the campus site. These first two homes are nearly completed and need only electricity, water and sewer connections to be finished.
Once the first two homes have been completed and inspected and certified for occupation, the Department of Child Welfare will begin making additional new child placements from the area.
Since 2005, there have been a total of 3 children placed at the existing two single family residences where the Sisters provide care and support for them until the new campus can be completed, inspected and certified for formal occupancy. There are 2 five year old girls and an 8 month old infant girl who is HIV+.
The new home campus will be staffed with volunteer Sisters who are trained in home care.
Once the two homes nearing completion are certified for occupancy, additional homes will be built on a gradual basis until a total of 10 "duplex" style homes are completed, along with an administrative block.
The distance between the existing two residential homes where everyone is staying now and the two new "duplex" style homes at the new children's home campus is easily in walking distance (about one kilometer).
The new homes nearing completion are constructed in a "duplex" style, with 3-4 children plus one house mother leaving in each half of the duplex. Each side of the duplex has 3 bedrooms (each child has their own bedroom / closet), a full bath, kitchen, fireplace and area for the house mother to sleep in. Each side of the duplex is thus a small family so that the children feel they are part of a family. Thus, each duplex holds 2 families (one half of the duplex houses 3-4 children plus one house mother, and the other half of the duplex houses 3-4 children plus one house mother).
The campus is very near to the center of Nyanga and close by markets, schools and the area clinic and hospital.
Children are nurtured in the rich culture of Zimbabwe, and the staff and management are diverse and reflective of the Nyanga community in which the new campus operates.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
We hope you will be able to share this information with potential donors who may be able to contribute to this new children's home in Nyanga. The new children's home in Nyanga is entirely dependant upon private donations, and receives no governmental assistance.
Nyanga is a very small rural community with few nearby services for orphans. There is a significant need for this new campus, especially for infants and toddlers. The new campus will also benefit the local community with its future chapel, preschool and outreach programs.
Please visit our website often to learn about the latest updates and to see photos of the land purchased, the two small residential homes currently occupied by the Sisters and the 3 children, and the 2 new homes nearing completion.
Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact Sister Gertrude Bobo (Administrator) or Bishop Muchabaiwa.
Won't you please help us prepare for meeting our modest immediate needs and help us prepare for the opening of the new campus' first 2 children's homes?
Donations should be made payable to:
Home of Hope - Zimbabwe
c/o: Mutare Diocese of the Catholic Church
Attention: Bishop Alexio Churu Muchabaiwa
Bishop's House
Drumford
Marymount Road, Box 47
Mutare, Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe Phone: (263) 020- 62347
From USA, dial: 011-263-20-62347