Houtberg Childcare Centre

Due to economic isolation and internal political instability, 72% of people in Zimbabwe live below the poverty line. We are determined to help children in Zimbabwe.

*Daisy was just 7 years old when she arrived at Houtberg Childcare Centre with only tattered clothes and no shoes. She remembers the hunger of her early childhood. “I don’t think I would have gone to school if I stayed with my grandmother,” she told us. In fact, she suspects she would have been put to work – and probably married off when she was very young.

Thanks to the support of her sponsor, Daisy was able to go to school. Now 19, she recently passed her O-levels, completed a vocational tailoring course and plans to start her own tailoring business. “Thank you for changing my life,” Daisy says.

What are the challenges ?

Political coercion has become a feature of life in Zimbabwe, leading to the confiscation of land and the threat of violence. It can be difficult to obtain food, fuel and other necessities and HIV/AIDS has had a significant impact.

How does Global Care help children in poverty in Zimbabwe?

The Houtberg Childcare Centre offers a place of safety to orphaned, abandoned and abused children. Referred to the centre in Chipinge by social workers or community leaders, children receive loving care, access to education and preparation for an independent future.

The centre provides shelter and schooling. School fees are a burden for many families – often children do not receive an adequate educationCitation.  The children from the Houtberg Childcare Centre all attend school, with their equipment and uniform provided, in order to learn the skills they need to support themselves in later life.

Up to 20 children live at the centre as a family. Children stay at the centre as long as they need to. Some stay only months, because when social workers identify a family connection able to care for them, they move on. Some children stay for years. As well as education, they learn agricultural skills, essential if they are to survive in this rural economy.

Global Care has worked to improve living conditions. We secured funding to open a new borehole and reconnect the electricity supply. We also helped restock the vegetable gardens – which had shrivelled and died without water – and enabled the farming of the remaining land.

In 2015 we were able to enclose and irrigate the vegetable garden, improving productivity, and in 2016 we secured funding to enclose and irrigate a much larger plot of land. This is farmed on a commercial basis to provide further income for the home, increasing the sustainability of the project.

How can I help children in Zimbabwe?

You can sponsor at child at the Houtberg Centre, from £28 per month.

When you sponsor a child, your child receives education, clothing and essential school materials. Our local team provide committed welfare and medical support, as well as providing a place that they can call home. As a sponsor, you will receive a yearly report on your child’s progress, a letter from your child and an updated photograph. You’ll also get news of progress and challenges from the project your child is part of. You can also write back to your child.

Give a vulnerable child in Zimbabwe a chance at a better future: become a sponsor today.