Jesuit Missions UK

	Zimbabwe Orphans' Choir Records Fundraiser for Makumbi Children's Home with London School Choir Buy the CD or DVD
	ITV London Tonight ran a special preview of the recording and Makumbi on Friday 30th November. Watch in Windows Media (Low Resolution)
	Click here to go to main Concert/CD Page

The Children's orphanage at Makumbi mission is about 100 km north east of Harare. Set up by the Jesuits the mission now cares for 110 children from newborn up until their 18th Birthday.

The full name of the home is “Makumbi Upfumihwenyika Children's Home”. Upfumihwenyika means “Wealth of the country” since this is what the children are. All of the children come from tragic backgrounds where most have undergone abuse, starvation and rejection and sometimes it can take a great deal of time, patience and love before the children are able to overcome the torment of the lives they lived before finding the haven of Makumbi. Often, the children are found deserted and left to die and it is only those fortunate enough to be found that find their way to Upfumihwenyika.

The central idea of the Upfumihwenyika is to create a loving and caring family atmosphere where the children can spend their formative years learning all of the values that family life imparts, as well as the skills necessary for surviving when they leave the home. Once the children enter the home, they are given one of 8 houses to live in. Each house has between 11 and 12 children and acts as a family unit with a “mother” at its head and the chores of the house split between all of the “brothers and sisters” that share their lives together. The older children clean, cook and help their mother with any of the smallest children and the younger ones tend to the livestock and the chicken and rabbit projects. These projects, aside from bringing valuable meat and eggs into the house, also teach the children the valuable skills related to creating an income for themselves and becoming as self sufficient as possible.

Overview of the Orphanage

Children with employed mother

The Mission emphasises the importance of bringing these young children up in an environment that is in touch with their heritage. Everything from the layout of the site to the importance of respecting the traditional Shona marriage customs (when the time comes after the children leave Upfumihwenyika) is applied with all of the different aspects of traditional African family life in mind.

Aside from the 8 family homes, there is a Church, a Primary School, a Secondary school, a Nursery and a Clinic. The children from the surrounding villages are able to come for schooling thus benefiting from the high quality teaching and broadening the education of the orphans living there. Roughly 50% of the children are below school age, 30% at primary level and 20% at secondary level. Each child is given the opportunity to pursue their talent as far as is possible and many children have taken their O'Levels as well as attending dress making and domestic science courses. All of this helps the children to find their feet in the world.

The world that Upfumihwenyika is surrounded by is becoming more and more hostile. With constant water and electricity cuts, uncontrollable inflation, lawlessness and hugely limited employment opportunities the strain on the project is increased – and not simply because the amount of orphaned children is growing exponentially. With running costs of just £300 per child for a whole year you can have a direct role in ensuring that these children continue to live in a happy, loving environment that corrects the wrongs that society has done to them and ensuring that they can build honest and loving lives for themselves.

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