A Kiva Coordinator's Community Orphan Care Center in Harare
Pamhidzayi (Pamhi) Mhongera leads all new and existing projects at the MicroKing microfinance institution in Harare, Zimbabwe. As part of her role, she oversees the Kiva program under which Zimbabwean entrepreneurs are given the opportunity to work their way up the socioeconomic ladder.
Pamhi at the office where she oversees MicroKing's Kiva partnership
However Pamhi's positive impact on her community extends beyond her daily work. She and her husband, Mustafa, launched their very own community orphan care outreach center, Blossoms Children Community in 2005. What started with caring for 26 orphans has grown to serve over 150 children as well as their respective caregivers.
With Pamhi at the Blossoms Children Community Center in Mufakose, on the outskirts of Harare
Whereas Blossoms started with simply with providing orphan care and support, it quickly grew evident to Pamhi and Mustafa that there was a major need to help other kids living in adversity.
Most of the children's' stories are pretty typical; stemming from poor families, one or both parents absent from their lives, under the care of relatives who do not have the ability or willingness in ensuring their health and safety, etc.
Blossoms' goal is to build relationships that enhance the well-being and development of orphans and other vulnerable children within their communities by:
sending the kids to school and paying related school fees
providing daily and/or weekly meals
mentoring , counseling services and moral guidance
talent development (music and dancing, sport)
assistance to obtain proper medical services when needed
referral services for vocational training and economic empowerment
In short, Pamhi and Mustafa act as mother and father for over 150 children by ensuring that they grow up in a healthy and safe environment.
Lunch time at Blossoms
Recently Pamhi has sought to push the number of children reached with the type of help and support that Blossoms offers.
In October 2012, she launched the UN International Day of the Girl Child, under the theme "Educate Girls – Change the World", at Glen-View 1 High School, her former school in the suburbs of Harare.
Furthermore, through a partnership with the Brookings Institution, Pamhi has recently facilitated a counseling and trauma healing training program for 49 school teachers from 18 schools from the greater Harare region. The program aims to enable these teachers to provide psycho-social support to over 5,000 orphans and other vulnerable children through their respective school associations.
Pamhi with two girls at Glen-View 1 High School
Pamhi and Mustafa face two main challenges in Blossoms' operations:
1) They only have legal custody of the children until the age of 18. After that the kids have nowhere to go as well as a difficult time in finding any type of income given the socioeconomic situation in Zimbabwe.
2) Funding for all of the operations comes directly from Pamhi and Mustafa. They are presently trying to obtain funds from NGO sources but have run into all sorts of red tape.
Despite the challenges, Pamhi and Mustafa feel compelled as ever to help kids in need.
I had an opportunity of assisting the wedding of a former Blossoms' boy who had "graduated" from the orphanage. At the ceremony, Pamhi, as any mother, was extremely proud but also tearful to see "her child" move on to adulthood.
But it is exactly this type of emotional investment that gives these kids the support they need to one day become independent and valuable members of the Zimbabwe community.
bartsitarz
Bart was born in Poland and immigrated to Montreal, Canada before the age of 3. This gave him the opportunity to grow up in a multilingual environment and become fluent in three languages; English, French and Polish. As any Canadian kid, he dreamed of growing up and playing professional hockey. Unfortunately his abilities did not match his ambitions so he went on to pursue more pragmatic goals by obtaining an undergraduate business degree. After graduating he took a year off to travel around the globe, primarily backpacking through Europe and Asia. For the past few years Bart worked for PwC in both Montreal and Chicago where he helped advise companies on corporate finance transactions. Bart is looking forward to working with MicroKing during his upcoming fellowship as well as exploring Zimbabwe and Southern Africa.