Chronicle Editor
Robin Muchetu, Senior Reporter
AT 88, walking with the aid of a helper accompanied by failing vision and memory, Mrs Margaret Ndoda, the co-founder of Emthunzini Wethemba Children’s Home in Bulawayo says she still has abandoned children at heart despite her inability to do much for herself or them.
Mrs Ndoda who celebrated her 88th birthday on 16 August, said she was grateful for more years added to her life so that she could continue to be in the presence of children who have no homes and aid in rehabilitating them and re-uniting them with their families.
“This is the work of the creator, I owe it to the home for giving me many more years. I am indeed happy to still have life, it’s not easy to reach such ages but it is God that has looked after me. My late husband David Ndoda who initially came up with the idea of a children’s home had a passion for children who were living on the streets.
“He would always see them and be touched by their circumstances until a time when he was given this place by the Bulawayo City Council to house children. It was in the early 90s, it was a single room where he cared for abandoned and vulnerable children. We moved from Mpopoma suburb to come and stay here with the children,” she said.
Rev Ndoda who then worked for the Rhodesia Literature Bureau followed his passion and started the home with his salary.
“He got some assistance from donors when the project started but council availed him the land for the home’s construction. There was a small block of rooms for single doctors who were working at Mpilo Central Hospital, that is where the home was born and it grew from there to what it is today.
“He took in about 15 boys that he would regularly feed in town and brought them to the home as the first lot of children to be assisted by him,” said Mr Orlando Ndoda, the son to the Ndodas.
Mrs Ndoda said Rev Ndoda was keen on educating the boys.
“As time moved, they grew in number too and we have had our fair share of problems in running the home. We took in most of these children and they had no formal education as some had dropped out. So, we had to send them to school as we could not live with them without some form of education and vocational training,” she said.
Orlando, who was assisting his aged mother to recall some incidents said the children would sometimes escape.
“At times these children would also disappear from the home and go back to the streets where they had been rescued. At times their relatives would come and look for them and take them away from us,” he said.
Over the years the Social Welfare Department has been refereeing children they will have picked up on the streets or rescued from abusive set ups and their numbers have been fluctuating from time to time with some being reintegrated with their families and relatives.
“The initial foundations of the home did not have a cut off age for abandoned children as their ages varied. We even had one who was 21 who had nowhere to go, but now we are being governed by regulations of our certificate of operation which stipulates that we should have children up to the age of 18,” he added.
The board chairperson for the home, Mrs Bernadette Manyarara, weighed in saying they were supposed to take in children up to the age of majority.
“We are governed by our terms of operation which say 18 years is the cut off age in which a child must be rehabilitated and integrated back with families. It is only some who the Social Welfare Department failed to trace their families that can stay longer until a determination is found. We also have been equipping these children post-secondary education with skills like pottery and carpentry so that by the time they left the home they would have a skill that they can use to get a living,” she said.
She said this was one of the exit plans for the children apart from rehabilitating them to later join their families. Mrs Manyarara also spoke of two notable success stories of children from the home who are pursuing their education at the University of Zimbabwe and the National University of Science and Technology in Bulawayo. The children were also taught by Rev Ndoda himself before his death.
“The children were given life skills by Rev Ndoda, after getting formal education and some vocational training, he taught them on how to take care of themselves, how to manage their finances and generally how to live in a normal society with others and also to empower themselves. This enabled them to blend well with others despite the fact that they had been living on the streets before,” said Ms Annita Dick the homes’ administrator.
She said moving forward the home is now looking for sustainability.
“We are after sustainability now, we have a plot in Khami that is leased to us, we would like to develop it and sustain ourselves. We also have two gardens here at the home where we want to start projects to feed the children and to sell too and cover other expenses. It is pointless to always beg for food when we have the ability to grow our own. There are a few cows that we have at the plot and we would want to extend to piggery, poultry and vegetables. We also would want to have boreholes drilled at the plot so that we can fully utilise the land,” said Ms Dick.
Mrs Sibusiso Katsande nee Ndoda, the last daughter of the late Rev and Mrs Ndoda said her parents always had a passion for abandoned and vulnerable children.
“I remember one time, my father went into town and spent the night sleeping on the streets with street kids because he said he wanted to experience what they endured as they lived on the streets. I believe this made his passion grow even more. Again we see how our parents sacrificed to leave their Mpopoma home to come and live on this property with just a bed and hanging their clothes on the wall then seeing the strides that they ended up reaching with this home it’s a formidable thing and we are humbled by this act of love,” she said.
The home which was originally for 21 boys accommodated girls too at one point but it has 13 boys now. The board said they are seeking permission to admit more children looking at the statistics of homeless children in the city and beyond saying economic pressures have seen more and more children being abused and fleeing their homes and into the streets. They, however, said they want to maintain Rev Ndoda’s vision of caring for homeless children by doing what is in their capacity to assist. Mrs Ndoda said she was blessed with four girls and a son who are all above 60 years of age, adding that it was indeed a blessing to see all her children alive at their advanced ages.
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