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Bongani Ndlovu, Chronicle Reporter
FOR a moment, Mrs Catherine Dube (58) thought that her daughter, who abandoned her newly-born baby girl almost 10 years ago and went to South Africa, would return home and look after the child who was born with cerebral palsy.
Cerebral palsy is a group of disorders that affect a person’s ability to move and maintain balance and posture. The condition is the most common motor disability in childhood
Mrs Dube’s granddaughter, Nonhlanhla who is now eight years old, was abandoned by her mother soon after her birth. She is now being looked after by her grandmother who stays in Nkulumane suburb, Bulawayo.
This emerged during a monitoring exercise by Unicef, World Vision Zimbabwe and the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare and other Government arms responsible for the emergency social cash transfer (ESCT) project on Thursday in Bulawayo.
The ESCT project was set up in August 2020 as relief in response to Covid-19 disruptions to reduce food insecurity, and improve dietary diversity and maternal and child health outcomes of vulnerable households.
The programme is primarily focused on households headed by the elderly aged 65 and above, pregnant women, child-headed families and persons living with disability.
Bulawayo has 3 459 households translating to 18 472 beneficiaries. A person in each household gets US$12, capped at a maximum of four per household.
Many people in Bulawayo and other urban areas are facing situations similar to Mrs Dube’s. They are taking care of children with life-threatening conditions, orphans or child-headed families.
For Mrs Dube, life has been a struggle for her as she has a family of 11 people, among them, her children and grandchildren, to take care of.
“My daughter came to Bulawayo with her child and after some months of living with us, we started noticing that something was different with her. She was not growing like she was supposed to and all of a sudden, she left me with the child and went to South Africa and she is now eight years old,” she said.
For the past eight years, Mrs Dube has been looking after the girl who is dependent on her for primary care.
Outside Mrs Dube’s house is a modest vending stall where she sells a variety of goods such as chips, sweets, fruits, ground nuts, beans and fresh produce to fend for the family.
Since April this year, as part of the ESCT programme, Mrs Dube receives US$48 and withdraws the money from a money transfer banking facility.
Mrs Dube uses the money to supplement her income from her vending business to buy food and consumables, particularly with Nonhlanhla in mind.
“The major challenge that continues to give me a headache is the issue of baby diapers, which are quite costly and Nonhlanhla needs them on a daily basis. With this money, I can now fend for the family and take care of Nonhlanhla,” she said.
Besides Nonhlanhla, Mrs Dube is looking after her two-year-old grandson, a daughter, a granddaughter, a son and her husband who relies on casual jobs to supplement their income.
A group of four women in Nketa suburb are also benefiting from the programme.
The women are operating small businesses which include a poultry project, a tuck shop, selling clothing as well as making soap and bags for sale.
One of the women, Ms Tracey Mweyamweya, a widow, said they formed a money club with each one of them contributing US$30 monthly to fund each other’s projects.
Mrs Mweyamweya who makes beaded bags said the programme has economically lifted her.
“We realised that the money we are getting under the programme was not enough to sustain ourselves, which is why we decided to be innovative by coming up with a money club so that each one of us benefits by starting their own project,” she said.
Unicef social policy specialist Mr Andrew Kardan said the programme was supposed to end in March but has been extended by three months after an additional €15 million was poured in as part of efforts to help the vulnerable groups in urban areas.
“This programme is funded largely through the government of Germany, and they have just delivered good news to us by further extending the support under the programme. So far, we received close to €20 million through the German government,” he said.
Mr Kardan said they have committed to providing a further €15 million that will extend to the rural areas.
“Our plan is that as the support comes to an end, the Government will absorb the beneficiaries into the harmonised cash transfer programme. That’s why we are here in Bulawayo to carry out joint monitoring visits to make sure that the programme goes well, and that if there are any issues, we iron them out.”
The programme is funded through the support of the Government of Germany and the Government of Sweden (SIDA).
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