Chronicle Editor
Mashudu Netsianda, Senior Reporter
CHURCHES, the community and several organisations are responding positively to the plight of three siblings from Nkulumane suburb who have been starving after their mother abandoned them, leaving them under the custody of her tenant.
Despite a decent shelter, the three children aged 15, 13 and 11 years, were sleeping on empty stomachs as Ms Lizinia Gumbo, a tenant in whose custody the three minors were left under, struggled to feed them.
Ms Gumbo is unemployed and survives on selling vegetables and tomatoes.
The siblings’ mother Ms Mationesa Chibaya went to South Africa a few years ago to look for employment, but however, she never came back, leaving her three children alone with no food and income, and most of all, no motherly love and guidance.
The children are from different fathers, whose whereabouts are also unknown to the children and neighbours.
However, while no one truly knows about their mother’s exact whereabouts, their custodian told Chronicle that there were rumours that she was arrested and is imprisoned in the neighbouring country.
“Their mother left a few years ago and initially she would send money and groceries. However, as years went by, she stopped sending money and groceries. As an adult, I felt I had an obligation to fend for them despite my own economic challenges as a single mother who is unemployed,” said Ms Gumbo.
Ms Gumbo said it has been an insurmountable task looking after the three siblings until she decided to inform their neighbour, Ms Maggy Ncube (67).
She has been staying at the house since 2012.
Ms Ncube who stays just behind the Chibaya residence, said she then decided to take over guardianship of the siblings as Ms Gumbo had indicated that she was struggling to provide them with food and clothes.
“Ms Gumbo approached me and indicated she could no longer afford to feed the children, particularly during the first stages of lockdown period as she could no longer access the city centre to buy wares for resale,” she said.
Ms Ncube said she has been staying in the neighbourhood with Chibaya family, until the elders both died living their children.
However, some of the children have since died and Mationesa and her brother whose whereabouts are also unknown are the only surviving siblings.
Ms Ncube said Mationesa left for South Africa some years ago and left the children.
“She had been maintaining this home and we were seeing developments from when the parents died and as neighbours we were so impressed that this girl (Mationesa) was tending to the house,” said Ms Ncube.
“However, what then shocked us is that it has been several years now and we have not seen or heard from her. When she first went, she would return and visit her children but she has since stopped,” she said with tears in her eyes.
Touched by their plight, Ms Ncube then contacted the local councillor Rodney Jele and he assisted in mobilising for support from churches and the local community members.
Archbishop Alex Thomas said the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bulawayo was the first to respond to the plight of the three siblings when he donated blankets, food hampers and cash. He also assisted in clearing the water bill at their Nkulumane house.
On Monday, another organisation called Hope for the Child in Christ donated bags of mealie meal, soya beans and bottles of cooking oil to the siblings.
Ms Ncube commended the well-wishers for chipping in with assistance, saying their gesture was timeous given the predicament of the children.
“We really appreciate all the efforts and help we are getting from the organisations and individuals who responded to the plight of these children who were abandoned by their mother. We continue to appeal for more assistance as they don’t have enough clothes,” she said.
Ms Ncube said sometime in 2018, the siblings’ house was partially destroyed after a car rammed into the building leaving two of the children in hospital.
The house spent a long time unattended until Ms Ncube involved their local councillor and they followed up the case with the police.
“With their help we then managed to get the house repaired and they are safe from the elements of weather. We collect the little rent that comes from the tenants to buy food for the children,” she said.
“With the current economic challenges, the rentals do not buy them much and the children run to me when they have nothing to eat. I informed other elderly members of the community who informed the councillor and he came and assisted with foodstuffs recently. These children cannot fend for themselves as they are young.”
The house has had no electricity for close to a decade after Zesa disconnected power due to some connections that were not professionally done.
Ms Gumbo said at one time she had to ask her sister to take in the youngest of the children to look after her.
“My sister took in the youngest child to take care of her. These children sometimes go over and stay with my sister occasionally. We are doing this just to assist them,” she said.
She said the children do not have clothes or shoes and they endured the entire winter season walking bare-footed and without warm clothes.
“Now they have been affected badly by this cold weather as they had no blankets too. Even when schools were open, I had a challenge of uniforms for them and no one is paying their school fees,” she said.
Ms Gumbo said all this and food are the major problems she faces in looking after the children. She said she approached the school where the children learn telling the authorities of their predicament..-@mashnets
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