Stichting Jabulani Kids Zimbabwe

2007

Maintenance of buildings

The buildings of the King George VI Centre are now over fifty years old. The maintenance and repairs are always necessary, especially after heavy rains. This remains an annual expense. Major problems are the roofs of the classrooms where the wood is seriously damaged by termites.

The roofs of the buildings and the gutters of the Centre often leak, which in turn leads to damage to the ceilings. These are constantly repaired, but this cannot compensate for the heavy rains that fall every year. The gutters need to be replaced, to guarantee a long lifetime.

The sanitary facilities are also to be replaced. Often, parts of the toilets and flushing systems become worn out. As a result, a large amount of water is wasted. In 2007, in collaboration with the Catholic Church of Boskoop and Reeuwijk, and with a additional help from the Dutch “Vastenaktie”, 15,000 Euros were available to spend on the maintenance of buildings. The amount was supplemented with 5000 Euros by the ‘Bijzondere Gezondheidszorg’ (Special Healthcare Foundation) so that the total amount came to 20,000 Euros, as was budgeted.

2006

Computers for the King George VI Centre

In 2006, computers were donated to the King George VI Centre. For children with disabilities, computers are more than just a tool. Computers can help children with disabilities in their participation in society; to gain knowledge, and to learn how to do a specific job. The children can therefore be economically independent. In the King George VI Memorial School, the computers are managed and maintained by an IT teacher in the computer lab. For homework the children have access to two computers in the study which the children use collectively.

2005/2006

School bus

In 2005 and 2006, many people have contributed to our special campaign for a new school bus for KGVI, including mytylschool” De Ruimte”.

The King George VI Centre has chosen to purchase a pick-up instead of a wheelchair bus, and to modify it. The last bus was old and in very poor condition. Children were placed in it while in their wheelchair because the bus had no special facilities for wheelchairs. This resulted in dangerous situations when the bus drove: children’s wheelchairs had to be kept in place by other passengers.

 

 

Emergency action autumn 2005

In the autumn JKZ organized an emergency action: due to the massive inflation the Centre was almost forced to send home half of the children by the beginning of 2006. The goal to acquire 17.000 Euros by the end of 2005 was achieved. This meant that no children from the school and the Centre had to leave in 2006: "With the good news from Jabulani Kids we were able to take back all the children and also take in 12 of the more desperate children on our waiting list. Without the added support none of this would have been possible", the director of KGVI wrote.

Part of the money was also paid to all staff as a little bonus for their hard work in 2005. They constantly have to enter into loans for everyday expenses. Throughout the year, everyone had struggled immensely with their finances.

The positive twist at the end of the year was that there was also enthusiasm for a number of workshops. There was a teambuilding workshop for housefathers and housemothers, and a leadership workshop for the heads of departments. Both workshops went very well, and everyone was full of inspiration and good intentions. The director of the Centre wrote: “I can't tell you how good it is to be able to make plans again instead of just worrying about where the next million will come from. So as you can see we are back in very positive form. Your support has really revitalized us all!”

Winter reparation project

In 2005, with funding from foundation Jabulani Kids Zimbabwe, we invested in the winter preparation of a few units. The old living room of one of the units, Famous Five, was very large.

 

This was built on the model of an old boarding school, and therefore it was very cold in the winter. Now this living room is modified and Famous Five have a smaller, cozy, but warmer room. The housing unit of the youngest children, Sunshine, was equipped with a carpet on which they now play. Before the carpet the floor was too cold and too hard to play on. Children can now leave their wheelchairs and crawl around on the carpet and play together.

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Holiday care of orphans

Since 2005, the Centre offers shelter to orphans who have nowhere to go during the school holidays. HIV / AIDS disrupt many families in Zimbabwe, and also at KGVI there are constantly more children who have lost one or both parents. The orphans can now stay in one of the units under the supervision of a ‘home parent’.

Course counseling

In 2005, four staff followed training in counseling: two staff members of the therapy department, a teacher for hearing impaired children and the physically disabled secretary of the Centre. All four are now holding regular counseling sessions.

Staff training

The staff of the King George VI is trained constantly. Trainings are offered among others in the areas of management, public relations and administration.

New Music room

In early 2004, the new music room was completed. This is now used daily. A new carpet has been placed in the room so that the children can sit comfortably and the acoustics of the room is better.

There is one piano and all marimbas of the previous school band, Liyana. The children's choir the ‘Linderakkertjes’ from Nijmegen contributed to this project. Prudence, the singer of Liyana, gives music lessons. In the afternoon there are marimba lessons, and sometimes a professional music teacher is asked to give lessons. With the result: "He has formed a sort of band with piano, keyboard, marimba, drums and shakers. So the music room is always rocking with sound!” (director KGVI).

 

Tools for 'Independent Living'

When at the beginning of the year new children arrive, some need a new wheelchair. The Centre buys wheelchairs locally from the organization LoReWo (Local Rehabilitation Workshop), based in Bulawayo. LoReWo obtains used wheelchairs from Norway. The wheelchair must always be specially adapted to the individual needs of the children. Further, high quality pillows are needed so the children can sit comfortably and focus on school work. Emmaus Bilthoven contributed, among other things, to this and other tools for "Independent Living" for the children.

Orchard

In 2002, foundation Jabulani Kids Zimbabwe raised funds for the construction of an orchard in the grounds of the Centre. This orchard is partly supported by NCDO.

 

 

 

The irrigation of the orchard is done with the wastewater from Centre. In order to get this water, a sewage pump was installed together with a drain.

The orchard is a great success: “The irrigation for the orchard is now well established and is watering all the fruit trees. The trees are growing well and we have been able to pick some pawpaws (papaya) from the trees. The other fruit will take much longer to produce. We have other plants growing around the trees: for instance pumpkins for the children to eat.

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