The Story of Chinyausunzi Community

Chinyausunzi is an area located within the greater community of Sakubva in Zimbabwe, filled with single-room homes originally built for male industrial workers. As the community has grown and changed, the infrastructure has remained the same resulting in multiple generations of families living in one residence leading to massive overcrowding and very poor sanitation. A steady income is elusive, forcing young girls into prostitution in order to make enough money to buy the food needed to sustain their families. Many children have been orphaned due to their parents dying from HIV/AIDs, leaving a void of parental guardianship. Grandparents, many of whom are frail from old age are left with the responsibility to care, but often find they are overwhelmed and unable to cope. The alarmingly high rates of HIV/AIDs, tuberculosis and infection within Chinyausunzi have a devastating impact on the thousands of families who can barely afford food for a single day, let alone clinic fees.

130 Children currently supported

11 Care Workers COORDINATed by Florence

Basic Services Started in 2016

10 km from the MUTARE Local Office

There are currently eleven Care Workers from the Chinyausunzi Community Based Organisation (CBO) who sacrificially give up their time to visit and care for the most vulnerable children. These Care Workers are united in bringing love and hope to a community facing desperate times.

In 2012, Hands at Work began partnering with the Care Workers from the nearby Sakubva CBO to serve the most vulnerable children. Due to the extent of the need, the Care Workers were walking long distances to visit the children living in the Chinyausunzi Community. In 2015, the local Hands at Work team in Mutare and members of the South African Regional Support Team began walking in Chinyausunzi to assess the need and find a suitable place to use as a Life Centre.

Volunteers from Hands at Work were walking in Chinyausunzi when they met Pastor Sunday from the local Christian Marching Church, who had a good relationship with one of the pastors on the Sakubva CBO Board. Pastor Sunday felt compelled to help Hands at Work start caring for the most vulnerable children in his community and gave the Chinyausunzi CBO land to use as their Life Centre

Two Care Workers and one cook transitioned from serving at the Sakubva CBO to serving in Chinyausunzi because it was closer to their homes. Since then, a team of additional Care Workers have been mobilised to serve with them, many of whom are the Primary Caregivers of the children being supported by Hands at Work.

Currently, the Care Workers are providing 130 children with a hot, nutritious meal daily and support with their education and basic health care. One of the ways that the children are supported with health care is with clinic fees when they are unwell, easing the burden on their struggling families, who would otherwise have been unable to afford it.

Meet Kingston

13-year-old Kingston* is the oldest of three boys and is being raised by a single mother. His father left their family when his youngest brother was born. For a while, his mother, Melissa*, was receiving support from her brother, but recently she relies on herself to sell tomatoes as a mobile vendor in order to provide for her family. Kingston is not attending school. Additionally, Kingston struggles with a learning disability and would benefit from an assessment from a doctor to ascertain his needs. When Kingston started hanging around the Life Centre, one of the Care Workers, Eunice, connected with him and his family. Hearing their story, he was invited to the Life Centre, where he could be holistically cared for. Eunice has poured love into this family, and Kingston’s behavior with the other children has greatly improved as he has experienced love and support from the Care Workers.

The local Hands at Work team in Mutare currently supports three Community Based Organisations, which exist to care for the most vulnerable in their communities. The office provides training, networking, and encouragement to those Community Based Organisations like Chinyausunzi. It also gives administrative support, including helping with funding proposals, monitoring and evaluation, bookkeeping and reporting to donors.

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