By Mercy Mutandwa | Operations Manager
It is hard to believe that 2020 is coming to an end and we have not been able to hold any Girl Child sessions since February. Our sessions thrive on face to face interaction and not being able to see each other has been a great disadvantage. There is some sadness as we reflect on 2020. However, the joy of Christmas is truly with us and we are grateful our girls are gearing up to enjoy the festivities as much as they are able to.
The lives touched by Girl Child so far and the passion the Makomborero team has for disadvantaged girls has fanned the flames of hope and given us all strength to keep looking ahead. We are grateful for the generous donations we have received this year, they have been a much needed practical element to our hopes. We were able to buy more than 40 books which will be added to the existing libraries of the three schools on the Girl Child programme. The rest of the books will make up starter packs for the two schools we hope to add to our programme by the end of 2022. We are pleased that we have not just added numbers to the library but we have been able to add some variety too! Most, if not all our girls will finally get to read classics such as Roald Dahl for the first time.
We have also been able to buy the much needed materials for the 'Baby blanket crochet project' which the girls engage in throughout the year. The office was filled with ooohs and aahs about the fun wool colours we were able to get and we are excited for our girls to start crocheting. We look forward to passing the skill of crocheting to a new set of girls, the happiness of making something from scratch together and to teaching them the value of giving to others.
Normally, we would bring all our girls from the different schools together at the end of each term. We would have a big lunch, play games and do an art session that involves t-shirt painting. We were not able to do this this year but the donations meant that we were able to gather all the art session materials needed for 2021. We were also able to buy all the t-shirts we will require for the painting activity. That is huge and we are immensely grateful!
Perhaps most heart-warming of all was that we were able to make a small parcel for each girl to enjoy with her family over the Christmas period. Each girl will receive a pack with dried sugar beans, dried soya meat, rice, pasta and some biscuits and sweets. We know the biscuits and sweets will be a real treat and the other food stuffs a welcome change from mealie-meal and a real life saver for our girls’ families. We feel this makes up in part for not being able to have a joint end of year lunch.
Earlier this year, we were busy writing session content, refreshing what we have and adding what we felt the girls needed. January will be a time of re-visiting those session plans and sorting out timetables.
We have been in communication with our 2020 girls through their mentors who live locally to them. We are always so pleased to hear of their well-being when they bump into each other at the local shops or while taking walks. They miss the sessions, are looking forward to Christmas and perhaps like us are just getting ready as much as possible for 2021.
Sadly, we will not be holding sessions with this particular set of girls in 2021 as we will be recruiting again at the beginning of January. Filled with hope and joy, we have prepared as much as we can for the next 18 months and look forward to welcoming the new girls.
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