Holidays

Each holiday, most children at MRCH have the opportunity to stay with foster families in the rural areas.  These foster parents are people who have responded to the invitation to care for the orphaned and vulnerable children for a total of three months per year.  The foster families show amazing love and kindness to the children – welcoming them into their lives, homes, and communities.  In addition to this they even send them back to MRCH with gifts and resources for their coming school term.

From the perspective of the Matthew Rusike Children’s Home as an organisation, the short-term transition to and from foster care over the holiday period is run in an effective and thorough way.  Children are diligently handed over to foster parents in the rural areas, with the supervision of a social worker from the Department of Social Welfare.  Interviews are done once the child returns from their foster homes, to ensure that the child has felt safe and well cared for. 

Personally delivering 90 children to four different districts is an impressive effort.  And it should also be noted that the normal van that delivers the children died just before the beginning of the last holiday and an alternative vehicle had to be hired to complete this task.   The home now has no vehicle to transport children, but we are hoping and praying that some solution is found before the Christmas holiday starts.
Anthea

Travel Guides

Last week we went to a campsite in Harare called ‘It’s A Small World’, and we met two Lonely Planet authors from Melbourne! We told them all about Epworth and the balancing rocks because they had no time to go and see them because they were going to Japan after they’d stayed at Small World. They asked us what we were missing about Australia, and I said my friends. They said they were missing Vegemite! I’ve been reading loads of travel guides recently so I can visit all the places that I want to see, but I can only visit them in my imagination, at least, until I’m old enough to visit them. I’ve been reading about Britain, and after a chapter I switch to something else, then I read a chapter and switch, etc., so I’ve read all of Russia, Scotland twice, a bit of Poland, some of France, a portion of Japan, three lines of India (I keep getting distracted, because I like India a lot, so I read a line then say “Hey Dad, Did you go there?” and we end up having a long discussion), quite a lot of Ireland, a few chapters of Iceland, a small amount of Germany and a little bit of Sweden, and I would’ve read a lot more, except we didn’t have any more travel guides. But you don’t want to hear me jabbering on about my last few months’ reading agenda. Dad tried to get me to read the full ‘Around The World In Eighty Days’ by Jules Verne, but every time Phileas Fogg was in any country, I thought “Hmm, that’s interesting,” and started flipping through the travel guides to find that country, and get so distracted I completely forget poor old Phileas Fogg and his adventures around the world in eighty days.

Abbey

Beach Party!

On Saturday Clare had an under-sea party (we miss our island a bit) in the sculpture garden at Harare Gardens. Valentine was allowed to come, which was nice for her because doesn't get out very much. We also took the Razemba family, Tumayi and Coletta, and the Nyamupingidza family. We had a jellyfish pinata, which we made out of a box and lots of coloured-in newspaper. We also played keep the 'fish' (balloon) off the ground, bubble blowing, flip the kipper, octopus eggs, pin the tail on the whale and octopus. We had the best chocolate cake ever because Mum cooked it. The Burlesons arrived after all the games were finished and we were all packed up, but we gave them some left-over cake. I loved the pinata. It was a funny idea to have a beach party in a land-locked country, but one of our guests did manage to swim. Reverend Tadzaushe tried to jump over a massive puddle but he slipped and fell on his bottom!

Abbey