Maria is a 15-year-old girl in Zimbabwe whose life was marked by trauma at a young age.
“At just 14,” reported Rumbidzai Chadamoyo, a social worker at the Shinga Development Trust in Mutare, “she was being physically and emotionally abused by her biological mother.
“Her mother, who was supposed to be her source of comfort, became her abuser,” said Rumbidzai.
Maria, who had been living with her mother and stepfather in Mozambique before arriving in Zimbabwe, told us that she was no longer attending school while all the other children at her homestead went to school.
“My mother used to beat, mock and scold me in front of my stepbrothers and sisters because my father in Zimbabwe was not sending any money for my upkeep,” Maria told us. “She used to beat me and to tell me that she was running at a loss by taking care of me.
“I wept daily when the other children were going to school while I remained at home doing house chores.
“It was my dream to go to school one day.”
Rumbidzai also reported that Maria did not receive healthcare while in the care of her mother, “as she always scolded her for faking illness because she did not want to do the household chores.
“The abuse went on and on to the extent that Maria told herself that enough was enough and she got the courage to start the journey of migrating from Mozambique to Zimbabwe” to search for her father.
In fleeing her mother, and her country, Maria traveled the forest border in the company of a woman over into Zimbabwe.
“When l started the journey to Zimbabwe l was filled with great fear, but l kept the faith, knowing that after finding my father my life was going to change”.
Arriving in Zimbabwe, Maria “cried with joy as she anticipated that the journey of meeting her father was going to be easy,” said Rumbidzai.
Maria went to a local market in Sakubva, Mutare, and asked where to board a bus to Chivhu where her mother had told her father would be.
She asked woman selling ice cream in the market, who ended up escorting Maria to the Department of Social Development and was subsequently placed at the Lerato Children’s Home December 2023, operated by the Shinga Development Trust.
Although eager to start school and begin her new life, Rumbidzai told us Maria “faced so many difficulties, especially in her academic life.”
Rumbidzai explained that Maria “had last attended school long back,” and that other challenges included language barriers because she was not able to communicate well with others as she could not speak the local language, Shona.
However, in due course, things began to change for the better for Maria.
“Through the support that Lerato Children’s Home receives [funding] from Bread and Water for Africa®, Maria was able to attend classes at the Mutare Farm Prison Junior School, where she is currently in grade 4, making one of her dreams come true,” reported Rumbidzai.
The Lerato Children’s Home arranged for Maria to receive extra help in her schoolwork so that she could catch up on all the work that she missed before being placed at the home.
“Maria worked very hard in her schoolwork from being the last in her class to being number nine this year.
“This motivated her, and she promised to work even harder so that she could attain the first position in her class.
“Maria narrated how all her hope was lost in Mozambique but that was restored from the moment that she came to Lerato Children’s Home.
“The love and care that she received at Lerato healed the wound that she had of no one taking care of her.
“Maria’s life changed, and she is now living happily with her new family accessing all her rights.”
Maria is just one of the 82 children who were able to attend school in Zimbabwe last year through the Bread and Water for Africa® school fees assistance program.
“Most of the children being referred to Lerato Children’s Home by the Department of Social Development have never attended school; hence, they need educational assistance,” says Rumbidzai.
