The government regulations state that orphans must leave when they reach the age of 16. At Eden we have them stay if they are attending and progressing well in school because we want them to be as prepared for life as possible. I can see the older teens living in a community at Buwe as apprentices. I can see Eden growing and needing more farmland to support the number of orphans and workers there would be. I would be going to other Eden sites to plan, oversee and build new orphanages and schools. All of this would be done together, foreign and indigenous people working side by side, taking ownership together. While this is a dream, I don’t see it as an impossible one at all. I see it as very possible. Why wouldn’t it happen? Who wouldn’t want to be part of this?
We want supporters to be partners in what we are doing in Africa. We don’t want them to feel like piggy banks, but valued members of a team that is working to give people hope for a better life. I believe that we all want to feel like we are a part of something bigger in this life and by partnering with us and our work at Eden Children’s Village this is an opportunity to do just that. Donating money to our work isn’t continuing the practice of giving hand outs that don’t make a difference in Africa. Money given to our family means that women will be taught proper health for their unborn babies and given exceptional care through their labour and post-natal care. Maternal death rates in the area will drop, which will mean fewer births due to education and better life expectancy. Unwanted children will be loved and cared for in a family-style environment. Teens will be taught trades and will become entrepreneurs when they leave the orphanage. The economy will improve due to a rise in the availability of jobs. The environment will stop being exploited as people are taught conservation and the use of newer technologies.
All of this and more will be possible when people partner with us and become part of what is happening and will come to be in Zimbabwe and beyond.
