Hello!  It is a chilly June here in Zimbabwe, which has really affected the crops in our gardens!  We have been blessed with lots of visiting teams and individuals in the last few weeks.  One group came from Tennessee and did crafts with all the Fairfield children.  They were also able to spend time with the 4 children some of the team members sponsor.   Two of the children are from Fairfield, so they were able visit both at school and home.  A third child has been reunified with his family members after living for the first few years at Fairfield.  He is now placed under the HOPE program, so the group traveled to his new school to visit and bring gifts of clothing and food.  The fourth child has been in the HOPE program since the very first year we started and has had the same couple sponsoring him throughout.  It was very exciting to see them finally get to meet Clopas, who they have been so faithful in sponsoring for so many years.   

The three college students staying with us from Mississippi have been so helpful.  Our preschool teacher was able to take a week off while the girls played with the children each morning.  They are also starting to update the lifebooks for each child so that when they leave Fairfield someday, they will go with pictures and stories of their childhood at Fairfield.  We are happy to have Casey Edwards from South Carolina back with us for a few weeks as well.  The children love taking dance lessons with her each time she visits.

Grace and Abby are now going to crèche (our play center) every morning.  It seems every day they learn something new.  I found Abby climbing her way to the top of the slide last week and then sliding back down.  It is difficult to remove Grace from the swings when it is time to go home!  The girls had a great time at a church picnic a few days ago where they learned to kick and throw a ball.  They have been spoiled by the visitors who have brought toys and clothes for them.  I feel truly blessed to be their mother and am very excited that the six month waiting period as a foster parent is finished next month and we can start the adoption process!  I would appreciate your prayers over the next few months.

Hope you and yours are enjoying life J

Love, Janine, Grace, and Abigail

Mississippi May

The children are now back to school for the second term of the year after a month-long holiday in April.  We were very happy with the first term results of our HOPE children.  Many of them were top of their class and received a special present from HOPE to congratulate them on their accomplishments.  HOPE staff tried to encourage them to continue working hard so that maybe one day they will move on to university!

This May, we were fortunate to have a team from University of Southern Mississippi come to work at Fairfield for the week.  Many of the students were returning for their second trip to Zimbabwe with their leader Patrick Hutto.  This year, the students assisted in laying a slab of concrete for a container that was donated last year.  They then built wood shelving to place inside the container, which will be moved onto the concrete slab.  This container will help Fairfield staff organize donations of clothing and food so that it can be easily accessed for the children.  With 77 kids, we go through a lot of clothing and food each year!

Three of the students, Katherine, Ann Marie and Charlsie, will continue their stay at Fairfield until the end of July.  The children are looking forward to spending time with them and having help in English and Math so that they can improve in school.

Grace and Abigail are now attending crèche (preschool) for a few hours each morning.  They can now walk on their own to devotions in the morning-although it takes us a while to get there!  They love Mrs. Matitsa, their preschool teacher who teaches them to jump, color and count to five.  We received a new baby at Fairfield last month and Abby and Grace both love to play with “nana” (baby) Ruvimbo who lives next door to us. 

Hope you all have a fantastic month of May!

Wenyu Munashe,

Janine

It seems like March is flying by!  On the 3rd of March, a group of us from Fairfield went to Lydia Chimonyo High School for Visiting Day to see two of our children in boarding school there.  Some of you may remember Chipo, who started our program in 2004.  It is amazing to see how much she has grown and matured over the last years.  She is now in Form 3 (10th grade), with less than 2 years before she will take her major exams at the end of Form 4.  These tests will determine if she will continue to the last two years of high school in preparation for university.  She and her friend Anna are both doing well in Science and also enjoy their Fashion and Fabrics class.  Grace and Abby were excited for their first Visiting Day, especially since big sister Nyarai took some time off from studying to come with us!

Some of the HOPE staff visited our children at Tsvingwe Primary School this week to check on their progress during the first term.  We have 16 children at this elementary school, and all but 2 are fully sponsored!  There has been a great amount of interest in the sponsorship program over the last few months.  Thank you to our new sponsors who have agreed to support a HOPE child! 

Grace and Abby met the Bishop of Zimbabwe and his wife for the first time.  We welcomed Bishop and Mrs. Nhiwatiwa who stayed at the Fairfield guest house for a few nights.  Abby and Grace were so excited to be meeting their special guests that they both cried!  Fortunately, the Bishop was able to quickly turn the coffee table into a drum, instantly becoming one of the girls' favorite people.  

The girls are growing every day.  They are so exciting to watch.  Grace has taken her first steps and Abby can now stand up on her own without holding anything.  They both love to crawl all over the house, keeping Mom on her toes!

Hope you and your families are all doing well!
Wenyu Munashe,
Janine

February Followings



1st Grade students writing letters to their new sponsors!



February has been a great month for HOPE!  The weather has been beautiful and we finally received the rain we had been waiting on for a few weeks.  I am very thankful that two of our Form 4 (11^th grade) students passed their exams well enough to go on to Form 5 and 6 (two additional years of high school in preparation for university).  One received 6 A’s and the other received 7!  Most of our children finish high school at Form 4 and either go to a training school or try to find employment.  It is our hope that each year we will be able to have a Form 6 student graduate with high enough grades to continue on to university. 



Loreen, a 1st Grade Student in need of a sponsor



Although we accepted 30 new students into the HOPE program last month, some of them still do not have their own sponsor.  If you or a group you are involved in would like to consider sponsoring a child, please send me an email and I will make sure you get all the information you need to help make a decision.  Most of the new children we accepted are in 1^st and 2^nd grade and were recommended by the principals because their family could not afford to pay their fees.



Chenai and his Fairfield mother and brother



The HOPE staff was able to visit one of our children who used to live at Fairfield, but has now been reunified with his extended family.  He was very happy to see his “mother” from Fairfield who brought him some treats to eat!  We hope to continue supporting these reunified children as needed once they rejoin their family to make sure they have everything they need to do well in school.







Abby enjoying a splash!

Abby and Grace have had a great 16^th month!  Two of Fairfield’s board members came to visit from the US and along with friends already in Zimbabwe we took the girls to see their very first waterfall in an area called Nyanga.  Unfortunately, it started pouring the rain on the hike back and we discovered Grace does not like cold rain!  They also had their first swim in a baby pool, which they loved.  Friends from college, Stacy and Todd, also joined us for a few days as part of their honeymoon around Africa.  The girls loved having visitors to entertain them!  Both girls are healthy, happy and moving.  Grace can now stand by herself and crawl.  I am sure she will be walking on her own soon.   Abby is close behind and can now walk holding onto the edge of the table.  

Thanks for all the love, prayers and support!  Janine







Happy 2012!

Tsvingwe Primary students receive flip-flops (patter patters!)

Bonnie passing out school supplies

New uniforms!

It has been a very successful start to 2012!  Thirty new children have been added to the HOPE education program, giving us a total of 103 students.  It is our goal to have 150 children in school by the end of the year.  One major blessing was finding a sponsor for Samuel, our only HOPE student so far to attend university.  Samuel is just beginning his 3^rd year in engineering and a sponsored has been secured to cover the remainder of his education!  We are hopeful that more students will follow in his footsteps in obtaining a college degree.

Mitchel and Faith with new dresses

New uniforms were distributed at the beginning of the school term, along with books and all other school supplies.  Thanks to Lerona United Methodist who mailed us enough flip flops to give out to all the HOPE children as well as the children at Fairfield.  Also a special thanks to the women of St. Paul’s United Methodist who sent pillowcase dresses.  All the little girls who received them were so excited to show off their brand new dresses!

Belinda receives a new dress!

 
It was great to have Dave and Bonnie Naas visiting Fairfield for most of January.  They have been friends of Fairfield and HOPE for many years.  “Uncle Dave” and “Aunt Bonnie” spent lots of time with Abigail and Grace.  The girls are now up to the right weight for their age and are so happy.  They can both stand holding onto the couch, so it won’t be long before mom will be busy chasing them as they run in opposite directions!  They are officially my foster children now, and we will next work on getting their birth certificates so that the adoption process can begin.

Excited about their new matching dresses

We are still enjoying the rainy season, with everything growing green and beautiful.  Thanks to all for your continued support and prayers as we begin the New Year.

Abby and Grace send a big hello to everyone!

Wenyu Munashe,

Janine

It's a girl...and a girl!

Many of you might have heard already, but my family has now expanded! I applied to be a foster mother last March through Zimbabwe Social Welfare in hopes of eventually being able to adopt a little girl. This is a very difficult process for a foreigner, but is made easier since I have lived in Zimbabwe and plan on staying for as long as I am given a visa.

An officer came to do a home visit in May, but I never heard anything after that. A friend of mine from the United States is the administrator of an orphanage about 3 hours from Fairfield in a place called Mt. Selinda. One Saturday early in October, we went for a walk. She mentioned that they had twin one-year-old girls at her orphanage. My first thought was,
“I could never manage twins by myself!” Over the next few hours, however, I couldn’t stop thinking about them. We went to a program church that evening and through the songs and talks, I felt God saying, “You are right. You cannot do this alone. But you can do this with My help, and with the help of those I have placed around you.” My brain had automatically said no, but the Holy Spirit had whispered yes.

Four days later, I drove with Cecillia, our Acting Administrator, and a good friend, Julie, to visit Rumbidzai and Nomatter in Mt. Selinda. We instantly fell in love with our two little girls (now named Abigail and Grace). We were told by the Social Welfare officer that the mother had died giving birth to the girls. The father is still alive, but said he is too old to look after the girls. He brought them to Social Welfare offices when they were just five days old, when they were brought to the orphanage in Mt. Selinda.

I was told that it would be at least December or January before the paperwork was complete and they would be placed in my care. We went back the following Friday and located the father. He consented right away to give the girls to me, which made the process a lot easier. I didn’t realize until we were driving back to the office, however, just how much easier the first steps would be.

The officer asked if I was prepared to take the girls back to Fairfield right away. He did not like their situation at the orphanage because they were not receiving sufficient food and their development was behind. We all watched in amazement as he signed a half sheet of paper giving both girls to me under temporary place of safety. From there he will work on the foster care paperwork, and once they are under my care as a foster parent, he will immediately begin working on the adoption process. Within 2 weeks of initially hearing of the girls, they were making the 3 hour trip back to Fairfield with a very shocked mother!

Luckily, my friends here had thrown me a baby shower (although only expecting one girl!) back in June, so I did have the basics to start out with that first night. It has been one of the hardest but best weeks of my life as the girls get adjusted to their new home. They were far behind on their vaccinations, and this new mom learned that the first day in a new place and over 90 degree weather was not the best time to get them up-to-date!

But God blessed me with wonderful friends those first few days that provided meals when I was too tired to eat let alone cook, who offered encouragement and advice, played with the girls, found car seats and other necessities, and prayed with me. Grace and Abby are eating a lot, sleeping a lot, doing exercises to get them ready for standing and walking, and having a great time playing with all the Fairfield children. I can see improvement even in the short time they have been here.

I had already scheduled a flight home for Christmas for a few weeks and set up many speaking engagements thinking that I would not have a child before January. We could have left the girls at the orphanage until I returned, but decided that the quicker they could get the right foods and assistance the faster they would improve. They will stay in my house with their big sister Nyarai while I am away, with the help of all the wonderful mothers at Fairfield. Nyarai met her little sisters for the first time this past weekend and instantly fell in love. I look forward to the day the adoption process is complete (I am sure this will take a lot of patience and time!) and Grace and Abigail can come meet all of you at home. I am sure you will instantly fall in love with them as well.

I would appreciate your prayers as we begin this journey. I am already discovering motherhood can be overwhelming, especially with twins, but God’s grace is always sufficient for us. If any of you are going through a change or a difficult time, I pray you will also hear God whispering, “You can do this with My help and with the help of those I have placed around you.”

Wenyu Munashe,
Janine

Walk a Mile in My Shoes

Many of the HOPE children have to walk long distances in order to get to school. I am often amazed at how many of them wake up before it is even light outside in order to walk over an hour just to receive a good education. We used to purchase new school shoes for each child once every two years. But when we went to visit the children in school, the HOPE staff often found that their shoes were threadbare after only one year of use.
For many of the children, the school shoes we give them are one of the only pairs of shoes they own. They also grow out of them very quickly until they reach their adult sizes. HOPE is now giving new black school shoes to each of the children once a year to ensure they have a safe and comfortable walk to school each day,no matter how far they have to go!
The school shoes were purchased last month and it has been a busy time driving to all the schools to make sure each child receives their new shoes. The children were so happy when they were able to try on sizes to see which fit best. Many were amazed at how much their feet had grown since their last pair!
Thank you to all the sponsors and other donors who make it possible for us to purchase everything the children need to succeed in their education. Please pray for the 7th graders and Form 4 children (11th grade) as they are taking their big year end exams over the next few weeks.

Also, a big thanks for those who donated toward mealie-meal at Fairfield Children’s Home last month. We received enough to last through at least next July! I really appreciate the support and the children thank you for their full stomachs:)
Wenyu Munashe,
Janine