We’d like to introduce you to Be (face blocked and name changed for privacy), a former orphan succeeding through the hands of Heather Chimhoga Orphan Care not only once, but twice. Here is her story as told through a Zimbabwe Mission Partnership member in July 2019. 

"My name is Be, I, along with my younger sister were found by HCOC founders Ralph and Roberta Pippitt in 2002. But allow me to start my story a few years prior to being saved for the first time. 

"I lost my father when I was in Grade 1 in 1997. I then lost my mother in 2000 when I was in Grade 4. I do not remember my father very well for I was young and only remember my mother through photos. At the time of my mother’s death, I had two sisters, however one passed away in 2001. It was very hard losing three out of five family members within four year and being so young myself. I became head of the family and responsible for my younger sister. I was only in Grade 5. We were sent to live with my Grandmother. During this time, we suffered sexual and mental abuse from men in the Village. My Grandmother was too old to protect us.

"There were many days when I would just sit and cry the whole day. We did try and make it to school but, unable to pay school fees, would be sent home. It was through our school that the Pippett’s found us a year later. They took us into the HCOC system providing us with food, clothing, medical needs, school fees and school uniforms. Beauty Mukondwa, the Nurse at HCOC, was so kind to us. She began to heal us. Through the aid of HCOC, I was able to take my School Exams in 2007 for which I passed.

"In 2008, I got married. It was nice at first but became difficult as my husband struggled to find employment. We moved to South Africa for work in 2013 leaving our first born child with my mother in-law and our youngest child with my younger sister’s mother in-law in Zimbabwe. I found work as a house maid in South Africa. My husband took another wife and was abusive to me. Hearing that my mother in-law no longer wanted to take care of our child, I returned to Zimbabwe. 

"Upon returning to Zimbabwe, I had nothing. I began working in peace jobs on other people’s farms just to be able to provide for my two children and pay their school fees, for my husband was no longer supporting us. 

"In September 2018, I went to HCOC to purchase vegetables since I was living back in the area. I found Nurse Beauty from so long ago and shared my story with her of what had happened to me since I left the area in 2008 to be married. Roberta Pippitt happened to be there working on the Moringa project. Beauty told me they were getting ready to have interviews and training to hire for workers in the Moringa processing building. She invited me to come and train. Once again HCOC came to my rescue for I was picked as one of the ladies to have full time work with the Moringa project. Since that time, things have changed for the better. I am able to provide for my children with the allowance received from my job. My children now have enough. I am slowly constructing a small house and to honor my parents, I am building a grave for them as is a tradition in Zimbabwe. It’s been 22 years since my father died and they have no memorial. 

"I would not be able to do any of these things if it was not for The Pippitts, Beauty and HCOC. To Roberta I would like to say: I do not have enough words to thank you, but God knows."

Faith has AIDS, passed down from her parents who died when she was very young, leaving her an orphan. Under the care of Nurse Beauty at the HCOC clinic, Faith's disease had been very much under control for several years. But in July of 2016, her condition had worsened dramatically.

Apparently, Faith's caretaker, her ailing grandmother, had turned to a "local healer" who took Faith off of her AIDS medication and forbade further medical care. She had reached such a desperate condition that the grandmother allowed Nurse Beauty to place her on an IV for life-giving fluids, but still refused to let Faith be taken to the hospital.

Two days later, a ZMP representative who happened to be in-country at the time, accompanied Nurse Beauty, and Albert Mukondwa, CEO of HCOC, on a visit to the rondoval where Faith lay dying. Here is her account.

"It's an experience that there are no words to adequately describe; it was so deeply emotional. Faith was in so much pain. Unable to eat or drink anything for days, she was literally skin and bones. She was wailing as she lay on a mat on the dirt floor in the fetal position. In what seemed like an involuntary reaction, I simply laid with her, held her, and prayed. 'Dee-aunna,' Faith cried, 'why has God left me?'  In the background I could hear Albert and Beauty pleading for permission to take Faith to the hospital, as she continued to cry and beg for help.

"Gogo, the grandmother, did not relent that night, and the team left without Faith. But, miraculously, the next morning Gogo had a change of heart. God had intervened, our prayers had been answered, and our desperate journey to the hospital was underway. 

"Faith was in the back of the truck wrapped in a blanket and clutched tightly in Gogo's arms. We traveled for over an hour on bumpy dirt roads just to get to a doctor who could arrange for admittance to the local hospital. From there we had to pick up medicine prescribed by the doctor before going on to the hospital over still more bumpy roads.

"Finally, after dark, we arrived at the hospital. Faith would be sleeping on the floor in the women's ward that night, as there were no beds left. We left the hospital hoping and praying she would get the help she needed and relief from her pain. And that was the last I saw of her before having to head back to my home in Colorado. 

"Fast forward to August 29 when I received this message from Nurse Beauty, 'Can you believe Faith is now regularly coming to HCOC? She is rapidly improving though more flesh should be added to the bones. Praise God!!!!'"

Sadly, there are many orphaned children living in run-down rondavels with no parents or relatives to care for them. They scavenge for food. The bush is their bathroom. Termites eat away at their shelters. And, until recently, they have been shunned by their neighbors because their parents "died of AIDS," a badge of shame in a culture that does not understand.

Awareness of this situation has grown rapidly in recent years to such a degree that it has spawned a whole new acronym in the ZMP lexicon: CHH, Child-Headed Household. But things are changing. God is at work. 

Albert, a teenaged orphan, had buried both parents and all his siblings, and had been living alone for several years. There were plenty of neighbors around, but Albert was living exactly as described above – ashamed and unworthy of attention – until HCOC showed up.

Suffice it to say that, because HCOC people thought Albert was worth caring for, neighbors began to see his worth. The village elder showed up and saw his worth. That lent still further credibility to the worth of this young man.

In literally a few short days, a pit had been dug for a new toilet, a new doorframe had been installed on his rondavel, the walls had been plastered with new cement inside and out, and a new thatched roof was in place. Two window frames had been installed for lighting and ventilation. And a new floor was in progress. Much of the labor was supplied by people of the village who worked right alongside HCOC workers, and right alongside Albert whose badge of shame had been replaced by a stamp of approval. 

Things are changing. God is at work, changing the way people see others, opening new windows of the soul, bringing light where there is darkness. This is happening throughout the wards where HCOC is at work. Communities are getting involved and becoming a part of the solution.

And now Albert even has a job, helping out at the HCOC poultry project. For more on the poultry project, click here. 

"I lost my father and mother when I was still a primary school student. Had it not been for HCOC my life could have been in shambles. I was about to drop out from school, due to financial challenges, when HCOC came to my rescue in 2008. This organization took care of my welfare and I managed to live a normal life. HCOC supported me from that time and they are still assisting me in whatever ways they can. My special thanks also go to ZMP for taking care of my welfare during my primary and secondary education."

Because of HCOC's assistance, and his own hard work, Gaylord is now attending the University of Zimbabwe. His costs are partially sponsored by a Rotarian, a connection made through HCOC, and by Renewed Hope Charitable Foundation. Between semesters he lives in Murewa with his aunt who, due to her age and health, is gradually becoming dependent on him. 

While continuing his education, Gaylord is giving back to HCOC by serving as a student on attachment. He's learning the accounting function, which will help assure his future, but at the same time he is helping other orphans and vulnerable children receive the same support he did.

A message from Gaylord, July 2016: "On behalf of all the HCOC beneficiaries, allow me to express our sincere gratitude for everything you have done. I understand it's not because you have abundant resources, but out of sacrifices and the love you have for us as the disadvantaged youn generation of the world. I am no longer a victim of the fear of heights. Who knew an orphan could have such a privilege to be exposed to the world of professionals – God bless you again for that. Personally, I'm no longer the same. There was a complete transformation of my life since the intervention of your works in my life. I'm profoundly honored and exceedingly humbled. Of course, I will face more challenges, but I boast to be a man enough to stand up to the challenges I will face in the future."

"I am Godknows, a young man aged twenty-three who has been a beneficiary of HCOC since its establishment in 2001. Because of HCOC, I managed to make it through all my lower educational levels from primary  up to advanced. The crossing of this bridge and eventual achievement of what I may term good results wasn't an easy task for me or HCOC, since we had to walk through thick and thin together. Both  my parents passed away in 2001 when I was still at a tender age, eight years old. My 80-year-old grandmother started looking after me, and that is the same year I became an HCOC beneficiary. HCOC assisted me with stationery, school fees, food and clothing, not forgetting the love and compassion for the vulnerable children."

God knows is currently an undergraduate at Midlands State University in Gweru where he is studying for his Bachelor of Sciences  in Media and Society Studies. He continues to be helped through donors connected  to HCOC.

A message from Godknows, July 2016:  "I was a nobody, but because of your concern, care, love and compassion to assist me socially, psychologically and intellectually, you have made me somebody. Living a life where your biological parents are both dead is something which is unbearable and painful to reflect back on it; sometimes it demotivates and paints a life of hopelessness when you do not have someone to lean on or who will care for your welfare as a parent would. I want to appreciate your unconditional love sometimes going through thick and thin  to raise me this far. The fact that I have acquired knowledge through education up to the tertiary level; I am now a recognizable citizen who can also be influential in society a few years to come. As important, I have derived the steadfast love that parents can give to kids. Thank you very much HCOC, Zimbabwe Mission Partnership, Rotary International and Renewed Hope Charitable Foundation, for covering that gap and loving me."