KHUBVI – The future looks bleak for a poverty-stricken family of Khubvi, near Mutale. Nyanise Tsakane Ngwenyane (68), her daughter Dorcus Ndou and her five grandchildren are struggling to make ends meet with Nyanise's pension grant.

During our visit to their home, last week, their worn out clothes, pale faces and deep eyes clearly explain their situation. Ngwenyane told Mirror that they last had a meal on Saturday, three days ago. According to Ngwenyane, this is the type of life this family has been living since Ndou's husband; Wilson Nemavhulani died six years ago.

Ngwenyane, who has been struggling to support this family with her pension grant, says she is failing as she also supports other two orphaned children, Vhonani and Mukovhe, her grandchildren. "My main concern is that all of my grandchildren are not schooling because of our financial problem. I wish I could help them to go to school, but the burden is too much. I have to buy them food and clothes, which makes me not to afford more," said Ngwenyane, while adding that she is struggling to raise funds to rebuild the family house that was destroyed by the floods in 2000.

Although other people, who were affected by the floods at Khubvi were given new houses, Ngwenyane and her family were left out from the list for reasons not known to her. "At first, I thought the government was going to give me a hand by providing a house for us as they promised. To my surprise, we were left out. However, this does not surprise me as the poor get nothing in this area," she lamented.

One of Ngwenyane's grandchildren, Livhuwani (9) never went to school while Shonisani and Ndavheleseni dropped out of grade five and three respectively. This happened several years ago.

They say they left school in order to help their grandmother support the family. On July 27, Nndanduleni and the other two children from another poverty-stricken family were handcuffed and beaten by the community members, after they were found stealing mealie- meal and three chickens.

They were only released late in the evening, after Anna Netshishivhe, a community volunteer from the Rovhofholowa Community Project that looks after orphaned children, intervened.

Netshishivhe and her colleagues Nthambeleni Ravhutsi, Idah Netshishivhe, Sophie Mabuda and Julia Malokisa donated R80 and bought two 12,5 kg bags of mealie-meal for the two families, where the children came from.

Netshishivhe whose project looks after more than twelve orphaned families in the area said they are trying to find a way in which they can help Ngwenyane and her family.

The other problem is that Ndou's family does not qualify to get mealie- meal from the Department of Welfare, as her ID and birth certificates of her children were destroyed when the house collapsed three years back. They are failing to apply for the new ones, as they do not have R30 to pay for a stamp fee for Headman Thinawanga Randima, so that he can confirm that they are his subjects who were born and bred in his jurisdiction.

Randima said he only became aware of the family after the community arrested the children for stealing chickens and mealie- meal.

Randima said he contacted the local school to see how the children can be assisted. "Although I know that there are many orphaned children in my area, I never knew about this family until when they were arrested. We do not know what we can do. We hope that the social workers could help us in this matter. We are also going to have a big gathering and see what we can do. Right now there are two groups of women Vhuawelo and Rovhofholowa Community Projects that looks after the aged and orphaned children," said Randima.

The family might get their disaster house late this year in the next phase, says Randima.