Realising that the number of orphans in the village of Thononda in the Nzhelele was always on the increase, 14 women and a man from the village took it upon themselves to look after these disadvantaged kids.

Two years ago, they started a drop-in centre with no outside funding and with the little they had pooled from their own pockets. Almost all of these women are ordinary and unemployed housewives who do not have any source of income. They  cook for the kids on a daily basis, help them with their school work and monitor them when they play.

Ms Fhulufhedzani Nemaguvhuni, another unemployed mother from the village, came up with the idea. "Every day I could see that many children were left orphans after the passing on of their parents. They were living in abject poverty and I felt that I had to do something about their situation," she said.

She said the idea was to take care of the kids, to keep them busy and make them forget about their family challenges. “Most of us are unemployed and this is also a way of keeping ourselves busy. We felt we should start this type of a facility and we identified the children by visiting their families," said Nemaguvhuni.

Mr Muvhulawa Matamela, the manager and the only man at the centre, said they were looking after 108 children from the villages of Mazwimba, Thamba, Lutomboni and Thononda. "We depend on the mercy of good people who assist us with most of our needs. We do not have any funding and the carers are working on a voluntary basis, with no pay. We take care of orphans and children from poor families and give them a meal daily after school. A lack of sponsors makes us sometimes go from house to house, asking for donations, so that we can buy food for the children. We are lucky because, currently, we are not paying rent at a place we are using and its central for the kids coming from different schools,” Matamela added.

The volunteers also have a small garden where they have planted vegetables that they also cook for the children. Those wishing to contribute in any form could do so by calling the drop-in-centre on 076 462 4243 or 079 574 9049.