Girl Child Network Worldwide Blog

Last year, a group of friends in Oakland, California, USA, got together at Leanne Grossman’s invitation and raised $2,600 for Girl Child Network to help girls facing starvation as they were fleeing the rapes and other violence by the Zimbabwean militia.

I want to share with you how their donation was applied. Esther Saidi, a 20-year old girl who benefited from GCN scholarships the past six years, sent news that at least 143 girls had received basic food and supplies worth $14 per child as follows:

Each food kit reassured every girl that despite extreme poverty and starvation in Zimbabwe there is hope.

It is such small actions like this that result in big changes—and actions like that of Michaelene Risely, who risked her life to share GCN’s story through film, and the action of Kathi Lutton, who hosted the film premiere—all these actions are very humbling.  

Despite the Unity Government being in place in Zimbabwe, Girl Child Network reports that not much has changed about the situation of girls on the ground especially in high-density suburbs and rural areas where daughters are still being exchanged for mealie meal and other basic commodities to help avert starvation in families.

We still witness many girls dying because there are no basics like food. Besides, education is no longer accessible to girls, which is a major setback for girls we worked hard to empower in the past decade. “Many girls have been forced to drop out of school and university due to non-availability of school fees,” said a GCN officer in the Girls At Risk Support Unit

We still have a responsibility towards girls because in such situations they are discriminated even more at the family and household level. Even in most communities they remain sex objects. Despite what we go through daily in our efforts to support girls, we must not tire and be discouraged because through friends and big-hearted women like our California supporters we have brought big change one girl at a time.

GCN has a database of 60,000 members, of whom 48,000 are facing starvation. We envision that Girl Child Network Worldwide, which will be officially launched in the United Kingdom in September 2009, will ensure that aid gets to the girls at the right time and place.

Hazviperi Betty Makoni

Dear Friends

Warm greetings and hopefully you are fine

Girl Child Network Zimbabwe has just come to the end of a Directors Induction and leadership transition meeting which started on 4 July and ended on 10 July .

I personally took some time to listen to so many stories from staff and as someone who was on the ground understood the challenges very well .On the first day I shared with staff that we would use appreciative enquiry and also try and gain strength from something that is positive and works .So we listed many things and we felt that all of us would get more strength to carry on if we think about our work bringing more positive results for girls in Zimbabwe

On Friday 10 July we sat down and refined some of our resolutions and tonight we are going for a farewell dinner to thank each other for mission accomplished and also to dream on the new vision .Tonight 8 Girl Child Network staff who have completed the our induction course will receive certifcates of competence and please know that staff who receive these certificates have proved that they can take GCN to greater heights if they are only given the support . . . .

The only message that I have is that please continue your support for GCN because the girls in Zimbabwe are at risk.There were many stories of girls being raped in the home ,school and community.Due to the scarcity of the foreign currency Chitungwiza [a large suburb of Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe] is now rife with child commercial sex work

Thank you so much Stephen Lewis [www.stephenlewisfoundation.org] for supporting GCN staff and founder members to meet and come up with such resolutions .Your support to grassroots groups has always been great and comes from the heart

I send warm regards,

Hazviperi Betty Makoni