March 2015 Zimpeto Child Reintegration Program Update

We have made some major changes in the team late last year. We have restructured the group so that our team has more education, can take on more responsibility, and rely less on the missionaries.

Some of the changes are mandatory from Social Welfare, and other changes have been made to meet internal needs.

We have changed the format of our files and now have both an electronic and a paper copy of each child.

Last year we reintegrated approximately 32 children and built a number of houses for families to enable the children to be reintegrated.

Reunited – A Family in Crisis:

Sometimes our team is involved in short term care. Last year one of our team encountered a mother at the markets near the centre. She had a 3 year old on her back and a 6 month old strapped to her front. For reasons known only to her, she was trying to murder the 6 month old. Our team intervened, and with the help of the police took the children away, and interned them in our centre.

After some counselling with the family, the mother received psychiatric help and was stabilized on medication. Our team worked with the extended family and we were able to reintegrate the 3 year old back home, with the grandmother overseeing his care. We visited regularly to assess if he was safe and well cared for. After 3 months we were able to reintegrate the 9 month old as well. He has been home for one month now and he seems very happy and well cared for.

These cases are very labour intensive, but it is a great blessing to be able to step in and help families in crisis with minimal disruption to the care of the child/children.