ZIMBABWE AIDS ORPHANS SOCIETY - Zimbabwen Aids-Orvot ry

Volunteers are a regular occurrence at DzikwaIn 2011 we had 13 volunteers helping at Dzikwa. One ofthem was a young Zimbabwean student studying economicsin the USA and one was a Swedish student ofdevelopment studies at Gothenburg University. Othervolunteers were from Finland. In addition to them, fourFinnish sponsors came on short visits. The volunteershelped in numerous ways - giving extra lessons, planningthe ICT Centre, helping with financial administration,updating the database, tracking down missing birthcertificates, analysing school reports, unloading the containerand distributing the contents, cleaning the ActivityCentre site and giving environmental education.The birth certificate - a critical documentLack of a birth certificate has been a problem for nearly90 children, as without a birth certificate children cannotusually take their Grade 7 exams and cannot enrol insecondary school. In May 2011, Dzikwa set up a specialproject with a team of volunteer lawyers from Kantor &Immerman to systematically chart the children’s currentsituation. A part-time employee then acquired missingdocuments and the outcome was 16 birth certificates. Astudent from Bindura University of Science Education iscontinuing this work in 2012.Maya, our Swedish student on attachment,with her new friendsShrinking numbers at Dzikwa ShelterAs requested by Harare’s social welfare authorities,Dzikwa has reduced the number of children living in theShelter from 30 to 17. One room is now occupied by volunteersand students on attachments.Maths the Finnish way20