In dusty peri-urban settlements and forgotten mining communities, LCBL sisters are now delivering, food, medicine and skills training through a new initiative aimed at Zimbabwe’s most vulnerable children.
The Little Children of the Blessed Lady congregation has long walked with rural families, turning presence and prayer into practical care.
Now, a new initiative is answering the Holy Father’s call to safeguard human dignity in a concrete way, the LCBL Chiremera Center.
Chiremera is a Shona word meaning dignity. The Center, housed at Martindale‑Ndwizi Farm, was launched in March of this year.
It was born from a simple desire to help the children of farm workers who had dropped out of school. But word spread quickly. The Center also welcomes vulnerable children and young adults from neighbouring farms and mining settlements.
At the heart of Chiremera are six interconnected pillars, with Literacy Development as the focal point. The other five pillars, Safeguarding Human Dignity, Leadership Development, Counseling and Accompaniment, Care of the Environment and Family Strengthening shape and strengthen literacy to make the programme truly holistic.
Learners who may never return to formal school gain the ability to read, write, and participate fully in their families and communities.
“We teach them to read, so that they may read to learn – and to defend their own dignity while we also provide nutritious feeding to improve their health and well-being,” says Sr. Claris Gowo LCBL (PhD), founder and lead coordinator of the Centre.
Rooted in Ubuntu; it takes a village to raise a child, the LCBL Chiremera Center invites all people of goodwill to accompany them in preserving, restoring, and celebrating Chiremera, the dignity of every person, one child, one family, one farm at a time.
Source: Newspaper.
