News from the December meeting

The Children of Zimbabwe Society held its December AGM at the Scout Centre in the Töölö district of Helsinki on Sunday 12 December. In line with Corona safety measures, those attending in person were recommended to wear masks. However, it was also possible to take part online via Teams. Altogether over 20 people attended the meeting. Among those taking part via Teams were Oili and Seppo from Zimbabwe as well as three students from the Karelia University of Applied Sciences currently with Dzikwa Trust as interns.

The meeting approved the Operating Plan and Budget for 2022 as presented by the Board. We shall soon post English translations on the website: www.zimbabwenlapset.org. The meeting agreed in the Budget discussion to keep the annual membership and sponsorship payments the same as in 2021, that is:

Membership                                          €40/person

Primary level sponsor                              €420/child

Junior Secondary sponsor         €540/child

Senior Secondary sponsor         €720/child

General sponsor                                    €180/ person

The Society’s bank account in Finland is: Nordea FI76 1745 3000 0616 40

Our thanks for 2021

Dear members, sponsors, and all donors – we thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for your kind support in this second challenging year with the Covid-19 pandemic. With your contributions, we have been able to continue to support the Dzikwa Trust children and even to increase e-learning facilitation at Dzikwa Activity Centre. The excellent used laptops and smartphones donated by the Bank of Finland and the European Central Bank have been invaluable in this effort.

Throughout the year, the Dzikwa Kitchen has continued to provide emergency meals for 500 additional needy children not in the education support program – so much so that the number of meals rose from the normal 90,000 to a record 230,000 in 2021.

We are very grateful for special donations towards the Dzikwa Kitchen from several sponsors in Finland, UK and Canada. In Zimbabwe, our warm thanks go to the Chinese Embassy, SuperFert Fertilizer, NMB Bank, Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe, Air Traffic Controllers Association of Zimbabwe, Irvine’s, Mega Save, Spar Bridge, Acefields Company, SWIFT Depot and many individuals – maita basa!

School performance 2021

The final school term in Zimbabwe closed only 17.12. and Levita’s team is busy collecting report books and analysing results. O-level and A-level candidates shall continue with their exams in January 2022. So, more about school performance in the next Newsletter!

2022 Calendar

Our calendar 2022 features images of the daily life at Dzikwa Activity Centre and gives  a lot of information about the ways in which our programme enables  the children go to school and live healthy fulfilling lives. The calendar is printed in English.

The calendars cost €10 each.

If you can collect one yourself from Oili and Seppo’s home in Munkkivuori, Helsinki, please first call +358-405922543 or contact Oili at oili.wuolle@gmail.com

If you would prefer to place an order, the cost per calendar is €10 + postage €5 for one.

Just let Oili know at oili.wuolle@gmail.com how many calendars you would like and deposit the amount due (€15 each incl. postage) in the Society’s account: FI76 1745 3000 0616 40, ref.no 1083 if paying in Finland.