MEST: Providing a nest for orphans
Some of the beneficiaries of the MESTprogramme perform traditional dances. INSET: Mr Matanga

Some of the beneficiaries of the MESTprogramme perform traditional dances. INSET: Mr Matanga

Christopher Farai Charamba Features Writer
The popular African adage declares that it takes a village to raise a child. Unfortunately, not all children are such beneficiaries and some fail to garner the sympathy of the village.

When a child loses their parents, more often than not the village turns its back on them and leaves these children vulnerable and without a solid future.

Cosmas Matanga (47) has committed himself to enabling less fortunate children, particularly those who have lost their parents and also those from generation gap households.

A teacher by profession, Mr Matanga is the founder and director of Matanga Education and Skills Training Children’s Foundation (MEST) in Goromonzi. The foundation has six employees who cater to the needs of 76 children from within the Goromonzi community.

Mr Matanga has been running MEST in Goromonzi since 2010 after realising that there was a need to continue providing for children who had officially left the orphanage system after reaching the age of 17.

“I was born to parents who were both orphans and my mother told me that no matter how rich I became in life I should always take care of orphans as she had someone to take care of her until she became an adult.

“In the year 2000 I left teaching and started working at Mbuya Nehanda Orphanage. My time there made me realise that there was a flaw in the system. A child could come to us from the street at age 11 with no formal education. By age 17 when he was perhaps Grade 6 or maybe Form 1 we are forced by law to put him back out onto the street,” Mr Matanga said.

Forcing a child out of the system was not beneficial to anyone as it deprived the child of an education and also put better educated children onto the streets.

Mr Matanga saw a need for accommodating orphans at all ages and providing the necessary education, training and skills for them to sustain themselves.

In 2010 he left Mbuya Nehanda Orphanage and sought a place to stay at Mr and Mrs Guripira’s farm in Melfort, Goromonzi.

“The Gurupiras were generous to give me a place to stay. I told them of my desire to help children and they gave me two buildings on their farm.

“I went around the community and found many children who had lost their parents and had no relatives in the area or were staying with their grandparents.

“There were also children whose parents had gone off in search of better opportunities and had never re- turned.

“There was a need to help these children and so I started MEST in order to achieve this. MEST aims to equip them with not only education but also teach them other life skills as well as music, drama and other arts in order to give them as many talents as possible so they might one day better their lives,” he said.

MEST caters for children ranging from age four to 20 years old who gather at the Gurupira farm every Saturday from 10am till 4:30pm.

The children engage in different activities which include acting, poetry, dance and the learning of instruments such as marimba and mbira.

Mr Matanga is also responsible for their school enrolment and fees at the local schools, Chiweshe Primary School, Nehanda Primary School, Rusununguko High School and Melfort Secondary School.

“Our foundation has very little funding and I try my best to make sure every child is enrolled and attending school.

“I must also thank the headmasters for allowing some of the children to attend school with unpaid fees.

“All of our funding comes from donations and through odd jobs that I and my wife do in the community. I know people are sceptical about donating money to trusts and organisations these days and so I approach people and get them to sponsor a child or children so that there is better accountability,” he lamented.

Operating from one of the two small buildings he was given, Mr Matanga ensures that all the children are performing well at school by checking each and every one’s reports and making sure examination fees are paid up.

“There are some very bright children that are under MEST and I need to make sure that they get some sort of education. My wife and I chop firewood and grass and go and sell it by the roadside to raise money for food, supplies and operational costs.

“We struggle so hard to make ends meet. Everything I earn I put back into the foundation because without me doing this these kids would have nothing. I am grateful for people such as Lisa Chiriseri who sponsor 16 of our children to go to school as well as others who pay for examination fees for those writing O-Level.

“I have approached and am hoping for some sort of project from government. A chicken project or horticulture will not only give skills to the children but also make sure we are self-sufficient and self-sustaining,” said Mr Matanga.

One of the people who works for MEST is Joram Dambana (31).

He is an orphan who Mr Matanga raised from his days at Mbuya Nehanda Orphanage and says he is inspired.

“I have known Mr Matanga since I was at Mbuya Nehanda Orphanage.

“After he left and started MEST I joined him because of his passion. It is not easy and we do not have resources but I know that he needs and deserves the help,” he said.

Lisa Chiriseri, founder and director of FACEZ, got to know Mr Matanga in 2009 after he approached her looking for sponsorship.

She invited him and the children he took care of to their annual Christmas party in collaboration with the Mayor’s Cheer Fund.

“It is humbling to see the kind of work that Mr Matanga does with MEST.

“Some of these children would never have had any opportunity in life had it not been for him. What is important is to give these children exposure so that they know that where they are is not where they have to remain for the rest of their lives,” she said.

Drama, poetry, dance and music are part of the activities that the children take part in on a weekly basis. The children emerge as multi-talented and MEST is looking for ways to showcase the various skills that the children have across the country.

“At MEST we are encouraged to work hard and learn as much as we can to one day make it far in life,” said 14-year- old Dennis Ngwenga, an aspiring actor who lives in Goromonzi with his grandmother.

Another 14-year-old is Rumbidzai Petro, who also lives with her grandmother and cousins, who says that MEST not only provides a school education for her but teaches her skills she would never otherwise have learnt and for that she is grateful to Mr Matanga.

Despite his own circumstances and relying on assistance from others, Mr Matanga has committed himself to providing the best he can for the children under MEST working as one man to raise an entire village.

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