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Of these orphans, two twin boys had been accorded a chance to attend school by a charity organisation.
One of the boys was also lucky to be a beneficiary of the Government’s Basic Education Assistance Module.
Two of the minors would play hide and seek with the school authorities and attend classes irregularly.
Harare Mayoress Mrs Fikile Masunda and the Mayor’s Cheer Fund committee donated a sizeable amount of goods that lasted the family four months.
They later donated a wheelchair and Ambuya Nyazuva became mobile, something she had last done four years back.
More good Samaritans visited the family,  bringing along food, blankets and second-hand clothing for the children. All this brought relief to the family.
Having enough food remains a problem for Ambuya Nyazuva and her grandchildren.
A shoulder to lean on, home to come back to, “mother” to the orphans despite being frail, Ambuya Nyazuva struggled to feed the family.
Today the orphans have been trapped between a rock and a hard place. The pillar and  parent for the children is no more, Ambuya Nyazuva died last Thursday at Harare Hospital after suffering a stroke.
Ms Mary Chidziva, a tenant at Ambuya Nyazuva’s house, said the death had robbed the children of the only love they had.
“She suffered a stroke after one of the twin boys was denied the opportunity to benefit from BEAM. She cried and refused to eat,” said Ms Chidziva with a heavy heart.
Mr Michael January, a member of Mufakose and Highfield Child Protection Committee, said it is unfortunate that only one of the boys who were both not attending school was admitted at school.
“Ambuya looked forward to seeing them attend school together. For her, it was either they both attended school or stayed at home until a well-wisher comes to assist them. She said by virtue of being twins neither of had to get preference ahead of the other,” said Mr January.
He added: “When the school committee selected deserving pupils for BEAM, they left out one of the boys and Ambuya was heartbroken and wept bitterly.”
Mr January said the headmaster should not be blamed for the mishap as there is a selection committee. The committee agreed to select one child from each family to be a beneficiary of BEAM. This is how they arrived at separating the twins.
He added that Ambuya Nyazuva said the injustice was “eating” so much into her frail heart.
“Sadly she collapsed two days later and was taken to Harare Central Hospital,” he added.
The neighbours came together and made a decent send-off for Ambuya Nyazuva. One of the nephews (mukuwasha-zukuru) bought a coffin upon noticing that the responsibility was his.
Ambuya Nyazuva lost her four sons and their wives, and a daughter to Aids-related illnesses.
She had been the pillar and foundation for the 10 orphans and last weekend the vulnerability of these minors was exacerbated as they bid farewell to their grandmother.
Mr January said he knew of Ambuya Nyazuva’s plight after Mr Conrad Gweru, an officer with HelpAge, sent him an e-mail highlighting the family’s plight.
For some years, HelpAge assisted the family but stopped due to limited funding sometime in 2010.
Mr January said the situation has now gone from bad to worse.
“The situation is now dire. I work as a child protector and with no adult in the family, the outlook is bleak. At the funeral I tried to find out if there were any relatives willing to take one or two of the children, but there were none.
“The young man who bought the coffin is not in a position to take any child. He is young and  struggling to feed his own family,” revealed Mr January.
He added: “This leaves Ms Chidziva as the only saviour. Remember there is a toddler who was barely three years old when you visited last year. Ms Chidziva has virtually taken over. She has always been taking care of the family. She cooked and did laundry for no fee, but the consolation was that Ambuya was there.”
Mr January, who passed through the home after the funeral, said the situation is sad.
“During a funeral relatives run around and and the community, too, provides meals for the mourners. Now there is hardly any food in the house. I passed through the place today (Tuesday) and the younger kids had not gone to school because there was nothing to eat. Surely,  education is important but not on an empty stomach.
“I appeal to welfare organisations and any well-wishers to come to their aid,” he said.
He added: “As the Mufakose community, we have grandparents whose roles have suddenly been reversed and are now parents again.
“We also have child-headed families and right now we are compiling a register of orphans in the area. We are not yet through but we have              2 000 orphans to date.”
Mr January said the situation at Ambuya Nyazuva’s house is particularly dire for the six young children. Four of the kids are aged 10 to 13 and can remain at home and attend school with Ms Chidziva as the overseer and protector.
“To leave all the kids in the care of Ms Chidziva would be a mammoth task.
“Organisations can take the six who can come home on holidays to make the situation better. I am therefore appealing for such homes to open their doors for these kids,” he said.
In a telephone interview with Ms Chidziva on Monday evening, she said she would manage  to look after the children by the grace of God.
“I cannot desert the children now when Ambuya relied on me. She always said that as her guardian angel, I should not desert her grandchildren under any circumstances,” said Ms Chidziva.
Ms Chidziva is a single mother who relies on doing laundry for the community for her upkeep. She said she barely gets enough and jobs are hard to come by.
“When you highlighted our plight two people phoned me and one of them asked me to stop doing the laundry and concentrate on looking after Ambuya and the kids.
“She promised to give me US$100 a month as payment. I stopped doing laundry duties, but life turned out for the worst that month.
“The well-wisher never turned up and I had no money to pay rent,” said Ms Chidziva.
She said it was better not to make a pledge than to give an empty promise to a desperate person.
Ms Chidziva said despite this low tide, she has soldiered on.
“As a mother, I cannot run away. Ambuya would go to bed hungry for days on end as long as she had given these children something to eat, so I will try my best. There is a God up there and he knows what our tomorrow will be like,” she said.
Mr January is reachable on 0774831400 and Ms Chidziva on 0734223960.
May we during this Lent period remember the less privileged and bring some cheer to their faces?
Till then, God abundantly bless the hand that gives during this Easter.

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