I have an enthusiastic cousin who is always on some new mission to raise money for a good cause – it doesn’t matter how much stuff she has going on, she always manages to find the time to do something worthwhile. Lindsey now lives in the U.K. but just before Covid hit, she was back in Zimbabwe for personal reasons.

While she was here she got involved raising money for, and helping out at the children at the childrens cancer ward at Paririnyetwa Hospital in Harare. One of the projects was a kid’s party for the patients receiving treatment at the time – I tagged along and read my book to a few of the children who were around and then we partied! (Apparently a little sugar is ok as a special treat :))

A lot of you probably know how challenging circumstances in Zimbabwe are these days, and Covid-19 has certainly made it worse. Some of these children have to come in every 3 weeks for treatment – my little friend Allen has a 20km walk to get to the nearest village. From there it’s two commuter taxis to reach Harare (transport is erratic currently due to Covid restrictions) and often they have to spend the night on the road. Last week they were turned back by police because the taxi driver never had the correct papers!

This is the reality for these little kids and their carers and it’s very tough. Rural African lead very hard lives, and somehow through it all they retain a sense of humour and somehow manage to keep on keeping on.

Here are some pictures below of Allen and some of the patients who were able to attend the party (we delivered some of the healthier party food to kid who were able to eat something but unable to make it to the venue).

If you would like to support some of these kids with funds for transport in and out of Harare please contact me from the contact page!