CLASS OF 81: From UK, Australia former Hartzell students help the needy back in Zimbabwe

By Alvin Makunike UM News

Key points:

• Nine Hartzell High School students who completed their studies in 1981 have launched a foundation to help care for poor communities in southern Africa.
• While the United Methodist school is located at Old Mutare Mission in Zimbabwe, the foundation’s members have migrated to various parts of the world including South Africa, the United Kingdom and Australia.
• The Class of 81 Charitable Foundation recently provided assistance to the United Methodist-affiliated Fairfield Children’s Home in Mutare.

Former students from a United Methodist high school that sits across the road from Africa University in Zimbabwe have come together to assist poor communities.

The Class of 81 Charitable Foundation was launched in January and is made up of nine Hartzell High School students who completed their studies in 1981.

The school, which has strong roots in The United Methodist Church, is named after Joseph Crane Hartzell, an American missionary and bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church assigned to Africa.

While the school is located at the church’s Old Mutare Mission in Zimbabwe, the group’s members have migrated to various parts of the world including South Africa, the United Kingdom and Australia.

“The mission of the foundation is rather broad, whereby the foundation is looking at all basic needs, including paying school fees, supply of school uniforms, medication, food and addressing cash needs,” said Florence Kachingwe, the foundation’s chairperson.

But, she said, the group has narrowed its focus to make more of an impact.

“The foundation has now zeroed in on food distributions as the most basic need … Perhaps, as the foundation continues to grow, the niche can also be increased,” Kachingwe said.

Dr. Ralph Nhiwatiwa, a South Africa-based physician who is also the organizing treasurer of the foundation, has competed in two major marathons in South Africa to raise money for the group’s efforts to feed less-privileged children.

He said the foundation started with an initial $1,000 donation from Tsitsi Dangarembga in appreciation of the medical assistance Nhiwatiwa provided to her brother in 2023.

The money became the seed funds for The Class of 81 Charitable Foundation.

“The foundation was formed through the mighty hand of God,” Nhiwatiwa said.

The former students have managed to assist various children’s homes, including Fairfield Children’s Home (formerly Fairfield Orphanage), a United Methodist-affiliated children’s home in Mutare, and Ruoko RwaMwari (God’s hand) Children’s Home in Mount Hampden. They also have helped support grandmother-led families.

“Zimbabwe has a lot of underprivileged people who require assistance,” said Silas Mukono, treasurer of The Class of 81 Charitable Foundation. “As a foundation, we are very much willing to donate for a noble cause to feed the hungry.”

Blessing Tofamba, an 18-year-old Form 4 student who lives at Fairfield Children’s Home, talked about the difference the donations have made for those living there.

“Since we have received these donations, we’ll not feel out of place at school. We now have some food to eat like the rest of the other kids. We are now able to bathe with a soap that smells nice.”

The Rev. Juliet Mwarumba, Fairfield Children’s Home administrator, said the former students’ generosity sets a good example for the younger generation.

“We would like to thank you for all the donations and may the Lord multiply and enlarge your territory. As for you, kids, this is a challenge, and we hope that one day you will follow this good example of coming back and donating to your former school,” she said.

To date, the foundation has donated more than $1,200 USD in cash and an estimated 3,000 kilograms (more than 6,600 pounds) of foodstuffs in Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Juliet Chimuka, a house parent at Fairfield Children’s Home, said times have been tough and the need is greater than ever.

“We survive by these donations and by you coming, this makes us happy. We are living in difficult times; there is drought this year in this part of southern Africa, and most donors in Zimbabwe are backing off while we continue receiving children because life is very touchy out there,” Chimuka said.

Chairperson Kachingwe said the goal is for the foundation to register as a charitable organization with the provisions of the Private Voluntary Organization law currently undergoing amendment in Parliament. Members plan to continue to prioritize providing essentials to vulnerable children and families.

“The foundation plans to sustain its impact in the future by fundraising and participation of foundation members according to Proverbs 22:9, which reads, ‘Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed for he shares his bread with the poor,’” Nhiwatiwa said.