SHE leaves the comfort of her home in Marlborough in Harare and spends the night in her office, praying and fasting for financial breakthrough. Whenever she visits children’s homes, she carries with her a litany of requests — apart from the usual reports, but she does not throw in the towel.
BY JACKIE MBAYIWA-MAKUVATSINE
She is always seeking ways of reaching out to the children who look up to her for food, education, shelter and love.
Dr Fatima Maruta is the founder and director of Rose of Sharon Welfare Organisations located in Ruwa. She describes herself as a vessel that God is using to care for abandoned children.
After getting married, she failed to bear any children, attracting the censure of a traditional society in which having children is an achievement.
“Through that rejection, God created love within me. Some kids are dropped by my gate, some are picked from the train, some at bus stations, some are raped by relatives before I rescue them,” she said.
“I start from looking for a name for them from the Bible and getting them birth certificates. They always feel the rejection so they cry a lot when they are babies, so I mould them as they grow to believe that they can be somebody. I always tell them how much I love them.”
She was born in Buhera 58 years ago in a family of 10, to a peasant mother and father who, worked as a builder at Driefontein Mission. Their day at home always started with a prayer before going to the fields, school would follow after that. That is what she teaches the children too, prayer.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
After completing “O” Levels, she left for Harare where she enrolled for her first professional qualification which was a Higher National Diploma in Accounting from Harare Polytechnic. From there she proceeded to the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) where she studied for a Bachelor’s Degree in Accountancy before leaving for the United States for a Masters’ degree in Business Administration at Bloomsburg University, Pennsylvania.
She held several accounting posts in public and private institutions before joining the University of Zimbabwe where she lectured for six years and chaired the School of Accountancy. She then joined the UNAIDS as Projects Accountant for HIV/Aids Programmes. She left in 2005 to form the Rose of Sharon Welfare Organisation.
“I remember when I was working at the UZ I would pay fees for underprivileged students, buy them food and help in any way,” she said.
“My job at UNAIDS covered almost 10 provinces, that’s when I realised the plight of disadvantaged children and how much they needed me. God spoke to me and I felt I really had to do something about these children. God birthed something in me, that’s when I decided to help,” she said.
The poignant story of this woman would make a great film. She has moved from obscurity to a philanthropist, she has changed the lives of hopeless children.
One child she picked out in Chipinge seven years ago, Boaz Chishiri (21), is now a Lower 6 student at her school, the deputy head, the Ruwa Junior Mayor and the chairperson of the junior council’s coalition, which include Ruwa, Chitungwiza and Harare.
“I came here when I was 11 years old. I used to stay with an uncle, herding cattle and hardly attending school. My parents were divorced and I was raised at my maternal side of the family. I never saw my father and have a vague memory of my mother who died when I was still very young,” recalls Chishiri.
When she came here, “Mama” — as all the children at the school and orphanages affectionately call Maruta — enrolled him at Zimre Park Primary School for Grade 6 and 7 before he proceeded to Tafara 2 High School for his Form 1 and subsequently, Sharon High School when it opened its doors.
“One thing that I experienced first when I came into the orphanage was love. I accepted Jesus Christ and was taught the word of God. I learnt to be self-confident and now I can tell my story freely,” he said.
Maruta has a holistic approach to building the total person and Chishiri encouraged youths not to let their backgrounds determine their future.
So twisted are the stories of children that are taken into orphanages by Maruta.
“I used to cry in the beginning when I heard stories of children, who are raped or dumped, but today I have become used to them whenever a child is reported as being abused, I just take them into my shelter and take care of them. I have learnt to love through these poor children’s lives,” she said.
Another young man raised by Maruta is the outgoing head boy of the school, Misheck Marunganise (17), who is also a junior council member.
The young man used to stay with his father and stepmother, attending Thorncroft Park Primary school when he was chosen competing for a chairperson’s post for the Child Protection Society. They were asked to do an impromptu speech and when he did, Maruta, who was attending the function saw the boy and decided she would take care of him.
“I was dressed shabbily, in tatters as my father was not working and had to take care of a big family. Mama (Maruta) wrote me a letter stating she was going to buy me a school uniform. That’s when I wore a school uniform for the first time during that grade seven second term period,” recalls Marunganise.
He was enrolled at Rose of Sharon with Maruta paying for his fees and school uniform.
“The situation had become even worse at home sometimes I would walk from Ruwa. In 2012 when I was in form 3, ‘Mama’ took me in to the orphanage and for the first time I knew what it felt to be loved. I was as good as her biological son, she taught me the word of God ad she is my daily inspiration, she is a faithful woman, whatever she promises to do, she does, she is fair and encourages us to pursue our dreams, she has all the qualities of a mother and I love her so much.”
The school received the High School of the Year award by the Zimbabwe Business Awards Council in 2014. Some students from the school have graduated from different universities in Zimbabwe.
“One thing that saddens me is the government stipulation that says we should release these children when they are 18 years. Where do they go? Others have no traceable relatives and it pains me a lot,” said Maruta.
Even though she has the heart to help and send all the children up to university, spending sleepless nights and directing every worry to God, the economic challenges that the nation is facing have not spared her.
All is not rosy at Rose of Sharon as the woman of substance is now struggling to pay the bills, teachers and workers.
“The boundary walls need to be repaired; there is need for beds, plates, pots, clothes and extension of rooms so that the children will fit in. Water shortages have greatly hampered the production of our agricultural products as the borehole is fast running out of water. It is getting strenuous to carry out our activities due to lack of material and financial support,” she says.
At the moment, she has five nursing babies who need formula, diapers and porridge for survival.
In 2014, she was conferred with in Honorary Doctorate Degree in Humane Letters (DHL) from the International Institute of Philanthropy (IIP) in recognition of practical application of expertise in humanities.
