A nATIONAL Leader dedicated to empowering care leavers to be self-sustaining
The network came about as a result of a Youth Employability survey conducted by SOS Children’s Villages Zimbabwe (SOS CVZ.) in 2018. This survey utilized care leavers to conduct focus group discussions at various residential care facilities as well as in the community. These care leavers also helped administer the questionnaires.
As a direct result, most care leavers that we interacted with expressed the need to have an association, a network or even an alumni of care leavers. The need for a group to offer support was very huge. Therefore armed with this pressure to form something, our network was born, albeit with not much in terms of resources but just a burning drive to have something and somewhere to connect and interact.
OUR MISSION
We aim to improve the quality of life for children in alternative care and care-leavers
OUR VISION
Create a strong, developmentally-based framework that supports children in alternative care and care-leavers to develop the skills and resources to grow into mature adults able to participate fully in community life.
OUR MOTTO
Confronting Reality Together
WHO WE ARE
Zimbabwe Care Leavers Network (ZiCLAN) is made up of people who have left various residential child care facilities and foster care across the country. Majority of our members grew up in residential child care facilities or orphanages/ children’s homes and in foster care.
We are a registered Private Voluntary Organization (PVO) – PVO 98/20 with the Department of Social Development (DSD) within the Ministry of Public Service, Labor and Social Welfare. Our registration was done in December 2020 and we now have a certificate from the government. We are slowly making our mark amongst organizations and ministries that address our concerns.
Our membership goes beyond thousands for active members and there is potential to grow even bigger with time and more resources in our coffers. We began our operation as a Trust in 2018 after we had registered our organization with registrar of companies as a Trust organization.
OUR VALUES
POSITIVE IMPACT
UBUNTU
DYNAMIC
RESPONSIBLE