**1. Introduction**

Zimbabwe is one of the Southern African countries that attained its independence from the British colony through a very vicious and protracted liberation struggle [1]. According to Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency ([2], p. 18), Zimbabwe has an estimated population of 13 million people with approximately three to four million currently living in foreign countries due to the socio-economic and political challenges that have rocked the country from the early 2000s to date unabated. The population composition of the Zimbabwean population comprises 98% Africans (Shona 82%, Ndebele 14%, and others 2%), Asian 1% and Whites less than 1% ([2], p. 19). Zimbabwe's socio-economic glory was celebrated in the first

10 years of its attainment of independence, despite the tribal-ethnic war between the Ndebele and the Korean-trained Fifth Brigade Mugabe military wing, which ruthlessly claimed the lives of more than 20000 civilians in the Matabeleland province of Zimbabwe ([1], p. 1). The foregoing genocidal incidence, compounded with other socio-economic and politically motivated policies and events which were subsequently introduced to extricate the colonial legacy tainted the image of the political leaders of Zimbabwe at the international level.

According to Makina [1], a typical example of some of the socio-economic incidence that fast-tracked the deterioration or collapse of the once-celebrated economy of Zimbabwe include the Black Friday of 14 November 1997. This is the day when Mugabe the former president of Zimbabwe unilaterally declared that the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe gives all the war veterans \$50,000 each as compensation for their involvement in the liberation struggle. This was followed 2 years later by a gross infringement of the rule of law in 2000 precipitated by the state-sanctioned White farm invasion, which saw most of the Whites people brutally killed whiles others left the country. These unfortunate events coupled with the 2008 electorate malpractice, human rights violations, succession battles in the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) political part, which culminated in the November 2017 coup that removed Mugabe from power, global pandemics such as HIV/AIDS ushered Zimbabwe in an unprecedented socio-economic melt-down. As such, these events affected more the rural communities and the vulnerable people than the urban communities and the working class in Zimbabwe.

In the past three decades, Zimbabwe, like other developing countries, has been severely affected by the HIV and AIDS pandemic which has exceeded wars in terms of cumulative deaths, morbidity, and social disintegration of families at the household level [3]. Statistically, the number of children in Zimbabwe has been estimated to be approximately 5.6 million, of which 1.3 million are orphans ([4], p. 2). The National AIDS Council ([4], p. 1) further estimated that there are approximately 48,000 child-headed households in Zimbabwe, housing approximately 100,000 children. In addition to the foregoing statistics, UNAIDS [5] indicates that there is approximately 165 'orphans' and 'vulnerable' children living with HIV and AIDS in Zimbabwe which aggravate the challenges of the caregivers to cope with the 'orphans' and 'vulnerable' children's problems at the household level. The studies carried out recently in Zimbabwe on the care and support of 'orphans' and 'vulnerable' children by Mugumbate & Chereni [6] and Ringson [3] show that whilst there are several residential care centres in Zimbabwe, the rural communities are predominantly espousing the extended safety nets and other traditional 'orphans' and 'vulnerable' children care and support systems.

Zimbabwe as a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC) promulgated governing policies and blueprints for child care and support which include the Zimbabwe Orphan Care Policy, the Zimbabwe National AIDS Strategic Policy, National Action Plan for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (NAP for OVC) and National Gender Policy (NGP) to mitigate the challenges of 'orphans' and 'vulnerable' children. However, despite the presence of these governing policies of childcare and support, there remains a gap regarding the capacitating and empowerment of caregivers at the household level. Chizororo [7] argues that the government policies are putting more emphasis on 'orphans' and 'vulnerable' children relegating the caregivers who are also vulnerable due to the increased number of 'orphans' and 'vulnerable' children. The government of Zimbabwe in partnership with non-governmental organisations is directing extensive resources towards the care and upbringing of 'orphans' and 'vulnerable' children and not towards the economic empowerment of the caregivers. The same effort is not being

#### *The Caregivers' Perspective in Coping with the Challenges Faced by Orphans and Vulnerable… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.101232*

made towards capacitating caregivers of 'orphans' and 'vulnerable' children at the household level, especially in rural areas.

The absence of these socio-economic empowerment programmes for the caregivers, not only in Zimbabwe but around the world, has contributed to the complexities found in 'orphans' and 'vulnerable' children care and support [6]. The studies conducted by Chizororo [7], Hove [8] and Ringson [9] revealed that the economic meltdown and unemployment in Zimbabwe have significantly contributed to the caregivers' burden of 'orphans' and 'vulnerable' children needing care and support in the rural communities. Although, these studies were carried out at different times, there is convergency of the findings that unemployment and the socio-economic exclusion of the rural communities have posed serious challenges to the caregivers in their endeavour to support 'orphans' and 'vulnerable' children in Zimbabwe. Premised in the foregoing, this study seeks to examine the challenges faced by the caregivers in coping with the challenges concerning 'orphans' and 'vulnerable' children at the household level with special emphasis on caregivers in the Gutu District of Zimbabwe.

Gutu District was consciously considered for this study because it is one of the marginalised rural communities that has been affected by HIV/AIDS and political polarisation. The Gutu District is a tribal-based community predominantly with people of the same dynasty except for the minority that migrated based on different socio-economic and political factors. A study conducted by Ringson in 2017 showed that the Gutu District is one of the most poverty and HIV/AIDS-stricken rural community [9]. This finding was predominantly evidenced with several child-headed households, rampant OVC under the guardian of their relatives and grandparents. The study, therefore, focuses only on the household level. In this context, the household level refers to a family or social unit of people living together as relatives. These households of families absorb their deceased's relatives' orphans according to their cultural values that upon the demise of the family member, the remaining relatives took over the custodianship of their relative's children. Similarly, these households also absorb their incapacitated relative's vulnerable children due to chronic illness, disability and living in abject poverty. Thus, the vulnerable children can either be children of the caregivers deceased relative (s) or of their incapacitated relatives. This study focuses on the vulnerable children within the purposively sampled household and not those outside the households. Within that context, this study was guided by the following two objectives:


The paper commences with the context of the study, and the conceptualization of orphans and vulnerable children based on traditional and contemporary understanding. The study also examines the conceptualization of caregivers within the context of the 'orphans' and 'vulnerable' children in the rural communities of Zimbabwe. Subsequently, a thorough review of the ubuntu child-care model and the ACRWC and its dichotomous conflicting mandate stipulates that child have independence rights as well as emphasising that these rights must be executed in respect of the African culture and tradition. These fundamental stages were followed by the methodology, presentation, and discussion of findings, concluding with the implications of the study for social work and the recommendations.
