Food, shelter and schooling for the children fleeing Zimbabwe and lured to World Cup South Africa

Hundreds of children are fleeing abject poverty in Zimbabwe every month and crossing the border into South Africa. The vulnerable child migrants make the dangerous journey in the hope of a better life. Numbers are increasing as the World Cup lures more youngsters by its glamour and the opportunities it affords.

UKaid from the Department for International Development helps to ensure there is food, shelter and the chance to go to school for these children on the move as soon as they arrive in South Africa.

Core Facts

From January - March 2010 there were 584 recorded cases of children crossing from Zimbabwe into the border town of Musina, South Africa
Children leave because they have no food, have lost their parents and cannot go to school. Increasing numbers are crossing due to the economic opportunities of the 2010 World Cup
The children cut through barbed wire to get through and must cross the Limpopo River, avoiding crocodiles and other wild animals. The young are also vulnerable to attacks from gangs and thieves
In the first quarter of this year, DFID helped to provide food and shelter for 586 children who have crossed the border
So far, 2889 girls and 1139 boys (migrant, orphaned and vulnerable children) have been helped to enrol in schools and access education
UKaid from DFID has contributed £930,000 to this children’s support project based in Musina, South Africa and run by Save the Children
A free feature article, following Lazarus Chidumwa’s story to get an education, is available for reproduction at www.dfid.gov.uk/Lazarus-story
All photos are free to use and must be credited: Dylan Thomas / UKaid / Department for International Development. More images are available as part of a full gallery complete with captions - please contact Ginny Reid.

Videos

Images

Quotes

I left Zimbabwe because the schools were closed and there was a drought. Now I am happy staying in the shelter and going to school in South Africa. I hope to do well in school and one day, I want to be a policeman.

Lazarus Chidumwa, 13, school boy

Education offers the best route out of poverty for those living in the world's poorest countries. Every child deserves a decent education - it should be a right for all, not a privilege for the few. That is why the UK will support every effort to make the education of children across the whole of Africa the lasting legacy of this World Cup.

Andrew Mitchell, UK International Development Secretary