Marcelino's story

Their names are Marcelino, Amelia, Helena and Milton.

Four scared orphans huddled together on a dirt floor night after night. without the slightest comfort that a safe and decent home would provide. Their crumbling house was made of mud bricks, with a thatched roof that couldn't even keep out the rain, much less the disease-carrying rodents and mosquitoes that plague Chimoio – the village in which they live.

At 16, Marcelino is the head of the household and is mature beyond his years. Having watched his mother and father slowly die from AIDS, he looked after his little sister Amelia until he learned that his aunt and uncle had also passed away from the same illness. Rather than see his cousins Helena and Milton living on the street, he took them in and tried to look after them too.

Our construction supervisor in the area recalls the first encounter with Marcelino and the other children: "The children were very traumatized when we met them."

Marcelino supported himself and the other children by earning a little money running errands for others in the community such as collecting water. They also relied on the generosity of neighbours who shared what food and bare necessities they could spare. It was never enough.

"It was very difficult," Marcelino recalls. "I had no work and we were always hungry." The Orphans and Vulnerable Children Project is changing all that. When our construction supervisor visited his home, Marcelino became very excited, recognising that he was being offered an opportunity beyond his wildest dreams. Marcelino became an apprentice on Habitat for Humanity building sites. The third home he helped to build was particularly special – it was his own!

Marcelino and the family he has been forced to head at such a young age now live in a new home made of fired red bricks, kept secure and dry by new roofing sheets. It has a living room and two bedrooms, each bigger than the place they previously called home. Besides that, it has a hygienic latrine and mosquito nets on the windows, significantly reducing the health risks faced by the children.

Marcelino loves building and will eventually receive his trade certificate which will guarantee him further income. Unlike many carefree 16-year-olds, Marcelino does not dream of spending his money on the latest computers or fashionable clothes. True to his adult responsibilities, he is eager to help his sister and cousins buy school books, and his neighbours to build better homes.

"God has helped me a lot," says Marcelino. "Our house was going to fall down completely in the rain and we couldn't stay there any longer. Our new home is so much better."