Zimbabwe Care Leavers Network

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Zimbabwe Care Leavers Network

We contribute to capacity development and engage with duty bearers to influence policies and programs affecting children and young people in residential ca

28/05/2026

🧠 It's okay to not be okay. Here's what actually helps.

Practical coping (low effort, real impact):

1. 5‑min reset – Breathe (4s in, 6s out), drink water, step outside.
2. Name it – Say/write what you feel. Instantly reduces pressure.
3. One tiny action – Make your bed, wash 3 dishes. Small wins build momentum.
4. Change your input – Mute the noise, play music that lifts you.
5. Reach out early – A simple "not great today" to someone you trust.

🧠 Struggling? Here's where to reach out in Zim.

📞 Call or text:

· Friendship Bench (crisis): 0808 4116
· Childline: 116
· Musasa (GBV support): 116
· MAMA Network (youth): 577

💬 WhatsApp:

· Friendship Bench: +263 784 845 294
· Childline: +263 719 116 116

📍 Face‑to‑face: Friendship Bench at most clinics (trained grandmothers offer free counselling).

In ZiClan: Just say “I need an ear” – we listen.

Your turn: what's one coping tool that's helped you 👇

27/05/2026

How many of us were told "you should be grateful" instead of "how are you really feeling"?

The silence of caregivers – the lack of space to speak honestly about our pain – has left generations of care‑leavers carrying wounds that were never acknowledged.

We were taught to be grateful for food, for shelter, for being "saved". But gratitude doesn't erase trauma. And silence doesn't heal it.

This Mental Health Month, we're asking caregivers: create space. Listen without fixing. Let us speak without fear.

And to care‑leavers: your feelings are real. Feeling hurt does not make you ungrateful. You can be thankful for the help you received and still carry pain. Both can be true.

MentalHealthMonth

26/05/2026

🇿🇼🤝🇰🇪 Yesterday we celebrated Africa Day – a reminder that care‑leavers across the continent face the same struggles. One of the biggest? Affordable therapy.

Most care‑leavers can't afford a therapist. When you're struggling to find food or housing, mental health becomes a luxury you can't afford – until it's a crisis.

We need counselling that is free or low‑cost. We need trauma‑informed care that doesn't require a bank loan. We need to stop being told to "move on" when we haven't even been heard.

This Mental Health Month, let's talk about what real support could look like. What do you need? 💚

25/05/2026

🤝🇰🇪 Today we celebrate Africa Day – a reminder that our strength as a continent lies in unity, not division.

For care‑leavers across Africa, the struggles are the same: reintegration without support, aging out with no safety net, and fighting to be heard. But so are the solutions – shared knowledge, cross‑border solidarity, and communities that refuse to let anyone fall through the cracks.

This month, ZiCLAN hosted care‑leavers from Kenya. We learned that our challenges are identical. We also learned that together, we are stronger.

Happy Africa Day. May we keep building a continent where every child – whether raised by family or by community – has a place to call home. 🌍💚

22/05/2026

Sometimes the person who helps most is another care‑leaver, someone who just gets it. No explanations needed. No pity. Just a quiet "I've been there too."

Peer support is not professional therapy. But it is a lifeline. It reminds you that you're not crazy. Not alone. Not broken.

This Mental Health Month, we're celebrating the power of shared stories and the strength we find in each other. 💚

Have you ever had a conversation where you felt truly understood? Tell us in the comments. 👇

20/05/2026

In many of our communities, "depression" is seen as laziness. "Anxiety" is called overthinking. "PTSD" is dismissed as "not being strong enough".

This stigma keeps care‑leavers silent. It stops us from seeking help. It makes us believe that our pain is our fault.

But mental health struggles are not a character flaw. They are a response to what we've survived.

This month, let's break the silence. 💚

What's one thing you wish people understood about mental health in our communities? 👇

18/05/2026

THE WEIGHT OF REINTEGRATION

For many care‑leavers, being reintegrated with biological family isn't a happy ending, it's a new set of struggles. You're expected to be grateful, but inside you're confused, grieving, and often alone.

You may be treated as an outsider. You may be reminded that you're not really family. You may feel like a burden no matter how hard you try.

That weight is real. And it's okay to talk about it.

This Mental Health Month, we're naming what's often hidden. You are not alone. 💚

13/05/2026

Common mental health challenges (anxiety, depression, PTSD)

For care‑leavers, anxiety isn't just nervousness – it's the constant fear of being abandoned again. Depression isn't just sadness – it's the weight of feeling unwanted, year after year. PTSD isn't only for soldiers – it's for children who grew up with violence, loss, and instability.

These are real. They are common among care‑leavers. And they are treatable.

If you recognise any of these in yourself: you are not broken. You are not alone. And you deserve help.

This month, we're breaking the silence. 💚

11/05/2026

Why mental health matters for care‑leavers. 💚

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. And for care‑leavers, this isn't just a hashtag – it's survival.

We don't "age out" of trauma. The grief of losing parents, the anxiety of being moved from home to home, the loneliness of reintegration, the fear of turning 18 with no safety net – all of it stays.

Yet, so many of us are told:

· "You should be grateful."
· "Stop overthinking."
· "Others have it worse."

Mental health struggles are not a sign of weakness. They are a sign of what we've survived.

This month, ZiCLAN is opening the conversation. No judgment. No fixing. Just listening, sharing, and letting care‑leavers know: you are not alone. Your feelings are real. And you deserve to heal. 💛

Drop a 💚 if you're ready to break the silence.

10/05/2026

To all the mothers – in every sense of the word. 💐

Today we celebrate the women who raised us, guided us, and held us when we had no one.

But we also remember that for many care‑leavers, Mother's Day is complicated. Some of us have birth mothers we never knew. Some have foster mothers, aunties, or grandmothers who became our safe place. Some of us carry the memory of a mother figure we lost too soon.

At ZiCLAN, we honour every kind of love that nurtures a child into a whole human being – whether it came from a mother, a grandmother, a social worker, a mentor, or a community.

To the mothers still with us: thank you. To the ones we've lost: we carry you in our hearts. And to those who stepped in when no one else did: we see you. 💛

Address

8th Parkway, Parktown, Waterfalls
Harare

Telephone

+263772485835

Website

http://ziclan.org.zw/

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