Children are bearing the brunt of a crushing economic meltdown that has left 10 million people in desperate poverty.
Hundreds of thousands of people have left Zimbabwe to escape crushing poverty, many of them children. For those left behind, this crisis has left families living in abject poverty, unable to buy enough food to eat or to afford healthcare. We've reached more than 123,000 people with food aid and 13,000 people with cholera response and anthrax intervention but we urgently need your help to reach more.
Half the Zimbabwean population is in need of food aid but resources are insufficient. Tinashe, one year and four months old, could be malnourished. Her mother is waiting in the queue for a Save the Children food distribution.
Cholera isn't usually seen at this time of year but because of hunger people are moving more to look for food and as a consequence cholera is being spread more widely.
Tambu, 27, left, lost her nine-year-old daughter Sarah to cholera six days ago. 'It's so painful for me. When she fell ill, I thought everything would be fine'.
In Matabeleland North, often the only meal children will have all day is provided for them at a Save the Children centre. Save the Children support 16 early childhood care and development centres, benefiting 1,058 children.
For most children like Mercy, seven, far left, and her siblings, food is extremely scarce. Mercy collects mulberry leaves to boil and eat while her mother goes out begging to try and get them some food. They usually survive on one cup of mealy meal (ground maize) a day.
Thandi, 13, and her mother dig up Makuli roots to eat. These have no nutritious value and can be poisonous if they're not cooked properly but families are so hungry they often see no choice but to eat them.
As well as responding to immediate needs, we're helping families produce their own food so they can provide for themselves in the future. Winston, 10, waits by his family's allocation of groundnuts and sunflower seeds from a Save the Children distribution for next year's crops.
Godgift, 8, stops traffic on the road to Gokwe to try and earn a few dollars for food. One-third of all children in Zimbabwe are chronically malnourished, and 10 million people (out of a population of 13 million) live below the poverty line. There's so much work to do here - please donate now and help us reach more people.
Half the Zimbabwean population is in need of food aid but resources are insufficient. Tinashe, one year and four months old, could be malnourished. Her mother is waiting in the queue for a Save the Children food distribution.
A ban on humanitarian activities imposed by the government earlier in the year meant we were unable to deliver vital food aid and healthcare support to families. In late August the ban was lifted against NGOs such as Save the Children, allowing us to return to work. Although it can be a difficult environment to work in we are continuing our programmes in child protection, health and education.
Children in Zimbabwe
Conditions are very diffcult for many children in Zimbabwe. The crisis has crippled basic services and the healthcare system has reached the brink of collapse. Due to the lack of sanitation and health services there is in an increased risk of outbreaks of disease which will be difficult to control.
Mudiwa, a mother of three from one of Harare's poorest suburbs explains, "I'm very sick and my baby is sick too. I'm coughing. I could get medical treatment when it was free from an organisation, but they said I have to go and see a doctor, and I couldn't afford it. I have no medicine."
Families and children are struggling to find enough food to eat. Some children have resorted to catching wild rats to fill their stomachs, whilst others are foraging in the wild for plant roots. This type of food can be poisonous, making them sick, and in extreme cases leading to death. Aside from this it lacks essential nutritional value. Chronic malnutrition now affects nearly a third of all children.
Fungai is 13 years old. His mother died, and his father has left home to find work. He explains, "I have to ask neighbours for food, but sometimes I don't get it because people don't have it. Often I have to do some work for them to get it. But it's never fair. Sometimes they only give me a little bit of food and sometimes nothing. I can't complain because I'm small - it's not right."
At the height of the crisis - when adults and children were fleeing across borders to find work and safety - many children became separated from their families or carers. It is in these circumstances that children can become vulnerable to physical and sexual abuse and exploitative labour.
Across the country children are also dropping out of school as poor families are being forced to send their children out to find work, or simply cannot afford to send them to school.
Simbarashe Mazikisa, a local school teacher explains, "The children have to pay 300 Zimbabwean dollars to go to school. Lots of children can't afford it. I get little money from the fees. Sometimes I get no money. It's voluntary work to do this - to help the community. We just have to go on."
One in five adults in Zimbabwe is living with HIV/AIDs. As a result it has one of the highest rates of orphans per capita in the world. Many of these children will be left to run households on their own, finding it extremely difficult to find food or access the support they need.
What we're doing
Save the Children has been working in Zimbabwe for 25 years. With our response now moving ahead again, we've reached more than 123,000 people with essential food, around half of whom are children.
We're setting up programmes to improve the health of pregnant women and lactating mothers, new born babies and children under under the age of five. We want to set up community-based feeding centres, for the longer term, to reach more than 4,000 malnourished children.
Helping families earn a living and produce their own food is essential for long term recovery. We're on our way to reaching 22,000 households across three districts, helping families prepare to plant seeds for next year's harvest.
We're also working with local partners to rehabilitate schools and improve children's access to education. Our work includes sensitising communities to child protection issues too, as well as providing emotional support to orphaned and vulnerable children, and those who've had to leave their homes.
What you can do
Please donate to our Zimbabwe appeal now. We want to raise £5 million to help children and their families in desperate need.