Matthew Rusike Children’s Home (MRCH)
MRCH Childcare initiative was influenced by the work of the late Rev. Matthew Jacha Rusike who worked tirelessly for the benefit of the less privileged children. Rev. Rusike helped the church to establish a residential care facility for orphaned and vulnerable children in Epworth, 15km east of Harare in 1960. The facility was registered in 1968, as an African Children's Home in terms of the Welfare Organization Act. The Home is a legal entity registered in terms of the Private Voluntary Organizations Act and its residential care facilities are registered in terms of the Children’s Act.
Currently the home operates a multifaceted programme that combines residential care and community based orphan care initiatives in response to the growing number of children in need of care. Although the Home started as an individual vision, it has been developed by the Methodist Church into one of the largest child welfare organization in Zimbabwe, caring for over 6092 children in its residential and Community Based Orphan Care Schemes. In addition, the organization is setting up and running Community Resource Centers for Children in need of care.    
The Home has a variety of objectives which are meant to care for the less privileged children. It endevours to provide holistic and therapeutic family reconstruction services for separated children and to run effective transitional programmes for them and those heading families. It also creates a monitored childcare environment that will allow staff to spend as much quality time as possible with the children. The Home further provides an individual childcare plan based on the child’s uniqueness and specific needs. It also trains and supports foster careers and adoptive parents and empower them in childcare and HIV and AIDS issues. More so, the Home equips the children with vocational skills and assist them to take an active role in the national economy.
MRCH has successfully transformed from dormitory based care to small group living facilities that resemble the normal community households. The institution has established housing units each of which houses an average of nine children and two semi-independent facilities for young adults. Currently the home has 145 children in its residential care units. The children are taken care of by trained “caregivers” or house parents who, besides catering for the upkeep of the children, provide effective day-to-day counseling. This situation provides children a village type of stay. Following this need, the MCZ has appointed a Full time Chaplain to mentor and support children spiritually and psychologically.
The institution provides for their needs while those of school-going age, go to schools in the community. They share community resources such as schools, churches and shopping centers to avoid total institutionalization. Babies and toddlers however, remain at home where effective pre-school programmes are run for them. A therapeutic Centre is still under construction to deal with traumatized and sometimes disconnected children from dysfunctional families.
Another programme is the Community Based Care Programme (CBC) which was initiated as a response to the growing number of orphaned and vulnerable children in the society. In line with modern trends, which have proven that children grow better when assisted in their natural environment as compared to those placed in an institution, MRCH has managed to decentralize its operations to various MCZ districts throughout the country.
The CBC programmes are done with the help of community caregivers who work tirelessly on a voluntary basis in their communities. The volunteers undergo a specialized caregivers training by MRCH and refresher workshops to equip them with skills in childcare work. The roles of the MRCH trained caregivers includes identifying and assessing the needs of orphaned and vulnerable children in their communities, running psychosocial support programmes at local church buildings and provide nutritional support for (OVCs) ,educational support for children in their resource centers, compiling database for children in need of care, Visiting orphaned and vulnerable children and attending to their needs, compiling reports on childcare work in areas of their jurisdiction, advocacy and lobbying for orphans and vulnerable children in their communities and encouraging community participation in the care of children.
MRCH CBC programme has provided in various interventions for children; such as school fees, food, clothing, rentals and medication. It has begun to set up Community Resource centers across the country using church facilities for the provision of Psycho Social Support services. The church buildings are MRCH as resource centers for children during weekdays and for church services on Sundays.
Alongside the CBC programme, MRCH also has a Community Health Programme in place that assists children who are chronically ill, mainly due to HIV and AIDS, in all these communities.  Most of the children are orphaned due to HIV and AIDS hence some of them are both also infected and affected by the pandemic.  In the last half of the year 2010, our Community Health Workers, attended to over 300 cases from the communities that we work with. The also help the parents and guardians of these children with relevant nutritional and health education. Most of these cases are of home based care nature. The Community Health Workers are therefore required to visit most of these patients and attend to them in their homes, or assist them to get to the nearest health center whenever possible.

The children and staff of Matthew Rusike Children's Home wish to congratulate the Methodist Church in Zimbabwe on the occasion of its attainment of 120 years since its establishment in Zimbabwe. We acknowledge that this has been a long period of effective ministry and dedication to Christian social responsibility which has led to the birth of Matthew Rusike Children's Home. The organisation is proud to be a child of a gentle and caring parent and pray that God guides our church now and forever more.