We recently connected with Cindy Schmehl and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Cindy, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about serving the underserved.

It was 20 years ago that my husband and I walked into the tiny remote village of Chikandakubi, Zimbabwe and saw children trying to learn without books, classrooms without roofs, people suffering from malaria and hunger, and a community without opportunity and hope.

Today that school, because of our efforts, has been recognized as a school of excellence in literacy. The school also has classrooms with roofs, desks, and blackboards, plus, the children have books and even a small library.

Adults in the village learn a trade through the men’s workshop, chicken project, women’s center, or the bakery which was built last Fall.

To Love a Child, Inc. has established a small clinic in the village and each year when we visit our volunteers distribute FREE
eyeglasses, personal hygiene supplies, undergarments, reusable sanitary pads, over the counter medicine, washcloths and much more. Plans are underway to build a medical clinic which will be staffed by nurses 24/7 so that residents of the village will not have to travel 25 miles to the nearest hospital. Traveling this distance at night is hazardous because they may run into lions or elephants. Pregnant women often give birth in the back of wooden donkey carts before arriving at the hospital jeopardizing the safety of their newborn baby and themselves.

Providing opportunities for these children and people is the compassionate and right thing to do. Every child deserves a good education. No one should die because they live too far away from medical care. Over the years we have seen men get employment at an airport because of the skills they learned at the men’s workshop. Families can pay school tuition because of the money they earn from selling eggs and bread. This in-turn helps the school to flourish. Our medical clinics keeps people healthier and makes for a healthier and happier community. The free provisions allows for families to put more money toward food and other essentials they otherwise could not afford. Children are staying in school longer and graduating with better grades which allow them to better employees.

The above is just one example in one village. To Love a Child, Inc. works in a second village in Zimbabwe, supports a school in Haiti and has numerous projects in the Saratoga County area of New York State which are also very successful.

Cindy, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My story, our story, begins with a trip that fulfills a little girl’s promise to her father, a chance meeting, and fate.

Every Sunday night as a child I used to sit on my father’s lap and watch “Wild Kingdom” on TV. We were in awe of the wild animals we learned about on the show and always dreamed of traveling to Africa and going on safari. My dad would splurge on an instant lottery ticket on special occasions and say if we won we would be going to Africa because it was the only way we would be able to afford our dream.

Dad and I never made it to Africa, however, my husband and I did many years later and one of our stops was Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe–one of the seven natural wonders of the world! While in the little town of Victoria Falls we met the same young man three times. The third time he was a waiter in a small restaurant where we were the only customers. We had an opportunity to chat and that conversation led us to visiting the village of Chikandakubi the next morning which changed my life forever. The poverty, lack of school supplies, the sick…it was all too much for me to forget.

The man I speak about above is Godfrey and I must tell you a bit about him because he is a vital part of our story. Godfrey’s father passed away shortly after his birth and his young mother struggled to provide him the food and care he needed. His loving grandmother stepped in to raise him.

Godfrey witnessed the Zimbabwe Liberation War at the tender age of 9 where an estimated 20,000 people were killed. At the age of 13 he survived the atrocities of the genocide of his people, the Ndeble tribe, where over 20,000 people died and tens of thousands went missing or were displaced.

Godfrey went to school with no uniforms and food was a luxury. The one thing he did have in abundance was the desire to succeed, and that he did. Godfrey completed his primary and secondary education. He trained in administration, accounting and hotel catering. However, due to lack of jobs in the country the only employment he could find was that of a trench digger. Eventually, he found jobs in the hotel and restaurant industry. He worked hard, many times balancing several jobs at the same time. This is where OUR story begins and when we met Godfrey 20 years ago in Victoria Falls when he was a small business owner and server at a restaurant called Mama Africa. Since that time, we have watched Godfrey grow in wisdom, compassion, professionalism, and experience. We have worked hand-in-hand on all the projects in Chikandakubi and because of his dedication to the people in that village he was asked to run for political office and is now a member of Parliament. Godfrey has been our project manager in Chikandakubi for 20 years, my friend and brother.

Our organization is proud of our dedication to the people we serve. We work side by side with them and use their ideas to cultivate the projects so they embrace the programs and make them successful. We work hard, have NO paid staff and keep our administrative expenses as low as possible. We have taken close to 150 volunteers with us on our journeys to Africa and Haiti. We have provided care, compassion and services through earthquakes, hurricanes, droughts and the most difficult economic times.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Working in developing countries requires great flexibility and the ability to change direction and your fundraising strategy at a moments notice. In 2008 we were working in both the small village of Rantlamouaie, Haiti and a small orphanage in Port au Prince. Our projects included supporting teacher’s salaries, installing solar power, providing clean water, growing gardens, providing food, shelter, and medical care. We worked hard at fundraising to successfully provide these programs on an ongoing basis and then in January 2010 the unthinkable happened–a 7.0 devastating earthquake hit Haiti!

News traveled quickly of this natural disaster and our first priority was to find our team of volunteers who were in Haiti. The team consisted of an RPI professor, my husband, RPI students and two other adults. They were installing solar panels several miles away from the epi-center, however, due to the magnitude of the earthquake we were not sure of their status. Communication was down and the country came to a standstill. It was only by sheer luck and many prayers that we connected with them. All were safe but they did experience the traumatic effect of buildings shaking and cracking during the quake. It took 5 days to get the team out of Haiti through the Dominican Republic. The village of Rantlamouaie was spared. The orphanage was damaged beyond repair and the children and the caretaker had disappeared into the crowds of tens of thousands seeking shelter in large fields. We had no idea if any of the children were injured.

10 days after the quake a team of 3, including myself, flew to Haiti armed with tarps, emergency food, medicine, bandages, children’s clothing, and more to find the orphans. We searched one tented city after another seeing thousands of sick and injured people. We did find our kids and thankfully other than some scratches and being very hungry and thirsty they were in good shape. We made plans to move the kids to the countryside where they had to live in a large army tent for a year. Funding which was being saved to construct classrooms and other buildings had to be used for emergency travel, food, clothing and shelter.

In 2010 it was the earthquake in Haiti however since that time To Love a Child has had to provide emergency resources due to hurricanes, flooding, extreme drought and food shortages. We are a small organization with the ability to be flexible and help people when they need in most in times of crisis.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

To Love a Child, Inc. is a story teller. Every donor can expect to see their donation in a story. If a woman makes a little dress she will see that dress in a photograph. If a donor makes a contribution to the piggery the donor will see photos of the piglets. We make every effort to take photos of dollars in action and report back to our contributors and friends so they can see first-hand the success of our programs.

We are active on social media and produce a e-newsletter which goes out monthly. We have an annual newsletter which is also sent by regular mail. Donors can also contact us at any time and ask for updates on any of our projects and we always welcome individuals to travel with us to Zimbabwe! Our next trip is the spring of 2024!       

Contact Info:

• Website: www.toloveachild.net
• Instagram: toloveachild
• Facebook: To Love a Child, Inc.
• Linkedin: Cindy Schmehl
• Twitter: Cindy Zawislan Schmehl

Image Credits
All photos were taken by Cindy Schmehl