Taya the dancer

Taya, (left) with her cousins Bongani and Tania. The children dance to music from a makeshift radio (you can see it on the right of the photo) made by Bongani’s brother Moses. Behind them, the water tower irrigates the new Community Farm.

* Names and details have been changed to protect the children’s privacy.

Taya loves music, she loves to dance.

Taya and her two cousins are pupils at Jessie’s House Academy.

Her elder sister Mercy, like many girls in the village, dropped out of school early.

Taya tries hard at school and is helpful to her teachers. She was so happy when the new playground was built.

She was excited to taste carrots for the first time at Jessie’s House Farm.

She dreams of visiting a big city but is yet to travel far from Muzondo, this remote village in the heart of Zimbabwe.

Taya’s father is a bricklayer and worked for free to build Jessie’s House. He repaired its roof following storm damage in 2019. Her mother volunteers in Jessie’s House kitchen and farm.

At home with Taya

  • Taya (right) with cousins Tania and Bongani in their home. Girls born in rural communities are at greater risk. Taya continues to see life-changing developments in her village.

  • Mercy, Taya’s sister. She dropped out of school. This is the tragedy facing every girl in Muzondo.

  • Taya’s mother no longer walks 5km for water because the two boreholes at Jessie’s House bring fresh, clean water into the village for the first time.

  • Taya (centre) with her extended family. Taya’s father is a bricklayer and worked for free to build Jessie’s House. He repaired its roof following storm damage in 2019. Her mother volunteers in Jessie’s House kitchen and farm.

  • Taya’s cousin Moses is a resourceful self-taught electrician. He repaired a discarded solar panel (pictured above) which generates electricity for his parent’s house. Moses provides entertainment for his young cousins with a music player he cleverly made from an old car radio.

Meeting Taya

By photographer Soren Rickards

I always smile when I remember Taya, because she loved to sing and dance. She is bright, bubbly and full of life. I first met Taya when photographing Jessie’s House in 2016 and we used her image as a cover photo for our newsletter.