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By Ross Moyo
Those opening words by Gary Cross at the weekend sum up 26 years of pain, prayer and persistence that has become Zimbabwe’s most critical intervention in childhood cancer.
According to Cross, about 26 years ago, God placed a burden on a lady’s heart called Andrea Wattman to do something for children in Parirenyatwa Hospital, and especially for children with cancer, because Andrea was a survivor of cancer herself as a child.
“My name is Gary Cross. I’m the pastor of Northside Community Church, but I’m also the chairman of KidzCan Zimbabwe, and we’re here tonight at Rainbow Children’s Village to bless the home,” were the words that resonated this familiarity.
That burden became a ministry. A small ministry at Northside Community Church grew and became KidzCan Zimbabwe — today the only organisation in Zimbabwe dedicated to increasing the survival rate of children with cancer and associated blood disorders.
The Data That Makes Rainbow Village Necessary
Cross’s story cannot be understood without Zimbabwe’s childhood cancer data:
According to the National Cancer Registry, Zimbabwe recorded 293 childhood cancers in 2018, accounting for 3.7% of all cancers. The true figure is estimated at over 500 because many cases go undetected.
Globally 400,000 children are diagnosed annually, 90% in low and middle-income countries.
Survival in high-income countries: 80%. Survival in Zimbabwe: 20% — short of the WHO Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer target of 60% by 2030.
Zimbabwe has only THREE paediatric oncologists for the entire child population.
“Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals has the ONLY public paediatric cancer unit in Zimbabwe — Ward A4 Special. On any given day 25-30 children are admitted, with 15 more coming daily for outpatient chemotherapy.”
40% of children do not finish treatment due to lack of transport, food and clean accommodation. A child from Binga must travel every two weeks.
Most common childhood cancers in Zimbabwe: Leukaemia (18%), renal tumours — Wilms Tumour (17%), retinoblastoma — eye cancer (15%), lymphoma (13%).
As Daniel Mckenzie, Executive Director of KidzCan, told this publication: “Communities don’t know children get cancer. They associate it with adults. Our job is to bridge that knowledge gap.”
The Halfway House That Took 26 Years
“Even at the beginning, as soon as we started KidzCan, we discovered that there was a need for some sort of halfway house, a home, where children could go while they were being treated for their cancer. But we never could actually do it, just funding resources weren’t available,” Cross said.
That vision was finally answered when Roundtable Zimbabwe together with the Meikles Foundation decided to build a home for children with cancer.
The three foundational organisations — Roundtable Zimbabwe, Meikles Foundation and KidzCan Zimbabwe — joined together and built this village.
Meikles Annual Report shows the total budget for the project is US$1.57 million. Phase One alone was US$441,300 with US$300,000 from Meikles and land donated by Roundtable Zimbabwe. TM Pick n Pay funds through Orange Month and golf tournaments have sustained it. The project was initiated in 2017 to answer a dire need.
As KidzCan nurse Charity Kawadza explained: “It is called Rainbow Children’s Village. It’s under three partners, KidzCan, Meikles Foundation and Roundtable. Patients who come to stay are those in between treatment. They would have already started treatment and they need a small break, but they cannot go home, which is maybe too far, so we house them until they get to their next appointment.”
At Rainbow Village, each child and caregiver gets their own room. It is colourful, safe, clean. As Cross said: “It is a place now where children can come while they’re being treated at Parirenyatwa, and rest, recover, eat, and enjoy a clean environment. All of these things are so important when you are undergoing treatment.”
Why Blessing the Home Matters
“Because we believe that this was something that God initiated, we felt that now the home is open and running, that we needed to come and to thank God for giving us the vision, and enabling us to fulfil it,” Cross said.
“To thank Him for this place, but to ask Him to continue to bless the home, and to bless every child, every caregiver, every family that comes through these doors, that God would bless them, be part of their journey. And so that’s why we’re here today.”
In 2013 KidzCan provided direct patient support to over 400 children, 300 newly diagnosed. In 2020 it lost 69 children. In 2024, it is supporting over 1,000 children across Parirenyatwa, Mpilo and Sekuru Kaguvi.
The chemotherapy drug costs US$500-US$700 per vial. A CT scan costs US$200. An MRI US$1,500. Bus fare from Murewa to Harare is often the reason a child abandons treatment.
Rainbow Children’s Village, as of February 2025, has completed Phase 3 — a new era in accommodation provision.
As Cross put it: No child should fight alone.
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