Celebrating Families: When Home Became Safe Again
By Sebastian Mupa & Ronald Magweta
In Mapitipidze Village, the setting sun once signaled fear rather than rest for Shylet and her five children. Each evening, the sound of Claudious’ footsteps approaching their homestead would send them running for safety.
Home was not a place of comfort—it was a place to escape.
Claudious was caught in a cycle of anger, abuse, and violence, while Shylet, overwhelmed and hurt, found herself fighting back. Their relationship deteriorated into constant conflict, turning their home into what neighbours came to know as a place of endless commotion. Over time, even the community began to withdraw, and the children, seeking refuge from the chaos, started drifting toward risky behaviors.
“I was not proud of what I had become,” Claudious reflects.
“At some point I was even contemplating leaving my wife and children.”
Their breaking point came when they were invited to participate in World Vision’s Celebrating Families training under the Let the Children Come (LCC) grant funded by World Vision US.
Celebrating Families is a faith-based family strengthening approach designed to restore relationships within households by bringing caregivers and children together in structured sessions. Through guided discussions, practical activities, and biblical reflection, families are supported to confront harmful behaviors, heal from past wounds, and build healthy, nurturing relationships rooted in love, respect, and accountability.
For Claudious, one exercise in particular became life-changing. During a session titled “Most Memorable Childhood Experience,” participants were challenged to reflect on how their children might one day remember them.
“You know what? That question stayed with me and even up to now it is still in my head,” he says.
“I asked myself, ‘What will my children say about me?’ And I realized it would be fear. That broke me.”
At the same time, Shylet was going through her own awakening. Through sessions on identifying the “Signs of Brokenness,” she began to understand how the violence in their home was deeply affecting their children.
“I started to see that our pain was not just ours—it was hurting our children,” Shylet explains. “That is when I knew that we had to change.”
What followed was not a small adjustment, but a complete transformation of their lives and relationship. Claudious made a firm decision to stop the violence, and together with Shylet, they committed to rebuilding their marriage on a foundation of mutual respect, communication, and faith.
“I sat down with my wife and we agreed to leave behind all our quarreling and work together for the good of our marriage,” Claudious says. “I have never regretted that decision.”
The change was so profound that it caught the attention of the entire community. Fibion Batsira, a local faith leader who mentored the family, witnessed the transformation firsthand.
“This family was known for violence in our village,” he says.
“They would even fight with others in the village. Now, their transformation is unbelievable. There is peace in their home, and Mrs. Sauta has even become a leader and a role model, encouraging other women in her support group.”
As peace took root in the household, it created space for something new—stability and growth. Through their participation in a support group that integrated Savings for Transformation, the family began to rebuild not only their relationships but also their economic well-being.
“I now have enough money to pay school fees for my children,” Shylet shares with a smile. “I have even managed to buy my children school tracksuits—something we used to think was a luxury.”
For the five children, the greatest change has been the sense of safety and belonging within their own home. Where they once ran to neighbors for protection, they now remain in a household filled with care, stability, and love.
The Sauta family is one of 200 families reached across five Area Programmes in Zimbabwe through the 2024 LCC Grant Cohort 2 trainings. Through Celebrating Families, cycles of violence are being broken, relationships are being restored, and parents are becoming the protectors and nurturers their children need.
Looking back on their journey, Claudious speaks with a sense of conviction and hope. “My home is no longer a place of fear. It is a place of peace. Celebrating Families didn’t just change what we do—it changed who we are.”
Because of donor support, families like the Sautas are not only transforming for today—they are building a foundation for lasting change, ensuring that their children grow up in homes defined not by fear, but by love.