Tainted Betty Makoni loses CNN hero to a Filipino

Betty loses CNN heroes 2009

Zimbabwe's Betty Makoni has lost the 2009 CNN Hero award to Efren Penaflorida.The GCN founder was among the top ten CNN heroes for 2009

Efren Penaflorida is a 28-year-old teacher and social worker at the Palmridge School in Cavite who is one such hero, doing public service with a passion. Efren Penaflorida founded the Dynamic Teen Company, a volunteer group aimed at encouraging youths to help underprivileged people, most especially other youngsters, ,by offering free lessons they would not otherwise get.

According to media reports Penaflorida and his colleagues fill the custom-built pushcart with all the necessary educational materials like books, notepads, and writing implements. They then take the pushcart to places with many street children and teach them basic English, mathematics, and science.

Knowing that many of the children who attend his weekend schools are poor, he also includes lessons in hygiene and gives out soap. Some volunteers also provide free medical examinations and medicines to the underprivileged communities they visit.

He has been doing this for 10 years, starting when he was still a high school student.

On the other hand,speculation is high that the GCN founder could have failed to scoop the prestigious award of us$100 000.00 due to media reports that she misappropriated donor funds that she amassed for the upkeep of desperate girls in Zimbabwe.The financial scandal which was arguably first reported by Nelson Chenga of The financial gazzette in November 2008 specified that  the organisation's monitoring and evaluation grants checklist indicates that GCN major donors Stephen Lewis Foundation, Oxfam Novib, Rotary Club International, the US State department, the British Embassy and Canadian International Development Agency advanced thousands of US dollars to the organisation.

GCN spokesman, Kamurai Mudzingwa refused to disclose the amount of funds funnelled for its projects over the phone.But according to the grants checklist made available by Makoni tabulating external funders and their contributions, GCN has had more than US$1 million advanced and pledged by donors for the period August 2007 and December 2009. The US State department advanced a US$152 000 grant to help fight child trafficking in Zimbabwe through awareness campaigns, training and rehabilitation of rescued girls for the period September 2007 to August this year.

Sources at GCN say the outreach programme never materialised because Makoni withheld funds from personnel on the ground.

No reports on the progress of the project have been made although the period over which the grant was supposed to have been used has since passed with not even one girl child trafficking victim on its records.

The employees of the well known Girl Child Network boss are living from hand to mouth after going for several months without pay.

In November 2009 it was reported that the Netherlands based Oxfam Novib is launching an investigation into GCN's financial management amid claims that Betty Makoni misused donor funds.The GCN founder who recently relocated to Britain is arguing that these claims were initaited by Mugabe and ZANPF as a smear campaig to puul her down.

However ,in a letter addressed to other donors of Girl Child Network referenced ‘Unsatisfied financial performance and external evaluation of Girl Child Network’ Oxfam Novib’s interim regional manager for Southern Africa Ger Roebeling claimed that GCN was not being run properly.

Below is a list of the 2009 Top 10 CNN Heroes:

Brad Blauser
Brad Blauser is providing hope and mobility to disabled children and their families in Iraq. Since 2005, his Wheelchairs for Iraqi Kids program has

Roy Foster
Army veteran Roy Foster started Stand Down House to help veterans struggling with addiction and homelessness in Florida. Since 2000, his program has provided life-changing services to nearly 900 veterans.

Doc Hendley
Bartender Doc Hendley is providing clean water to communities worldwide. Through creative fundraising, his nonprofit Wine to Water has brought sustainable water systems to 25,000 people in five countries.

Andrea Ivory
Breast cancer survivor Andrea Ivory is bringing early detection to the doorsteps of uninsured women. With mobile mammography vans, her group has provided more than 500 free screenings in Miami, Florida.

Betty Makoni
Zimbabwe native Betty Makoni founded the Girl Child Network to provide a haven for young victims of sexual abuse. The organization has rescued more than 35,000 girls since 2001.

Jorge Munoz
School bus driver Jorge Munoz is helping hungry New Yorkers make it through tough times. Since 2004, he has handed out more than 70,000 meals from his mobile soup kitchen in Queens -- for free.

Efren Peñaflorida
Efren Peñaflorida gives Filipino youth an alternative to gang membership through education. His Dynamic Teen Company's 10,000 members have taught basic reading and writing to 1,500 kids living in the slums.

Budi Soehardi
Budi Soehardi founded a children's home in one of the poorest areas of Indonesia. Today, Roslin Orphanage in West Timor provides food, shelter and education to more than 45 children.

Derrick Tabb started The Roots of Music to give young people an alternative to New Orleans' streets. His music education program provides free tutoring, instruments and music instruction to more than 100 students.

Jordan Thomas
Jordan Thomas, 20, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, lost both of his legs in a boating accident in 2005. Since then, his Jordan Thomas Foundation has raised more than $400,000 to provide prosthetics for children in need.