Loice – From Shadow into Light. More than just a book
How many children in Zimbabwe have German sponsors? Through large organisations such as World Vision and small private initiatives, there are probably well over 200,000. But it is rare for a book to be written about the relationship between a sponsored child and their sponsors.
Karin and Klaus Kopp from Waiblingen have turned their encounter with their sponsored child Loice Nyangari from Zimbabwe into a book.
It all began 12 years ago with a trip by the Kopps to Zimbabwe. Through the Kernen-Masvingo Gesellschaft e.V., the Kopps had come across the Bondolfi mission station south of the town of Masvingo, where the Kernen-Masvingo Gesellschaft e.V. has supported children’s schooling for many years.
It was here that they first met Loice, who was eight years old at the time.
As an orphan, Loice did not have an easy start in life.
“The book tells the story of Loice, almost without a family, and of our family – and now it is the story of one shared family,” says Klaus Kopp.
Loice’s father is unknown, and her mother died when Loice was four years old. She grew up with her grandmother. Even at primary school she showed a great hunger for learning.
As a teenager she began to write poems. 36 poems, stories and letters from and to Germany form the core of this book.
Loice’s texts give a deep insight into the life and feelings of the young woman.
Sensitive, sad, open and yet optimistic: her view as a young girl of her own life and of the world outside. Many of the poems reflect her own life and helped her come to terms with her past.
That is what makes this book special and valuable: Loice, the orphan, tells her own story.
Not just about success at school (as found on the websites of large sponsorship organisations) or gratitude towards her sponsors. There is room for the grief of having to live without parents, the longing for unconditional affection, for loneliness and darkness. And at the same time, the young woman’s resilience in the face of all adversity is astonishing.
By our standards she is extremely poor. Apart from a mattress and a camping gas stove, everything Loice currently owns fits into a single suitcase.
“With this book we are giving Loice a voice. She stands for many orphans, for disadvantaged children and for women in Zimbabwe,” writes Klaus Kopp, who has accompanied the poems with impressive photos and videos.
Sales of the book are also intended to help finance her four-year degree. “With this project we want to give Loice a start to a professional future. In an impressive country with wonderful people, a country in which there is often no vision and no confidence in the future. In a country where unemployment in some regions is currently over 90%.”
The book is self-published and sold directly.
In summer 2023, Loice left her country for the first time and visited her sponsor family, the Kopps, in Waiblingen. She also writes about this in the book, which encourages readers to work for a better future for people in Zimbabwe. A one-year stay in Germany was planned for Loice in 2025, during which she was to complete internships with non-governmental organisations.
Klaus Kopp regularly holds events, which are particularly striking for their excellent photos.
Donations finance Loice’s studies in Zimbabwe.
To contact Klaus Kopp and order the book (in German):