Abstract
Despite the predominant contemporary and traditional coping strategies adopted in Zimbabwe in the past three decades and beyond, the inheritance issues unabatedly continued to affect the livelihood of both the care-givers and orphans and vulnerable children (OVC). This article is a qualitative phenomenological study seeking to examine the perceptions, views and feelings of the care-givers and OVC on their lived experiences in OVC care and support in Zimbabwe. The study focusses on the care-givers’ perspectives in the impact of the inheritance experiences in OVC care and support within their tribal local rural communities. In-depth narrative interviews were conducted with 30 caregivers corroborated with 10 OVC purposively sampled in the Gutu District of Zimbabwe. The results showed that whilst the care-givers are doing their best in executing their strategies for OVC care and support, the manipulation and misappropriation of the deceased’s inheritance that were meant to benefit the OVCs is still rampant in the rural communities of Zimbabwe. In conclusion, the study recommended the need for an integrated stakeholders’ approach in educating the local rural communities about their inheritance rights.