field notes blog
No mask, no entry, no exceptions- great job, Rungai School!!
Rungai’s Zienzele Kid crew
Linet is a Grade Three student who wants to be a pilot- Linet has been a strong student for years now! We look forward to supporting her through Secondary School.
ladies’ gathering in Rungai (keeping an eye on those baboons in the background)
basket negotiations
The Chief handles the ribbon-cutting
nice work!
great turnout for our women’s gathering!
The headmaster of the Nemauzhe school told us of a child-headed household in need- so we set right out to visit…
…and we met Sheperd, Hardlife, and Alpha Gavhu… their 14 year old sibling Raizhou is their head of household.
This is home for 14 year old Raizhou, 10 year old Alpha, 8 year old Sheperd, and 7 year old Hardlife; these children live here alone.
we found a very empty kitchen, and immediately added this family to our child-headed household program.
There is an important lesson for Zienzele here: the father of this family is alive, but is in the North of the country panning for gold and is never here. The mother took off and remarried, leaving these four children behind. The grandmother (who most often steps in as caregiver) has refused to help because of the mother’s actions. We are seeing a new phenomenon: Child-Headed Households as the result of social factors, not HIV. Clearly it is time to communicate a better definition of CHH- the women in Nemauzhe were aware of this situation, but did not mention it because the children were not an HIV-related child-headed household. For Zienzele, the ‘why’ does not matter: these are THE most vulnerable people in the communities we serve, and we are here for them. As Nancy said by text: “…we got ‘em now!”
this is so great! lunches at school: sadza provided by the government (elections are coming!), other ingredients provided by the Jairos Jiri Association, and students’ caregivers cook the meals.
the makings of another beautiful basket!
Nemauzhe girls having lunch
caregivers’ lunch break in Nemauzhe
jumping rope after lunch!
Be Strong, Be Safe, Be Focused workshop #2!
the cooking space at the Center is also a great spot for smaller workshop groups, with great ventilation!
(and we can’t stop admiring that roof! so beautiful!)
Prisca, Frisbee Queen! Thanks to Anna Chute for the donation of frisbees- a HUGE hit!
Prisca and Etina were quite the team!
grades three through seven
the girl in red is very smart and wants to be a nurse!
Pamela and Blessing facilitating a Be Safe team
kids can lead lessons, too!
a drama-based session about COVID safety management in school
Razi Secondary Zienzele students: we arrived during their Field Day, when they get to wear whatever they want to school- not just uniforms!
Tatenda Maramba, a Form Four student, chose his Hanover Soccer t-shirt for Field Day!
Zienzele primary students at Makovere School
peanut crop drying in the sun—fortunately this is a crop that has fared ok despite the drought.
Mai Tafadzwa, rightfully proud of this pepper field!
For those of you who have followed this blog over the past 4-5 years, you likely remember our mentioning Radidzo. We have a WONDERFUL update!
for new visitors and to refresh everyone’s memory of Radidzo’s story, a quick timeline:
Radidzo shows up to Zienzele Workshop weekend with a special treat for Prisca!
2019:
“Our one remaining child is Radidzo Shumba- she is in fifth grade, and she has cerebral palsy. Her family chose not to care for her, but four years ago, an elderly neighbor who had been part of Zienzele took her in. Zienzele has supported Radidzo and her aging caregiver for the past four years as part of our Child-Headed Household program. She has done well in school and wants to be a lawyer. With continued support, we hope to see her reach her goal!”
2021:
“Radidzo wants to continue on to secondary school, and her teacher told us she has been doing very well, is smart as a whip, and would be a great candidate for Secondary. So we went to the Head of the Berejena Secondary and made the arrangements- Zienzele will make sure Radidzo gets her chance!”
Radidzo at CHH distribution, before she found out about Secondary School
recess at Mawadze school
social distancing
Grade Seven students at Mawadze
under the tree in Mawadze: fewer baskets, but good ones!
the line to receive a COVID booster shot at Musvovi primary school
physical education time for the Early Childhood Development/ pre-school group in Musvovi
starting a new basket, and finishing another
drought has wrecked havoc- next year will be very difficult
The Early Childhood Education class at Chomuruvati
Benefit Mapundu and his (very proud) mother in Mupagamuri. Benefit is a Zienzele post-secondary student at Masvingo Polytechnic, studying “panel beating” aka auto body work.
Good turnout, ladies of Mushai!
Headmaster Mr. Masara was very pleased with the new books supplied to Zienzele by Crossroads Academy!
65 Zienzele children at Chikofa School!
Prisca sharing words of wisdom and care with students at Chamatutu Primary School
sorting out the finances with the Chamatutu basket group: fewer weavers, fewer baskets, but high quality!
Cornelius enjoys a cookie during the basket show- hooray Dartmouth Volleyball for all the support!
first things first: a meeting with all the Zienzele Coordinators and Representatives!
main concerns: the impact of COVID on children’s education and the choices they see older students making; decrease in basket production due to restricted ability to gather and encourage each other.
main positives: all very excited for workshops for 3-7th graders, and the Chiware Community Center is ready to open!!
(environmental geology: Great Zimbabwe University)
(Computer Science: Great Zimbabwe University)
this Mbuya is so SO proud of Petronella and Tonderai!!!!!
Zienzele built our first community center in Berejena, the most densely populated area where we work, but our presence extends over a pretty substantial geographical area (with poor roads), so from the start of this endeavor, it was clear that to provide for all of our Zienzele communities, we would need to build three Centers to serve our three main groups of villages. This second center will serve the villages of Mupagamuri, Chikofa, Mushai, Mawadze, and Chamatutu in the Chiware region.
The Chiware Center is in a special location for us: this has *always* been a central place where our Zienzele groups gather, rain or shine. And when we say ‘always’ we mean it! Miriam Chauke in Chiware was our very first Zienzele coordinator and one of Prisca’s initial contacts in this region (back in the Earthwatch days!)- Zienzele caregivers have been gathering here for over twenty years!
We are so pleased that we were able to sponsor and complete the construction of our second Center so soon after the first! This was possible through the exceptional generosity of private donors and thanks to a grant from the Keepers of the Earth Fund administered through the Cultural Survival organization.
Our third regional community has already identified the site where they would like their center to be built: please consider making a donation to support the construction of this third and final Zienzele community center at Rungai! Our goal is to raise $15,000 to cover the costs of materials like roofing, windows, doors, cement, nails, fence, rafters; and to pay specialized craftsmen for their work.
the water reservoir is the first step!
From start to finish, construction happened in ONE MONTH- amazing!
watering our new Moringa trees, which will provide shade, beans, animal food, and fire wood! HUGE thanks to Trees for the Future for providing the seeds our women have raised into seedlings!
sanitary facilities: hard work but VERY important!
over the winter, the Zienzele folks in the villages around this Center made all 8500 bricks themselves!
the cooking structure taking shape!
By October 6th, the walls for the main building were rising…
…. and by October 21st, the finishing touches - windows and doors in, roof on, the Chiware Center is all but complete!
Faith Simbanayi is in Form Three and doing great!
you might remember our mentioning Faith in years past- she is the youngest sibling in one of our very first Child-Headed Households. She is now living with her aunt, and wants to be a nurse- we look forward to supporting her post-secondary education soon!
Our ladies have chosen the location for Zienzele Community Center NUMBER THREE (!!!) outside Rungai!
this is what it is ALL about, right here!
This is Pamela Dzingirai’s early childhood education class in Rungai
Mai Tafadzwa, one of our fearless coordinators!
our secondary crew at Chiwanza Secondary School
Gogo and Tapiwa
GREAT and plentiful baskets at Rungai!
