preschool class in a line800

Warm Winter Greetings From the Team Here in Lacomb

by Uncategorized

Annual Letter from Ancient Ways Enclosed!

Warm winter greetings from the team here in Lacomb, and summer greetings from the crew in Mhondoro! We hope this email finds you well and savoring the hunkering down of the holidays. It’s a very busy time of year, so if you don’t have time now, please mark this for reading later, as it is packed with inspiring information!

We continue to feel enormous gratitude for your positively uplifting ongoing support. Your prayers for us as a group and as individuals, along with your encouragement over the years, inspires us, particularly during the challenging times.  Of course, your financial donations and pledges keep us sane as we row through the unknown waters that lie ahead.

I have to admit that I love holding the vision and trusting the process, because that in itself brings juice to the journey and spice to my life!  There is a vulnerability I enjoy in being at sea, and having a sense of direction with one’s internal compass, but sometimes there is no land to be seen.

Please check out our focus for 2025 here, and:

Each year we look forward to the new year in Mhondoro and anticipate great growth in our communication skills, the meeting of our objectives and goals, as well as the simple sense of peace and well-being that comes from bringing comfort to another. 

We also continue to promote our music programs here in Oregon, where we hold weekly classes in Corvallis, garnishing our lives with great friendships and deep bonds, as we study together.  Performing around the valley has become a fond joy over the years, and we look towards the opening of that season come spring, as well as Zimfest 2025, August 7-10, at Central Washington University, in Ellensburg, WA.

Check out www.ancient-ways.org for more details. And, always feel free to call or email. We thank you very much.

Tatenda Chaizvo!  Jaiaen 

Woman at a well

Please Help Us Deepen Wells!

by Uncategorized

We have 23 families in dire need of water. Their wells have completely dried up and merely need deepening. Please click here to contribute whatever you can to Well Repair! With this you are buying bricks and cement, plus hiring a digger and builder to add meters to the existing well. I know many of you are deeply concerned about affairs in our country, so thank you so much for taking a minute to focus with us on the Nhimbe residents. 

Many people are going without water in daily life as their well has dried up due to the ongoing drought. Maybe you recall our March post about the serious nature of the drought including elephants dying in Hwange (a region near Victoria Falls)? Now, more recently the national power grid has been radically compromised by both the reduced water in Lake Kariba and a technical fault at Hwange Power Station. It never occurred to me how interwoven water and electricity are. Let’s just say that no electricity makes communication ridiculously difficult, among other things.

Here in our homes, we just flip the switches and walk to the faucets to turn them on, right? Drink and cook with water? Wash dishes, our clothes, our bodies? Care for our animals, children and the elderly? Water our gardens, maintain our homes? Geesh . . . .

Our Nhimbe team continues to work with the H2O Drip for the Drought Program, bringing the Nhimbe families closer to growing food with the use of basic drip technology using a bucket system. We completed training in May with great success. But we have run into devastating water levels dropping, so some are not able to access the water to fill the bucket. We just need to deepen wells, with 23 families (currently) identified as critical. We also deepened 72 wells in 2020.

2 Girls Hauling Water

Sometimes family members have been able to walk to their neighbors who have deeper wells to get water for daily basics. Please donate to well repair now however fits your budget…you make a difference!

  • Two bags of cement per family delivered to Mhondoro is $34 ($782)
  • Handmade bricks delivered by ox cart (a nickel a piece) is $500 for 10,000 to deepen all 23 wells.
  • The building and digging team is paid $50 for deepening each well ($1,150).

We need to raise $2,432, which averages around $106 per family. That’s a small price to pay to bring such vital change. And, with your donation we can do it! Thank you for your compassion and help…You make the difference. Tatenda Chaizvo

Woman with a large pile of corn

The Rite of a Gentle Giant

by Field Reports

Carina Barros has made this wonderfully creative and insightful film in memory of Cosmas Magaya. She unexpectedly gifted us with this film – thank you Carina! We are posting this in honor of his birthday October 5th, 1953, as well as the 25th anniversary of Nhimbe for Progress and Ancient Ways’ 30th anniversary. I’m sharing my favorite picture of Cosmas’ mother, VaChihera Matilda Magaya, in front of her bountiful harvest of maize. She was instrumental in his life and he always had such a tender fondness for her. His father, Joshua, was a profound giver and always generous in his community. He also was a leader in the region, showing the progressive way forward.

Let me share a little background of how some of this evolved here. Ancient Ways formed a team traveling to Zimbabwe in 2019, and Carina was part of our vision. Our adventure was intended to record film, both video and photos, to help document what we had been up to since 1999. It was Nhimbe’s 20th anniversary, Ancient Ways 25th anniversary, and we were ready to celebrate!

Cosmas had visited the U.S. through Kutsinhira in Eugene in 1998 and came to our farm to meet Ancient Ways’ students. We shared many stories about his home and family. The most fascinating to me was his father being a traditional healer, since my life’s passion circles around studying spiritual and healing practices from around the world. I also learned that he was a humanitarian at heart, and so that, too, opened the doors to linking our lives in this unique way.
Cosmas was instrumental in teaching me, this American-born-and-bred student of life, everything he could about Shona customs and culture, fierce devotion to family, and how to seek diplomacy in uncompromising and difficult situations.

Visiting Zimbabwe 20 times since 2000, I shared time in his life as we worked together on behalf of Ancient Ways through Nhimbe for Progress, which we co-founded. We were engaged in family matters and business, where I spent time with him as a sibling adopted in a traditional ceremony through his father, Joshua. I also knew him as the oldest son of Joshua and Matilda, as the father of Matilda, Tsitsi, Mudavanhu and Rutendo, as the husband of his dear wife, Joyce, and as the project director of Nhimbe for Progress. 

I was not a mbira student, rather, we shared a different mission together. We explored the American and Shona cultures through each other’s eyes. We hoped to resolve, improve, and co-create wonderful things, with a vision and optimism born out of allowing and blessing “what is”, and not simply acquiescing.

His favorite recurring phrase I heard over the years was, “We are winning!” as we climbed over, around, and through the many obstacles in the savannah and concrete jungle. The mission was to uplift his people, while simultaneously creating an avenue for the western world to reach out with humanitarian assistance.

Cosmas Magaya stands out as a revered teacher to all of his students as well as a premiere performer, and has been sorely missed since his passing in 2020. We are all grateful for his gentle nature of collaboration and expansion, all blessed with his large heart!

30 Years Banner

Our 30th Year Anniversary and Local Events

by Field ReportsFundraisers

Autumn Greetings!   
It’s been a very full summer, and we have much gratitude now for all that is! We continue to celebrate our 30th year as Ancient Ways, and appreciate all that you have done to support and encourage us to reach out to our Zimbabwean neighbors through Nhimbe for Progress. Nhimbe is also in celebration of 25 years of successful determined focus!

H2O Drip for the Drought is serving the local Nhimbe families by providing them with the technology to harness what water they have and direct it with very little effort to their garden plots. Keep your eyes open for more reports (see our last blog about this here in case you missed it). We are partnering with Healing Hands International and they are generously investing in our community. For $25 you can sponsor a family’s food security.

Just checking, but I’m assuming you realize that this drought is serious! It is not just a threat to health and well-being, but also the drought has impacted the electricity available in the country. The Lake Kariba dam normally generates electricity for Zambia and Zimbabwe, but the water has run so low, sitting at 7.4% full, that it is impacting the electricity available in both countries, and so more often than usual, there are rolling blackouts.

To this end, we are working to raise more funds to assist more families with an H2O Drip for the Drought system. This Saturday September 28th, we will be available locally at the FCC Craft Fair on the southeast corner of the Corvallis Fall Festival, back side of FCC 6th and Madison, where we will be selling crafts from the villages as well as t-shirts and rocks from Africa. We are open there Saturday only from 10 to 6 pm.

Our music program is generating 6 ½ hours of music from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. to share with fair and festival goers. Check out the following schedule and put on your dancing shoes: 

  • 11:00-12 Tamuka Marimba
  • 12:15-1:15 Tamuka Marimba
  • 1:30-2:00 Mavambo Marimba
  • 2:15-3:15 Chipindura Marimba
  • 3:30-4:30  Chipindura Marimba

October 5th, find us at Silverton’s 13th Annual Sidewalk Shindig for more music from 12 to 2:30 pm by Tashinga Marimba, in front of Sadaka Realty, 300 Lewis St. Silverton.

October 12th we will be playing at the Westminster Festival of Fine Art in Salem from 11 am to 1 pm to help showcase their artisan venue. 

Thank you for however and whenever you reach out! Whether you can attend these events, simply say hey in an email or call, or make a donation, we appreciate whatever you can do to help us help them! Many blessings your way!

President's Drought Message

ZIMBABWE DROUGHT UPDATE — A Call for Help!

by Fundraisers

His Excellency President DR Emmerson Dambudzo MNANGAGWA has declared a nationwide State of Disaster due to the El Nino-induced drought. Measures will be taken by the government to mitigate against the disaster. April 3rd 2024

Summer Greetings! Hope this finds you well with a flourishing garden or fresh produce from the locals. As you may recall, Zimbabwe is in the middle of a drought. It’s actually been a constant state of affairs the last few years, and has only worsened as the crops did not come in again this year. Please see the March blog where we explain our hopes for the village’s intervention.

April 3rd, their President declared it a state of disaster, but, with little in the way of resources, not much has been done. Occasional food distributions have taken place on a hit-and-miss basis throughout the country. If you are interested in donating now, without reading further, please click here. Following is Nhimbe’s story with our progress the last couple of months.

In March we bought $4,500 worth of maize to help get the staff through the year until March of 2025. Then in the beginning of May we were blessed by a partnership with Healing Hands International (HHI) who generously donated permaculture training and seeds to the residents. They are a spiritually-based organization that doesn’t bring in the evangelical arm of their commitment to alleviate suffering, so it was a perfect match for us, as we within Ancient Ways are apolitical and secular, while being spiritually based.

It took us a few weeks to get organized and locate bulk quantities of supplies. Muda went several places to get a good deal. This bucket salesman assures us he has the right number. And then, just contemplate the transportation of the hoses, buckets and plastic hardware.

The Magaya’s kindly hosted the teacher, and one person from each of 106 families was able to attend an extremely well-designed workshop. The HHI organization has so much experience all over the world, specifically promoting food security in Zimbabwe, that everyone was absolutely delighted at the quality of teaching.

Workshop Prep

It went amazingly well, particularly considering the number of participants and the making up of the drip hose kits on the spot from all the pieces purchased. Really . . . what a relief!

They learned how to use cornstalks and manure to build the beds so that the breakdown of the plant matter will continue to sustain the growth.

Compost Building

They studied raised bed building, compost pile building, various techniques for watering crops during a drought, and how/what/when to plant. The particular drip hoses we use are 100’ long which, using a coupler, provided making two 50’ long rows, to be used on 4’ wide rows. The pre-drilled hoses have about 16” between holes. These hoses hook up to a bucket with the plastic hardware.

The next 200 drip hose units have been purchased from our emergency savings including a donation from ZCDP. We spent close to $3,900 on these drip hoses in May. Although nerve-wracking to touch the funds, I knew it was an investment we just had to make. And now seeing the pictures just makes my heart sing! Thank you for your support in this.

Irrigation and Planting
Transplanting Completion
Awarding Certificates at Workshop Completion

We fed them a meal as part of the first day. Each participant received a diploma (although this photo doesn’t show everyone) and was gifted a drip hose system after a very full two days’ work.

We have nearly 200 families yet needing this course and are hopeful that HHI will return after seeing our follow-up pics and videos. They have been so incredibly supportive to us. Muda provided them with all of what they needed to do their job well, like having several villagers bring special kinds of digging tools, and then also, he followed up with Febby, our co-director, going to many homes to see how people were doing with what they had learned. Muda then sent that documentation on to the teacher and we are waiting for a reply. Here is a photo of the garden 2 months after the workshop at the Community Center.

Rows of Growing Crops

We also have a short video to share the 2-month follow-up at the Community Center here. When Muda and Febby went to the villagers’ homes they found great results as well (click here).

This is sure a nice show of greens about which the family is very pleased.

Check out this slide show also at the various students’ homes. They took the class material and put it to work!
Villagers holding healthy plants
Home Update 2 month (6)-
Row of health plants
Irrigation System Bucket and Healthy Plants
Irrigation system
Long row of plants with irrigation piping
Man standing next to irrigation system and plants
Long row of plants with irrigation piping
Compost Pile
Man next to compost pile

The situation is dire, and Zimbabwe, as a whole, is suffering greatly due to this drought. Unless you watch BBC or read a Zimbabwean newspaper online, you may be in the dark. Of course, our US news just doesn’t carry much of a story about the situation. We are asking you to contribute to make it possible for these residents to be able to grow basics. Fruits and vegetables, although not meat and potatoes (maize actually over there), provide the foundational vitamins and minerals to fuel so many nutritional needs in our bodies. They are earnestly doing their part, and we appreciate anything you can do to help us help them. Please click here to go to the marketplace . . . whatever you can do makes a difference. Thank you so much!

We stand in continued awe of your support over the years as we remain steadfast in reaching out across the planet. Of course, it was the music that Dumisani taught which first brought me to an awareness of the plight of Zimbabwe. That, coupled with a passion to help people, has put me on this path…2024 brings 30 years as Ancient Ways and 25 years on behalf of Nhimbe for Progress. We are so grateful for your assistance, as are each of the Nhimbe residents and beyond their villages. Besides this current crisis, the ongoing programs and services bring much joy and hope to the families primarily because we are reaching their children in myriad ways – all thanks to you. Many Tender Blessings Your Way!

Best Friends Forever

Goats and Young Girls Flourish!

by Uncategorized

Thank you so much for your recent contributions toward our efforts to uplift our neighbors in Zimbabwe! There is much activity on the ground there, so I’m not sure where to start. First, let me give a brief update about the water and food situation with more to follow after this weekend.

We’ll have pictures about the maize delivery that began the beginning of March, hopefully by next week. This will include an update sharing the exciting irrigation plans, about which we continue to remain very optimistic. If you haven’t read about the drought or our last blog please click here. Your help with this undertaking is impactful! If you are in a position to help us in this work, just know that we continue to source the special drip hose plus offer a workshop to all the families who are interested. More to follow in a few days!

Besides a drought update here are a few pictures of the goats we bought for the staff volunteers in January. This was our way of saying thank you to them for all of their commitment and dedicated hours in creating this “happening place” called Nhimbe for Progress. We very much appreciate all they are doing for the community at large, so gave each staff member a goat. The best part of a goat gift is that they are all nannies, and will bring future kids for years to come. Having too many goats is a good thing. Goat meat is often needed for formal gatherings, like weddings, funerals and the like, so everyone is very appreciative. Many thanks to you!

Goat with Febby
Febby, our co-director, head of the preschool and MMC, is radiating Tatenda chaizvo (we thank you very much) as she holds her goat!
Goats with staff
Some of the staff with their nannies, feeling mighty happy.
Goat with Kenny
Kenny with his goat, looking very pleased. He is our MMC Marimba teacher and gardener as well.

As you can see, the volunteers all are feeling appreciated! We work to see that they feel recognized in various ways, because the stipend they are given is not as high as we would like. These kinds of bonuses do make a difference.

MMC Distribution

So far in 2024, thanks to your incredible assistance, we have been able to put 360 start-up kits in the hands of new girls in the area.  We are continuing to reach out to the Rukuma primary and secondary school as they are well-organized, being in a partnership with Girl Child Network in Zimbabwe.  Because of this, the teachers there are able to provide all of the services that we need to fulfill our program requirements.  We provide the start-up kits for these remote locations, and they are able to provide the meetings and follow-up. I love collaboration!

Organizing Distribution
This distribution is for the new Nhimbe for Progress girls.
Distribution to Tiny Teens
With Febby (left), the MMC lead, and Fortunate (right), the second-in-command and the voice you most often hear in the videos, the girls are given their soaking buckets and supplies, which last 3-5 years, amazingly enough. From the tiny ones still in primary to the secondary older girls, they are all very grateful!
Soap Distribution
Receiving a bar of soap each month helps the family with their priorities and keeps hygiene in the discussion. Putting soap on the grocery list can be really tough when there is not enough to eat.
Best Friends Forever
One of the best parts of contributing to the MMC program is seeing BFF (best friends forever) blossoming!
MMC Teen Care Camp Just Last Week

As the school closed for the term, we snagged 120 Nhimbe girls and let them slide right into their fall holiday with us for a few days.  We hadn’t had a camp since 2019 and it felt sooooo good!  Thank you for your tremendous support reaching across the globe to these maturing girls. They, like many girls around the planet, struggle to have appropriate monthly care supplies and essential guidance from mentors during puberty.  We are so grateful for your help making it possible to provide the girls with our MMC Teen Care Camp opportunity!

Arriving
As is traditional, the girls carry their belongings on top of their heads. They also bring firewood as able, contributing to the costs of the camp.
Arriving

Bearing modern backpacks and their MMC bucket, these girls are ready to chill for the weekend.  Actually, they remain very active but it’s fun-filled with non-routine activities, plus they get to make so many friends.  Here is a video to open a nice window to being there.

Check In
And the final step to be fully present is to turn in your parents’ release form for the slumber party.
Firebuilder
Getting ready for the evening activities…how exciting! This girl has been to more than one camp and has earned her place as Firestarter.
food prep (2)
food prep (1)
food serving (2)
food yes (2)
food yes (3)
food yes (4)

Three meals a day with beans, rice, chicken, sadza, cabbage, tomatoes, tea with milk, etc. on our grocery list . . . these girls are eating well . . . for some, these are likely the best meals they have had in a while!

This song the girls are sharing is reminiscent of the Girl Guides International roots, which supported our beginnings.  They practice marching and salutes as part of the program. Here they are heading out to the forest.

Hiking

The hiking is always a favorite part of the camp.  Think about it…how often is it safe anywhere in the world for a girl to go off into the forest?  But with the group it is totally fine and very empowering.  They really enjoy climbing trees.

Group

This is most of the tribe . . . seems like a huge commitment on the part of the volunteers who keep things moving so well!

Group
Even though some have their eyes closed, I love how they are being silly and clearly relaxed.
Service
Part of being in MMC is learning about service to the community. Here they have collected small branches to take to the elderly.
Service

This ambuya (grandmother) is getting some assistance at her home.  I’m fairly certain she is blind as she looks very familiar to me.  Without relatives, the elderly rely on community support to get help with the basics. Kindness is often shown to those in need.  There but for the Grace of God, go I.

Another service opportunity is when they sew dolls or puppets for the preschool children. At camp they get to work on learning how to sew.  This is not only practical for homemaking, but very specifically they can learn how to make the reusable washable supplies we provide.  When they move on in their lives from the MMC program they can be equipped with skills.

Now we get to the part of this story with lots more music . . . hoping you have hung in there to the end and can listen in to their incredibly innate vocal gifts. 

Let’s start with the dance-chant.

The Magaya’s home yard is not just swept but they also give him a special song of thanks denoted by the particular way they are clapping.

Here is a very endearing thank you speech to the donors by this young girl.  They practice public speaking to be able to remain confident and clear.

This thank you video is in Shona.  Listen to see if there are any English words coming through.  The word ‘donor’ is not a Shona word.  This means that in the traditional language the word doesn’t exist.  This is true for any words that were not part of the original language. For example, they use the English word for car or truck, popping it into their sentences.  There was basically no English language in the country a mere 140 or so years ago when they were first colonized.

You marimba enthusiasts will enjoy this one, as well as this familiar traditional song. These are our MMC girls and the lessons you have provided! 

This feels like a very unstructured “partaaay” song.

Here the girls are heading home after a great couple of days and nights together.  This has been a wonderful homecoming to camp again after no such opportunity since 2019.  Thank you so much for your continued assistance!

If you have any questions about the programs we are providing, please don’t hesitate to ask!  We love talking with you, so always feel free to reach out!

We are profoundly grateful for those who can budget something to step into this particular way of reaching our Zimbabwean neighbors. Check out the options here and choose your preferred programs.

If you can consider a regular monthly contribution, either directly through your bank, or a recurring donation here on the website, it can make a huge difference to the lives of these people.  Thank you for whatever you can do!

Children

An A-maizing Opportunity to Join Us!

by Uncategorized

With the rain here in the Northwest its hard to imagine a drought in Zimbabwe, but it is pushing hard on the residents to put food on the table. Besides the lack of maize, produce, and grains, a scarcity of rains and rising heat in many parts of Zimbabwe (including Hwange National Park, closer to Victoria Falls) has caused a crisis for elephants and other animals. I’m not including any of those links here because it’s just too graphic and heartbreaking.

Our villagers are seeing the challenges, and are currently asking for our help. El Niño is receiving credit for this lack of rainfall since October, reducing maize harvests country-wide by half. Here are some general links from last week:

• AP NEWS
• VOA NEWS and
• SABC NEWS video in a region that looks much like Mhondoro landscape

To translate this to Mhondoro circumstances and our Nhimbe preschool and staff, we look at the cost of a bucket of maize. A bucket has been $6 and suddenly it became $12, and that is expected only to rise over the next year. This is devastating to the average resident. Reaching all of the Nhimbe villagers is outside of our reach, at least for the moment, but addressing the needs of the preschool and staff is within reason.

Our preschool uses 3 buckets a week to feed the 75 or so young ones. We had pre-purchased enough maize in December to get us through last week, and now suddenly we are in an urgent situation to find and buy maize to get us through March of 2025. We are hoping to get a reduced rate of $10/bucket because of buying by the ton. If successful, we will be overbudget, but happily able to feed the children.

Listen in to the children chillin’ on the porch.

124 buckets for the 13 months should have been $744 and instead would be $1,488. This is only the maize, which is the staple. The prices of other foods that go into the children’s varied preschool diet are also on a steep incline.An average family consumes 3 buckets a month. Our initial goal is to buy the 13 staff members 2 of those 3 buckets at a bulk discount so that they can purchase from Nhimbe over the next 13 months at a reduced rate. We are offering the leverage of the bulk purchasing power to them as a group. During the last 2 drought years we purchased thestaff maize, and you helped us cover the bill completely! This is a generous-sounding proposition to tackle for another year.

Once we completely secure the maize it will be 8 tons in 50 kg bags, to store at the Community Center (which is why we have guards) costing $4,800 for both the preschool and staff. Right now, we are waiting to hear confirmation that the money sent last week is finding the seller well-equipped to help us answer the concern.

Children

If you are able to assist us in speaking to the needs of the preschool students and staff, everyone would be tremendously grateful. Besides offsetting the preschool purchasing (only $500 more costly than expected if we buy in bulk) you have the power to help the staff. With your donations:

  • we could eliminate the need for them to purchase the maize at all, if entirely gifted
  • they buy at an even more reduced rate
  • or they could be given some maize intermittently.

We are also researching whether we can locate some of the special drip hoses to set up more growing power for all concerned. Maize growing season is next November and we pray for rains. These drip hoses would be for produce of various sorts to help carry them through these hard times using their wells. For sure, they can grow more greens than currently is plausible. They are heading into winter, which will be cold and dry.

Whatever we might be able to do can carry a big impact. A drought on the edge of famine hits deep. Besides just plain going hungry, and the complete discomfort of that, malnutrition is actually a leading cause of death, and also how various diseases get a foothold in the first place.

The government isn’t set up to be able to reach the population with adequate help. The aid workers visited a month or so ago, requiring everyone to attend the meeting, and gave 4 people from each village something to take home (like beans and oil). 4 people?! A small village like Magaya’s used to be 30 families, and 130 families made up the largest village in Nhimbe, to give you an idea of what that means. Clearly the government is also feeling this pinch, and is quite overwhelmed.

Check out how well they are reciting!

Thank you so much for your continued support! We are doing our best to walk this path conservatively since the need is so great, and it’s only the beginning…we need to get through to 2025 harvest time next April when green mealies (green maize) can be roasted and enjoyed. Please always feel free to call or write with questions. 

Preschool Grads 2023 proud

Warm Wishes for Your New Year!

by Uncategorized

Thank you for your continuing support helping us here at Ancient Ways to help them, the residents around and about Nhimbe for Progress in Mhondoro, Zimbabwe. We are headed into our 30th year as Ancient Ways and our 25th year sponsoring Nhimbe for Progress. We offer a rich variety of opportunities and resources to the local village residents, which is all due to you and your commitment to assist us in achieving our goals.

If you haven’t seen the annual report and letters, please make time to read about the latest from the villages. Your tax-deductible donations can still be sent until the 31st. If you aren’t affected by the IRS regulations, your contribution is welcome any time! We have a big year ahead and are so grateful for all the ways you do support our work. Please check out our website loaded with options.

The first dedicated Nhimbe program was sponsoring children’s tuition – 21 students on my first trip in 2000 and now 25 years later, we have sponsored thousands of children to attend school.

The first dedicated Nhimbe building program was to build a preschool and operate it in such a way that no child will ever be turned away. There it sat for the longest time without windows or a roof, but just a great desire to bring forth good things. It was Cosmas’ mom, Matilda, who would make the mahewu every night for the morning’s hearty breakfast drink that got the creche program off the ground. She was a treasure.

For over 20 years, the daily meal, with expanded horizons in learning opportunities, plus clean clear abundant water to name a few, all benefit these children directly and the entire community indirectly. Here is a short video giving a little perspective coming out of graduating another 25 children in December of 2023.

Preschool Grads 2023 proud

Aunties, maybe siblings, parents, and teachers are all present and accounted for to make this a big day.  Here is a great example of all of how the graduation is the child’s first step into the academic world, wearing their graduation gown and receiving their diploma.

Preschool Grads 2023 attendees

We build a special temporary tent to house the visitors on this big day. School officials and the councilors for the local government are both in attendance. In addition to the child and her father, we see Simon, who is Cosmas’ “cousin brother” and the headman of the Magaya Village, plus Febby Shava, who is our preschool head as well as one of the preschool teachers.

Preschool Grads 2023 food
Preschool Grads 2023 prizes

The first picture above shares most everything except the chickens that were purchased for the rest of the meal. I see rice, maputi, which is puffed maize snack much like popcorn, a tangerine type of oranges, and an orange soda drink to supplement the main dish. We aren’t lavish with the graduation ceremony, but spent $100 for all of the diplomas, the prizes, and the food for all attendees. The other picture shows the prizes that are given to the graduates. The main obvious gift is what is called an exercise book, which is a standard tablet that is a requirement for going to school.

Normally our preschoolers are so stoic in their graduation picture but this one we caught them relaxed! We look forward to their continued education and success.

Here is wishing you a relaxing and prosperous new year! Thank you again for your continued support – please see our 2024 Focus page that summarizes how you do make the difference! Tatenda Chaizvo! We thank you very much!

Kutsinhira - Ziriwo

HOLIDAYS HELLO!

by Project Updates

Can You Make Time to Check-in Here?

Warm winter greetings where ever you are! We know that you are busy, and the world appears to be moving too fast to take it all in. Please, if you can, just take a minute to see what’s inside, and if now isn’t the moment, mark this as important, and come back later? Thanks much! 

This blog is really all about you. Your telling of our story is a deep breath, and without it, we can’t really penetrate the illusion that appears to be in the driver’s seat. Sorry if this sounds too far out, but to hold a vision and breathe life into it, we have to suspend our disbelief, which, when it’s hammering us with physical limitations, one can slide into being less than optimistic. Your time, your attention, your contributions all make the difference.

We continue to feel enormous gratitude for your ongoing support in so many ways…your encouraging words, your prayers, and of course, your donations are all positively uplifting! This annual opportunity is when we get to share what makes us tick, and we appreciate however you get involved! HERE is our focus for 2024:

We are super excited to watch the programs and services blossom in Mhondoro. We know that after traveling this road with our partners in rural Zimbabwe for 25 years, we have experienced what they face day to day, and tough times may be in front of us. But, even with everything going on in the world, we all continue to remain strong and resilient in spirit. Check out www.ancient-ways.org for more details. And, always feel free to call or email. We thank you very much – Tatenda Chaizvo!

P.S. Do you have a small amount of time to volunteer? Are you interested in working with photos and have a little tech skill? Please reach out if so! We have a special job looking for you.

HeartWorks ElderCare Quilt

HEARTWORKS ELDERCARE

by Project Updates

The Ambuyas Quilt Project

Late fall greetings from Lacomb! Freezing temps have just locked it in that we are indeed heading into winter. It’s time to warm up by the fire and hunker down!

 

We so appreciate all the ways you have been supportive of our vision and accomplishments this year. We continue to work with the community on the ground in a variety of ways, and this year had a new blossom on the vine, further catering to the elderly.

You may remember how Nhimbe was born with a broad and deep sweep – the very first long list of concerns being made when Cosmas and I met in 1999 in Eugene, the day that Dumi passed on, with Dumi being my first Zimbabwean teacher and stirring my passion for the music. This synchronicity then passed the baton. From there, many seeds have sprouted creating what we now know as Nhimbe for Progress.

Fast-forward 20-plus years, with your help in 2020, just before Cosmas passed on, we managed to provide abundant hygienic water access for our Community Center programs, allowing us to grow a better garden among other things, and empowering us to give the elderly their traditional greens staple on a continual basis. This was the beginning of providing the elderly with specific direct assistance, and in my mind the start of HeartWorks ElderCare.

This year, a local quilt artist, Elle Garrison, offered to donate many incredible quilt tops to reach the elderly in our rural Mhondoro area. Why would this sound attractive with all the other needs pushing on our door?

  • Did you know that Zimbabwe gets chilly in the winter, averaging 50 degrees, and rarely below 42. Many years ago, my June trip to the villages found me in the cold without relief…just couldn’t get warmed up for an entire month plus. Rural living in a hut is much like camping, but imagine limited campfire access for the duration.
  • Did you know that many people all over Zimbabwe, sleep on the ground? Sometimes their hut has cement but also with poorer folks, they can also be sleeping directly on the earth.
  • The elderly particularly feel the cold to the bone, and even though they may have grown up this way, that doesn’t soften the reality.
QUILT TOPS
QUILT TOPS
QUILT TOPS
QUILT TOPS
QUILT TOPS
QUILT TOPS

Many pieces of the puzzle on this side of the planet were solved and obstacles overcome to be able to successfully put together six comforters for the elderly. We worked together for several months. One grandmother (ambuya) in each village was honored with this incredible gift, recognizing her important place in the community. These women were chosen by the headmen as the neediest, for instance, either because they have no one, i.e., no children that help them out, or they have health issues prohibiting them getting appropriate help.

Our Nhimbe project director, Febby Shava, called each of the women to come to the Community Center, and they had no idea why they were summoned. One of them has a heart condition and couldn’t make the walk that day, and another was an hour late arriving as she was resting along the way due to asthma. They were so very surprised, amazed, and simply touched by the special gift. This story will be told for many years to many. Please check out the slide show at the bottom where information about each is shared, e.g. their name, age, village.

DElighted

2023 has marked a very sweet and memorable time in Nhimbe’s history. Friends and family contributions to accomplish these comforters were donated earlier in the year with specificity so as to not take anything away from our preschoolers, the MMC maturing girls, or our W.A.T.E.R! programs. These ordinary ambuyas felt especially honored and share their gratitude in these videos.

Here they are saying thank you with the traditional clap (Makombere).

Here they are singing thank you good work!

Here they are with dance and song! She is very delighted.

Here they are packing up to go home. This shows the traditional carrying technique most often used for babies, but here she will carry her comforter home on her back.

Here is the one ambuya who couldn’t attend and returned on a different day (in her Sunday best).

Start to Finish
FROM START TO FINISH

We can all imagine the difficulties of aging. We found the entire process very dear. Here for your consideration are our only obstacles to solve for the future quilts:

  • Postage to ship a comforter was around $45 each, by shipping all six together.
    The merino wool batting was $33, to give the best warmth.
  • Quilting is being donated for only $25 – we concluded that although the first batch was tied comforters, for the longevity with the wool batting we decided that quilting would last better.
  • This totals $103 … are you able to fit some or all of this amount in your budget?

All of the other time and materials are being freely given. Could you contribute towards bringing comfort to the ambuyas in 2024? Six pieced-tops are literally already made for next year and ready to be framed and quilted! When our US team begins early, it ensures that the quilts will arrive before June’s winter. We ideally are shipping 1st of May.

Lucia Muramba Mutombo (74 yr, Muriritirwa village) & Florence Rueben (75 yr, Magaya village)
Lucia Muramba Mutombo (74 yr, Muriritirwa village) & Florence Rueben (75 yr, Magaya village)
Anna Mukuze (83 yr, Muchiriri village)
Anna Mukuze (83 yr, Muchiriri village)
Nomusa Makwavarara (64 yr, Zinyengere village)
Nomusa Makwavarara (64 yr, Zinyengere village)
Mary Mapininga (80 yr, Zaranyika village)
Mary Mapininga (80 yr, Zaranyika village)
Dori Zhuaki (89 yr. Gore)
Dori Zhuaki (89 yr. Gore)

Does this idea of reaching out to the elderly in the Nhimbe villages touch you? I recall in 2018 there were three elderly residents who passed on during my visit. Each was over 100 years old! We all have, or have had, elderly in our lives to whom we would like to offer comfort. Here is a modest avenue!

Let us know what you think and whether you are able to add something to the proverbial pot to bring more healing and kindness to someone you will likely never meet. Click here, and choose HEARTWORKS ELDERCARE, so that we will direct it specifically to the care of our Nhimbe for Progress elderly, making their later years feel more acknowledged and gentler.

Thank you for considering this venture! Tatenda Chaizvo!