book-bl

When The River Wakes Up & Other Newsworthy Events!

by Project Updates

Fall Greetings – Hoping you are having a wonderful harvest in both your goals for this year, as well as in your garden, orchard, freezer, or what-have-you. Here, it is THE time to feel squirrel impulses and get ready for winter…food, firewood, and pulling out the first of the scarves. 

We have an exciting addition to our Marketplace! Alyson Quinn has written a delightful book: When the River Wakes Up, and has donated copies to Ancient Ways. If you have a heart for Zimbabwean culture and history, it’s a must read. Are you part of a book club, or could otherwise bring this book from our Marketplace into your life or local community? The soft cover is a great way to share a good read from a female author, offering some depth in perspective, while at the same time, supporting our work there. We are covering the shipping!

Malídoma Patríce Somé, PhD, well-known traditional elder and author, recommends this book on Alyson’s website. As does our own Joyce O’Halloran, retired math professor, llama-raiser extraordinaire, and serious long-time Zimfest volunteer: “When the River Wakes Up opens with a child’s-eye view of the wonders of nature along with confusion stemming from racism in 1970’s Zimbabwe. With a beautifully flowing narrative, Alyson Quinn paints vivid pictures of family dynamics, African animals, and Zimbabwe’s transition to independence. We are guided through the maturation of a young girl who is coming to terms with the clash between Western beliefs and African mysticism.” 

Besides making this book available, we are bringing the village crafts to the First Christian Church (FCC) Craft Fair in Corvallis, as well as more African rocks. Much of our inventory left the warehouse for Zimfest and didn’t return but we still have some incredible hand-made items to share. The FCC Craft Fair borders the Fall Festival and runs over the same weekend of September 23rd-24th, with the FCC organizational proceeds going to support non-profits doing great work in the community. The Ancient Ways booth will be there only for 9-23.

Additionally on that Saturday, we look forward to bringing you the beautiful and uplifting music from Zimbabwe on marimba. Tamuka will be performing from 10 to 11 am and again from 11:45 to 12:15 at FCC, while the main stage for the Fall Festival is quiet. Our beginning group Mavambo, which started in June, will be playing in the last set – this is their first performance with Ancient Ways and we are all super excited!

Local music opportunities – Please come and say hello!

  • September 23rd, 10-11 and 11:45-12:15 pm FCC Craft Fair, 6th and Madison in Corvallis
  • September 30th, 10 – 12pm, Scio Saturday Market’s last call, at the fairgrounds
  • October 7th, noon to 2 pm, Silverton Sidewalk Shindig – new location in this annual event where all of Silverton is engaged in diverse music genres all day and night, in a variety of venues TBA
  • New beginning classes are starting Mondays at 5:30-7 pm at FCC, with existing beginning marimba on Tuesdays, same time. Call with questions!
  • An opening for an experienced player with Tamuka is a possibility. Reach out if you are interested.

Thank you for your continued support and interest in our work in Zimbabwe. Over 1,500 villagers and historically thousands of children (this year alone well over 500 to include MMC and preschool) have been given opportunities that have otherwise not existed before. We are pleased to be part of helping to uplift the rural residents, and giving these particular kids more resources and new horizons!

In much appreciation and baskets of gratitude!

Mudavanhu “Muda” Magaya Picture

Exciting Local Upcoming Events!

by All

Thank you ever so much for your very immediate response to our focused initiative keeping the Nhimbe Community Center in good repair! There is enormous gratitude here, and there, for your continued support. We soo appreciate it. Now, its winter there and extremely cold this year. Nhimbe is well prepared for the next summer rains and pray they are plenty for the crops and not the torrential type.

Locally, the next two weeks are packed with a Zimbabwean focus. Over the last two weeks we have played three times in our communities, from Scio to Silverton and Philomath, sharing this incredibly uplifting music and are now heading into three more performances in the next two weeks, and more, more, more of this spirit with many people from everywhere coming to Corvallis to share in the genre!

  • This Saturday night, Tamuka Marimba and Chipindura Marimba are playing the evening until dark at Makindu’s fundraiser, a non-profit founded in Brownsville (much like Scio/Lacomb where Ancient Ways was born). They work in Kenya and I originally heard of them the same year that Cosmas first came to the states, and now destiny has put our lives together July 29th.
  • Sunday the 30th from 6 pm to 8 pm, you will find Diki Diki Marimba playing at Common Fields in Corvallis, a great food truck pod, and a nice fresh space to enjoy family and friends. Come join us!
  • Zimfest, stirs the air using OSU in Corvallis as its base this year August 3rd through 6th. What a delight to have this festival locally! Do put it on your schedule to share in the Zimbabwean music and dance performances, workshops both about culture and music (for all levels of interest and experience), as well as a marketplace where the music is free all day. Evening concerts are on a donation basis and are outside this year! You will find Ancient Ways as a vendor with hand-crafts from the villages, as well as offering amazing rocks, minerals, crystals and stones (what’s the difference?) in collaboration with Yes, Africa Rocks!
  • Additionally, Mudavanhu (Muda) Magaya, Cosmas’ son and Nhimbe’s co-director, has come to the US on tour visiting a few universities into November and will be teaching and playing at Zimfest. Come see him on Saturday night’s stage!
  • August 11th is a venue for the elderly, where Tashinga Marimba will be part of an annual summer barbeque for Regency Park Place. Not likely that you will attend but if you are looking for care for parents or friends, always ask them about their entertainment! We really enjoy our elderly audiences and play many of these kinds of opportunities.
  • Last but not least, Muda will be offering music along with Diki Diki, and giving a presentation at the First Christian Church on August 12th at 3 pm. This will be an opportunity to hear him share about the Shona culture and his experiences living in Zimbabwe as both a city dweller and living in the rural area, which is the norm for the modern Zimbabwean staying in touch with their roots. He has been running Nhimbe since his father passed away due to Covid in 2020. Please call with questions.
  • While here at the farm after Zimfest, Muda is also available if you are interested in learning mbira, the authentic instrument. An mbira is provided during the lesson to check it out. This would be from August 7th to 14th. After that he will be in Eugene at Kutsinhira if that works better for your schedule.

As always, we appreciate your interest and enthusiasm, bringing awareness to Zimbabwe however you are inclined. Thank you for sharing our story!

Please make sure and introduce yourself when you see us anywhere…we look forward to meeting in person!

Demolished Hut

Your Help is Needed Now!

by All

Summer Greetings!

This has been an enormously expansive year for our music programs here, and an extremely challenging time to continue our Nhimbe for Progress services in Zimbabwe. It has taken me months to get my brain around how to share the details, as we were hit every couple of weeks with another problem. Some of these hardships are the same as we face here, like increased cost of gas and goods, for example, without wage increases, so you are well aware.

To keep the school open, repairs weigh-in heavy. Much of this maintenance has been a combined result of incredibly difficult weather along with being the first buildings from 2002 forward. Let’s start with the kitchen where the daily meals are prepared.

Roof Partial

Maybe you remember from our year-end letter that the government regulations have tightened, and they do not want the children to use the large hut with divided rooms, but to have separate classrooms for each age. Our solution was to move the library into the large hut, giving the new books expansion we were planning, and use one of the huts we had built for a library, as one classroom. And then, use the old original library, a rather smallish building, as the 3rd classroom. That seems to have resolved the regulatory issue, but suddenly the roof began leaking as the weather was pounding…see the upper area on the top right…way too much water coming in for books or students!

That all seemed workable but there was a hole at the top of the large hut (divided rooms for the new library), also letting in far too much water. I know, you are thinking “why not use asbestos tiles, instead all of this thatch?” ha.

THAT BRIGHT WHITE AREA IS SUNLIGHT!

Well, if that wasn’t enough, there was a toilet needing constructed. No pictures, but it needs to be replaced by the traditional Blair-style rural pit toilet. Muda and I have discussed other options, but nothing yet is possible.

All of this building maintenance totaled almost $3,600, which when unexpected, has hit our annual budget hard. Normally we have little issues here and there, but this was torrential. Additionally, when we proceeded to paint the tops of the wells, we found 60 of them (out of the 156) which were seriously damaged and couldn’t be painted, so that added in for another $1,000 plus.

On a very positive note, we have not dropped a beat in providing services! With an ever-increasing demand for the Mhandara Monthly Care program (MMC), over 435 girls have received supplies this year. The local Nhimbe girls receive music instruction, as well as meeting weekly for sewing and teen guidance, and everyone, particularly the parents and community leaders, are so very grateful.

Children with Green Baskets
Adults

Magaya family hosted many guests from all over the world who were able to visit our Center!

Additionally, we are keeping the Nhimbe preschool in full operation despite the major repair issues. Over 75 children gather to be fed, educated, and nurtured at the Community Center during all school sessions January to December. To top all of this off, we were able to build 6 additional wells this year (please, be patient about receiving your pictures – just know that everyone is enjoying the fruits of your donation for their daily water!)

We are hoping that you have something in your budget to contribute to our programs during this particularly challenging time of raising over $4,600. Hopefully you can see how it’s been difficult to put words to the onslaught of reports … I don’t want to be a doom and gloom announcer as it takes everything in our power to stay in a positive vibe during the changes on our planet. Here is to staying optimistic, on the front edge of the beat, and holding a vision of everyone having the basics!

We will be at Zimfest sharing what we have, August 3rd through 6th in Corvallis at OSU, and we hope to see you there…buying an item or two certainly makes a difference to our fundraising as well! Days and nights of music as well as classes, all including many Zimbabweans who have been able to get their visas. Please come say hello!

Thank you for your continued support in handling these extreme circumstances! For us, that $4.6k is a chunk o’ change. The funding to accomplish all of this is rooted in your generosity! We also do our best to raise money for the Zimbabwe programs by teaching the music here, and performing with three different ensembles around the mid-valley, for public and private events… check out the venues. We do have new beginning classes in Corvallis now, as well as for our ongoing evolving groups since 1993. If you are interested in learning to play, or have an opportunity for us to share the music, please reach out!

We appreciate all that you are, and all that you do! Thank you for joining with us in helping our Zimbabwean neighbors during this time! 

Mother's Day Picture

Upcoming Music Opportunities!

by All

Late spring Greetings!

Is this for real? It’s been extra chilly this spring, so plants have been hiding out inside and going into the earth and the deck pots quite late, but now this weekend’s temps are going into the 80’s and 90’s, of all things!

UPCOMING PERFORMANCES in MAY

The incredible weather is coinciding with our annual pilgrimage to the Thyme Garden, just east of Alsea on Sunday May 14th. Here they host a fantastic event in their unique nursery venue surrounded by old growth, on behalf of Mother’s everywhere. On both Saturday and Sunday, vendors from all over the west coast share their wares, complemented by a variety of musicians, with their own exquisite Thyme Garden cuisine tailored for all attendees. The nursery is open! Both of our Ancient Ways groups are playing on this sunny Sunday…please join us! 

• Chipindura Marimba – 11:30 to 1 pm
• Break – Come by to say hello!
• Tamuka Marimba – 2:30 to 4 pm

Also, in May on the 27th, Tamuka Marimba is playing at the Scio Saturday Market, where they bring real food and crafts to the local scene from this very small rural community (under 1,000 people) founded in 1860 and still thriving. We will play from 10 to noon as we share the uplifting music from Zimbabwe…see you there!

If you can’t make either of these May opportunities, do check out our calendar for additional performances as new ones are added regularly.

UPCOMING MARIMBA CLASSES IN CORVALLIS

Our unique approach to sharing the music from Zimbabwe, both traditional and contemporary, as well as original tunes, has an opportunity to expand in Corvallis. Starting in June, new beginning groups will be happening on Monday and Tuesday evenings, as well as our regular Tuesday classes for intermediate and experienced players.

If you have ever wanted to explore this delightful instrument within the context of the Shona music from Zimbabwe, now is the time! Reach out to us by email or phone!

ZIMFEST IN CORVALLIS

An extra plus in 2023 is the Zimbabwe Music Festival making its way to Corvallis August 3rd through 6th . . . please check out the Zimfest site. Amazing performances, many selections of classes/workshops and many vendors with everything from Africa. We will be there for the 3 days sharing our village crafts, CDs, as well as Africa Rocks!, a collaboration between Ancient Ways and Oregon Mineral and Mercantile. This is a great way to share your love for Zimbabwe!

Do reach out and let us know when you attend any of these events so we can speak face-to-face…too often with the cyber world front-and-center, a digital version of you is in front of me, and I would love to see you up-close-and-personal! I am enormously grateful for the way technology allows you to donate simply (here and here) as well as text, email and phone, but know I also genuinely treasure the hands-on version!

Enjoy this weather . . . hope to see you soon! Tatenda Chaizvo! 

Picture of girls

2023 Mhandara Monthly Care Continues Successfully!

by Project UpdatesYouth Well Being

Our Mhandara Monthly Care (MMC) program continues with great success, as a direct result from your support! We already have 267 girls on the wait list for 2023. So far, we have only connected with our nearby Nhimbe girls and three other schools (Rukuma primary and Gavaza primary and secondary). With your help we can further reach the girls at Makaure and Nyamashesha at a minimum. Let me share our process a bit, so you can see for yourself how your donation makes a huge difference! (Here is more detailed information.)

The Nhimbe for Progress MMC girls were the first to be established, as an outcome of our early efforts with the Youth Well Being camps. That is where we first learned in 2010 that some parents couldn’t afford underwear for their girl children so we started “Underwear for Over There”, and then at the next camp we found many girls were missing school and extra-curricular activities because of inadequate monthly care supplies. They were also lacking the nurturing of the traditional tete or auntie, due to the deaths of many women of that generation, as well as land redistribution encouraging families to move from their rural homes. All of this was the birth of what we know as MMC. Every girl deserves these basics! Do you agree?

Here a Nhimbe group is receiving some monthly soap as part of January services. Soap is an added expense for a family already struggling to put food on the table, make uniforms and pay school fees. The second girl in on the left is a joker…has her foot on her friend’s, who is giving her a knowing glance.

Picture of girls
Picture of girls

We have both new girls just beginning to blossom, and those that have been there for years. These four girls above are brand new to the program.

We have about 20 girls who received their first start-up kits in 2018 who are just now receiving a second start-up kit. The longevity nature of these re-useable supplies is unexpected. We felt that 3 years was about the normal life, but surprisingly they have lasted longer.

The Nhimbe girls continue to study marimba on Friday afternoons. Some girls play, dance, hosho, sing and drum, while others are studying sewing, or going to our great Nhimbe library, for example.

Our goal is to empower the girls to play, rather than encourage timidity like in the co-ed classes…seems like they are doing great – don’t see any shyness! Anyone who has taken marimba knows that class lessons may mean playing the same song over and over again, although, each segment has something special to learn and share. By the end there is a new hosho player (the rattles), for example. In all cases, the preschoolers who attend, because they are tagging along with staff moms or siblings, are just delightful, learning through immersion! Here is a video link of a recent class.

The rest of the satellite schools we call the Hombe Program, meaning everyone else non-Nhimbe. We talked with the headmastser:

Here in this video the Rukuma headmaster shares his gratitude.

I am Mr Shangwa, the headmaster of Rukuma primary school. Though today I did come in casual because I had another thing, another project, to do with the parents. That is why I am casually dressed. I really appreciate the program extended to this school, being a very much disadvantaged school. Appreciate though the gifts that I am getting, we are receiving, from Nhimbe for Progress being managed by Mr. Magaya. Mr. Magaya is really helping the school and assisting the disadvantaged people in the area. I also appreciate the hand being given by the donors from outside Zimbabwe. Whatever they are giving us is being fully utilized, and given directly to the disadvantaged child, children. Please would you keep it up because the assistance is really being appreciated by the poor. Thank you very much.

Picture of building
This is at Rukuma. They hand sickle the grass to keep things reasonably mowed.

In this video, the headmaster also shows us the condition of their preschool buildings, which have been in this sad state for around 5 years. With only poor parents being served, the repairs do not get done. We are so grateful for you being benefactors of our Nhimbe preschool saving them from the Rukuma fate! We’ve seen our share of inclement weather and other disruptive issues. Rukuma is a primary school going from preschool up to grade 8.

Muda taxis Febby and Fortunate, our main leaders and also preschool teachers, to each satellite school to make our program approach practical, since it’s quite a distance to walk easily. They then share on the grass with the new girls who are now ready for MMC. The female teachers, who you can see sitting at the picnic table, support the girls on a routine basis. Notice the school building’s broken windows, which is commonplace in rural Zimbabwe.

Teaching Class Picture

We also have been able to provide MMC to the Gavaza school again this year. The headmistress takes care of a primary and secondary school and shares her appreciation here in this video.

My name is Victoria Muchenje. I am the head of the Gavaza primary school, in Chegutu District, Mashonaland Province, in Zimbabwe. I would like to appreciate the gesture being taken by Nhimbe for Progress and our partners in America, especially in uplifting the lives of the girl child in disadvantaged communities including our school, which if they could continue doing that, and even more. To our partners, please do not tire! Keep on giving us a hand. We do appreciate it. May God bless you. Thank you very much.

She points out to our team that the government no longer provides any support for the school and so the parents are required to fundraise for everything. She also explains that the girls are missing valuable class time due to a lack of needed monthly care supplies. The school staff, the parents, and the children are all so very grateful for MMC. Please donate here – any amount will help the health and wellbeing of our maturing girls!

First, the secondary and primary girls are given the outline of the program before registering in this video.

In this video the girls are then registered, taking care that they have not received supplies previously.

Singing is one of the many ways they introduce the new girls into the program. Check this singing out!

The focus of the day becomes the distribution of the MMC bundle, which gets put together in a great package including the re-useable washable supplies, a soaking bucket, giant sealable baggie (these were nearly impossible to get when we first started a few years ago), and a sewing kit for learning how to make a purse. The older girls are called upon to help.

Picture of girls

In the following picture I love the two girls in the center sharing a lovely relaxed countenance during this event…they look like best buddies!

Picture of girls

Febbie continues to explain about their start-up kit and what they should find in it, both content and quantity in this next video.

We are super proud of our Nhimbe leaders, Febbie, Fortunate and Muda, as well as our manufacturing arm of the team, for making MMC a reality, and making it possible for us to reach out to the Hombe schools with the help of the local teachers. It takes many pieces of the puzzle for this to succeed. It feels like the parents, teachers and girls are all passionate about this work and helping it to flourish!

Thank you ever so much for your continued support and encouragement. Please consider a contribution of any amount here….whatever you can do makes a difference!

Picture of Febby smiling

Welcoming 2023 with Much Appreciation!

by Project Updates

There is much gratitude we share in this post…thank you ever so much for your ongoing support! We can’t do it without you. Those who have sent the funds that you want to earmark for one or more of our programs have come through. You have made our planning for 2023 a workable reality. There are still some areas that are underfunded, so if you haven’t made time to contribute, please (click here) do so today, or here to make a recurring donation of any amount! The Marketplace continues as a happening venue as well . . . check it out here!

All of the efforts, on both sides of the world, to keep Nhimbe a live, thriving, organism with vital programs and services, are fortunately resilient. We continue to adapt to the ever-changing landscape in Zimbabwe, as well as the economic hardships that the people of our nation face. We, in Ancient Ways, are a testament to longevity and have tremendous capacity for building a strong and creative infrastructure with people, where there is none in the way of expected services.

The lack of electricity, toxic water sources, impossible internet connections, and broken roads are just part of a way of life, and in the midst of that, Nhimbe continues to flourish with its own identity rooted in success. As Cosmas used to say “We are winning!” in the ever-uphill battle to create progress.

The tumultuous and nearly deafening normalcy of challenges would frustrate the average American citizen to beyond their limits.  Even for someone like me who loves to camp without amenities, and has traveled there many times, it’s hard to imagine that the terrain doesn’t really change much, but only in small incremental ways.  Because some things improve, we can, but shouldn’t, get our hopes up about other things. Our most recent difficulties in communication have topped the list.

VOLUNTEER BONUSES

What a joy it was to give the volunteer staff some special acknowledgement for the job well done!  I have never seen Febby Shava, our co-director, and head of the preschool and MMC, smile with such full-on unencumbered radiance.  She is often needing to run everything, so taking a minute to relax and receive, was really a great thing.  As I shared in the December blog and letter (click here in case you missed it), she was elated to think that anyone even noticed.  Here she receives the plaque, scarf and a special monetary bonus for running the preschool for the last 20 years.

PICTURE OF FEBBY

The team was brought to her home to be able to deliver her goat, like all the volunteers received, where we see her in front of her traditional hut.

PICTURE OF HUT AND GOAT

She shared the story of working for quite some time for Nhimbe to save enough to build this four-cornered building, where she now houses her kitchen and new sleeping quarters. The metal on the left side of the photo is an old-style corn crib for her maize with a new twist of using galvanized corrugated sheets.

PICTURE OF 4-CORNERED BUILDING

The flat slab with bricks in front of the maize field was a spare bedroom taken down by some of the last inclement weather. She has yet to rebuild it. That maize is certainly looking great and will produce quite a harvest, as long as the rains continue. I’m amazed that this woman has time to think about being a farmer, in addition to everything else she does! Industrious is her middle name!

PICTURE OF THE MAIZE FIELD

Our building and security manager Isaac Mawodzeka, who has been with Nhimbe since its onset, is showing off his goat…seems to me his has some incredible markings and will be a great one for developing the herds around Nhimbe, since all the women volunteers received the potential nannies. The other men also received the male goats.

PICTURE OF ISAAC AND GOAT

We were able to build 13 wells last year, totally due to your support. We know that the $330 is a lot and not extra change found in the couch cushions…it’s a big gift from you…and the families are very grateful. The well starts with an empty hole, that is then lined with bricks like this. What an engineering feat!

PICTURE OF WELL HOLE

The lid is created separately (foreground of the photo) and will then be moved to the top of the well. The recipient Mrs. Socho is from Gore village and is 83 years young!

PICTURE OF WELL LID AND HOLE

Here is Isaac and the worksite. The cart loaded from a nearby brick-maker is usually drawn by oxen but sometimes a donkey. That bucket you see is what the family provides for bringing up their water; every family chooses how to handle the retrieval. Isaac supervises the building and watches over the process so we have less repairs, and more overall success. Sometimes cyclones dump so much rain there is nothing that can withstand it, but in general, we have learned much over the years about solid well building!

PICTURE OF WELL WORKSITE

Thank you again for your continued assistance and encouragement. I know that some people might say I’m irrepressible (like “don’t encourage her”). Even though I do agree that spontaneity, play, and blameless courage reigns, I’m also timid, a bit shy, particularly in the role the Universe has put me in, to ask people for help. You’d think I’d get used to it after all these years.

The reality is that it’s not my project, it’s not even their project, but a project of all of ours, in the very largest sense. It belongs to the spiritual world and we are just pawns in carrying out the plan…all doing our best, to uplift the people in Zimbabwe, specifically the residents of the Nhimbe for Progress villages, and bring a new hope and face to the rural area. Where nothing out of the ordinary existed before, it now proclaims a brighter future!

Thank you for all of your part of this, whether now, in the past, or in the future! Wishing you the best for 2023!

Children with Alphabet Pic

Warm Winter Greetings from Lacomb, Oregon!

by Project Updates

We are very happy to share our annual letter with you – click here!  Although later than usual, its still packed with a great update from the President of Ancient Ways, our Nhimbe team in Zimbabwe, and an exclusive report from our office here!  Many thanks to those of you who were already able to reach out with a donation. Whatever you can do, is appreciated!

Please take a minute to relax and enjoy the stories, the pictures, and videos in the letter.  Also, in less than 5 minutes, you can watch a 2022 recap and overview of our current focus, by clicking here.  Not as quick as the 3-minute elevator speech, one is supposed to have, but fairly close ;*))

On the website, our 2023 Focus has many ideas about how to get involved and what you might do to have the largest impact… please check it out.

There are still a few days left before the end of the year, to make your fully tax-deductible donation.  Please find your way to the website to see what inspires you!  And, always feel free to reach out by phone, email or text.  All receipts will be sent out soon after the end of the year, although most have already been sent for the year…let us know so we can see when we sent it, if it doesn’t surface.

Thank you very much for your time and attention!  And, thanks to all of you who found some great Zimbabwean gifts on the Marketplace supporting the artists!

As always, Tatenda Chaizvo! 

Jaiaen 

Nyasha and family Pic

November Update from Zimbabwe!

by Project Updates

Early winter greetings from here in Lacomb and summer greetings from Zimbabwe! Some rain has started for them, but is slow coming at this point. Our well building lid painter is busy painting as many lids as possible before the land begins getting soaked. We are hopeful that they have a good summer rainy season, and that he is able to paint many lids before the onset. We are repainting many wells after the serious repairs, which have been completed over the last couple of years.

Our well lid painter, Nyasha Muzambi, is also a key Nhimbe artisan and craftsperson with us since the beginning. His family has grown some and they now have 5 girls and one boy, which is a large family there, just like here. His wife, Gabriella, was our Nhimbe preschool teacher and librarian, but with the birth of the twins, which came along third, she needed to be at home. It was a big loss to our preschool, as she is super smart and always quite a contributor. Much of Nyasha’s artistry, as well as other crafts people’s, is on sale now here, with shipping all included!

Nyasha and family Pic

Picture Prior to the the Most Recent Newborn

We are sharing these crafts with you on the new marketplace, in time for your holidays. These precious items are calling to be in your homes. If you ever needed a genuine high-quality item from Zimbabwe, crafted by people who are feeding their families, paying for their children to attend school, covering medical bills, etc. now is the time! Please check out our variety of special gifts, including baskets, tapestries, purses, kitchen wares, and a few children’s items! As always, there are secure payment options, using credit card or Paypal. 

We also have a little update about our new library hut. We began a project to expand our library quite some time ago, with both a larger hut, and with more books. Here is the story of building our new hut, which now has painting and new shelf options left to complete.

1. library hut building
2. library hut building
3. library hut building
4. library hut building
5. library hut building
6. library hut building
8. library hut building
7. library hut building
9. library hut building
10. library hut building
11. library hut building
12. library hut building

The old library was the smallest hut ever built at Nhimbe and it has certainly outgrown that function. Serving not just the preschool and Mhandara Monthly Care, the local community also comes to read. People of all ages are benefiting, since the primary place to find a real library is the universities!

Because all tests are in English after grade 3, we are very interested in giving the residents as much exposure to English as possible, although our library also contains Shona language and the basic school text books. Many of the rural parents are not bilingual, which is very disempowering in a bilingual country.

What can we do to support the children as they are growing? Besides our Nhimbe preschool giving them the best start imaginable being a model in Zimbabwe, continuing to expand the library and reading options seems obvious. Please consider our library program as you are able, in your annual donation . . . see more background about our library’s evolution here! 

We hope this season is finding you and yours well. Some of you may have received a postcard from us in the mail last week, reminding you to think about jumping on the website to get an early start on your annual donation, helping us with Nhimbe for Progress for next year, or using easy recurring options, which any amount carries a big impact.

Everyone there and here appreciates the continued interest in our work. The local villagers have nothing like the type of assistance that Nhimbe brings. And, we here in Ancient Ways, barely scratch the surface of the personal and community needs, but hold the vision of uplifting these residents and providing opportunity where none exists. We then watch the ripple of these efforts move to many others in Zimbabwe, simply through their natural generous network of families and friends. They take care of each other, and we offer just some basics that everyone deserves, only because of your help. We all thank you very much! Tatenda Chaizvo!

Many Blessings to you and your families!

Picture of Three Children

Nhimbe Preschool’s 20th Anniversary!

by Project Updates

The Nhimbe for Progress Preschool has been in operation for 20 years! Wow…what an achievement! Febby Shava has been in charge this entire time and, like a good wine, is only getting better with time. I would think it would get harder as one ages (I’m recalling she is in her early-mid 50’s), but maybe one gets wiser also, learns how to delegate, and knows the ins-and-outs.

Check out one of their favorite times!

Picture of Three Children

Febbie still walks 7 km to school to arrive before 8 a.m., and then back home again later in the day. She has accomplished a great deal in her 20 years and continues to hold the standards high for the early childhood development curriculum at our school, preparing these young ones for life and for the Zimbabwean educational system.

Another key person that has been there since the beginning in 2000 is our Inventory Control person, Efilda Katena. She is meticulous about keeping track of the property that belongs to Nhimbe, much of which belongs to the preschool. In the beginning we made mahewu for the children, which is a porridge-based drink that brews overnight. She would be there in the evening, and the morning to distribute flour for bread making, and then through the day to assure everything went well. She also attends MMC meetings and all functions related to the project. She is Cosmas’s elder sister, the oldest of the Magaya children, and takes her job very seriously. She survived Covid in 2020 and is looking really good in this picture, being somewhere in her 70’s.

Teacher's Picture

Boys and girls learn and grow within the safe nurturing space of our Community Center grounds. The preschool buildings are several, providing meals, a library, and multiple classroom spaces, as well as a playground. This year there are around 75 students walking from the nearby villages, coming from far more than just the 6 central villages.

Picture of a Child

 Our preschool is an enormous support to the entire area! Some refer to it as the heartbeat of Nhimbe for Progress, and definitely a model program for Zimbabwean preschools.

Check out this boy and his song about two birds, Peter and Paul.

And, the group song during class.

We actually do all of this on a shoestring budget. It’s the community heart involved that makes it so successful. If the economy in Zimbabwe were more stable, I would love to commit more resources, but typically it’s, “hold on to the tiger because that tail is always unpredictable”. Every time I think things are leveling out, another emergency arises out of the chaos. What makes for our stability is the earnestness of everyone involved…they live in the eye of the storm and my perception is that they handle the various crises far better than I.

Many thanks to you for your support of the preschool. Although costs have increased in Zimbabwe, just like everywhere in the world, morale is amazingly high. Preschool food, petrol prices to get supplies to the villages, and all associated expenses have continued to rise. It has been a challenge this year, and I know you also are facing the same phenomena.

Happy Child Picture

We appreciate your ongoing commitments to assist us with reaching out and touching these children’s lives on the other side of the planet!  They, their parents, and the entire community are so very grateful for our support as they continue to live through some of the most difficult times in Zimbabwean history.

Tatenda Chaizvo!

Picture of Woman at New Well

Thank You Soooo Much!

by Project Updates

Your rapid and generous response has made it possible to give a go-ahead for building the four elderly widows’ wells!

It is with incredible gratitude that the members of Nhimbe and all of us involved say “Tatenda Chaizvo”.  You know, over there, when one person sees that there is an improvement for their neighbor, it gives them some hope.  Like a ray of sunshine in a sometimes darkened tunnel, where one’s vision can only see the difficulties (we’ve all been there), these changes to lifestyle affect them deeply.  Everyone they know is actually impacted by this.

Both directly, in terms of their increased prosperity, personal power, and how they show up in their community, as well as indirectly, just seeing Nhimbe benefit another resident, leaves a lasting imprint on their hearts and minds.

Here is another example of the situation with the wells.  This is Matirida Socha.  She is 82 years old and her well is hand dug, never having bricks.  She lives in the Magaya village.

Picture of Woman at New Well

This picture shows Isaac, our Building and Security manager, demonstrating how she pulls up her water from this type of well, which is normally quite turbid, plus contaminated with ground water runoff.  Once these kinds of wells collapse the situation is impossible . . . its not just dirt, but mud. 

Picture of Hand Dug Well

Your donations are making this a thing of the past!

Thank you again for your humanitarian heart, bringing hope and humanity to an otherwise unbearable hardship!  May the “water angels” bless you to overflowing your cup’s brim!