Children

An A-maizing Opportunity to Join Us!

by Fundraisers

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 Fundraisers

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 Fundraisers

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 Heartworks Eldercare

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!

book-bl

When The River Wakes Up & Other Newsworthy Events!

by FundraisersPerformances

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 FundraisersPerformances

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 Fundraisers

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 Performances

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!