3rd Field Report Update from the Ground December 6, 2019

by ClassesField ReportsProject Updates

We all want to Thank You! Tatenda! for the magnificent gift of your attention to this small place on the globe, so far from you and your busy lives. If you draw a line through the earth it looks like its exactly on the other side of the world…this gives us pause. 

Still in our 20th anniversary year for Nhimbe, and 25th for Ancient Ways, we are only able to be here working together (nhimbe) for progress because of you!  It’s an amazing journey, which takes endurance, blameless courage, and deep love for humanity.

Please remember us, as you consider how to share your wealth in the world.  $10 here can make a difference!  $1,000 impacts many people, for the long term as well.  Whoever you are and whatever you can do, is felt, and the ripple is farther than you can imagine!  Please check out this year’s annual letter by going to the 2020 Focus on the website menu.

We are continuing to open our hearts and minds to the incredible opportunities here, to see how best to reach into their daily lives.  What is it that they really need today that will carry them the farthest with the most prosperity for health, wealth, and happiness?  Which resources are the key, besides education, which is fundamental, and not free here in Zimbabwe.

One addition to the prosperity here is the drip irrigation system, which is a continuing hit! They fill this bucket 6 days a week to manage the plantings. 

The covo cuttings we took from our established garden are actually doing okay, although you can’t see it well in this picture.  There was some damage during the MMC camp – we really didn’t think about the idea that the girls might not understand the special planting area.  But other than that, many of the starts are fine and taking root.  We can easily replant.  That training was so interesting and has long term positive results for all!

Click the arrow on the video to play Planting Covo Cuttings

The preschool just finished their year…please see the 3rd Field Report here for updates to many of the activities going on here in many of our programs!

Click the arrow above to view the video of preschool students receiving their graduation papers

Again, thank you in advance for any way you can contribute to these successful programs and services!

Diki Diki (little) Message from Zimbabwe!

by Project UpdatesYouth Well Being

Morning Greetings from the ground here…days are moving fast….we wake up in the morning to this!

 

Marimba lessons this week

A few of the girls had learned during our Youth Well Being marimba programs we had for years.  Now we are working with the MMC so many new girls are coming in.  This is their first lesson!

Click on the PLAY button on the video below to play the video of the girls playing marimba.

Embroidery continues … helping them with some close up readers makes it easier.  We have several lenses in inventory.  The women are so grateful!  The Dollar Store cashier in Lebanon always wonders what we are doing!

We held the Health Forums to share general hygiene, nutrition, and lifestyle ideas.  The attendance was lower than normal since this is spring time so as farmers without oxen their planting is labor intensive.  

Those who attended loved the discussions.  The highlight is always the Glogerm, which is a fluorescent powder simulating germs on handshaking.  They go under the black cloth with the fluorescent flashlight to see how germs are passed, and how well they wash.  Then they wash again with soap and check again!

Whitney shared all about cleaning water with Moringa seeds that is very dirty after storms.  The bottle of dirty water can be cleared up with crushed Moringa seeds!  It still needs solar disinfection afterwards.

Whitney and Standreck’s experiements are coming along.  This one is Whitney’s egg crate.  They have been breaking ground, direct seeding and doing starts to see how things work here, Whitney at our homestead and Standreck at his mom’s.

Thanksgiving Day preparations gave us a wonderful chicken and full complement of an Afro-American meal to celebrate.

They grow them big here!  

Well testing continues!  In general, the residents need to have well treatments and take more precautions on letting pathogens into their wells.  More on this in the next Field Report.

The money situation here is challenging.  The exchange at the bank has increased by 1 Zim bond since we got here 2 weeks ago.  In the  Villages we thought it had increased to 15:1 but in town a store told us it was 20:1…no wonder Zimbabwe is said to have the highest inflation rate in the world now.This pile of money is just under $500 USD to offer stipends to the volunteers for the work that keeps Nhimbe going.  It’s not a living wage by any means.  Cosmas can’t do anything but try to keep a sense of humor about it!

Good night from our front door to yours! 

Upcoming Trip/Permaculture Update

by HealthProject Updates

First I want to thank all of you who have either contributed directly to airfare or the financial energy to support this trip! It started with us looking for volunteers, and then a couple of you responding, knowing that the airfare is a burden for a volunteer to be able to offer both the time and the money. Now we have three committed members of the team in addition to myself, ticketed and ready to go! Wow!

Here I wanted to share what we’ll be on the ground doing within that first week. We are bringing two instructors from Zambia to share their successful drip irrigation protocol. They will bring drip line, fittings, and the basics to make this system work. They have been implementing this approach in Bulawayo where the water is even more difficult to obtain. These pictures are from their work there.

Its all about the gravity feed!
We buy the poles and buckets to make the table top reservoir that will feed each hose.
They provide the drip irrigation and teach more about raised beds.
Covo (traditional greens like chard or spinach) and tomatoes are being grown here.
Check out that tomato production!
Onions are also a favorite.
The mulching of the middle rows is a standard permaculture practice that they will teach.
This is an incredible harvest for any area!
From big plants to little ones, this technique works!
The lower leaves of this older Covo are being harvested.

Manually buckets of water are poured into the large 5 gallon bucket. Through the gravity feed the water is taken to the end of the row giving just enough water for plant health.

We are excited to implement this at the preschool garden. We will be starting with a small system of 30 meters. Tune in for an update in a couple of weeks!

This kind of prosperous gardening could turn the preschool into a self-sufficient operation in a matter of time. Purchasing the drip line is the primary expense in the operation. Thank you for the special help with these projects.

We Are Accomplishing So Much!

by Project UpdatesYouth Well Being

Greetings from rural Zimbabwe… by this salutation I’m not suggesting we are on the ground there with “the children of the soil”, but we have some great reports to share from them!

Thank you for your continued support of our vision and mission for 2019. Your partnership is a key ingredient and we can’t do it without you!

We hope that you feel our team’s efforts to uplift everyone! The obvious recipients are the youth, but the parents and families in the community are deeply touched by our outreach. They are so grateful to be collaborating with us in this effort, as the children are an extremely vulnerable population. Maturing girls are at a tender age and many do not have mothers, or aunties, or grandmothers, so our Mhandara program becomes like a member of the family.

Nhimbe is honored to have 15 regulars and 11 volunteers who keep the wheels of progress moving for all of our programs there. The focus over the Memorial Day weekend was the Mhandara Monthly Care (MMC) program where 230 girls gathered at the Nhimbe Community Center located in rural Mhondoro. This included girls from a near dozen schools.

Thanks to smartphones and Whatsapp we can learn how things are going along from the village perspective…and quite quickly! Please take the time to relax and enjoy the videos over a cup of your favorite beverage!

How do you corral and care for 230 girls? Structure and fun. The various parts of the MMC Teen Care Camp (ideally happening 3 times a year) keep the girls stimulated and focused. This is our first 2019 camp so far this year, as we enter the second term in the education system there. All ages are welcome, but the very youngest normally belong to one of the staff.

The beginning of the hike into the bush

The days are packed with activities:

  • Of course, there is always music!
  • A specially chosen elder is brought in to share women’s wisdom with the girls.
  • They spend time in food prep, cooking and cleaning, as well as take a few minutes for exercise as a formal game of netball or stretching.
  • They have an opportunity to go for a walk in the bush, which wouldn’t be safe for a girl to wander by herself. This is incredible to be able to indulge in the nature of their home area – just like us going for a walk in the mountains here in the Pacific coast.
Knowing very little Shona I can only make out that they sing about Girl Guides (our sister organization to Girl Scouts), shamwari (friends) and mwoyo or moyo (heart).

We began a partnership with Girl Guides in Harare around 2006. They gave us great structure to get the programs off the ground. Of course we have embellished and enhanced the program to meet our needs, specifically focusing on MMC, which is so basic and paramount.

That same year we printed up t-shirts which you see are still holding up. They use them while at the Center and then they get washed and returned. That was quite an undertaking…I remember buying bolts of t-shirt fabric in various colors and organizing with a printer, all during hyperinflation when you never knew what the next day would bring. I’m amazed that the t-s are still functional and colorful.

Back to the Nhimbe Community Center!
Great fun with the older children teaching the dance lesson!
Even the very youngest are encouraged to whole-heartedly bring themselves to the music as leaders!
Drumming up some fun while waiting for a meal. Many girls are in the kitchen!
The Meal Queue
Fortunate is one of our leaders for the girls as well as a preschool teacher. She has several of her own children, and has been with us for many years. Very dedicated, always enthusiastic and an incredible singer!
Many girls do not normally eat this well at their homes due to poverty.
Relaxing in the shade…wonderful!
Some stretches as part of learning about their bodies and exercise.
We are very blessed to have this retired teacher take an interest in our program! Although you can’t hear anything of what is being said, you can see that she is a good teacher and very interested in these girls! She gave a lot and ask for nothing.
Story telling and metaphors are a huge part of Shona culture. This song is all about being completely frank about their bodies and explaining to the boy’s and men’s advances just exactly where not to touch them.
The bottom line is telling them “don’t touch here, here and here” quite literally!
This is a song about power. Note the girl’s with their buckets. These buckets come as part of the start-up kits although I see they make a good drum also! At the camp, thirty girls just received the bucket, soap, 3 pair underwear and their re-usable washable supplies (made by our team!) along with a sewing kit to learn to make a small purse, making our efforts potentially far more sustainable.

Thanks for tuning in!

Thanks to your donations we are moving and shaking, and these maturing girls are blessed by your help.

Always feel free to write or call with questions, answers, and encouragement. If you have any ideas on how we can source further financial backing to let us reach more girls, we know what we are doing and we do it well. And, there is so much need.

Tatenda Chaizvo!

May Announcements – Here and in Zimbabwe!

by FundraisersProject UpdatesYouth Well Being

Thank you for your incredible support again this year as we remain focused on our work in rural Zimbabwe.  Second term brings much activity:

  • The preschool re-opens with purchases of supplies and food for another 13 weeks,  There are 59 little ones, with more coming each day, all being fed a nutritious meal (often their main meal).  These children are being supported in early childhood development as well as being prepared for 1st grade in the Zimbabwean educational system. The preschool staff includes teachers, cooks, housekeeping, grounds-keeping and guards to assure the children’s space provides a safe, clean and nurturing learning environment. The government officials consider Nhimbe a model preschool!
  • The Mhandara Monthly Care (MMC) program continues to manufacture and distribute start-up kits in 2019 for all the new maturing girls.  Each kit’s cost of buckets and underwear has increased since our estimate last fall when we wrote the year-end letter.  We never know when the economy will be stable and when not, but we hold the vision and keep making headway!  We have just produced 30 kits for our first 2 batches, which will be distributed very soon at the upcoming Teen Care Camp.
  • The MMC Teen Care Camp is planned for May 24th-26th.  260 girls are expected and arriving on foot from quite some distances.  We provide a vehicle to pickup their bed roll and other gear at their various schools, where they all congregate before leaving.  Arriving Friday, they are able to stay at the Nhimbe Community Center (with those great solar lights!) until Sunday, when they hoof it back home after the incredibly unprecedented opportunity for learning, healing and growing.  There are a minimum of 11 adults that are present to keep everything moving smoothly.  The girls are involved in every step of food prep and cleanup, as well as participating in many activities, including music, mentoring by the elders, and much in the way of interpersonal discussions of intimate teen care.
  • The MMC program (the Start-up kits, the Teen Care Camp and weekly meetings) are helping to keep these girls in school each month, and making a huge difference in their lives.  For example, they learn about personal hygiene and the difficult subjects of dealing with boys and peers.  The girls learn crafts, such as sewing, to be able to make their own monthly care supplies someday.
  • Both the preschool and the MMC program need soccer balls!  We hold strong in the belief that the Right to Play is of enormous value in children’s “normal” development, physically, emotionally, mentally and socially.  Research has found that play is the key to children surviving the hardships of chronic economic issues and the displacement and relocation of continual transient populations.  Please consider a special donation towards this unique need.  Typically because of the rough terrain a normal ball doesn’t last, but we have had help locating one for $25.  Shipping is another issue, particularly if we can send more than one.  With this number of children playing together, one ball would not suffice.  Thank you in advance if you have an interest in encouraging play!
  • Thank you for any ways you might be able to help us with these heartening and supportive efforts, as we intervene in these children’s lives.  We remain consistent and faithful to the task at hand and ask for your assistance once again to reach out across the planet to our Zimbabwean neighbors.

Our music ensembles here in the mid-Willamette Valley are playing their part in fund raising, as they hit the streets earlier this year than normal, beginning in March.  They are out there raising money for the Nhimbe youth programs and are enjoying watching the summer fill up with play.

Please join us at our next event in Alsea, Oregon, Sunday the 12th, as we make our annual pilgrimage to the Thyme Garden for their Mother’s Day weekend.  Find us engaged in the music near the herb nursery, where there is a huge selection of plants for sale. We offer the uplifting marimba music from Zimbabwe and South Africa, as well as original tunes:

  • Chipindura plays from 12:30 to 2 pm
  • Tashinga plays from 3:30 to 5 pm

The Mother’s Day venue is particularly delightful with exquisite food and unique crafts for sale at a variety of booths.  All of this wonder is set in the ambiance of the woods, where this most interesting source for seeds, herbs and other fine plants finds its home.

Join us with your dancing shoes!

Jaiaen’s First Field Report from Zimbabwe

by AllField ReportsProject Updates

 

Jaiaen and Jess have arrived and been busy in Zimbabwe! You can read the first field report (also archived on our website) at Field Report 1, or continue below.  Thank you for your continued support, especially if you are able to help with the solar repair project described below…and now over to Jaiaen’s report…

 

March 29 2018

 

Dear Friends of Zimbabwe,

 

Arriving at the Harare airport always feels somewhat like swimming underwater. The altitude and humidity creates a palpable texture to the experience. Nothing quite like it. No matter which airline you take, it is quite a long journey, but we actually got some pretty decent seating. Jess figured out after a couple of legs, that exit row seating was the solution as she is a tall, long-legged gal. Leaving home on Wednesday around 2:30 p.m. and getting into Harare Friday 12:30 p.m. sounds like 46 hours but due to time zones it was really only 37.

 

Here is the short version: 

  • OUR FIRST TWO DAYS – ADJUSTING TO NATURE
  • SUNDAY – ALL ABOUT FABRICS
  • MONDAY AND MMC EXPANSION…WOW
  • TUESDAY AT THE PRESCHOOL
  • WEDNESDAY AND PAYDAY
  • TATENDA CHAIZVO!

OUR FIRST TWO DAYS – ADJUSTING TO NATURE

 

We – Jess, my helper this trip, and I – were blessed with an uneventful flight and all bags arriving safely. We quickly found the welcoming faces of Cosmas Magaya, our Project Director and his wife, Patricia, who is also our key coordinator for the Mhandara Monthly Care program (MMC). Within a few hours after landing, we had stopped for supplies, dropped by the family home in the townships, left some donated flannel in town for getting a batch of the reusable washable pads underway, and headed out to Mhondoro, the rural home. We arrived after sundown on the 23rd. Tasvika! Sorting quickly through the trunks to find bedding by flashlight left us well spent and ready for our first night’s sleep at the village homestead.

 

Although we each had night-time mice visitors, we managed to overcome our first hurdle, as we are both hardy campers. Jess, an OSU student, my assistant and friend on this trip, woke up to two little eyes within inches of her own, but luckily outside of her mosquito net. The mouse in my hut was rustling about in a drawer, so I tossed the entire cane unit outside to be dealt with later. In the a.m. I was able to empty the drawer in the grass, assuming the noisy creature had gone during the night, but no. The thing was huge… I thought it was a rat… and it dashed right back into my hut!

 

Finally later in the day, three of the women came armed with broken tree branches to help me roust it out. Unfortunately, it had a nest of three babies inside the bottom of my bed and so it was not going to just be chased out. With their sticks they promptly dispatched them all and I finally was able to sleep. I felt badly, I just don’t like killing, but I reminded myself that it was probably just the first of many hard things, where not all involved are happy with the results. This can be a common situation as people think “us Americans” can solve everything with money and I often have to find ways of saying no, just like to the mice… Just can’t host those guests.

 

Jess said her mouse was rather small and crawled under the door that second night for a quick peek at her, but then left. She has since stuffed the hole with a plastic bag.

 

We have been on the run since arriving. Saturday was spent unpacking and barely settling, visiting our Chief Nherera who helps us help them, and getting the kitchen organized for the 3 week stay. We have hired Lillian, a very bright and talented 27 year-old with excellent English, a large capacity for endurance and hard work, and a superb cook. She is helping us with all the domestic necessities, translation help, as well as data entry. And, wow… we are eating great! Saturday was also spent successfully meeting with the marimba and mbira teachers to check on several things that will be unfolding during the trip.

 

SUNDAY – ALL ABOUT FABRICS

 

Sunday was a big day, meeting with our craftswomen who are embroidering the blocks that we began importing long ago. We will again have a few of these blocks at Zimfest, as well as filling an order for a quilting venture. These women are so grateful for the work and the money to help pay school fees. Not enough can be said about supporting their art projects and its effect on their morale as well as the food on their table.

 

We also had many meters of flannel fabric in our suitcases that were donated to the MMC program from three main sources. So Sunday we spent some time measuring and cataloging for Nhimbe inventory purposes. Everyone is so grateful for the help, and the flannel quality from Canada and the US is far better than what we have been buying here in the shops.

 

Sunday was our first big day of filming, and Jess was found behind the camera at every turn. She has a natural affinity for camera use as well as has found the women delightful and the culture fascinating. She is so very personable that she quickly found a place in their hearts. Filming the embroidery stitching and flannel inventory kept us busy for hours.

 

MONDAY AND MMC

 

Monday came quickly and our plan was to drive to 5 local schools in one day, 2 of which were already part of our Nhimbe community, having participated in Girl Guides for several years. Our goal was to reach out to more girls and see what kind of natural expansion was possible. We were met with great interest in all locations. Basically we gave a short spiel on our program to stir interest.

 

But then, it started occurring to us, since we were talking to hundreds of girls, that if even ten percent show up at our camp next week, we had better think about logistics. First is to see how many girls come to this coming Friday’s meeting. It’s a normal weekly meeting where they either sew or sing and talk. This time we will talk about the MMC system and our protocol for participating. We will also talk about my favorite subject, boys. Predation is a serious problem as it is anywhere in the world. Our goal is to arm these girls with knowledge, awareness, and permission to be unashamed to talk with our leaders. The program is called Hurukuro Na Tete, meaning “Discussions with Auntie.” Everyone loves that name! Hopefully we will help reduce teen pregnancy, HIV, and improve overall happiness for females, although I’m not sure that we can influence child marriage.

 

The 3 new schools (actually each consist of secondary and grade 7 from the primary as well) are all quite a distance to walk, so teachers have offered to accompany the girls. That was the first logistic to solve. Hopefully it’s worth the hike! Maybe the teachers will become as passionate about it as we are and can begin their own satellite programs out from our Nhimbe community center, with training from our leaders. This would mean the girls can stay closer to home. I’m sure that getting all of the adults together will benefit everyone, as our leaders are also very eager to learn. They really appreciate my blunt and to the point nature, particularly when talking about shy topics. I lost my shy somewhere along the way.

 

Another concern about the camp, scheduled for the 6th through the 8th, is that the solar battery is now unusable. It had a long good life, installed around 2006. To get a new marine deep-cycle is easily $300 and the tech to install and check the system another $100. Since we don’t have that extra in the budget we are trying to find alternatives. There are some little systems for $165 that we might be able to install. The small system will charge phones too. The large system from ’06 will charge cameras and laptops, so is the better long term solution.

 

In any case, with 75-80 girls normally at camp, and if we mushroom to include the new girls, with over 100 plus some, we really need to have some lights at the community center. I’m particularly concerned for the new girls since they are totally unfamiliar with the grounds. If you are in a position to help with this situation please go online to www.ancient-ways.org or send a check, indicating that you want to help with the solar repair! Please let me know at windgatherer@ancient-ways.org that you are contributing to this so I can make a corresponding decision. Thank you so much! And the girls thank you too!

 

The filming and driving to each of the schools took all day Monday and we were all whipped by the end. Zimbabweans have a lot of endurance and even they were tired. A storm had started moving in on Sunday, stirring up dust, mold and grass seed in the hut roofs, and Jessie and I began sniffling and sneezing about the same time. We both have needed to increase our vitamin vigilance and try to fend off being immune compromised from fatigue.

 

TUESDAY AT THE PRESCHOOL

 

Tuesday gave us the last day of the first term to pack in all possible filming of the preschool. Again by the end of the day we were bushed.

 

We made it through the day with scampering children everywhere, and are still recouping from the intensive, purposeful activities and weather changes. Hopefully a break to town to get supplies will be an easy diversion. I tend to like to stay rural, and avoid cities, much like back in the states, but do look forward to solving some communication challenges that can only be dealt with in a network area. We, in the states, take much for granted in city life.

 

WEDNESDAY AND PAYDAY

 

Normally today, Wednesday, would have been payday due to the upcoming Easter holiday weekend, but even though we had hundreds of dollars between us, we didn’t have any small bills to pay people. That means another reason to go to Harare, since the rural area has little money. So instead of payday, we had a nice staff meeting where Cosmas and I were able to explain more about the world economy, and how much we appreciate their hard and committed efforts. We all enjoyed the conversation and could have simply adjourned, but gratefully I was in a position to offer them a slight increase in compensation due to your generosity this year. When I calculated it, the actual percentage of increase was around 10%, but we had kept a tight lid on any raises, since their dollarization of ’09 and our housing collapse of ’08, and just not being sure of how the economies were going. So it felt great to be able to shift after having to hold such a hard line, and everyone was very happy! We paid them just the increase, and will go to town to get change for the remainder.

 

We’ve taken a risk here and I’m hoping it was well founded. We are able to continue this work because of you and your generosity, and also because they are a super team, carrying out the mission and executing our agreements with great cooperation.

 

TATENDA CHAIZVO!

 

Thank you again for your prayers and encouraging words. Jessie and I are blessed to be here and thank you for your continued interest and support of these people in their efforts towards progress. From the infants to the elders, they are all benefitting. The work is reaching far more than the 6 villages, due to the nature of the preschool and the MMC and how both of these programs can welcome anyone in need.

 

Thank you for hearing me… I am typing this in the dark of my hut, listening to the Zimbabwean bugs, maybe crickets, talking quietly just outside, and thinking that tomorrow is going to come very early as we will head out for the 1.5 hour drive to the capital city after breakfast.

 

All the best,

Jaiaen and Jess

 

Jaiaen’s Field Report #3

by AllField ReportsHealthProject Updates

In this year’s final field report from Zimbabwe, Jaiaen writes:

 

Grasping what the basics of life are, is a gift… it’s not obvious. What appears to our senses is often diluted, over-stimulated, misrepresented, fluffed up without substance, etc., so discerning the essential can be elusive. Like all that we take for granted… fresh water, enough energy to produce food, enough food to sustain health, air that heals, medical care for loved ones, freedom to govern one’s life and make choices without duress, sovereignty of mind, body, spirit… the list goes on. What are the real requirements for wellness, wholeness, happiness?

 

THE QUICK VERSION:

 

Transport – $5/gallon, few vehicles on the road, and sardine-like commuter travel are a lifestyle.
Real African medicine – meeting Sekuru Moyo gives hope for the future.

Survey results – after some serious interviews, we will have a completely new look at the complexion of the Nhimbe families’ living situations.

 

Read all the details here, or access through the menu at Blog & Reports>Archived Field Reports & Letters.

 

After reading these field reports, if you’d like to make a donation, please donate through the website or call the office 877-TATENDA (877-828-3632) or (541) 259-HOPE (541-259-4673).

 

Thanks for your support,

Payton

More News from Zimbabwe

by AllField ReportsHealthProject UpdatesYouth Well Being

We received another update from Jaiaen in Zimbabwe!

 

Here is an excerpt with a quick summary, Jaiaen writes:

 

Access to the internet, phone, WhatsApp etc., has been limited this trip. I could see that some of you wrote me with wonderful replies sharing blessings of encouragement, new ideas, financial donations, and the like, but I have not been able to reply. It is complicated to describe how one can have some internet but not enough network or battery to respond. This is particularly true in the rural area where I have spent most all of my time. I’m sorry to not be able to dive right into conversation with you, as that is my nature, but it has to wait until the door opens. Thank you so much for your interest and concern for these people. There is much suffering in the world and I appreciate your partnership in making your difference show here!

 

THE QUICK VERSION:

  • Weather report – praises for thunderstorms!
  • Empowerment from you to purchase some supplies is done with tremendous gratitude.
  • Re-thatching is on the radar but a challenge to see easily on the horizon.
  • Permaculture and our preschool are a good match…love that produce.
  • Monthly care and underwear – we are making great progress and are hopeful for the future.
  • Health concerns are continual…we have much to do.

You can access the full document here, or from our Field Reports page on the website.

-Payton

 

 

Update from Zimbabwe!

by AllField ReportsProject Updates

Greetings! Jaiaen is in Zimbabwe for the first time in five years, and has sent home a report on how she is finding things there. The complete report can be found here, but the following is her quick synopsis:

  • Feeling much gratitude for everything!
  • What it’s like here in town and the rural area… summertime, a safe friendly culture, a struggling economy beyond your imagination, a resilient people,
  • There is an impending drought and feeding the hungry may be on the agenda in 2016,
  • Our preschool is having several challenges – over $2,000 can solve some unexpected problems… can you help us be part of the solution?
  • Thank you for whatever you can do!

Hopefully we will get further updates during Jaiaen’s trip. Watch this spot!
-Payton

Upcoming Trip to Zimbabwe

by AllHealthProject UpdatesYouth Well Being

Dear Friends of Zimbabwe,

Please take a minute to hear the latest from our Zimbabwe project!

** If you have been able to help us with this year’s mission, this email will hopefully give you a short update. And thank you, for your decision to make a difference in Zimbabwe through our efforts. We all are working together!
** If you haven’t seen our annual letter please go to https://ancient-ways.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/AW2015-packet.pdf and check out the film clips, or
** If you have read the letter (and seen those great videos) but haven’t been able to donate yet, please see https://ancient-ways.org/about/join-or-donate/2016-focus/ to contribute today!

Here is what is happening NOW:

1. The preschool needs some soccer balls and a local girl scout troop is gathering them to send in my suitcase. I leave on the 16th of February for a month.
2. Our library sponsor is covering the postage for us to send some books to arrive while I’m there. We have some books to send, but if you have a special book that would be a great addition to our library please send it right away! I must receive it by February 6th to get it in the mail (that’s 10 days from now). These books will be part of our library there, which serves a full community from daily preschoolers, primary and secondary as well as adults, including local teachers who use our facilities. I would say that lots of Goldie locks and Goosebumps or Harry Potter might not be the best choices – they have their own educational curriculum as well and so straight school text books are also not the best. Think about their culture, and great literature, to make your choices! Please send any books right away that you would like to see made available in the village setting to PO BOX346 SCIO OR 97355.
3. We will be providing monthly care for the girls this trip and all the wheels are in motion to make this happen.
4. We will be providing uniform fabric for the preschoolers and staff so that our school is following the legal guidelines for school uniforms.
5. We will be able to print one of the preschool books that Red Zebra made so that each child might have their own book! What a thought!
6. We will be able to provide some health care by being present to the village needs as we do daily work. Thank you for your support with this.
7. I’m looking forward to getting pictures of wells! We have built a total of 92 wells…16 built just this last year. Now since a camera has been recently donated, we can get pictures of the wells on an ongoing basis (our last camera bit the dust). Thank you all for your patience with our well building and picture taking progress. Some of you don’t care about getting a picture and others do. We continue to always do our best…thanks.
8. We will be able to explore many areas of the project and hear from the residents just how Nhimbe for Progress is helping their lives.

Its been 5 years since I have gone to Zimbabwe. Initially the political situation made it difficult to spend a month in the rural area, since having regular gatherings could be misconstrued. Then my late husband, hence our family and friends, were all working through Agent Orange and its repercussions. Its taken a while to be ready to travel and return to the rural area, but I’m now looking forward to it.

Thank you for any way you are able to help us, help them! We are committed to making a difference today, and in the future.

Please feel free to call or email with questions…thank you for your continued support!

Jaiaen
541-259-HOPE or 877-TATENDA