Donate to Carry Out the Vision!

The Ancient Ways vision is broad and deep, and inclusive of heritage preservation. The four fundamental pillars that create a strong Nhimbe for Progress structure are: providing services for health, education, facilities improvements, and sustainability. Any amount helps! Thank you for your support!

Although we can’t buy rain we can certainly support the village residents in how they use their water. Of course building wells is always on our agenda, but right now getting these drip hose systems implemented in every garden would go a long way toward alleviating the malnutrition that comes with a lack of fruits and vegetables. HHI has partnered with us to provide workshops to all families (almost 300) in how to use a basic drip hose system (two 50′ hoses) with a permaculture-built raised bed. Food is growing now from the May 2024 workshop at the Community Center, as well as in the homes of the 106 residents who were among the first attendees of this fantastic course. Please help us help them; any amount makes a difference! It costs $25 to put a drip hose system in the hands of each family.

Due to the drought caused by El Niño, maize plants are browning, stunted and unproductive. Please give us a hand in helping the preschool children and staff to get through this next year! The next maize harvest will hopefully be March 2025. Our goals are to 1) purchase bulk maize at a discount ($10 a bucket instead of $12) since the price recently doubled (from $6 to $12), 2) making this maize available to staff, and 3) supplying maize to the preschool over the next year.

Help us send a hand-made quilt to an elderly Nhimbe ambuya (grandmother). June winters, although mild by some standards, can easily be as low as 50 degrees and rarely below 42. Sweaters, coats and hats are the norm. Often the rural poor sleep on the ground. The floors of a hut can be cement, but also simply the earth. We have elderly who have no living children to send money, or to go to the store on their behalf, and/or also whose health has been compromised, so access to sleeping comfort is limited. $103 will cover the costs of shipping ($45), batting ($33) and quilting ($25) – everything else has been donated! Our goal is to be able to ship six this next year. It all depends on you…thank you for your support!

Wells can crack due to earthquakes or other inclement weather. With little effort we can repair these wells and restore the family’s ability to have clear, clean and abundant water. Even if one has enough firewood to boil their water for consumption, having enough water radically impacts crop production. Getting a well back online is important. Any amount helps!

Wells have a powerful impact on an extended family for generations. Imagine washing your dishes or laundering your clothes from a hole in the ground that is without a cover, allowing ground water to carry debris and pathogens into your well, let alone using that water to drink and cook. Clear clean water helps move a family to a new standard of prosperity in their health, and also their wealth, because irrigation becomes a reasonable task. Plus, a fresh kind of happiness is generated because of the gratitude they feel when they see your name on the lid. Each time they draw water from the well, knowing that someone unknown in a far-off place cares about them, their heart is renewed with hope. This may seem like an abstract benefit, but it is tangible and palpable. Due to the depth needed now to find water, it costs more in bricks, cement and time for the builder, and so the cost has increased over the last few years. Each family helps with digging, and we also now add whatever is needed to get to water. Many people can contribute to building one well, thus creating a team-built well by putting together smaller amounts. All names of the team will be on the top. Thank you so much for anything you can do!

The Nhimbe for Progress Preschool is fully operational, with 3 teachers, 2 cooks, 1 groundskeeper, 1 housekeeper, and 2 night guards. Children’s meals are prepared with a variety of healthy fresh foods from the market in town, rural vendors, and the school’s own orchard and garden. Improving this garden with more drip irrigation is a goal to make the preschool itself sustainable, through a more prosperous permaculture. Parents pay $1 per term and help with firewood. Our preschool has been recognized in Zimbabwe as a model preschool by the Ministry of Education. Whatever you can do will help. Thank you for your continuing support!

Bringing a child through their early childhood development (2.5 yr-6) costs $195 for the year. Children are prepared for 1st grade with academics, music (song, dance and drumming) and the best in early learning life skills. The local community is serious about raising the standards of what is available from the government, since little has been offered in education. We will send a picture of your sponsored child!

Our library has been evolving since 2001, and now carries around 2,500 books. Shona and English titles are available in fiction and non-fiction. Books are looked after by our librarian, and are made available to all ages, both inside and outside of the six Nhimbe villages. Families walk quite a distance to be able to read. Children are also able to study for their exams at the library, since at school anywhere from five to twenty children may be sharing one book! All assistance in any form is helpful!

Girls in Zimbabwe have extremely limited access to monthly supplies or the counsel to prepare them to be young women. Our Mhandara Monthly Care (MMC) program provides re-usable washable supplies and monthly soap. Weekly meetings are also included to help stabilize the girls’ lives. Everyone deserves the basics. Thank you for your help with this particular path to empowerment!

Soap is not a staple in many homes due to the economic hardships being faced in Zimbabwe. Although cleanliness is a priority, choices are often being made to survive what daily life brings. Our goal is to provide each girl with a two-inch slice of soap each month.

The girl’s are able to come on Friday afternoon after school. They gather and talk about hygiene, their bodies functions and changes. They talk about how to deal with boys and older men. When they first enter our program they are given startup kits, and then monthly soap. Attending weekly meetings they are able to play some soccer and net ball, learn about gardening, and do sewing projects. Part of their start up kit is a learning project to sew a purse which they get to use for their supplies monthly. The oldest of the girls will also be assisting at the COVID-19 distribution events to be held 6 times a year, learning how to help in the community, as well as learning more about how to handle themselves as an adult and avoid COVID-19 as a mature person.

We created Nhimbe’s music program in 2000 by bringing, building, and then by maintaining/repairing marimbas over the years. The original set is now being re-purposed for the preschool music learning program, as its been replaced by a new set through Humwe. Our girls can study marimba music twice monthly with your help of only $1 per girl per month! In the past when it was co-ed, the girls would become too shy to really demonstrate their musicianship. We support their learning! Any amount is helpful – thank you!

Annually supporting us through a membership helps us to fulfill our mission. Expenses, such as insurance, accounting, and IRS related fees can create a distraction. Your annual membership lifts this financial burden allowing the organization the focus needed in carrying out the Ancient Ways vision. Thank you for your support!

Zimbabwe continues to grow and evolve. With new political leadership, we hold hope along with our Zimbabwean neighbors. What if you looked under the sofa cushions and in the bottom of that drawer and found some change? How much change is hanging out on the edges, just waiting to be found and put to use? Could you put it towards this effort to raise awareness and funds for our efforts in Mhondoro to uplift the rural people, provide new opportunities, and improve sub-standard living conditions? Thank you for whatever you can do!

This MARIMBA AND ELECTRIC CD was compiled with the donated tracks from the best musicians from around the world who play Zimbabwean music. They donated these songs to assist us in raising funds for Nhimbe for Progress. This is an incredible selection of marimba songs. Check out the clips. The cost does not include shipping, so if you need it to be mailed please order shipping below!

This MBIRA & ACCOUSTIC CD was compiled with the donated tracks from the best musicians from around the world who play Zimbabwean music. They donated these songs to assist us in raising funds for Nhimbe for Progress. This is a wonderful selection – check out the clips. The cost does not include shipping, so please order that below if you need it to be mailed. Thank you!

T-shirts share our love for Zimbabwean people and raise awareness of our efforts to uplift them during these times of economic hardship. After confirming availability by phone, texting or video chat, please enter below the color and size you desire, as well as the style. The three styles are the Zimbabwe/villages logo with 1) white ink, or 2) black ink, or 3) the Nhimbe artwork. Shipping will be entered separately below. Thank you!

We are blessed with an abundance of African rocks and minerals to share. We have specialized in serpentine carvings from Zimbabwe since 2000, and recently expanded to include mineral specimens from many other countries on the African continent. After confirming availability by phone, texting pictures or video chat, please enter the rock specifics here, such as name of the stone, size, and agreed upon price. Mailing options will also be confirmed on the phone. We have many sizes, including small tumbled stones perfect for classrooms on a budget. Thank you!

Let us provide you with a variety of teaching materials to share an up-close and personal view into Zimbabwe through our many years of working in the rural areas of Mhondoro. At a minimum, we send a Powerpoint CD, DVD with films, and brochures that have emerged through collaboration with filmakers, artists and the residents of the villages we have been serving since 2000. Let us know the group with whom you will be sharing and we may be able to include more in this packet. Please make a donation towards these items and their shipping. Thank you!

Please add however much needed so we can ship your CDs or T-shirts. It costs about $2 for each item. Rock and mineral shipping costs can be determined by phone. Thank you!