The Work of the Zienzele
Foundation in Rural Zimbabwe

The issue of rural poverty in Zimbabwe is very deeply rooted in the country’s post-colonial history. Economic and social problems in recent years have only served to exacerbate the situation, and the majority of the country’s rural population live with the daily struggle to feed themselves or find work of any kind. The enduring legacy of colonialism with subsequent inequality in distribution of resources has had a major impact on agricultural productivity and rural livelihoods, with hyperinflation and currency devaluation only making matters worse.

Climate change has also played its part in threatening the income levels in rural areas, with irregular rainfall and prolonged droughts leading to a drop in livestock productivity, failed crops and ultimately severe food insecurity. Improvements to infrastructure in agricultural practices are desperately needed to combat these challenges. When one adds in limited access to education and healthcare, it is easy to see how a downward spiral of non-acquisition of skills and unemployment will likely result in a continued and  seriously aggravated situation.

In addition to the aforementioned issues that both the rural and urban poor have to deal with in Zimbabwe, the arrival of the global COVID19 pandemic in 2019 only served to compound an already desperate situation. According to one source (Chingono, 2021), almost half of Zimbabwe’s population fell into extreme poverty between 2011 and 2020, and this means that the poorest households have had to give up on attempting to access formal healthcare or forgo education for their children, with food taking priority over school fees, uniforms or books. Almost 90% of the extreme poor live in rural areas, and around 1.6 million of this number are children. However, perhaps the most damaging effect of the pandemic was the impact it had on the workforce and employment situation. Movement from rural to urban areas by a mostly young, male, job seeking demographic has caused serious problems in the familial make-up of rural communities, in particular.

Despite some positive input and assessments from some within the World Bank that the Zimbabwean economy is ripe for improvement (Sharma, 2022), this would almost certainly be reliant on a move away from low-productivity, small-holding style agriculture to higher-productivity activities in the industrial and service sectors. However, this is something that would leave rural communities in a very difficult position. How can these communities hope to survive in this transition period and beyond, and indeed how are they managing to survive even now?  Almost certainly, the answer lies in the work of NGOs alongside, or independent of, efforts by local authorities. One researcher acknowledges this quite clearly, stating, “Many NGOs in Zimbabwe have implemented skills development interventions aimed at dealing with poverty. These skills development interventions include bee keeping, carpentry, horticulture, and many off farm enterprises” (Kabonga, p.4, 2023). Indeed, one such NGO engaging in these kinds of activities in the Chivi district, Masvingo, is the Zienzele Foundation.

The Zienzele Foundation (ZF)

The Zienzele foundation (ZF), a registered charitable organization in Zimbabwe, that also qualifies as a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization in the United States (www.zienzelefoundation.org), was born out of a chance meeting in Zimbabwe of two women, Prisca Nemapare and Nancy Clark, both of whom were committed to helping others. Dr. Prisca Nemapare, then a professor of nutrition at Ohio State University had started an Earthwatch project researching the nutritional status of women and children in her native Zimbabwe in 1984, and had continued with this endeavor with some success through the 1990s. In 1998 and 1999, Nancy Clark, a nurse from rural Vermont, also began volunteering with the project. However, in 2000, Earthwatch was unable to continue its support due to the prevailing situation in Zimbabwe. Undaunted by this, Prisca and Nancy were to later return and set a new course for assistance to the rural poor that would become the Zienzele Foundation. Prisca and Nancy based the mission of Zienzele on findings from the research they had carried out, and by that time, there was an emerging crisis of children orphaned by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. As the virus devastated an entire generation of adults, widows and grandmothers were struggling to adequately manage the needs of the orphaned children left in their care.

These aging carers asked Prisca and Nancy for help, and Prisca and Nancy responded with “OK! Let’s think about what we can do together”.  There were a number of issues that needed to be addressed at that time, and Prisca and Nancy had to find solutions to each of the problems they were faced with. For example, these women knew how to manage a vegetable garden, but simply didn’t have the seeds to sow. They were able to craft extraordinary baskets with strikingly inventive and intricate whirling designs, but they had no market at which to sell them. That is the point when Prisca and Nancy were able to step in and help. They started to buy those baskets and resell them outside Zimbabwe, mostly in the United States of America. With the money paid to them in Zimbabwe, carers were then able to buy food and other household necessities. Moreover, unlike many other kinds of fair trade goods, the proceeds from international sales were also reinvested in the makers’ communities (www.culturalsurvival.org), with every cent of profits from sales being returned to the Masvingo region, paying for AIDS-orphaned children’s school tuition, national exam fees, and other needs.

Additional funding comes from private donations from the many friends of Nancy and Prisca across the US and abroad. Also, great support systems are in place in Athens, Ohio and Kyoto, Japan.

Since the year 2000, the Zienzele Foundation has worked in the southern part of Chivi district, which is a part of Masvingo province. This area is home to some of the poorest villages in Zimbabwe, where the very low annual rainfall rates usually results in drought every year. Now, the Zienzele Foundation has a network of volunteers in Zimbabwe who provide oversight and carry out the work when Nancy and Prisca are absent. Each of the twenty three Zienzele school districts has a Zienzele Representative who has been chosen by the carers in their village. There are also three Zienzele Coordinators who oversee several districts each. This model has created a high level of accountability and quick response to situations as they arise.

Through basket-weaving the Zienzele women’s cooperative groups earn money to help support themselves and care for over one thousand orphans. In 2001, the Foundation was registered as a trust in Zimbabwe and its  mission is to educate AIDS orphans and vulnerable children and also to enable carers to improve their own lives. The Foundation has grown exponentially since the year of its founding, to the extent that there are now nutritional community garden projects, sewing projects, poultry projects and goat projects for the women in the co-operative.

 

The Zienzele Foundation Achievements

• In 2000 when it started, school fees were paid for fifty orphans. By 2012, eight hundred orphans were being sent to school, and now there are over one thousand orphans and vulnerable children getting educational support from the Foundation.
• In 2000 one Child-Headed Household received extra help in terms of food, uniforms and books; but now the Foundation regularly supports between fifty and seventy households, based on need.
• The number of basket-making groups has grown from two to forty six!
• Zienzele started with two garden projects and now there are fifty four!
• In 2000, there were no sewing groups. Now there are nine!
• In the past several years, many of the Zienzele women’s cooperatives have started chicken projects and goat projects.
• The Zienzele Foundation now has more than twenty post-graduate students who have graduated from various courses at polytechnic colleges, teacher’s colleges and universities like Great Zimbabwe University and University of Zimbabwe.

Interview

Interviewees:

Ms. Korogwe (Zienzele Foundation coordinator)

Ms. Chirigo (Zienzele Foundation representative)

Q: What does the word Zienzele mean?

Mrs. Korogwe: The Zienzele foundation is all about self-reliance. Zienzele is a Ndebele word which translates into English as do-it-yourself.

Q: What are your main duties in the ZF?

Mrs. Korogwe: As a Zienzele Foundation coordinator, l work with parents who are in our weaving projects. Actually, l can say l act as the supervisor in the sense that l help in bringing Nancy or Prisca’s messages to parents who are in our clubs. I also work with primary and secondary school children who are beneficiaries of the foundation in the sense that if any problems occur,  l have to report quickly to Nancy and Prisca so that the victim can get help. In this case l also work with teachers to get correct information on how our children are doing at school. I also act as a parent, especially to our child-headed families where both parents are dead. l have to visit those families and take care of them and any problems they have. I feel that l have to comfort such families so that they can reach their educational goals.

Q: What is the role of the ZF in your community?

Mrs. Chirigo: The Zienzele foundation helps us in paying school fees for children and also our grandchildren so that they will be able to learn until they reach any level they like.

Mrs. Korogwe: The Zienzele foundation buys the baskets we make and goes and sells them outside of Zimbabwe. The money they get through selling those baskets helps us to pay school fees for our children and grandchildren. Also, the Zienzele foundation helps those children who are orphans to pay their school fees and also offers them all the necessary school items, such as books and uniforms, as well as food.

Q: What projects are you doing in the ZF?

Mrs. Chirigo: We, as Zienzele foundation members, are doing the basketry project where we produce baskets out of grass and sisal. This has been our main project since we started the cooperative in the year 2000. However, the foundation is also very concerned with our health and nutrition status, and therefore provides garden projects where we are growing a variety of vegetables like rape, spinach and cabbage. We also grow carrots, tomatoes, beans and onions.

Mrs. Korogwe: To add to what Mrs Chirigo has said, we also have projects of keeping hens and goats. We were given these domestic animals and birds by the foundation so that we can get eggs, milk and meat to boost our nutrition and also receive money from selling the products. On top of that, we were also given sewing machines, which we use to sew clothes, especially children’s uniforms that are mainly given to the child-headed families.

Q: What are the most important things a person should know or understand when volunteering with the ZF?

Mrs. Korogwe: For one to be able to join the Zienzele Foundation he or she must be very hard working, strong in spirit and well-focused. The Foundation needs those people who are well committed to their work and those who keep their eyes on the prize. The foundation is capable of accommodating everyone who is in need, despite race, color, gender or physical structure. Volunteers should also know that we should love one another as we work in the Foundation and also feel for others, being faithful and always telling the truth.

Q: What are the biggest problems you have faced since becoming involved in the ZF?

Mrs. Korogwe: At first we were not able to make very nice baskets of the good quality that our buyers expected. So, the Zienzele Foundation took that opportunity to teach us how to make nice and attractive baskets and also taught us to have self-reliance.

Mrs. Chirigo: We also have a challenge that some of our members have now grown old, so they are experiencing eye sight problems and also having problems with their legs. Also, some of them are no longer able to make baskets which are strong and beautiful enough, as expected by the Zienzele foundation. This is all because of the problems of old age. However the Zienzele foundation tries by all means to help us by providing members with some glasses so that they can use them whenever they are making the baskets. Also, Zienzele members are trying to recruit younger ladies from our communities, and they are now joining us to make our projects survive.

Q: What is most rewarding about being in the ZF?

Mrs. Korogwe: What is most rewarding about being a member of the Zienzele foundation is that both our children and our grandchildren have their school fees paid. Our children are educated up to the level they wish to reach. Also, the baskets we make are sold and we have money in return in order to buy groceries and other needs for us to survive with our families. Our area of Chivi district is an annual drought experiencing area every year and we receive very little or no rainfall. This always results in drought and starvation. Through these times of hardship, it is the Zienzele Foundation which helps us with our weaving of baskets and we get money to buy meals.

Mrs. Chirigo: On top of that the Zienzele foundation also helps us by providing us with healthy food through the use of the projects we are involved in.

Q: What is the philosophy of the ZF?

Mrs. Korogwe: As Zienzele Foundation members we believe in self-reliance, and that means working for ourselves. We are very proud of our handiwork. We also strongly believe in helping every child in our communities to have access to education, especially the vulnerable and those who are in need.

Q: How is Chivi district or Zimbabwe as a whole benefiting from the ZF?

Mrs. Korogwe: Our country is benefiting a lot in many ways from the Zienzele Foundation especially in Chivi district where the Foundation is based. To start with, through educating young children, the country is benefiting from having a well-educated young generation which is the bright future of our country. Again child marriage is being overcome in our area, as our children are more likely to focus on their studies rather than having nothing to do, which may often result in an early marriage. The foundation is also supporting us as a community. Our  children who finished their Ordinary and Advanced levels are having their fees paid to start courses of their own choice in colleges, polytechnic centers, universities and vocational training centers. This reduces the number of unemployed school leavers who may end up stealing, practicing drug abuse, or even murder.

Mrs. Chirigo: Through the Zienzele Foundation, our nation is benefiting in the issue of women empowerment. This always results in the reduction of domestic violence incidents in our homes and villages as we now have our own source of income and are able to rely on ourselves. To add more, through this foundation, Chivi district’s women’s works are now recognized at the international level. Our basketry projects are now seen as great work. Also our district has benefited from theZienzele Foundation through the building of infrastructure. In this case, the Foundation donated funds for the building of community halls in Chiware, Berejena and Run’ai centers.

Q: What are your future expectations of the Zienzele Foundation and the community?

Mrs. Korogwe: As Zienzele Foundation members we are expecting a long lifetime for our organization. If we look back to where we were before this foundation, we can see what are called great developments and achievements so we don’t want our projects to fail.

Q: What advice would you give to other women who are interested in starting a similar cooperative in their community?

Mrs. Korogwe: To all those who want to join the Zienzele Foundation they should come and join us so that we can do these projects together and pay school fees for our children and grandchildren. By doing this we will be able to build a better future for our children. The Zienzele Foundation does not select members but only wants people who have the heart and are prepared to do their own things wholeheartedly

Mrs. Chirigo: The Zienzele foundation is our diamond.  It has changed our lives. We are now living a greater life all because of the Zienzele Foundation. It has taught us to make use of our own two hands, that we should not sit on them, but rather use them to do work so that we can help our families. So I say to every mother out there, “Come and let’s work together.”

Q: What message would you like to share with people who support your effort to improve access to education for children in your community.

Mrs. Korogwe: We would like to take this opportunity to thank Nancy Clark and Prisca Nemapare Choto for the love they offer us each and every day. They were sent by God to help us in our time of need and allow our children to be educated and have a brighter future. We are thankful, may God continue blessing them with many years of survival and power so that they can’t leave us. We are nothing without this Foundation and our children may not survive this world without these two ladies. They brought light to our lives.

Mrs. Chirigo: We want to thank Nancy Clark and Prisca Nemapare Choto for the support they give to our children and to those orphans who do not have parents at all. They made us believe again in this world, because of the education they are bringing to our children. Some of our children are now engineers, teachers, accountants and so forth just because of the Zienzele Foundation. Also, we want to thank them for the support they offer us as women of the community. We are also taking this opportunity to thank our driver, Blessing Maturi, for doing such a very good job. We just pray that things will continue to be good so that our children and grandchildren will continue with their education and they will be able to take care of themselves.

Reflections

Zimbabwe and Japan are two countries with different situations in terms of wealth, as Zimbabwe is a developing country and Japan a developed one. According to the research done in this project, similarities are that both the FUKU JOB (FJ) organization and the Zienzele Foundation (ZF) are working with the mission of helping carers/caregivers although the type of help needed is different. In Japan the declining birthrate and aging population have become serious problems, hence the need for accepting foreign caregivers to look after the aging people. However, in Zimbabwe the aging ones are becoming the carers of their grandchildren because of an increasing death rate due to the HIV and AIDS pandemic and other social factors that are resulting in child-headed households.

The (FJ) organization was founded by Japanese people aiming to help foreign workers handle demands of work in their profession. In this case, it was Japanese people who volunteered to help foreign workers, but the situation in Zimbabwe is vice-versa. The Zienzele Foundation is a non-governmental organization, with one of its founders being a Zimbabwean citizen whilst the other is a foreigner. In Japan the FJ organization is helping to train foreign caregivers so that they can become knowledgeable about Japanese lifestyle, residence status, labor laws and regulations. The organization is also helping these foreign workers in their problems due to the lack of consultation services and difficulties in gathering information about daily life and disasters in Japan. This is very different from the situation of the Chivi area in Zimbabwe, as the ZF is providing a source of income to the carers there through buying their baskets.

In terms of activities, the FJ organization is working with Japanese employers as they need more understanding about accepting foreign laborers and also have the burden of improving the working environment and uneven policies in different industrial sectors. This helps a lot in protecting foreign workers so that they can feel comfortable in their workplaces and become knowledgeable about their working conditions and environment. FJ organization is also maintaining, keeping, and developing human resources as they are emphasizing the values necessary to accept foreign workers in the future. By contrast, in Zimbabwe, the Zienzele Foundation, as a non-governmental organization, has its own mission of educating orphans and vulnerable children as well as enabling carers to improve their livelihoods. In this way the foundation emerged to help the carers to be self-reliant workers. The foundation provides many projects like goat rearing, poultry management and gardening as a way to improve the lives of the community in terms of health and providing a source of income for the hard working carers.

In conclusion, the situations in the two researched countries are actually somewhat different. In Zimbabwe, it is the non-governmental organizations that mostly deal with those self-reliant workers in marginalized communities. They might not be recognized by the government, and quite often remain hidden. However, in Japan, it is the Japanese people and the government that introduce and develop organizations to help foreign workers. According to the research done on the FUKU JOB organization, Japan is in need of more nursing care workers, with most of them coming from outside the country. Both the ZF and the FJ organizations are working to provide solutions to social problems that were caused by natural or man-made disasters, HIV and AIDS in Zimbabwe and low birth rates and an increasing number of aging people in Japan. It is our wish for a continuous survival of the two organizations, and regardless of the location of each, the distance between the two, and the problems they address, we sincerely wish that they may find a way to cooperate.

References

Chingono, N. (2021) Half of Zimbabweans Fell into Extreme Poverty During COVID.  Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/jun/21/half-of-zimbabweans-fell-into-extreme-poverty-during-covid

Kabonga, I. (2023) NGOs and poverty reduction in Zimbabwe: challenges and the way forward. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43545-023-00678-8

Sharma, D. (2022) Contradictory trends in Zimbabwe: Human development indicators improve but poverty rises and inequality widens. Retrieved from https://blogs.worldbank.org/africacan/contradictory-trends-zimbabwe-human-development-indicators-improve-poverty-rises-and

The Zienzele Foundation. https://www.zienzelefoundation.org

Researchers

Hello everyone!! I’m Pamela Mahohoma, a 28 year old student of Great Zimbabwe University. Most people know me by the name Pamela Dzingorira, but l later changed my surname. I am proud of being one of the Zienzele Foundation beneficiaries since the year 2002. I would really like to be an Early Childhood Development (EDC) specialist, so I am currently in my third year of a Bachelor’s Degree in ECD at Great Zimbabwe University. I usually spend my free time reading books that have something to do with women and children. If l get the chance in life, l would like to volunteer and participate in any organization or programs that have impacts on women and young children.

Hello everyone!! My name is Faith Hama and l come from Zimbabwe. Currently, l am studying in my second year of a Bachelors of Education (Hons) Degree in Early Childhood Development at Great Zimbabwe University. I truly enjoy communicating with a wide range of people from around the world to further explore and improve my English. I also enjoy spending time with children, but also spend a good deal of time cooking and hanging out with my friends