A group of Tariro's secondary students model their uniforms.

Greetings:

Hello readers! I hope that you are all doing well. In this weeks post I wanted to explain how the education system in Zimbabwe works. The reason I chose to cover this topic is because I think it’s important that people get a more in depth understanding of our work. I am trying to go beyond the mission statement of, “educating and empowering young women and girls in Zimbabwean communities affected by HIV/AIDS,” and expand on that. I understand the school system can be confusing, but understanding it is the next vital step in knowing the work. Beyond supporting young girls, I hope this helps you to understand why we would pick the age group that we do, and give you a better understanding of these girls lives.

Explaining some history:

Zimbabwe gained independence from colonial rule in April 1980. At that time most of the people in the country didn’t have the resources to go from primary to secondary schooling, which stopped them from continuing their education. Since then, the educational system has expanded; however, there is still a huge discrepancy between the private schools and the government funded schools.

The school system in Zimbabwe consists of seven years of primary school and six years of secondary school. When these 13 years are completed a student can then move on to University. The school year for Zimbabwean students runs from January through December. The terms are three months each and they are all broken up by one month holidays. The students take their national examinations during the third term in November.

Defining primary school:

Primary school is the first seven years of the 13 year education. Most of the children begin grade one when they are six, however there are a few that start when they are five or seven. There is a difference in the first few years of school between rural and urban environments.

In rural schools the children begin being taught reading and writing in their native tongue but by grade 3 they are switched over to English. For children in urban areas they begin being taught in English with the other languages being taught as other courses. During the seventh year students take examinations in: “Mathematics, English, Shona or Ndebele and Content, which is a combination of sciences and social sciences.”

Defining secondary school:

A rural secondary school in Mhondoro, where Tariro has sponsored several students.

When students are entering secondary school they compete for places in private and mission schools depending on how well they did on their seventh grade exams. There are two levels to secondary school: “O” level which is four years, and “A” level which is two. There are certain forms for each level. “O” level consists of forms I-IV, which “A” level consists of forms V-VI. There are certain curriculum for each form and once a student gets through form IV and is ready to move onto form V it becomes very competitive. Only those students with very high marks manage to get into “A” level courses.

According to the U.S. Embassy in Harare the “A” level courses are made up of, “science, commercial and art subjects.  The vast majority of students take three subjects at “A” level, with a few very gifted students opting for four subjects.” At the end of their “A” level curriculum when the students work is graded there are certain scores that are equivalent to college credit, just like AP classes.

Helping make a difference:

It is important to understand the education system in Zimbabwe to understand why Tariro’s work is vital. In many situations children will get out of primary school and not be able to move on to secondary school. This especially effects the girls who have been orphaned by losing parent/s to HIV/AIDS. I am happy to say that through Tariro’s work we are making the problem a little bit smaller everyday by helping send 50 girls to school each year.

Now Tariro likes to focus on sending girls to secondary school as the primary goal, however we do have some girls that are in college right now. We had one girl, Pauline K, finish university last year, but we have two currently enrolled. Tatenda C. is currently a freshman in university and Daphine S. was just awarded a scholarship to study at the University of Venda.

Supporting students beyond secondary school:

The US Embassy in Harare is really trying to make a contribution to the gifted children in Zimbabwe who couldn’t otherwise afford to attend University. Through the embassy there is a program called USAP (United States Achiever Program). The students that are selected for this program, “undergo an intensive yearlong program that assists them to negotiate and finance the process of obtaining full scholarships to study at U.S.”

This is another great program working in Zimbabwe to help children. For this reason I thought I would give a short blurb about it for you, the readers, in case it’s another initiative you might be interested in.

Thank you:

Thank you for taking the time to read about the education system is Zimbabwe. I certainly learned a lot when researching it. I hope that this has been informational and interesting. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment.

Megan Bauer

Special Note:

There is a women named Hazel Zengeni who is studying at MIT right now. She went through the education system is Zimbabwe and has worked with Tariro girls. She is going to be writing a piece about her experience with the education system and I will be posting that to the blog!

Links:

Zimbabwe’s education system: http://www.bibl.u-szeged.hu/oseas_adsec/zimbabwe_sec.htm

US Embassy’s explanation of education: http://harare.usembassy.gov/zimbabwe_educational_profile.html

Megan Bauer - sitting on a staircase at the University of Oregon.

Hello everybody! My name is Megan Bauer and I am just starting as the new communications intern for Tariro.

Deciding to work for Tariro:

Originally when I started looking for internships I didn’t know what kind of work I wanted to do exactly, but I knew that I wanted to do something that helps others. It has always been important to me that when I graduate the work I do makes a difference in other peoples lives and actually improves their lives, and I felt like I could accomplish both of these with Tariro.

At first when I began applying for internships there were three nonprofits that I looked into, all of which are great organizations, but something stuck out to me about Tariro. It is amazing that Tariro is not just making a difference in girls lives temporarily, but for years to come. This organization is helping to stop a vicious cycle of disease by keeping young girls in school. These girls who couldn’t have otherwise afforded to go to school because they lost a parent/parents to HIV/AIDS have now been given a new opportunity to further their education to prevent them from being exposed to the same fate.

I chose Tariro because I know that the work I am doing will be contributing to something greater than myself. The growing HIV/AIDS problem has left many people suffering, but through Tariro this problem is becoming a little smaller with each girl that goes to school.

I am very excited to be doing communications for Tariro and hope that the work I’m doing will in some way make the lives of others greater.

Learning about Megan:

I am currently a sophomore at the University of Oregon and am double majoring in Public Relations and Advertising. I chose these two majors because the type of work they involve fits perfectly with who I am. I originally began with Public Relations and decided to add the advertising major to broaden my skills.

The reason why the Public Relations major suits me so well is because I truly love working with people. I have been a people person my entire life and that is what motivates me. Communication has always been very important to me and helping people to receive messages that they otherwise wouldn’t have is a goal of mine. I hope that through this internship I can help get Tariro’s message out to more people so that they can contribute to or know about this great cause.

Working to educate young women:

Every person that works for Tariro has their own stake in what the organization is trying to accomplish. Being a communications intern I will be working on a few different tasks. I am going to update the blog every Monday with new information about women’s health, women’s education, or events that are taking place. I am really excited to find information on these topics and begin sharing them with the blog readers.

I’m also trying to reach out to more people on the facebook page. My goal is to get more people aware about Tariro and then try and get more people involved in this great cause. Besides the facebook page I will also be updating the twitter a couple times a week with interesting articles related to women’s health and education. Eventually I would like to take some footage Jennifer has from her trips to Zimbabwe and create a video to represent the organization.

Through all of this I am very excited to begin my work with Tariro and for you, the readers, to come and find interesting and informational reading on the blog.

Schoolgirls reading, from Greg Mortenson's book "Three Cups of Tea"

This week, I’d like to share some thoughts on the recent controversy surrounding Greg Mortenson’s work with the Central Asia Institute.  Many readers are probably familiar with Mortenson, the best-selling author of two memoirs, “Three Cups of Tea” and “Stones into Schools,” which tell the story of his work building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan.  In particular, Mortenson’s commitment to making education accessible to girls has made him a worldwide spokesperson for women’s empowerment through education.

Making sense of memoir

Recently, however, author Jon Krakauer has suggested that Mortenson’s memoirs are largely fictionalized, a fabrication rather than a reflection of reality.  In particular, Krakauer suggests that the dramatic opening of “Three Cups of Tea,” in which Mortenson promises to build a school in the remote village of Korphe after its inhabitants save his life following a failed attempt at climbing the notorious Himalayan peak of K2, is false.  Likewise, Krakauer suggests that a significant account in “Stones into School,” in which Mortenson recounts being kidnapped by a group of Taliban, is also fabricated.  But surely readers should be willing to grant Mortenson the literary freedom to compose a narrative that conveys certain essential elements of his story, yet combines, rearranges, or even fictionalizes others?  The creative act of telling stories about ourselves, after all, is perhaps the most important way in which we make sense of our lives, and externalize meaning for others.

Mortenson’s missing schools

While generous readers will find tolerance for fictionalized elements within a personal memoir, however, generous donors are much less willing to tolerate fictionalized figures within balance sheets and budgets.  More pressing than concerns about his books, then, are accusations of financial mismanagement within the Central Asia Institute, an organization that took in over $20 million last year alone.  The most serious of these accusations suggest that Mortenson is simply not doing much of the work he has taken credit for.  In a recent exposé, 60 Minutes visited Central Asia, only to find that some schools the CAI has taken credit for building simply do not exist, while many others “were empty, built by somebody else, or not being used as schools at all.”  Furthermore, almost half of the CAI’s annual budget apparently goes toward promoting Mortenson’s own book tours in the United States, rather than working toward the organization’s mission to foster education in Afghanistan.

Expanding the conversation

The accusations against Mortenson are especially serious given his very public stature, and the level of trust vested in his work across a broad spectrum of American life, ranging from school children who have donated “Pennies for Peace,” to members of the armed forces, as Mortenson’s memoirs has become required reading for troops stationed in Afghanistan.  As the many communities and individuals who have become involved with Mortenson’s work re-evaulate their engagement with his organization, I suggest that it is time to widen the terms of the debate, from an inquiry into the working of a single organization, to a broad conversation about international development work, a realm in which Mortenson’s story exemplifies an important recent trend.

Glittering stars and the dusty road

Before his fall from grace, Mortenson was one among a constellation of glittering stars of non-profit work, who, like Paul Farmer, Nicholas Kristof, and Jacqueline Novogratz, have shared ideas that illuminate the horizons of a more equitable world, suggesting ways to work toward social justice and change in areas such as education, health, finance, and entrepreneurship.  Sharing their message widely through books, speaking engagements, and the social media, these figures represent a new type of public intellectual.  Their success has lent a new glamour and cachet to non-profit work, leading significant numbers of young people to start their own initiatives to build an orphanage in Nepal, work toward peace in the Sudan through musical activism, or ally themselves to the work being done by the new public intellectuals, such as Paul Farmer’s Partners in Health.  The “Do It Yourself” revolution, as the New York Times recently reported, has had the wonderful effect of encouraging international engagement and understanding on a wide scale.

Bathed in the glow of their success, however, the stories told by many of these public intellectuals leave little room for recognition that working toward social change entails a long journey, upon a dusty, rocky road.  While the idea of educating women, providing accessible health care for the poor, or creating social entrepreneurs may present an alluring image, the reality – seeing girls drop out of school or fail their exams, tracking down ARV patients to ensure compliance, or losing profits to bureaucratic red tape- is decidedly less glamorous.  Indeed, engendering true social change is a long, hard process, which often turns up mixed results, presenting failures alongside successes.   Faced with the shining stars of development work, however, we’ve come to expect a smooth process toward social change, rather than this rocky road.  Beyond the problems of financial transparency and accountability within the CAI, then, Greg Mortenson’s story points toward a more widespread challenge for development work.  To gain support for development work, organizations necessarily highlight their successes, downplaying their challenges, failings, and obstacles.  In so doing, however, they likewise contribute to the  perspective that development work will run smoothly, leading us to look up to the glowing stars, when in fact our eyes should be on the long, dusty road before us.

What do you think? 

The story of Mortenson’s work also draws our attention to many of the paradoxes of development work, in which small organizations can often accomplish more than large ones, and local work can be more powerful than global initiatives.  As Tariro’s director, my deepest fear about the serious accusations facing Greg Mortenson is that these criticisms will decrease support for the many grassroots organizations working throughout the world to educate children, particularly girls.  While organizations working with millions of dollars a year spend many millions on administration, organizations like Tariro are often administered largely by volunteers, enabling us to send almost all of our donations back to Zimbabwe, where they provide valuable income to our few local staff members, and have a huge impact in the lives of our sponsored students, such as Daphine, recently featured in a blog post.

Are any readers out there engaged in development work, whether as donors, aid workers, or volunteers?  What is your perspective on how non-profits can best celebrate our successes while openly sharing our challenges, and communicating realistic expectations to donors and beneficiaries alike?  And what are the ramifications of the very troubling accusations against Greg Mortenson and the CAI for smaller, grassroots organizations working in development?  I’d love to hear your comments…

Until next time!
Jennifer Kyker, for Tariro

"The Women's Crusade:" The New York Times responds to "Half the Sky"

What can we do together to turn oppression into opportunity for women worldwide?  Tariro will be among the organizations gathering this Thursday at Eugene’s own Tsunami Books, to discuss many of the problems facing women and girls around the world, and share solutions for empowering women and their families locally, as well as internationally.  Organized by Women’s Opportunity Worldwide, the event is centered around the narrative of women’s empowerment told in the best-selling book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, written by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn.  The community event planned for this coming Thursday is being held to accompany a presentation by Sheryl WuDunn, who will be speaking at the University of Oregon on May 11th, in conjunction with the Center for the Study of Women in Society.  Here are the details!

April 14, 2011
7:00 p.m.  to 8:30 p.m.
Tsunami Books
2585 Willamette St.
Eugene, OR

A newly formed organization, Women’s Opportunity Worldwide was recently profiled in Bob Welch’s column in the Eugene Register Guard, which mentioned Tariro as one of the groups based in Eugene working to make a concrete change toward women’s empowerment.  Come join us for the community discussion with Women’s Opportunity Worldwide!

Tendai Muparutsa with Chiroto Marimba

In this post, I’m pleased to share news about an upcoming event in Ronald, WA, to benefit Tariro and Pembera Youth Marimba!  Music teacher Jacqueline Fallon, at Cle Elum Roslyn elementary school, is organizing Marimbas in the Mountains, featuring Cle Elum-Roslyn’s Pembera Youth Marimba ensemble.  In addition, the event will feature special guest group Chiroto Marimba Ensemble from Moscow, ID, joined by the talented Zimbabwean musician and ethnomusicologist Tendai Muparutsa.  Here are the event details:

Marimba in the Mountains!

Location: Hawthorne Hall, 3rd St & W. Atlantic St., Ronald, WA
Date: Saturday May 07, 2011
Time: 5:30-10:30pm
Price: $10

The event will include dinner, live music by Pembera and Chiroto, and a cakewalk!  Dinner includes a choice of red, white, vegetarian or gluten free lasagna, salad, garlic bread, and a variety of drinks. There will also be a selection of Zimbabwean food for to sample.

Tariro student Politeness N. has won a scholarship for "A" level study at the UMMA Institute in Marondera

In today’s post, I’m happy to announce that yet another Tariro student has won a scholarship to support her academic work!  This student is Politeness N., who has been enrolled in Tariro for the past three years.  Due to her difficult home situation, Tariro offered Politeness a place in boarding school, and she has been attending the UMMA Institute in Marondera.  Politeness has truly excelled in her studies, winning awards each term for her academic excellence.  This year, Politeness wrote her Ordinary Level exams.  She passed every one of the nine subjects she wrote, scoring one A in Geography, four B’s in History, Science, Shona,English, and four C’s in Maths, Accounts, Commerce, and Religious Studies.

In recognition for Politeness’s excellent work, her school, the UMMA Institute of Marondera, has offered her a scholarship covering half of her school fees for her Advanced Level study, which she begins this year.  This scholarship represents an important contribution to helping Tariro cover the cost of her education, and is worth approximately $1,000 per year, for two years of study.  Once again, we’re seeing great results from our girls!

Help us in our work with Politeness!  Please take a moment to do two simple things in support of our work.  First, help us spread the word on Facebook, by linking to our blog in your status update.  Second, make sure to join Tariro’s own Facebook page, and to spread the word to friends online.  Thank you!

Tariro student Daphine Sikalela is now studying at the University of Venda

Tariro is very excited to announce that our student Daphine Sikalela has been awarded a prestigious Presidential Scholarship for university study in South Africa. The presidential scholarship is a Zimbabwean government initiative that gives students from under-privileged families an opportunity to study in other, mostly African, countries. Although some students travel as far away as India or China, students are typically placed in universities in South Africa, where Daphine has been placed at the University of Venda.

While Daphine’s family was able to contribute $200 toward her costs, Daphine would not have been able to accept this prestigious award without financial assistance from Tariro.  To ensure that Daphine would be able to benefit from her scholarship, Tariro contributed $1,060 to administrative and travel-related costs involved in getting Daphine to the University of Venda, including photocopying and certifying required documents, obtaining a passport, medical, and police clearance, and her travel to South Africa.

Daphine left last weekend, just in time for the start classes on February 8th!  Our program coordinator, Fadzi, spoke to Daphine shortly after her arrival in South Africa, and was reassured to hear that her travel had gone smoothly.   We’re looking forward to receiving an update from her soon!

I’d like to take a minute to share Daphine’s story with you, as she recorded it in her hero book in last year’s empowerment camp.  Daphine’s story documents how she met me after I stayed with her family briefly during a fieldwork trip to Zimbabwe in 2008.  One of our top students and most talented writers, Daphine has benefited so immensely from Tariro’s sponsorship, and we’re incredibly proud of her.  Here is Daphine’s story:

“Just when I was cold, and I thought that was the end of it, everything had gotten so dark and I couldn’t see the light.  I remember crying so many nights in my bed thinking what tomorrow was going to be like.  The death of my dad had destroyed me.  I couldn’t help but reminisce about the good times we shared.  The only fresh memory about him I always pictured was him in hospital on his death-bed, when I walked closer to him and held his hand he cried, he cried like he already knew he was dying and I was going to stay suffering.

“You know rock bottom?  Yeah… that’s what it was, but it’s amazing how things just turn out to be at times.  Jennifer Kyker came to my rescue after hearing a voice saying I can’t send you to school anymore… you know whose voice that was?  That was Winny, my mum.  She had struggled so hard to pay for my fees but she just couldn’t do it anymore, used clothes weren’t selling anymore, that was her job.

Daphine's depiction of Tariro: a family of supporters working together

“When Jennifer came to live with us at our home that was the beginning of everything.  She offered to send me back to school again, not just a school, but a boarding school.  I knew I now had a greater chance of doing well and moving forward.

Daphine is also a talented marimba player in Tariro's traditional music ensemble

“Working hard in life is a good thing.  Determination and perseverance is also important in my life since I am working toward achieving a goal.  Setting my goals will help me become someone in life.”

I especially love the illustration in which Daphine shows an entire crowd of Tariro supporters, friends, and family backing the effort to send her back to school.  We’re so happy to have one of our students win such a prestigious award, and we wish Daphine the best of luck in school.

I’ll close by reminding you, if you haven’t already done so, to please visit our JustGive page to make a one-time donation, or to become a monthly donor.   Tariro’s work with Zimbabwean girls is getting amazing results, but we can’t continue to do it without your support!!!!

Tariro loves Livity Outernational!

In this week’s post, I’m pleased to announce a partnership between Tariro and Livity Outernational, an eco-clothing company founded in 2001 in Topanga, California.  Livity’s Wellness Co-ordinator, Melissa Collins, helped organize a benefit event for Tariro in Santa Cruz late fall.  After the event, Melissa offered to support Tariro through a generous donation of Livity’s “Art as Activism” t-shirts and sling-ting bags.

Thanks to this donation, Tariro is now offering a “Give One, Get One” deal on Livity wear!  For every Livity “Art as Activism” t-shirt purchased through Tariro, we are able to purchase a white blouse to give to a student in Zimbabwe, to complete her school uniform.

White school shirts in Epworth!

I’ve personally fallen in love with Livity’s comfortable, hemp/cotton blend t-shirts, which express my personal philosophy that activism is most effective when it comes from our creative selves!

To personalize Livity’s sling-ting bags, we’ve added embroidered panels sewn by our students.  For every sling-ting bag purchased, Livity will donate a similar bag to a girl in Zimbabwe, to carry her books and school supplies.

Heather bag, men's sage shirt

Sling ting bags come in three colors: turquoise, sage, and heather.  T-shirts are available in men’s and women’s cuts, with cream, sage, black, and light-grey men’s colors, and black and light-grey for women.  Both the t-shirts and sling-ting bags are $30 each.

Sage bag, black women's shirt

Please order a t-shirt and bag, and support Tariro’s work in Zimbabwe while feeling and looking good! To order, just send us a check at our mailing address:

Tariro: Hope and Health for Zimbabwe’s Orphans
PO Box 50273
Eugene, OR, 97405

Let us know the quantity, type, and size of t-shirt you’d like, in addition to the color.  For bags, simply let us know your preferred color. Add an extra $4 per item for shipping and handling, and we’ll send you back a wonderful, one-of-a-kind item that is eco-conscious and supports change through women’s education!

Tariro would also like to give special thanks to Eugene’s own Sweet Skins eco-boutique for helping us figure out how to get out panels onto Livity’s great bags.

A once in a lifetime experience...

Did I mention that our students had the chance to experience elephant rides at last year’s empowerment camp?  Truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience for our girls!  I love the look of incredulity on Lissa’s face as she clings for dear life onto the friends in front of her!

The girls were able to have this unique experience thanks to the staff of Imire game park, which offers camping facilities suitable for our annual empowerment camp.  For more photos from the 2010 empowerment camp, please check out our Flickr page.

Tariro student Ashley B. in Mhondoro

Happy New Year from Tariro!  I’ve been absent for a few weeks now, working on my dissertation.  However, I’m back online now, and I’d like to kick off the new year by giving you the details of Tariro’s work in 2010.

Our fundraising progress

Before I talk about our work in Zimbabwe, I’d like to give you an update on our progress toward our fundraising goal of $40,000.  While we didn’t make it all the way to our goal, we did raise over $25,000 to support our programs in 2011!  This means we’re a third of the way toward meeting our budget of $75,000.

Tariro’s support helps students facing increased vulnerability

So what do we do with the money we raise?  I’m very pleased to report that Tariro’s work is having an incredible impact in the lives of the students we sponsor in Zimbabwe.  As our program coordinator reports, Tariro’s work is now more important than ever, as Zimbabwean children have become even more vulnerable following the dollarization of Zimbabwe’s economy.  As a result of economic and political trends, fewer Zimbabwean students received educational support in 2010 than in 2009.

In contrast to this general trend, thanks to our committed donors, Tariro has managed to retain all of our sponsored students, and was even able to recruit fifteen new students to our program in 2010.

An overview of our student demographics

During 2010, Tariro supported a total of 57 students with comprehensive education support.  These numbers included 8 primary level, 3 university and 46 high school students.  Tariro supports children at 4 primary school, 6 high schools and the University of Zimbabwe.

Of our 57 sponsored students, 6 attended boarding school in 2010. Boarding school is offered to students who have unstable or abusive home situations, or come from areas where there are no high schools and have excelled to proceed to a higher level.  Unstable home may include child headed households, or families which move constantly, resulting in significant absences from school.

Our model leads to higher school attendance

Thanks to our intensive case management with students and their families, Tariro’s sponsored students had a 98% attendance rate in school in 2010.  Our attendance rate is bolstered by our sanitary ware program, which helps ensure girls attend school full-time.

Tariro gets results!

This year, Tariro celebrated our first university graduate, Pamela Kawungwa.  In addition we saw 16 out of 17 of our graduating class students complete their exams.  Six students won awards for academic excellence, and two students were accepted to university.  Finally, Tariro assisted a street child to return to school.

Looking ahead…

In the following week, I’ll be giving a summary of our progress in other areas, such as our traditional music and dance group and mentoring programs.  I’ll also share with you our goals for 2011.  To support our work, please join us on Facebook, spread the word about our program to friends, and consider making a donation online.  We couldn’t do it without the generous support of our friends and volunteers all over the world… thank you and happy new year from Tariro!