Tariro grandmother Ambuya Natalie

In my last post, I wrote about Vanessa M., who lives with her elderly grandparents in Highfield.  In today’s post, I focus on Tariro’s grandparents, and especially on grandmothers, who we’ve observed taking on the lion’s share of caring for orphaned children within their families and communities. As Stephen Lewis, former UN Speical Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, observes,

The ‘grandmother phenomenon’ is the dominant orphan programme for the moment, I think, in much of east and southern Africa.

Photographer Steve Simon has produced a beautiful photo essay he calls “The Grandmother Spirit,” documenting “the determination, strength, resiliency, and inspiration of The African Grandmother- the heart, soul and hands of response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic there.”

Revealing both the sorrows and joys of raising orphaned grandchildren, Simon’s photos are a vivid illustration of the absence of an entire missing generation in Africa; as Zimbabwean musician Oliver Mtukudzi sings,

The young lead the way
The workers lead the way
Only elderly men and women are left

In addition, Simon’s photo essay references another powerful quote by Lewis on the role grandmothers play as the pillars of their communities:

We almost never think of the grandmothers, except in passing.  Yet they are emerging as the unheralded heroes of the continent, fast becoming the true, resilient, magnificent hearts of the struggle of the continent.

In May 2010, over 400 grandmothers from around Africa met during the first ever African Grandmothers’ Gathering in Manzini, Swaziland, one of the nations hit hardest by HIV/AIDS.  As a manifesto released by grandmothers participating in the event stated:

We are the backbone of our communities; with our love and commitment we protect and nurture our orphaned children. Africa cannot survive without us.

Like many grandmothers around Africa, the grandmothers caring for Tariro students had hoped to someday be taken care of by their children; instead, they have buried their own children, and have taken on the responsibility of raising their grandchildren. Our grandmothers include women such as Vanessa’s grandmother Ambuya Kundai (below), who cares for four orphaned children.

Ambuya Kundai

Suffering from intense ongoing pain in her side, Ambuya Kundai has trouble doing basic housework, yet every time I go to visit her and check up on the family, she is sure to offer me a plate of sadza.  Despite the family’s meager resources, Ambuya Kundai wants to make sure I won’t every leave her home hungry.

Ambuya Bobo

Tariro’s other grandmothers include Sabina’s grandmother Ambuya Bobo (above), who raised both Sabina and her cousins Memory and Morgan.  Always supportive of Tariro, Ambuya Bobo hosts all of our meetings in the neighborhood of Epworth at her compound, a collection of brick and thatch rooms around a cleared, dusty courtyard.

On a personal level, even outside of Tariro, many of the people I have come to know and love are grandparents raising orphaned children.  These include one of my favorite grandmothers, Amai John (below), whom I visited in May at her new, two-roomed house on a resettled farm just outside of Harare, where she was providing for an orphaned nephew.

Amai John

Africa’s grandparents, of course, also include grandfathers, such as the much-beloved mbira player Sekuru Chigamba (below).  At 71 years old, Sekuru Chigamba grew up on a white-owned farm during apartheid with his father, who was a cook.  He later moved to the township of Highfield, where his family maintains a home, in addition to their rural home near Mt. Darwin.  Having seen several of his children and in-laws die over the last decade, Sekuru Chigamba cares for almost a dozen orphaned grandchildren at his current home in Hatfield.  Sekuru Chigamba, ndimi gamba redu!  You are one of Africa’s true heroes.

Sekuru Chigamba

To all of the grandmothers of Tariro, as well as grandparents the world over raising grandchildren, we say thank you from the bottom of our hearts.  Our work educating and empowering Zimbabwean girls would be meaningless without the daily love, care, and support you provide for our students.

Vanessa is Tariro's September student of the month

In this week’s post, I’m pleased to introduce Tariro’s September student of the month, Vanessa M.  We first met Vanessa in 2008 at her home in Highfield, where she lives with her sister, brother, and a cousin, all of whom are cared for by their elderly grandparents.  Despite being past the age of retirement, her grandfather has held on to his job as a laborer at Natprint, a government printing parastatal, in an effort to provide for his grandchildren.  His small monthly income, however, is insufficient for the family’s basic needs.  At the time we met the family, the three older children were attending school sporadically.  Vanessa, however, had failed to register for kindergarten for a lack of school fees.  In addition, her siblings did not have full uniforms or sufficient school supplies.

While Vanessa is significantly younger than our target group of girls entering their teenage years, the fact that she lives in a household supporting multiple orphans dramatically increases her vulnerability.  We therefore decided to enroll Vanessa under our Executive Fund, which are offered on a case-by-case basis to children in situations of extreme vulnerability who fall outside of our major emphasis on teenage girls.

With support from the Executive Fund, Tariro enrolled Vanessa in kindergarten in the fall of 2008.  Now finishing the 2nd grade at Mhofu Primary School, Vanessa came first in her class last term.  We’re happy to be fostering a young student with such potential!

Vanessa and her cousin Rudo playing nhodo at home in Highfield- take a look at Vanessa's shirt- what a great slogan for a Tariro's girl's t-shirt!

On a personal note, I’ll also add that Vanessa is a kick-ass nhodo player.  Nhodo, a traditional game which resembles jacks, is played with several small rocks, called vana (children) which are placed in a small hole dug in the ground.  A larger stone, called mudodo, is then tossed in the air as he player attempts to scoop a certain number of vana out of the hole, then catch the mudodo before it hits the ground.

Stones as vana and a bright green lime as mudodo (although the kids insisted it was called mubhoga!)

Traditionally played by girls, Vanessa and Rudo are also often joined in playing nhodo by their cousins, Kundai and Dennis.  Much like our traditional music and dance group, nhodo is a great activity for kids who live in a resource-poor setting, as they can play with minimal materials, which are easily found in everyday settings.  More complex versions of nhodo also communicate skills and concepts in mathematics, including counting, multiplication, and factors.

Vanessa in action

Thanks for reading this post about Tariro’s student of the month, and the traditional Shona children’s game of nhodo!  Next up, I’ll have a more general update on our work in Zimbabwe.

Chef Juke and his amazing bar-b-que made Tariro's Eugene benefit a huge success! (shown here with his backyard Kamado smokers)

On Saturday, September 11th, Tariro held an awesome benefit event in Eugene, Oregon, raising $5,753 to support our work to educate and empower Zimbabwean girls!  In today’s post, I’m going to share some photos of the event with you, and share some of the details of what made this event such a successful benefit.  I hope these details will be useful to anyone who is thinking about hosting their own benefit event, whether on Tariro’s behalf, or for another organization or cause.

Once again, our story starts with the way personal connections to Zimbabwe have inspired individuals in our community to take small, but meaningful steps toward social justice and change.

Lola Broomberg: The Zimbabwe connection

Tariro loves Lola!

Lola Broomberg, who organized Tariro’s benefit event, grew up in Zimbabwe’s second largest city of Bulawayo.  Four years ago, she innovated a benefit event called “Umgami Wami,” or “My friend,” designed to support orphaned Zimbabwean children.  For the first three years after its inception, Lola’s father, who works as a psychologist in Bulawayo, administered the proceeds from her annual event.  After serving as a Tariro board member for a year, however, Lola was inspired to partner with Tariro in order to put on this wonderful event on our behalf.

We love Lola’s approach to “Umgami Wami,” which features performances from participants from the Lola’s creative youth arts camp “imagine That!”  As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I’m a huge supporter of youth supporting other youth.  As Lola observes, this kind of partnership gives children and teens in the US

“an opportunity to be globally conscious, socially active and deeply grateful for their lives here”

Hats off to Lola for her hard work to support and empower youth on both sides of the Atlantic!  And thanks so much to the youth from imagine That! who volunteered their time at our event.  We also thank Kudana Marimba for their uplifting performance.

Food, food, food!

So much Sweet Life...

As we’ve learned in Zimbabwe, offering culinary treats is a great way to encourage participation in special events… and this particular incentive seems especially universal across culture, time, and place!  Our benefit in Eugene featured amazing sandwiches with pork smoked by bar-b-que master Chef Juke, whose nickname comes from his participation at Burning Man.  Chef Juke is locally renowned for his skills as a chef, as featured in an article in the Eugene Register Guard.

In addition, we can’t give enough thanks to Eugene’s beloved Sweet Life Patisserie, which donated two delicious, huge, and beautifully decorated cakes for this year’s benefit.  The cakes were so huge that my stepmom decided to hold off on making my birthday cake, sure that we would have leftovers… instead, both cakes were totally gone by the time I went to get a piece, prompting a personal emergency Sweet Life run after the benefit was over!  We love you Sweet Life!  Thank you so much for your amazing donation.

And finally…

Sofia rocks!

Last but not least, Tariro’s benefit couldn’t have happened without an amazing, dedicated, and tireless committee of volunteers.  These include Chef Juke’s daughter, Sofia, a senior at South Eugene High School, who coordinated many aspects of this year’s benefit.  Maggie Donahue was also an instrumental member of our committee, as were the members of Tariro’s board of directors, also based in Eugene.  Thanks so much to everyone who helped make this event happen!

A great, sunny end-of-summer day for Tariro's benefit

This year’s Eugene benefit was by far the most successful we’ve had.  Everything, from the weather to our volunteers, cooperated so beautifully.  Thanks to everyone who helped make it happen!

Coming up next…

Tariro is truly grateful for the support in the United States, and around the world, that enables us to continue educating and empowering Zimbabwean girls.  In my next post, I’ll be giving you another update from our work on the ground as our students in Zimbabwe settle into their third term of school.  Check back soon to learn more!

Tariro student Noleen C.

I’m writing today with yet a final update on Noleen’s medical condition.  I’m very happy to report that thanks to the medical care she received through Tariro, Noleen has recovered from the bladder and kidney infections which began to affect her earlier this year.  Here is a report from our program coordinator Fadzi, which addresses both the improvements in Noleen’s health, as well as Tariro’s work with Noleen’s family to ensure that Noleen will receive adequate care at school.

Fadzi’s update

Noleen is feeling much better and is ready to go back to school.  She still has a catheter which she will continue to wear until her doctor advises otherwise. She also gets her bladder cleaned every month, hence her mother still has to take her to the doctor’s every month.

Noleen’s mum is very concerned about Noleen’s previous school. She thinks the school is short-staffed, and as a result the staff is not able to take care of health needs of disabled students. She believes this could be the reason Noleen ended up with bladder and kidney problems. She was very clear that she would only take Noleen back to her previous school if there were absolutely no other options.

I advised Noleen’s mother to look for a school that has a similar cost structure, so that we could facilitate a transfer. She  got a place at St. Giles, where boarding fees are around $750, and day scholar fees are $350, including a new uniform and monthly transport coasts.

For now, we have decided that Noleen will attend St. Giles as a day scholar, until Tariro’s board is able to discuss the boarding option.  I agreed to the transfer because it costs the same as the previous school, and also because Noleen’s mum was committed to taking her to school everyday.  This is a major challenge since there are no buses in Zimbabwe that are accessible, meaning that Noleen’s mum has to carry her eleven year-old daughter and the wheelchair everyday, both from their home to the bus, and from the bus to her school.  She also has to wait for Noleen to be done with school to do the return trip back home.

This arrangement works for now, as we were both eager to get Noleen to a better school, but I believe this will take a toll on either Noleen or her mother.

If Noleen gets into St. Giles boarding school, she will have access to a doctor, and physiotherapy.  I’ve already spoken to Jennifer about discussing the option of enrolling Noleen as a boarding student at St. Giles with Tariro’s board.  Since boarding school is $750/term, she will need $2250/year.

Hard decisions…

Fadzi’s update brings home the hard reality that small organizations like Tariro must always strive to balance the needs of individual students with our financial limitations, as well as our desire to help the maximum number of students possible to obtain an education.  Our board will be meeting before the end of the month, and I’ll be sure to update you on our decision regarding Noleen’s attendance at St. Giles.  In the meantime, if anyone is aware of resources or individuals who may be able to help us afford the special care Noleen requires, please contact me through our website.

Thank you for your support, and please check back later this week for an update on the wonderful benefit event held for Tariro last week in Eugene, OR.

In today’s post, I’d like to share a general update regarding Tariro’s recent work in Zimbabwe.  As many of you may know, the third term of school in Zimbabwe has just recently started, after a month-long holiday in August.  During the school holiday, Tariro took care of many important administrative duties to ensure that our students are able to succeed in school.  Please read below to learn more about what we are doing to educate and empower the 65 girls enrolled in Tariro this year.

Payment of third term school fees

Our program coordinator, Fadzi, reports that she has finished paying all students’ fees for the third term of school.  These included “top-up” fees of $13 per student at Domboramwari High School in Epworth.  Domboramwari has recently acquired a bus and built a library, and the top up fees are required to meet the expenses of running the school bus and library.

Tariro’s second Mercy Corps grant

Tariro received a second grant from the “Mukomberanwa” fund administered by Mercy Corps, and targeted toward organizations working with orphans and vulnerable children.  The grant totaled $750, and we used it to buy textbooks and uniforms.  Girls enrolled in Forms 3 and 4 received new textbooks, and school shoes and jerseys were distributed to new students recently enrolled in the Highfield and Epworth neighborhoods.  Tariro has submitted a report to Mercy Corps showing how the funds were used, with signatures from all the students who benefited from the grant.

Home and school visits

Together with Tariro’s librarian Senzeni, Fadzi has completed home visits to assess the living situations of our enrolled students, as well as school visits to network with administrators and teachers.  Overall, the visits revealed that students’ health is generally good for Zimbabwean standards, except for some girls reporting minor headaches.

In addition, the home visits showed that school attendance for Tariro girls is very high.  Fadzi reports that providing sanitary pads and paying for minor, but mandatory fees, helps with attendance rates.  An example of this type of mandatory fee is “civics days,” used by many school as a mandatory fundraising day, where girls pay to attend school wearing street clothes instead of their school uniforms.

Guidance counseling

Peggy Samhaka, who is a senior teacher at Highfield High, has continued to volunteer her services as a guidance counselor once every month, receiving transport reimbursement from Tariro’s 2010 PEPFAR grant.  In recent sessions, she has covered everything from hygiene and presentation, to making a good impression on teachers and parents, to available career choices in Zimbabwe.

And more…

These are only some of the important work Tariro has been conducting in recent weeks.  In my next post, I’ll be sharing more news about developments in our extra-curricular music and dance group.  And next week, we’re looking forward to getting an update from Lauri Benblatt about the August empowerment camp.  Check back soon for these exciting updates, along with some recent photos from Zimbabwe.

In this week’s post, I’m happy to give you more detailed information about this year’s annual Tariro benefit concert in Eugene, OR.  This year’s benefit will take place on Saturday, September 11, from 5-8pm, at the Friendly St. Church on 22nd and Friendly in Eugene, OR.

No matter where you live, if you’d like to support this year’s benefit event, we are accepting donations for the silent auction which will be held at the event.  If you have something you’d like to donate, please contact us through our brand new website (which I love!!!), or simply mail your item to us at Tariro: Hope and Health for Zimbabwe’s Orphans, PO Box 50273, Eugene, Oregon 97405.  We would really appreciate a few additional donations to fill out the offerings at this year’s silent auction.

And now for a little more information about the event itself: Tariro’s 2010 benefit is being organized by Lola Broomberg, in conjunction with participants from imagine That!, a creative arts extravaganza for youth.  Here is Lola’s description of what is planned for this year’s exciting benefit:

A dinner, performance, and silent auction for the benefit of Tariro will be held on September 11th. This event will include many wonderful aspects. A barbecue dinner, with pulled pork or vegetarian sandwiches, two sides, and a Sweet Life dessert, will be available for $10-25 per person (sliding scale), $8 for kids. There will be live music by the stars of the Imagine That! summer camp and Kudana, an an extraordinary silent auction, with products and services provided by many local businesses.

I’m looking forward to this amazing evening, which also happens to fall the day before my birthday!  So please help us spread the word about this great event on Facebook, and come join me in celebrating my birthday in support of Tariro’s work!

Join us in September at our annual benefit, and Jennifer's birthday!

As Tariro’s founder, I’m writing today with a special birthday wish, representing a unique opportunity for you to contribute to Tariro’s work, and make a direct personal connection with our students.

My birthday is coming up on September 12th, and my birthday wish is to do something simple yet special for Tariro students, most of whom rarely, if ever, receive a birthday card or gift.   For my birthday, I’d like each of Tariro’s supporters to write a birthday card to one Tariro student.  Here’s how you can participate in this initiative to brighten the birthday of each of Tariro’s students.

Step 1. Click here to choose a girl from the list of our students’ names and birthdays. The list does not represent every single one of our students, but it does represent all of the students whose birthdays we have on file.  Here are a few of my thoughts on choosing whom write to:

• Many of our students have been previously profiled on the blog, and you may chose to write to a student you have felt some personal connection with.
• However, since we also want to ensure that each girl will receive a card, you may choose to select a girl through a different method, such as choosing a girl whose birthday month you share.
• Alternately, if you are writing the card with a child, or in a school class, you could choose to pair students of the same age.

2. Get creative with a store-bought or hand-made birthday card, and with your birthday message.  You may choose to include a photograph of yourself, an origami crane, or some other small (and flat!) personal touch.  Please do not include money.  If you’d like to make a birthday donation to Tariro, you can do so instead through my birthday wish on Facebook.

3. If you are interested in receiving a card back from your student, please include a small, self-addressed stamped envelope.  We will encourage our students to choose to respond, and any return letters will be hand-carried to the US for posting by Tariro volunteers.  We don’t have the administrative personnel to run a formal pen-pal program, but we will do our best to ensure that letters written by our students to birthday well-wishers are carried back to the US and posted by Tariro volunteers.

4. Mail your completed birthday card to Tariro at:

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

Thanks for reading, and participating in my birthday wish to brighten the birthdays of Tariro’s students!

And finally, please mark your calendars with the date for Tariro’s annual benefit event in Eugene, Oregon.  This year’s benefit event will take place the day before my birthday, from 5-8pm on Saturday, September 11th.  This wonderful evening will feature live music and performances, as well as a Bar-B-Que and silent auction.  I’ll have a detailed description of the benefit event in a coming post.  For now, though, please visit Facebook to let us know you’ll be attending, and to spread the news about our upcoming benefit with friends.

Caution and Renold Shonhai perform at Zimfest 2010

Just a short post to say thanks for another great year at the Zimbabwe Music Festival!   I’d like to thank all of the board members and volunteers who worked so hard to make our table at Zimfest possible in 2010.  Special thanks go to Maggie, Nan, Bobbie, and Catherine for their hard work, as well as to festival participants who took time out of their busy schedules to attend our slideshow and presentation on our work in Zimbabwe.  As always, Zimfest was a great place to reconnect with communities from around the US and Canada who support our work.  And to Alex, Jake, Michael, and all of the other young people who stepped up to make Zimfest happen this year: you rock!

Later this week, I will be writing with details about a new Tariro initiative to build links between our students in Zimbabwe and our supporters in the US through a letter exchange.  Please check back in a few days for details!

Coming to the Zimbabwe Music Festival in Corvallis, Oregon?  If so, make sure to stop by Tariro’s booth in the Zimfest marketplace!   At our booth, you can view a photo exhibit from our “kids with cameras” workshop with our students in Zimbabwe, and speak with volunteers about Tariro’s work.  You can also pick up one of our great, reusable “chicco” shopping bags featuring artisan embroidery work by our students.  In addition, two exciting CDs will be offered for sale at our table.  These include a compilation of field recordings from Tariro’s drum and dance group, in addition to the great collection of new music from Zimbabwe, “Zimbabwe Today.”

Finally, don’t miss Tariro founder Jennifer Kyker’s slideshow and discussion of Tariro’s work in Zimbabwe, offered during the Saturday session of Zimfest at 1pm.  Space is still available in this discussion, at a cost of only $7.50!  In addition to discussing her work with Tariro, Jennifer will also teach a song featured on the album of Tariro’s drum and dance group.  Please come join us at this special workshop!

Nicole M. at Highfield High 1

In this week’s first post, I’m giving you another short profile of one of our newly enrolled students, Nicole M.   A student at Highfield High 1, Nicole is a double orphan, having lost both of her parents.  She currently lives with her grandmother and six other relatives in a small home in the Highfield neighborhood.  Nicole’s favorite subjects are math and accounting, and after finishing high school, her career goals are to study to be an accountant.  Her grandmother, who does not work, has often been unable to pay for her to attend school, and she often missed class as a result.  Because of her extremely vulnerable status as a double orphan, and her lack of regular attendance at school due to financial problems, Nicole was selected by her senior women as a high priority student for enrollment in Tariro.