At Tariro's recent benefit event at KVNF radio in Paonia, CO

In this week’s second post, I would like to thank some amazing friends of Tariro in Colorado, who have helped us organize several very successful events to raise awareness about our work.  One of these amazing volunteers is Adam Silverstein (above, right) of Round Earth Farm, who organized a recent benefit event at KVNF radio station in Paonia.  Along with Michael McKenna (above, left), Adam performed traditional Zimbabwean mbira music to open this event.  We thank KVNF for the use of their beautiful community room for our slide show and discussion!

Artists and musicians have often collaborated with Tariro in support of our work, and Colorado is no exception!  Author Virginia Barrett (above, center) appeared as a special guest at the Paonia event, and gave a reading from “Mbira Maker Blues,” her beautiful travel memoir about Zimbabwe.  The Low Flying Knobs marimba band gave Tariro a generous donation at our Boulder benefit.  We can’t thank you enough for supporting our work!  Finally, a huge thanks to Tariro supporter Tessa, who helped organize a benefit event on our behalf in Carbondale.

Thanks to all of the community support for Tariro in Colorado, we have raised over $3,200 during the last few weeks, enough to ensure that we will be able to sustain our programs through the rest of the year.  Now I can relax for a few weeks before we begin a renewed fundraising effort to secure the donations we need to continue our work in 2011!

Kudzanayi (second from right) with a group of Tariro students in Epworth

In this week’s first post, I’d like to introduce Tariro’s current student of the month!  Our student of the month program is a simple way of recognizing students who make positive contributions to their families and communities by demonstrating qualities such as academic achievement, dedication to extracurricular activities, or leadership.  Each girl who is named student of the month receives a certificate acknowledging her contributions, as well as a t-shirt donated by the Zimbabwe Music Festival.

Kudzanai M. is Tariro’s current student of the month.  Living in the high density township of Epworth, Kudzanayi, or “Kudzi,” received the nomination for showing great leadership potential.  She is in the traditional dance ensemble, and has not yet missed a session without an excused absence.  She is always one of the first few people to arrive at the session.

Kudzi has also been very helpful as a self-nominated representative of the Epworth girls. The new girls from Kudzi’s school are unable to personally visit Tariro’s library, which is located in Glen Norah; however, Kudzi has introduced herself to the new girls, and every weekend she brings their requests to the library.  She also helps deliver sanitary ware and school supplies to the Epworth girls whenever needed.  This has worked really well for the coordinator and the librarian, who now have a reliable way of getting books to Epworth without having to make a visit every week.  The new girls in Epworth have already starting feeling very much like they are a part of the group, thanks to Kudzanayi and the other Tariro students at their school, Domboramwari High School.

Kutandara performs at the 4th annual Tariro benefit in Boulder

I’m writing today to share a couple of photos with you from the wonderful benefit event held yesterday in Boulder, CO, on behalf of Tariro.  This event, hosted by the Kutandara Center, was the 4th annual Tariro benefit in Boulder.

Kutandara horn players rock it at the benefit!

With participation by a variety of musical ensembles, this event raised just over $2,000 in donations to support Tariro’s work.  I’m always especially happy to see youth participating to support our students in Zimbabwe, and this event was no exception, with several youth groups performing, including Vana Vedu, Shamwari, and Tamba.

Youth ensemble Tamba performs at the benefit

In addition to the money we raised, someone also walked up with a donation of fresh summer squash from the Boulder farmers’ market!  I’m hereby confiscating the squash for my own dinner… we’ll consider it an administrative cost for the organization!

Fresh produce from the Boulder farmers' market

Finally, we were very pleased to have two amazing Zimbabwean musicians, Tendai Muparutsa and Zivanai Masango, participate in the event as guest artists, performing on vocals and percussion.  For more photos from the event, please visit our Facebook page.

Interesting in hosting a benefit event in your community to support Tariro?  We can help by sending you a starter pack with materials including our brochure, mailing list sign-up form, donation forms, and a powerpoint presentation about our work.  Contact us and let us know!

Art therapist Lauri Benblatt speaks with Tariro student Ruth N.

In this week’s post, I have a short update for you on Noleen’s condition.  However, I’d like to start by sharing some other exciting news with you.  In just a few weeks, Tariro will be holding our annual empowerment camp, “Building Girls, Building Dreams.” This year, we are pleased to host a special guest at the camp.  Lauri Benblatt is a licensed psychotherapist and art therapist in Boulder, CO, and has offered her counseling services as a volunteer with Tariro since 2005, traveling to Zimbabwe twice to work with our students.

In addition to working directly with Tariro students at this year’s empowerment camp, Lauri will be training several counselors who currently work with Tariro students.  Tariro’s counselors include Peggy Samhaka, the guidance counselor at Highfield High 1, as well as facilitators from Camps Unlimited, the organization that runs our annual empowerment camps.  Funding for the counseling component of Tariro’s work is provided by PEPFAR grant from US Embassy in Harare.  We are extremely grateful to the Embassy for providing this funding, as we have identified mental health needs as the second most important concern facing our students, after the necessity of securing financial support for their education.

Lauri has recently completed a program in global mental health work through the Harvard Program for Refugee Trauma, at Harvard’s Medical School.  We are excited that she has this opportunity to share her expertise by working with our students, many of whom have experienced significant trauma upon losing their parents to HIV/AIDS.  Counseling through art is an important way for students to explore these issues in a safe and supportive environment.

Artwork on HIV/AIDS produced by student at the 2007 empowerment camp

This drawing, for example, dramatically represents the effects of HIV/AIDS in our students’ lives.  Done by a group of four students, it read, “AIDS brings sickness with no cure.  Sickness that makes you unable to eat.  You are left thin, unable to survive, without a good life, once you have AIDS.” For many students, the arts, including drawing, poetry, and song, is one of the only realms in which they are free to speak openly about HIV/AIDS, making it an extremely important way of communicating about the effects of HIV/AIDS, as well as prevention and behavior change.  (To see other artwork and poems done by Tariro students during Lauri’s work at the 2007 annual empowerment camp, please visit our website)

I’ll close this post with an update on Noleen’s condition.  I spoke on the phone with Tariro’s program coordinator, Fadzi, earlier this morning, who reported some very good news!   Noleen’s doctors now believe that the catheter they inserted last week may have drained the blockage which was affecting Noleen’s kidneys and urinary tract.  In an attempt to avoid scheduling a costly and possibly dangerous surgery if at all possible, her doctors have sent Noleen in to Parirenyatwa today for another scan to determine whether or not the surgery needs to proceed.  Noleen’s mother reports that Noleen is feeling much better, and is no longer in pain.  We are therefore hopeful that she will be able to return to school this coming term.

Finally, the Kutandara Center is hosting their 4th annual benefit for Tariro today in Boulder, CO.  Lauri and I will both be at this event, so if you are in the area, please stop by the Boulder Bandshell, between 4-8pm.  Photos and an update on this event will be forthcoming in the next post!

Jane J. is one of Tariro's most gifted students

In today’s post, I’m featuring another of Tariro’s newly enrolled students at Highfield High 1.  Jane J. is 16 years old and lives with her grandmother and one other sibling.  Jane is an excellent student with an A- average, and would like to be lawyer when she finishes school.  She is passing all her subjects, despite having been absent from school for extended periods due to lack of money to pay school fees.  Jane ranks among the top 5 students in her class, and is also a member of the school athletics team.  One of the most gifted students currently in Tariro, our program coordinator Fadzi reports, “With proper guidance and support,  Jane will achieve her intended career goals.”  Thanks to your support of Tariro’s work with young women and girls, Jane is getting the chance to realize her dreams.

I’m also happy to report that Noleen is in stable condition and is currently at home with her family, awaiting surgery.  I will write with a full update on her situation this Wednesday, after I have the chance to check in with Fadzi for more details.

Mai Chipira's children, Ashleen and Florence

In a post earlier this year, I described the difficulty facing Mai Chipira and her daughters, making one of the most vulnerable families Tariro works with, and one of the hardest cases to ensure a positive intervention.  Today, I’m writing with the happy news that Mai Chipira’s oldest daughter, Ashleen, has been attending school regularly thanks to support from Tariro.

In May, Tariro bought a new school uniform for Ashleen, and paid the school fees required for her to enroll in kindergarten at the Chinamano Primary School in Epworth.  Since then, however, we’ve had difficulty contacting Mai Chipira to obtain an update on whether Ashleen has been attending school regularly.  This difficulty has been conpounded by the family’s tenuous situation, as they moved to another rented room in their Epworth neighborhood.  Since Epworth has no named streets, only winding dirt roads, this made it impossible for our program coordinator, Fadzi, to conduct a follow-up home visit.  Compounding our concern, we’ve occasionally seen Ashleen begging on the street with her mother during the afternoon, and we therefore wanted to make absolutely sure that she is attending school regularly before continuing to sponsor her school fees.

To determine this information, Fadzi recently visited Ashleen’s school and spoke with her teacher and school administrators.  She learned that Ashleen has indeed been attending school regularly despite the family’s unstable home situation, and that Ashleen had only joined her mother in town after school let out for the day.  We had initially asked Mai Chipira to agree to keep Ashleen off of the streets entirely as a condition of paying for her school fees.  However, we consider the fact that Ashleen is attending school regularly as a major success for this family, and we’ve decided to continue sponsoring her school fees during the third term of 2010.  Thank you so much to those sponsors who have helped us to make this possible!

In my first post on Mai Chipira’s family, I mentioned how Mai Chipira was one of the first people I ran into on the very first day of my most recent trip to Zimbabwe, begging on the same street corner where I had first met her a year earlier.  Today, I’m going to close with a photo of Ashleen in her school uniform which I took on my very last day of the same trip.  Late in the afternoon on the way home from a weekend camping trip at the Chimanimani Arts Festival right before I left for the United States, I drove by the street corner where Mai Chipira regularly begs.  Stopping at the red light, I saw Mai Chipira sitting on the side of the road in the shade, and called her over to the car.  Is Ashleen going to school, I asked.  She replied that Ashleen was indeed attending school, and called her over to see me.  Still dressed in her school uniform, with a few gaps in her smile where she had recently lost her baby teeth, and clutching a lollipop, Ashleen came over to flash a huge smile at me.  From inside the car, I quickly pulled my camera out and snapped one last photo before the traffic light turned green, and I was on my way home to pack for the plane.

Ashleen on the corner of Second Street

It’s not every day that Tariro takes on a challenge as demanding as the situation we’re trying to help this family work through, and I’m glad that we can report back to you with this success.  Since our ultimate goal is to have Ashleen off the streets entirely, I consider it a partial success.  Considering the very desperate situation facing Ashleen, however, the ability to continue going to school in the face of so many obstacles is truly a life-changing opportunity.

Making friends thorugh Tariro: Lillian and Daphine

Dear friends of Tariro-

I want to begin today’s post by thanking you for the generosity of your response to Noleen’s need for emergency medical care.  So far, we’ve raised $1,105 toward her care.  I received an update from Fadzi earlier this week about Noleen’s condition.  As always, in the Zimbabwean medical system, Noleen and her family must a host of challenges we would not encounter here in the US.  Here’s Fadzi’s report from the field in Zimbabwe:

Noleen went for the final scan on Friday, and then we will know what sort of an operation she needs.  I gave her mother another $250 to cover their ongoing costs. Noleen is OK now, but last week she got a catheter that was too big, and made her condition worse. They took her back to the hospital and she got the right size, which is working fine.   Another problem is also that the family doesn’t have a car, so its hard on the mother, as she has to hire a car or carry Noleen on her back.

Mai Noleen also brought up another issue, concerning the school Noleen has been attending. She doesn’t think the school is good enough and that they are taking of the kids there. She says Noleen wasn’t well when she left school last term and no one informed her. She thinks it will be wise to look at other schools and see if things don’t change.  I told her that she can start to research other schools, and see whether they are any better.

I’m hoping that by Monday, we will have a conclusive report on how Noleen’s surgery went.  Thank you for your continued support.  If anyone would like to send a card to Noleen and her family with wishes for her recovery, please feel free to send them to Tariro’s mailing address at:

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

I will hand-deliver any cards to Noleen’s family when I leave for Zimbabwe at the end of the summer.  I’m sure they would be happy to hear from well-wishes in the US, as Noleen’s health and care is an ongoing struggle for her and her family.

Finally, last week I promised updates on two other issues which are close to my heart, concerning both the story of Tariro’s origins, and also Mai Chipira’s family.  In today’s post, I’m going to address only one of the two, and save the other for next week.

In talking about Tariro’s beginnings, I mentioned the importance of my friend Blantina, my host sister at my first host family’s house in Highfield, where Tariro currently works.  After having lost touch with Blantina for several years, and wondering whether she was still alive and well, I finally heard from Blantina late last year when she called me from a tenuous cellular connection in South Africa.  Because of the ten-hour time difference, my phone was turned off.  As I’m not very diligent about checking my voice messages, I didn’t get her message until a few weeks later.  I was overjoyed to hear her voice, but wasn’t sure that I was able to make out the number she left for me to call her back.  When trying to get through using a phone card, I was unable to get a connection, and I thought perhaps I had the wrong number.

Just before leaving Zimbabwe this past May, however, I thought that perhaps I should try calling Blantina from my Zimbabwean cell phone, which can make direct calls to South Africa without the need for a calling card.  When I heard Blantina answer on the other end of the line, I was too happy for words.  Blantina said that in addition to calling, she had tried to write me an email, but had an outdated email address for me.  In our phone conversation, she told me that she is struggling in South Africa, where she is unemployed and living with friends.  Like many Zimbabweans in the diaspora, however, it would be difficult for her to come home, as she has even less opportunities or resources available to her in Zimbabwe than abroad.  Blantina is especially disadvantaged after losing almost all of her known family members to HIV/AIDS, poverty, and illness.

Despite the challenges facing her, though, I’m primarily just relieved to know that Blantina is still alive, and surviving in South Africa.  I’m hoping to see her before the end of the year, whether in South Africa, or in Zimbabwe.  And the fact that Blantina tried so hard to stay in touch, emailing and calling me from South Africa despite her meager resources, showed me how strong the bond we formed as young girls has grown to be.  I hope that the experiences of the girls Tariro currently sponsors, such as their participation in our annual empowerment camp, will likewise lead them to form life-long friendships.

Thanks for reading!  I’ll be posting again early next week, so stay tuned for more news on Noleen, Mai Chipira, and other important updates from Tariro.

Florence M.

I’m leaving today to go out to the Oregon Country Fair, where I’ll be performing both West African dance as well as Zimbabwean music.  As promised, I will be writing an update on Noleen’s situation next week, after the festival.  In the meantime, though, I wanted to post another profile of one of Tariro’s newest students, Florence M.

Florence M. is a double orphan, having lost both her father and mother.  She is currently enrolled in Form 1 at Highfield High School.  Florence lives with her mother’s younger sister, who is a cross boarder trader.  To make a small profit, Florence’s aunt travels to Malawi to buy rice for resale in Zimbabwe.  In addition to caring for Florence, her aunt also cares for Florence’s three siblings, putting a huge financial pressure on her small income.  Florence is originally from the rural area of Hwedza, where she grew up with her mother’s family.  When her mother passed away, Florence moved to Harare to live wit  her mother’s sister.  Although Florence knows her father’s family she has never lived with them, and did not have a relationship with her father before he died.

Although her aunt wants Florence to attend school, she cannot afford to send all four of the orphaned children she is responsible for to school regularly.  For this reason, Florence’s attendance at school has been erratic, and she still owes school fees for the previous year, in 2009. What is most impressive about Florence is her tenacity. When her aunt was unable to pay her school fees, she decided to continue studying from home, asking other students to bring her notes from class.  Because of her determination, when she was able to return to school this term with sponsorship from Tariro, she was able to catch up quickly.

Florence would like to be a doctor. She believes Tariro has given her the chance to dream big again.  I love being able to say that Tariro has made a difference in the lives of some of Zimbabwe’s most vulnerable girls.  Thanks again for your support of our work with Florence and other girls in communities affected by HIV/AIDS.

Tariro student Noleen C.

Dear readers-

I normally try to use the blog in order to keep you updated as to Tariro’s progress on the ground.  This week, however, I’m going to do something I rarely do on the blog, which is to make a direct appeal for special donations intended for a particular purpose.

Right now, one of Tariro’s students is hospitalized with a serious medical condition that requires urgent care.  This student is Noleen C., who has been profiled in a previous post.  Affected with spina bifida, Noleen attends the Jairos Jiri school for the disabled.  This term, however, Noleen has been suffering from an ongoing medical condition, which began with a kidney infection last month.  The doctors now believe that Noleen has a blockage of her internal organs that will require surgery.

Thanks to the assistance of Dr. Nyasha Maboreke, who provides his services to Tariro on a voluntary basis in Zimbabwe, Noleen has been referred to and admitted at Parirenyatwa hospital, where she is now under medical supervision.  Her widowed mother reports that she is in almost constant pain.  Tariro’s program coordinator Fadzi sent us this latest report yesterday:

Noleen needs $200 to complete the series of tests she requires before the operation. So far her bill has been $360 from Tariro’s end, and she will probably need another $500, for the operation, hospital stay and other medication. She will be operated at Parirenyatwa, where she does not necessarily need to pay upfront, but urgently she requires $200.

We are estimating that Noleen’s total medical expenses may run as high as $1,000.  While Tariro’s general policy is not to cover medical expenses for our students and their families, the board has agreed that Noleen has an exceptional emergency need for medical care, and we have committed to assisting her family by raising the funds to cover her medical needs in this acute emergency.

I am therefore writing with a special appeal for donations to help us cover Noleen’s medical costs.  Please consider donating today, whether online, or by mailing a check in to our mailing address, which is up on our website.  Please indicate in the subject line of your check or online donation that the funds are for Noleen’s care.  I don’t suspect that we’ll raise more than the amount she requires, but if we do, any additional funds will go toward paying her boarding school fees for the remainder of the year, as the special school she attends is comparatively more expensive than our other students’ tuition.

Once again, I’m happy that Tariro’s small size and flexibility gives us the ability to address the special needs of individual students such as Noleen, and I thank you for your donations, concern, and interest in Noleen’s care.

Please check back next week for an update not only on Noleen’s health, but also on two subjects I have raised in previous posts.  First, I will be giving you an update on Mai Chipira and her daughter Ashleen, whose story I have discussed in some detail in a few posts.  And finally, I have some exciting news relating to the story of Tariro’s beginning.

Thanks for reading, and thank you for your donations to assist us with Noleen’s emergency medical care. ~Jennifer

New Tariro student Audrey

As promised, this week’s post is a profile of new Tariro student Audrey M.  This profile was assembled from information Audrey included on her application form for sponsorship from Tariro, as well as from a home visit conducted by Tariro program coordinator Fadzi.  This short profile gives a good idea of the kinds of challenges and situations facing many of our students:

Audrey is 18 this year and doing her Form 4 at Highfield High.  Because she had no one to finance her education, she has missed close to two years of school, making her much older than her classmates.

Audrey currently lives with her paternal great-grandmother. When her father died, Audrey’s mother remarried and her new husband refused to take care of Audrey, who hasn’t seen or spoken to her mother in 5 years.  Audrey initially moved to Chitungwiza with her paternal grandmother, who later died.  This is when Audrey began living with her great-grandmother, who is in her late 80s or early 90s, although the exact date of her birth is unknown.  Audrey’s great-grandmother survives by subsistence farming on the outskirts of town. Although her granny tries hard to take care of Audrey, she has chronic backache and can no longer tend to their farm.  This has meant that Audrey has had to take on some of the farming to provide food for the both of them.

Because of her obligations to assist her great-grandmother, Audrey began to miss school because of lack of money, and sometimes her great-grandmother would become verbally and emotionally abusive, especially when there was no money for food or for school materials.

Audrey believes being a member of Tariro gives her peace of mind, as she no longer feels she is a burden to her grandmother. She is confident about passing her exams and proceeding to “A” levels.  Audrey enjoys drama and drawing, and would like to be an actress or an ambassador when she finishes school.  She is very confident and seems focused on her career goals.  She has been to both English Club meetings and is always eager to participate.

We are happy to be giving Audrey, who was highly recommended by her teachers and the senior woman at her school, the chance to continue her education and pursue her dreams.  Thank you for helping us to give Audrey, and other Zimbabwean girls, hope for the future!