March 30, 2010
Tariro students at our annual empowerment camp
I’m happy to share the excellent news that Tariro received two very important grants last week. First, we received $10,700 in funding from the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), administered by the US Embassy’s Public Affairs Section in Harare. We received a second grant from Mercy Corps’ Mukomberanwa fund, from which we expect to receive close to $1,000 in funding.
This funding is essential to enabling Tariro to maintain our programs and activities in Zimbabwe. In addition, receiving grants from established organizations such as Mercy Corps is an important acknowledgment of Tariro’s effective work, and our success in fulfilling our mission to educate and empower girls in Zimbabwean communities affected by HIV/AIDS. Please read on to learn more about how Tariro will be putting this funding to use.
PEPFAR funding: Empowerment camp
Tariro’s empowerment camp, “Building Girls, Building Dreams.“ is the centerpiece of our HIV education program. Working with facilitators from the organization SHAPE Zimbabwe, the empowerment camp imparts concrete knowledge about HIV/AIDS transmission and prevention to our students. In addition, the camp addresses issues of stigma, trauma, and grief for young women and girls whose families and communities have been deeply affected by HIV/AIDS. This year, $8,700 of Tariro’s PEPFAR funding will be used to hold our fourth annual empowerment camp, scheduled for August.
PEPFAR funding: Counseling component
In addition, our 2010 PEPFAR funding includes $2,000 in funding for group and individual counseling services. At last year’s empowerment camp, counseling was identified as a priority for several of our students, and camp facilitators identified seven students in particular need of ongoing counseling. Using this year’s PEPFAR funding, we will be able to offer regular, individual counseling sessions with a licensed counselor for these students. Group counseling sessions will also be offered for other students wishing to take advantage of this service
Mercy Corps: Mukomberanwa funding
This Tuesday, our program coordinator Fadzi, along with other Tariro staff, will be attending a training session held by Mercy Corps for beneficiaries of Mukomberanwa fund grants, which targets grassroots initiatives working with orphaned and vulnerable children. Mukomberanwa grants are specifically intended to provide for the basic needs of orphaned and vulnerable children, such as food, clothing, and school fees. Tariro will be using our first Mukomberanwa grant to cover school fees, uniforms, and exam fees for our current students.
While Mercy Corps’ Mukomberanwa grants are small in size- usually under $1,000 per grant- they are renewable when new funding needs arise. As Tariro will be using funding from the Mukomberanwa fund to help us cover recurring costs related to school fees, uniforms, and supplies, we plan to apply for funding from the fund once per term in order to support our ongoing work.
March 26, 2010
Tariro students performing at the Zimbabwe German Society
I’m writing a few days late, but with the great news that Tariro had a very exciting weekend! Less than twenty-four hours before we were due to arrive at the German Zimbabwe Society last Saturday to observe a day of performances in literature and dance, I spoke with the director of the GCZ, who asked us whether we would also like to perform at the event. Of course, we were very happy to have the opportunity to perform.
While this gave us very little time to organize a performance, I’m very happy to say that our girls stepped up to the challenge. We put our phone tree in action to ensure all of the members of the group were notified of the performance, and the girls met at their regular rehearsal space to board public transport to the performance. Because we didn’t have time to organize transport for our marimbas, we decided to dance with only drums and singing for accompaniment, a big change for our dancers, who had never rehearsed without marimbas on one of the songs they chose to perform.
Rachel and Daniel drumming for the performance
However, their brilliant performance proved that they are developing into very talented dancers, and I can easily envision several of our students as having a future as professional dancers and musicians.
In another slight hitch, most of the girls didn’t bring their costumes, so we decided to do the performance in street clothes. It turns out that all of the other performers at the event had been given t-shirts and caps by the German Zimbabwe Society, and our girls were the only ones not wearing any type of uniform for their performance. But despite these challenges, our girls gave an incredible performance!
The experience reinforced my belief in how important the traditional music and dance group is as a way for us to showcase our work with these talented young girls to the wider community. So many people came up to me after the performance to compliment us on our work. At least a few of them thought we were a professional dance group! And many of them thanked us for our work in preserving music and culture. We were able to network with quite a few people in the audience who I look forward to maintaining a connection with, and involving in our work here in Zimbabwe.
Other performances featured during this day of events were recitals of poetry and short stories written by youth who worked with mentors during the course of the week leading up to the performance. These mentors included Zimbabwe’s wonderful spoken word and hip hop artist Outspoken, as well as writer Memory Chirere, who maintains a wonderful literary blog featuring writing by Zimbabwean authors. Students from Zengeza High School in Chitungwiza also performed contemporary dance and hiphop routines.
Zengeza High School students performing in contemporary dance
Despite all of the challenges of living and working in Zimbabwe, the arts scene is thriving here, and the enthusiasm of young people to be involved in arts and culture is one of the reasons that Zimbabwe is such a wonderful place to be.
Thank you to the German Zimbabwe Society for your invitation to perform at this event! Our students benefited immensely from the chance to see other youth involved in the creative arts, including poetry, short stories, and dance. We also enjoyed the lunch provided, and we look forward to being involved in future events at the German Zimbabwe Society.
March 18, 2010
The Chipira family's kitchen during a home visit in 2009
Together with Tariro program coordinator Fadzi, I met with Mai Chipira yesterday afternoon, at the corner of Second St. and Takawira. After contacting Viola’s relatives, she learned that Viola had run away from home to get married, at age fourteen.
I think the important, yet challenging thing for us to consider is that Viola’s decision was a logical one for a young, orphaned girl prevented from attending school by her social and financial situation. Without a relative willing to assume the role of primary caregiver, shuttled from one household to the next between the urban and rural areas, Viola’s daily life was confined to the domestic household, where she helped relatives with daily chores, cooking, sweeping, cleaning, washing, and caring for younger children. As her horizons closed in around her, Viola saw her only escape as getting married, despite being under the age of consent. While she may be performing many of the same daily tasks in her new life with her husband, at least this time, she is working toward being in charge of her own household, or so the thinking goes for many young women in a similar situation. Viola left no contact information, making it impossible to follow up on her.
While there’s nothing we can do for Viola, however, the good news is that we have made a commitment to sponsoring Mai Chipira’s eldest daughter, who will begin attending the first grade very soon! As we sat on the curb and spoke with Mai Chipira, we learned that her daughter had in fact attended kindergarden last year, with financial assistance from a Roman Catholic sister who was assisting the family. With help from this nun, Mai Chipira herself completed a basic course in dressmaking last year, and was intending to continue her studies, when the nun left the country, leaving Mai Chipira and her daughter back on the streets. Unfortunately, this kind of brief intervention in the lives of Zimbabwe’s most vulnerable families is seldom successful, illustrating why Tariro’s long-term, committed relationships to the communities we work with are so important in enacting lasting change. Our commitment to the Chipira family will be to see Mai Chipira’s two daughters all the way through from primary to secondary school, ensuring that they are able to make progress in completing their studies and moving toward a new life.
In addition to the resources to sponsor Mai Chipira’s daughter’s school expenses, we are now looking for the funds to be able to provide the Chipira family with a small monthly stipend, in exchange for consistent school attendance. If you are interested in making a monthly commitment to this family, please let me know!
I’d like to close this post with some reflections on Viola’s choice to run away and get married. For me, the outcome of Viola’s situation illustrates the harsh reality that would face many of Tariro’s current students without the assistance of school sponsorship that we provide. We are so proud of the overwhelming majority of our students who concentrate on their studies, and delay the decision to get married until after finishing school. Each additional year they spend in the classroom decreases their risk of contracting HIV, and leads toward a brighter future. One measure of our success is the very high rate of Tariro students who finish their Form 4 studies, representing the completion of a basic high school education in Zimbabwe. In the last two years, we have had only two students, out of over eighty girls we’ve worked with, who have left school before completing their O level studies. This is a wonderful retention rate under very difficult circumstances, showing me that we are doing something right!
This Saturday, Tariro’s traditional music and dance group will be attending an event at the Zimbabwe German Society, where they will observe a collaborative performance between a German choreographer and another youth dance group, from the satellite city of Chitungwiza, located just outside Harare. We’re also waiting to hear whether we have been accepted to perform at this year’s Harare International Festival of the Arts, in late April. I will write next week with photos from the weekend event, as well as another general update on our work. Thanks for reading!
March 16, 2010
Selmor, Brooklyn, Oliver, Sam Mtukudzi, and a friend at Oliver's 60th birthday party, September, 2008
It is with great difficulty that I write to let readers know of the death of Sam Mtukudzi, son of Zimbabwean music legend Oliver Mtukudzi, at age twenty-two. Sam died in a car accident on Sunday night as he drove from Harare to the Mtukudzi family home in Norton. The Norton road has been under construction for several years, due to extremely bad road conditions. In the dark, and with no reflective paint or street lights, Sam’s car hit the railing on a small bridge near the Kuwadzana neighborhood and rolled, killing Sam and his friend Owen instantly.
I heard the news of Sam’s passing yesterday morning, from friend and fellow musician Mathias Julius, who danced for many years in Tumbuka dance company alongside my first host brother, Donald Kudumba. Along with Mathias and other dancers from Tumbuka, I went to Mtukudzi’s home in Norton to give my condolences to the family. Because of the funeral, I missed an appointment with our new program coordinator, Tafadzwa, as well as my meeting with Mai Chipira. I’ll spend the next few days catching up. But for now, I want to write a short post in Sam’s memory.
Mtukudzi’s youngest child and only son, and one of Zimbabwe’s finest young musicians, Sam’s death is a tragic loss to his family, as well as a great loss to the arts world. It is especially sad news for me, given the close relationship between the Mtukudzi family and my own personal research, as well as Tariro’s work. As many of you know, I am writing my dissertation on Oliver, and I’ve referenced his video “Todii” on this blog in one of my previous posts, addressing World AIDS Day. The Mtukudzi family is also part of Tariro through Sam’s sister Selmor, who is Tariro’s official patron in Zimbabwe, and is especially involved with supporting our traditional music and dance group.
Just two weeks ago, Oliver and Sam performed together at a special show at the 7Arts in Harare, intended to highlight Sam’s role as the bearer of the Mtukudzi family’s musical legacy. As Sam explained to me in an interview last year, “I’m usually referred to as the future of Tuku music, as I’m the only boy that’s doing music in the family, and my dad’s getting old. So apparently, I just, you know, keep the music alive so that my father’s legacy lives on, his music is always performed live. Not only he is just doing performances, but then if I’m able to do a performance, I want to be able to honor his work by presenting one of the pieces that he’s created.” Sadly, this show, meant to mark a new chapter in Tuku music, instead marked a farewell to a beloved son and talented artist.
I’ll close by sharing a story Sam told me about how he learned to play guitar. Afraid that his father would disapprove of his desire to become a musician, Sam taught himself to play in secret, sneaking the use of one of his dad’s guitars when Oliver was traveling. Asked to perform at a school concert, he again “borrowed” the guitar without permission, only to look up while on stage and realize Oliver was sitting in the audience. Sam’s story gives a glimpse into the heart of this joyful, talented, and dedicated young man who was taken far too soon.
“I remember: I think I was about ten. I was asked to play guitar at my primary school’s Christmas carols concert night. I had been learning how to play this instrument for like five years, you know? And now I was ready to do performances. I had been performing in small chapel services back at the primary school. So, you know, my headmistress and the music people there knew that I could play guitar. So when this concert came up, they asked me, “Can you use your instrument?” I didn’t officially have an instrument. You know, I just used to pinch my dad’s guitar that he just used to always leave at home. So, I asked for transport from the school. So they actually gave me the school’s minibus. We went off to the house, took that guitar, and a little amplifier, just a little combo, loaded it up, went to school. In about a week from then- you know, my dad had been out, so he had just come back. Well, I didn’t know that the school had sent invites to the parents back at home for all the boarders! So, my parents got their invite. So… they came to the concert. We played. It was beautiful. When my time came to actually do my ultimate performance, I hadn’t seen my parents or anything, so I stand up there, and then I play. When I’m done with the performance, I’m taking a bow and I’m thinking, that guy looks like my father. And oops, the woman who’s sitting beside him looks like my mom! You know, I walked back stage, and, I’m there and I’m thinking, “What if it is?” You know? What if it is them? And everyone is clapping, clapping, and it was the last song. We get dismissed, we go outside, and, you know, there I am, I’m carrying my stuff back to the dorm and I’m bumping into my dad, thinking, “Hi dude.” And he actually didn’t react in any negative way. He was quite surprised, he was thinking, when did I start learning? How did I get there? I mean, you know, I was playing and singing at the same time! How did it happen? You know? So he’s like, “No, no, well done, well done, well done. Since you didn’t have a guitar, that one’s now yours.” And I was like, “Whew! Thank you! Thank you!” I was really happy. That was my first instrument, and, you know, it was an honor to have.”
After losing my own mom in a car crash, I know Sam’s death will leave a hole that can never be filled in his mom and dad’s heart. I also know how many of Mtukudzi’s listeners and friends around the world share in the family’s loss. Sam, we will miss you always. Zororai murugare mwana waNzou.
March 11, 2010
The Chipira family on the corner of Second Street and Takawira
A Tuesday afternoon in Harare: it is my first day back in Zimbabwe, and I am driving home from town. As I stop at the intersection between Second Street and Chinamano, I see a woman begging on the street corner. Slight, and light in complexion, she has a bandanna tied around her head, and carries a young child hanging in a cloth sling at her side. As she passes, it seems to me I recognize her. She approaches the car behind me, then returns. I look again, and I know I recognize her; I have met her here before.
In this post, I want to tell the story of Mai Chipira, the woman begging at the corner of Second Street and Takawira. Her story, and the story of her daughters, is also Tariro’s story; it is the story of the challenges we face working with Zimbabwe’s most vulnerable orphaned girls.
As I drove home one day during my previous trip to Zimbabwe a year ago, I noticed a young girl begging on the street corner. With a clean skirts and flipflops, she did not appear homeless. Neither did she seem old enough to be the mother of the young child she carried on her back. When I passed her again the next day, I asked to speak to her, and pulled over to the side of the road to hear her story. Her name was Viola, she said. Thirteen years old, she had lost both her mother and father, and lived with her stepmother and two young sisters in her family’s home in Epworth. When I asked where her stepmother was, she gestured to the corner opposite us, where a slender woman sat nursing a young child. Let’s go, I said. I want to talk to her.
When I introduced myself to Mai Chipira, she told me her own story; how she had been orphaned herself as a young child, growing up in an orphanage together with a sister, who was blind. Mai Chipira had married Viola’s father after the death of his first wife; however, soon after their second child was born, Viola’s father also passed away. Now a widow with two small children and a stepdaughter, Mai Chipira was trying desperately to make ends meet. On the small plot of land outside her husband’s home in Epworth, she grew corn and vegetables. Using her hand-powered sewing machine, she sewed clothes for neighbors. However, she was still not making enough money to survive.
Thinking back to her childhood, Mai Chipira remembered how she used to beg on the streets of Harare with her sister, and thought that perhaps begging would enable her to feed her daughters and stepdaughter. Soon, she had decided on this particular corner, where many cars waited in the right-hand turn lane to cross oncoming traffic, slowing down the flow of vehicles for just enough time to approach individual drivers. Together with Viola and her own children, she made the two-hour walk into town each day, taking a bus on days occasionally, when their earnings were good. I asked her how much she brought in on a good day. Two dollars? Five? Five dollars was a lot, she said. She never made that much in a single day.
I’ve come to see the corner of Second Street and Chinamano as Mai Chipira’s office, and begging as her job. Like any other, it is a job which enables her to maintain her dignity, and the dignity of her family, providing for her children in the best way that she can. Like an other job, it entails regular hours, and a sometimes long commute from home. And like any other job, it provides a measure of dignity and self-respect for Mai Chipira and her family. Even on the brink of total disintegration, as their world shattered into a million pieces, Mai Chipira was able to maintain a remarkable degree of stability and consistency for Viola and her daughters. The stability of a place to sleep, of food to eat, of the presence of a caretaker. Mai Chipira had succeeded in providing the basic necessities, even as the luxuries such as school receded further and further into the horizon, an unattainable dream.
The challenges of working with a family on the edge of collapse can be overwhelming, and Viola’s story illustrates the type of challenges Tariro faces in working with Zimbabwe’s most vulnerable girls. Soon after meeting this family, I enrolled Viola in Tariro, putting her back in primary school. Her attendance was erratic, however, and only a few months after she began attending school, we lost touch with her entirely. I heard nothing further from the family until this week, when I recognized Mai Chipira begging at the corner of Second Street and Takawira.
When I spoke to Mai Chipira on Tuesday, said that Viola had been taken by relatives to go live with her grandmother in the rural village of Rusape shortly after I had left Zimbabwe. Mai Chipira had herself moved from her late husband’s home, making it impossible for Tariro to find her and follow up on her family’s situation. After losing touch with us, she continued to beg on the street with her own daughters, the eldest of whom, now six years old, should by now be enrolled in school.
What can Tariro do for Mai Chipira’s daughters? The challenges of enrolling children in these desperate situations in school are overwhelming. When there is little or no food at home, and a child is more effective than an adult in begging for money to support the family, how can we encourage children to continue attending school? What kinds of support are necessary for a family facing such overwhelming odds? I don’t know all the answers, but I do know that Tariro’s small size, and our flexible, family-centered approach means that we are able to take on these challenges in ways that larger, more bureaucratic organizations are not. Working with families like Mai Chipira’s family entails high risks; however, the potential rewards are just as high, if not higher.
I believe that Tariro can pull together our financial, administrative, and social resources for Mai Chipira’s family, and I’m dedicated to figuring how we can ensure that her oldest daughter is able to attend school alongside our other Epworth students. Mai Chipira has also offered to contact Viola’s relatives, so that we can sit down with them and talk about what options exist to reenroll Viola in Tariro. I am meeting with Mai Chipira on Monday at her “office” on the corner of Second Street and Chinamano, and I will report back next week after speaking with her.
Please help!!
Today, I’m asking all of our readers to get involved with our effort to help the Chipira family. There are three ways in which you can contribute to our efforts.
First, I’d like for Mai Chipira to know that her story has been heard, and that she has support from friends around the world. Please write her a letter of encouragement, to help her sustain her dedication to her daughters’ education. If you’d like to include a photo of yourself, or your own children, that would be wonderful. Letters can be sent to Tariro at 3480 Kincaid St., Eugene, OR, 97405. They will be hand delivered to Mai Chipira in April by a Tariro volunteer.
Second, I’m asking all of our blog readers to take the step of sharing the news about our work with one or two friends. Mai Chipira’s story is one which I will continue to report on during the next two months, as we continue to discuss how best to address her family’s needs. I’d like to share this story with as many readers as possible. So please help us to get the word out. Tell your church group, school, band, or other group about this family’s unique situation. Or send out an email, post to your own blog, or link back to our blog through your Facebook page, alerting readers to Mai Chipira’s story, and Tariro’s work with this family.
Finally, if you would like to make a donation specifically to help the Chipira family, that would help us immensely to have the flexibility to try a new and innovative approach to helping this family. One of the options we are considering is to give the Chipira family a small monthly financial incentive of $20-40 per month, based on regular school attendance. If Viola can find a relative to stay with in Harare, where Tariro’s programs are based, we would like to offer a similar incentive for her to attend school. This type of financial incentive for school attendance is a proven intervention for educating the world’s most vulnerable girls, and has been discussed recently by Nicholas Kristof in his book “Half the Sky.” I’d like to try it with the Chipira family, but this will take additional financial resources which are not currently in Tariro’s budget.
Thank you for reading. I love being able to share my experiences here with friends around the world. More news, about Tariro’s participation in International Women’s Day activities, about our traditional dance program, and about our recent graduates, will follow soon. I wanted to start with Mai Chipira’s story, though, as for me, it is emblematic of our commitment to working with the most vulnerable among Zimbabwe’s orphaned girls.
March 1, 2010
Eating Tieboudien with the Thioub family in Senegal
Hello from Senegal! I’m now halfway through a two-week stay in Dakar, before moving on to Zimbabwe. Senegal is a totally different experience, and from my perspective, one of the most powerful things it has to offer is a vision of Africa without AIDS. As many of you already know, roughly a quarter of Zimbabwe’s population is infected with HIV/AIDS, whereas the prevalence rate in Senegal is only 1%.
I’ve said in previous posts that HIV/AIDS has come to affect literally ever thread of Zimbabwe’s social fabric. But what does this really mean? Eating dinner in Senegal with my host family, the Thioubs, has had the very unexpected effect of providing a sharp contrast to my experiences in Zimbabwe, calling attention to what would otherwise remain an “invisible” effect of HIV/AIDS on families.
In Senegal, the Thioub family shares every meal together, gathered around two large platters from which each person eats his or her portion. One platter is reserved for adults, while another is for children and adolescents. During mealtimes, adult family members include grandparents Papa Maisa and Mère Mati, joined by their son, daughter, son-in-law, and a nephew. Six or seven of their grandchildren share a separate platter. For every child seated around one communal plate, there is an adult seated at the other; someone who provides for, teases, feeds, encourages, yells at, loves, and sees their reflection and future as vested in that child.
In comparison, Zimbabwean families are under constant stress, forced to continually regroup and reform in response to HIVAIDS. As they lose working adults and caregivers, they simultaneously acquire an ever-growing number of orphaned children, often leaving a single adult wholly responsible for several children. The typical new Zimbabwean “family” gathered together for a meal might be made up of two sisters fending for themselves, or of elderly grandparents caring for multiple orphans. In one notable case, I’ve dined with a family raising fifteen children, under the care of one elderly grandfather and his adult daughter. As many families struggle to cope with the changes HIV/AIDS has wrought in the family structure, they acquire a new sense of “normalcy” that is highly off-balance, and develop coping strategies which show a high degree of trauma and post-traumatic stress. In the worst cases, children may be largely ignored by adults who are overwhelmed emotionally, financially, and physically by HIV/AIDS.
In Tariro’s work with Zimbabwe families caring for orphaned children, we see the everyday dedication and resilience that enables families to survive despite these huge challenges. But I wonder: what would Zimbabwe be like if all of those who have died from HIV/AIDS were still gathered around the communal platter?
Visiting Senegal has helped me to recognize that I don’t want to settle for Zimbabwe’s new “normal.” Instead, I believe our vision for Zimbabwe must continue to be a vision of an Africa without AIDS. But we can only do this if we are willing to commit to building relationships, to understanding the communities we work with, and to investing in women and girls. The vision should be encompassing. We must believe we can achieve an Africa without AIDS. But the only way to work toward the goal is through concrete steps, and one of the most important of those steps is empowering and educating women and girls.
I’m excited to land in Zimbabwe next Monday, so stay tuned for a post at the end of next week!
We invite you to join us in providing hope for Zimbabwean children by educating orphaned girls and preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Founded in 2003, Tariro works in Zimbabwe to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS by educating young women. Located in the high-density neighborhood of Glen Norah in Harare, Tariro enables young women who have been orphaned by AIDS to complete a secondary school education, thereby dramatically reducing their risk of contracting HIV/AIDS.
February 21, 2010
As I’m driving up to Portland for my flight to Zimbabwe in just a few hours, I’m happy to have a guest blogger this week, sharing some more recent news from Zimbabwe! Today’s guest is Dana Moffat from Rubatano Center on Whidbey Island. She recently returned from a two-month trip to Zimbabwe where she did some very important work with Tariro, including interviews with new students on our waiting list to determine which students to add to our programs this year. Dana’s post shows the depth of support for Tariro’s programs that has come from the Whidbey Island community. We can’t thank them enough!
Here is Dana’s post:
This past December and January, Jennifer and I helped each other out with an exchange between our programs on Whidbey Island, WA and Zimbabwe. While I helped out with Tariro in Zimbabwe, Jennifer took over my classes at Rubatano Center and lived at my home. On leaving for Zimbabwe, I was confident I had left my classes in good hands because my students had recently had a week of workshops with Jennifer and were excited to have her back for a more thorough experience of her excellent teaching of Shona music.
In preparation for seeing the Tariro girls, Jennifer had suggested to me that I take underwear for the girls. I put that out to my Rubatano community and the response was overwhelming! Over 200 pair of new ‘girlie’ underwear were donated and delivered to the girls of Tariro.
Tariro student with instructor Daniel Inasiyo at a rehearsal for the Muninga show
Once in Harare, I attended weekly rehearsals for the Tariro marimba and dance group. Soon the idea of a CD release party for Mbira dzeMuninga’s 2009 USA tour came into being, and we decided to invite the Tariro girls to open for the show at The Mannenberg. After much work getting ready, they put on an amazing performance on Jan. 14th. The crowd was over-the-top appreciative of their performance. The Mannenberg was packed with many musicians, as well as visitors from the US Embassy. Our respected friends, Cosmas Magaya and Dr. Sheasby Matiure, both spoke at the event about how pleased they were to see the girls do such a fine performance. It was a good demonstration of the work that Zimbabwean and Americans are doing together – a real eye opener for Zimbabweans unfamiliar with what is happening in the US.
Rubatano Center marimba community also came together in support of my trip to Zimbabwe by donating funds to use for Tariro while there. Those funds went for tuning the set of marimbas, 10 new pairs of mallets, and the cost for food and transportation for the girls to rehearse at Emerald Hills and to travel to The Mannenberg for the show.
More news soon from Jennifer in Zimbabwe… I’ll be spending three weeks in Senegal prior to my arrival in Zimbabwe on March 8th… check back in with us soon!
Visitors Dana and Karin with Tariro students
As I’m driving up to Portland for my flight to Zimbabwe in just a few hours, I’m happy to have a guest blogger this week, sharing some more recent news from Zimbabwe! Today’s guest is Dana Moffat from Rubatano Center on Whidbey Island. She recently returned from a two-month trip to Zimbabwe where she did some very important work with Tariro, including interviews with new students on our waiting list to determine which students to add to our programs this year. Dana’s post shows the depth of support for Tariro’s programs that has come from the Whidbey Island community. We can’t thank them enough!
Here is Dana’s post:
This past December and January, Jennifer and I helped each other out with an exchange between our programs on Whidbey Island, WA and Zimbabwe. While I helped out with Tariro in Zimbabwe, Jennifer took over my classes at Rubatano Center and lived at my home. On leaving for Zimbabwe, I was confident I had left my classes in good hands because my students had recently had a week of workshops with Jennifer and were excited to have her back for a more thorough experience of her excellent teaching of Shona music.
In preparation for seeing the Tariro girls, Jennifer had suggested to me that I take underwear for the girls. I put that out to my Rubatano community and the response was overwhelming! Over 200 pair of new ‘girlie’ underwear were donated and delivered to the girls of Tariro.
Tariro student with instructor Daniel Inasiyo at a rehearsal for the Muninga show
Once in Harare, I attended weekly rehearsals for the Tariro marimba and dance group. Soon the idea of a CD release party for Mbira dzeMuninga’s 2009 USA tour came into being, and we decided to invite the Tariro girls to open for the show at The Mannenberg. After much work getting ready, they put on an amazing performance on Jan. 14th. The crowd was over-the-top appreciative of their performance. The Mannenberg was packed with many musicians, as well as visitors from the US Embassy. Our respected friends, Cosmas Magaya and Dr. Sheasby Matiure, both spoke at the event about how pleased they were to see the girls do such a fine performance. It was a good demonstration of the work that Zimbabwean and Americans are doing together – a real eye opener for Zimbabweans unfamiliar with what is happening in the US.
Rubatano Center marimba community also came together in support of my trip to Zimbabwe by donating funds to use for Tariro while there. Those funds went for tuning the set of marimbas, 10 new pairs of mallets, and the cost for food and transportation for the girls to rehearse at Emerald Hills and to travel to The Mannenberg for the show.
More news soon from Jennifer in Zimbabwe… I’ll be spending three weeks in Senegal prior to my arrival in Zimbabwe on March 8th… check back in with us soon!
February 18, 2010
Tariro students and guardians with donated Christmas gifts of maize meal, purchased with funds from the Whidbey Island community
Dear readers-
I’d like to share with you a few more highlights from Tariro’s 2009 annual report, this time covering some of our activities in the US. The previous post covers our activities in Zimbabwe, but what we do over here is also critical in sustaining our work! Over the past year, here are some of our accomplishments:
I’ve spent the last couple of posts describing our progress and accomplishments in 2009. In the following weeks, I will turn to what is happening on the ground right now, describing both the successes and the challenges we’re facing as we move into 2010! If you’d like to get involved with Tariro, please contact us, and sign our mailing list to stay updated over email.
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