TWENTY-THREE YEARS OF:
EDUCATING CHILDREN
EMPOWERING WOMEN
BUILDING COMMUNITY
Dear Friends of Zienzele,
Happy New Year! We are heading into 2023 — our TWENTY-THIRD YEAR!!!—with great optimism, and as always, Nancy and Prisca have big plans!
We would like to draw your attention to programs central to our mission, that are funded entirely by the donations we receive. Our capacity to maintain these programs and expand them depends year in and year out on the generosity of our supporters— we thank you for the support that has brought us this far, and ask that you consider making Zienzele a part of your annual charitable giving in 2023!
CLICK HERE TO MAKE A SECURE ONLINE DONATION!
ZIENZELE’S 2023 FUNDRAISING PRIORITIES:
POST-SECONDARY DEGREE PROGRAM
During our most recent trip, we held career workshops for secondary students and for students who finished secondary school during the first years of the COVID-19 pandemic, a time when next-step options were unavailable. We have identified eighteen students who did or are doing well enough now at the secondary level to advance into a post-secondary degree– and they are eager to do so! This year we are looking to raise the funds we need to support all of these students through a post-secondary degree. These advanced degrees and professional certificates are so important: each degree gives a young person the ability to support themself, and this independence has huge consequences for their safety and that of their family.
SECONDARY SCHOOL PROGRAM
Zienzele supports fifty-six current students in secondary school; forty more students are poised to advance from grade seven into secondary school, if Zienzele can provide support in the form of fees and help with basic expenses like uniforms, books, and school supplies. Every single year that we can keep a student in school improves their long-term life outcomes. This is especially true of young women–by every measure, young women’s lives are safer and healthier the longer they stay in school.
CHILD-HEADED HOUSEHOLD PROGRAM
Zienzele has forty-three Child-Headed Households in need of sponsorship in 2023. A year’s support, which includes school fees, food staples, clothing and shoes, costs $365– one dollar a day makes a profound difference for our most vulnerable families. We are so thankful for the support of our existing sponsors–your generosity has changed SO many lives! Let this be a gentle reminder to renew your sponsorship for 2023 if you wish to continue your support for this program (and have not already done so). If you are new to this program or are considering becoming a sponsor, learn more about what we do for child-headed households by CLICKING HERE
BOREHOLE WELL CAMPAIGN
We have realized our dream of building three community centers, and our caregivers have drawn our attention to a need for access to a shared borehole well. Access to water is precarious so many places around the world, and Zimbabwe is no exception to this. In the villages where we work, cyclical drought is a constant source of anxiety and hardship, in part because these rural areas often have no access to deep drilled wells–when riverbeds run dry, that is it. Over the next three years, our goal is to fund the drilling of three bore hole wells, one at each community center. This year we hope to raise $8000 to fund the first borehole at the Community Center in Berejena.
We have been so fortunate to have your enthusiastic support! For over twenty years, the friends of Zienzele have consistently responded with generosity to our calls for donations, and that has empowered us to rise to the evolving needs of the children and caregivers that we support.
TWENTY-THREE YEARS OF CHANGING LIVES!
Your support has made an indelible impact on generations of young people, and on entire communities.
Please consider making the Zienzele Foundation part of your 2023 annual charitable giving!
Thank you again for your support, and here’s to another year of changing lives by educating children, empowering women, and building community!
Nancy and Prisca
