Dear Friends,
As we settle into 2023 and look to the future, I want to take a moment to reflect on the previous year. 2022 marked Zara’s 15th anniversary of serving vulnerable children in Bulawayo, and brought a much-needed return to normalcy after two years of pandemic disruption. In addition to our regular programs (feeding, art, music, etc.), we continued to work toward our facility expansion, strengthened our agriculture program, provided computer coding instruction to all of our kids, and helped our dedicated staff on the path toward housing stability.
Life in Zimbabwe remains difficult, especially for low-income, vulnerable youth. Prices of basic food commodities have surged, and many food items are sold in United States dollars - an impossible obstacle for most workers who are paid in the local currency. In 2022, the country had the highest rate of food inflation in the world, caused, in part, by a decline in food production due to poor rainfall and the war in Ukraine. Low-income and vulnerable children in Zimbabwe suffer medically and academically as a result of consistent economic instability. For these reasons, we are confident that Zara’s Center (with its commitment to nutrition, medical care, academic support, and tech-literacy) will continue to fill a great need for vulnerable children and families in Bulawayo.
2022 Updates:
Child Welfare
Expansion and Agriculture Program
Academics
Staff Housing Support
Thank you for taking the time to learn about just a few of our accomplishments over the past year. We are endlessly grateful for the support of our donors around the world - and could not do any of this without you.
On behalf of the entire Zara’s Center community, thank you again for your generosity.
With gratitude,
Jessica Briggs
US Program Director, Zara's Center
PG Family Foundation
Links:
Dear Friends,
It’s hard to believe that we are already nearing the end of 2022. It has been refreshing to gather together again with relaxed COVID protocols. Since the last update, the children have been busy with our arts, academic, and technology programs and they have just begun the third school term. Below are some recent photos and updates.
Agriculture
Computer Coding
Academics and Tutoring
On behalf of the entire Zara’s Center community, thank you again for your generosity.
With gratitude,
Jessica Briggs
US Program Director, Zara's Center
PG Family Foundation
Links:
Dear Friends,
Since the last update, Zara’s Center has continued to serve children with life-saving services and 2022 has brought a return to some normalcy after nearly two years of COVID-related upheaval. Below are some recent updates and photos.
Tutoring Program Expansion
School Fees
Agriculture Program
Donor Spotlight
Thank you for taking the time to read this update. We are endlessly grateful for the support of our donors who allow us to serve vulnerable children.
On behalf of the entire Zara community, thank you again for your generosity.
With gratitude,
Jessica Briggs
US Program Director, Zara's Center
PG Family Foundation
Links:
Dear Friends,
Since our last update, Zara’s Center has continued to serve children with life-saving services. Below are some of our major accomplishments from 2021 and an exciting update for 2022.
Nutrition
Academic Support
Access to both traditional and new modes of learning is critical for our children. With over 2,000 books in our lending library, new computers, and our job readiness programs, we are working to cover all of our bases, even during these challenging times.
Physical and Mental Health Support
Zara’s team forges connections with our children’s caregivers and also identifies community partners that generously share life-protecting resources. We're proud to report that:
Looking Forward: Our Expansion
We are excited to share that we are expanding in order to serve more children and to become agriculturally sustainable.
Thank you for taking the time to learn about just a few of our accomplishments over the past year. We are endlessly grateful for the support of our donors around the world - and could not do any of this without you.
On behalf of the children and families we serve, thank you for your support.
Links:
Dear Friends,
Zara’s Center has continued to provide crucial services to vulnerable children throughout 2021.
After another covid closure in July and August, the Center has officially reopened for all programs. During the closure, all children received a month of staple foods, access to our library, and continued medical care. Now that we are open for programs, we are continuing to follow covid prevention protocols, including mandatory masking and sanitizing. Below are some program updates:
New Coding Program Partnership
We are excited to announce that we have partnered with Uncommon.org to provide coding instruction to our children. Uncommon conducts their programs in solar-powered "innovation hubs", made out of recycled shipping containers. They have constructed a hub on our property and we are so pleased with the beautiful design (see photos).
As of October 2021, five of our alumni (ages 19-24) are enrolled in Uncommon's coding bootcamp. The bootcamp is a free, 12-month program that covers UI/UX design, front end web development, digital marketing, leadership skills, and more. Graduates have gone on to study abroad, work for local tech companies, and build websites for clients all over the world.
In exchange for the bootcamp, our alumni will teach our younger kids to code. In this way, all of our children will have the opportunity to learn invaluable tech skills that will prepare them for the workforce in the 21st century.
Learning Resources
During a year-long closure due to covid-19, Zimbabwe's public schools offered no practical virtual options to children who lack internet access. Since none of our kids have internet at home, they have suffered significant academic losses during the pandemic. Through the generosity of our donors, we were able to purchase the following resources for our children:
These resources will help mitigate educational gaps caused by the shutdown. Our number of available computers will grow by 85% to accommodate 65 children at a time. The new books and laptops will be used to work on the state curriculum when the children come to the Center after school. Solar lights will be sent home so children can study in the evenings during rolling blackouts, which have become routine.
The items were sent via ocean freight and will arrive in early December in time for the holiday season. While this shipping method takes a long time, we have found that it is the most secure and cost-effective solution for shipping a large amount of goods.
I have attached some recent photos of our programs below. Thank you again for your commitment to our work at Zara’s Center. I’ll be in touch soon with another update.
Sincerely,
Jessica Briggs
US Program Director, Zara's Center
PG Family Foundation
Links:
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