The Zimbabwe Gecko Society’s goal is to create long-term, sustainable Community Health in Zimbabwe. To do this, we support already existing programs that are struggling to keep going in an economically depressed country. Sustainable projects are the only way for communities to provide long-term solutions for the extreme poverty experienced by many. These projects establish self-sufficiency of both individuals and the communities they live in. The goal is to create permanent change, breaking the cycle of poverty by giving those most in need the skills and resources they would otherwise never have access to.
The projects we have developed and support fall under one of five main categories designed to accomplish community autonomy and are considered to be the basic building blocks of creating self-sufficiency. They are:
Clean Water
Having access to clean drinking water is the first step in creating a healthy community. We build hand-pumped wells for community access to potable water. It also provides water for growing crops. We help build ablution facilities to decrease infection.
Food Security
We support programs that teach sustainable farming techniques so that communities can feed themselves, and will be able to do so for many years to come. These include Foundations for Farming (Farming God’s Way), nutrition gardens, bee keeping, chicken and pig farming as well as Meringa trees. Meringa leaves are ground and make a nutritious tea and are easy to grow and maintain.
Education
We help build schools and provide pre-school ESL so that children have a good start when entering kindergarten. Children get daily meals so they can focus on their studies instead of foraging for food. They also get access to sports and recreation time, which helps build valuable life skills and allows them to enjoy being children!
Health Centers
We help develop and improve capacity, so that locals can receive health care services in their own communities including treatment, counselling and nutritional education. We have recently partnered with Dr. Ray Markham who will facilitate Canadian medical students and physicians working together with Zimbabwean medical students and physicians to the benefit of both countries and the communities we support. Click here to read more about the healthcare project we are supporting »
Church
Our mission is to show the love of Jesus Christ to the people of Zimbabwe with a goal to breaking the cycle of poverty. We aim to do that by creating long-term, sustainable community health projects.
By supporting grass-roots projects that work at the ground level to give people and communities a hand-up rather than a hand-out, we can ensure the money we have raised will make the largest impact possible. You can scroll down to read more about the projects we run and support, and click here to make a meaningful donation to help us continue to do this crucial work in Zimbabwe. Your contribution will help fund projects which are changing the lives of people in Zimbabwe today and for the future.
K PROJECT
The K Project takes place in the Kambuzuma District, 12km outside of Harare, at the Kambuzuma Church of the Nazarene where we have recently supported some updates to the church. We currently support a number of children with school fees.
The goals of the K Project are:
- We aim to teach pre-school-age children English so they can attend the local public school in their area (all education is in English but children are no longer being taught English while they grow up as mothers have no hope of sending them to school without sufficient funds)
- To provide healthy meals to the school children as well as facilitate community outreach by building a new kitchen and updating an existing garden project
- To provide widows and single mothers the opportunity to become self-sufficient and to pay their children’s school fees with the new micro-loans facilities
- Community outreach through functions put on by the church
- To give children a place to do their homework and catch up on missed schooling
CONTAINER PROJECT
Our container project has been wildly successful. Thanks to the Nanoose Evangelical Free Church of Canada for raising the funds to ship the container half-way across the world in just a few short months! The many generous donations from our supporters and lots of help from our volunteers helped fill the 40-foot container with valuable supplies.
It was shipped to Zimbabwe full of much needed supplies, emptied and distributed with the help of Susan and the local elders and pastors. The container was then converted into a brand-new library and community center for children and adults to enjoy. Over 6000 Christian books are now available to the church and community as well as a beautiful new place for those in the community to study, read and socialize.
This was a great accomplishment for the Zimbabwe Gecko Society, and would not have been possible without help from all of our supporters with a special thanks to the Nanoose ladies. Thank-You!
FOUNDATIONS FOR FARMING
Foundations for Farming (Farming God’s Way) is an initiative aimed at bringing transformation to individuals, communities and nations through faithful and productive use of the land. Our involvement with the project will be to provide individuals with $25 worth of seeds once they have completed the ten-day training program with Foundations for Farming. They will then be responsible for training ten more people, who will also receive $25 in seeds.
The course costs $110 per person which we provide with your donation. The invaluable agriculture skills taught by Foundations coupled with $25 worth of seeds will be enough to feed a family for a year with enough left over to be sold to buy seeds for the following year. The program teaches sustainable farming methods, ensuring crop production remains high while soil stays protected and will continue to yield crops year after year. The Foundation supports that Zimbabwe will once again be able to feed itself using simple and proven methods of farming.
For more information visit the Foundations for Farming website.
Healing With Horses
Have you ever touched an animal and come away feeling centered, calmer, and stronger? The Healing with Horses Therapeutic Centre aims to offer that experience on a regular basis to disadvantaged and disabled children in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. The Centre is a non-profit, voluntary organization with 12 trained horses. They rely solely on donations to remain in operation. If you’d like to donate and would like to receive a tax receipt, please donate through the Zimbabwe Gecko Society and provide a note that the funds are to go to the Healing with Horses program for disabled children.
For more information visit the Healing with Horses website.