The Manaaki Foundation Renews Award to Vanavevhu

Vanavevhu is very pleased to announce a second grant of $5,000 from the Manaaki Foundation. Once again, the funds are applicable toward our general operations and programming. Such ongoing operational support is key to the continued growth of our organization.

Thursday, June 13, was a momentous day for sixteen Vanavevhu participants who graduated from the REPSSI Tree of Life program, a key part of our life skills curriculum. Designed by the Regional Pyschosocial Support Initiative to lessen the devastating social and emotional impact of poverty, conflict, HIV, and AIDS among children and youth across East and Southern Africa, the program helps our heads of household to see the strengths that have enabled them to face the challenges of their young lives and to acknowledge the skills each has had to acquire to meet unasked-for responsibilities. The youths' strengths and skills, their hopes, fears, and dreams, are imagined as a tree - the roots, trunk, and branches of an individual life. Two Bulawayo city councilors, Mr. Mangena and Mr. Mantengu, from the districts where the youth live, attended the graduation. Representatives from ORAP, Lead Us Today, and Africa Spectacular were also in the audience, along with Bishop Maphungo of St. John's Apostolic Church, local business people, and friends of Vanavevhu. We are so proud of our graduates.

Education consultant Dr. Godson Gatsha spent several days at Vanavevhu in July to interview staff and participants as part of a formal assessment of our program. Dr. Godson is director of the Southern African Development Community Centre for Distance Education and executive secretery of the Botswana College of Distance and Open Learning in Gaborone, Botswana. This 

As heads of their households, our participants have to deal with issues they never expected and that demand maturity beyond their years. They must not only take care of themselves but also protect their siblings. Fungai Katinji, pictured below with a few of the Vanavevhu youth, is helping us develop partnerships with local social services offices to ease some of the bureaucratic challenges our youth must negotiate in the aftermath of a parent's death--from certifying a death certificate to obtaining national identification documentation. Her efforts ensure the legal protection and security of their families.

Back row (l to r): Rapelang Mguni, Sipha Nyoni, Abigail Zulu, Fungai Katinji, Gugu Moyo. Front row: Moffat Masina

In March of this year, Vanavevhu embarked on a journey to build partnerships with the corporate world, particularly those in tourism. This is how we met the gracious Karen Learmonth of Africa Spectacular. Karen visited Vanavevhu recently and brought with her two complete beehives and two truckloads of horse manure to make top-grade compost.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are very grateful for Karen's and other generous donations that make our work possible and look forward to an ongoing relationship with companies like Africa Spectacular and the Safari Source. 

Vanavevhu's programming is developed around economic and food security for young families orphaned by AIDS. Young heads of household receive support to help stabilize and strengthen their families and participate in three years of educational and work-based programming that focuses on employment readiness through the development of soft skills and entrepreneurial skills.

• Year One: Security, Stability, and Practical Training
• Year Two: Workforce Development
• Year Three: Internship and Graduation

Graduates leave the program with solid skills for employment in the mainstream economy as well as a firm foundation for their ongoing responsibilities as heads of household. Each graduate receives an entrepreneurship kit as an exit package, which might include candles, gardening tools and seeds, beading supplies, or mechanic tools. In addition, graduates receive six months of job guidance, along with a curriculum vitae, reference letters, e-mail address, materials for a resilience gardening plot, and driver's license.

Dr. David E. Kopsell and students in the Agriculture Department of Illinois State University are working with Tim Kl�ckow and the Vanavevhu youth to establish best practices for the market garden. ISU students have shared information on shade requirements, life cycles, and watering and harvesting schedules for the crops the youth are currently growing and hope to grow in the future.