Our vision for a school in Zimbabwe came to life in 2001 and is still thriving today as an enriching program.
Nhimbe for Progress
The vision for the Nhimbe Preschool was kindled by a partnership with Ancient Ways of Albany, Oregon. When Sundborn and Ancient Ways founder, Jaiaen Beck, discussed the work in Zimbabwe, we immediately saw a connection for our school. A mutual friend had traveled with Jaiaen in November 2000 to the Nhimbe area and brought back stories and insights about the project. Karen had always had a vision to help Sundborn Children’s House connect globally, and the Nhimbe for Progress community had a very special place in its heart for a creche.
Funds were saved until the building could be started. The very best concrete bricks were made on site. The hut was built extra-large and with a securely thatched extra-thick roof. As children attended, teachers were hired, and cooks also came on board and eventually an outside kitchen was built as the women were found cooking over open fires in the rain to be able to provide the daily meal.
A Meal A Day
The Nhimbe school provides healthy meals for its students.
This meal is prepared from the best ingredients considering as much variety as possible. Most families eat sadza (a thick porridge) more than once a day, so efforts are made to supply the child with bread, peanut butter, rice, dried fish, and beans, for example, as well as fresh fruits and vegetables from the garden. The garden and orchard have been developed from the ground up and utilize both natural composting and basic permaculture concepts.
There is a well on site that has recently been upgraded to have a manual pump so that far more water is available for cooking, cleaning, and gardening. This was a gift from UNICEF in 2011. Also, earlier in that year, the playground was upgraded by the J. F. Kapnek Charitable Trust. Both organizations saw our efforts to bring a great preschool to this rural area, with limited funding. Due to their generosity we have benefited from this facelift not only practically speaking, but also it has helped morale within the community.
International Standards Development
Currently the school is operated by a lead teacher trained by the Ministry of Education and two assistants also with basic preschool training. We have donated supplies and materials since 2002 so that many things are available for the children. We are in the process of saving to be able to send a teacher to training in Africa which would be a year-long study.
Thank you for your support of the Nhimbe school!
“The child is endowed with unknown powers, which can guide us to a radiant future. If what we really want is a new world, then education must take as its aim the development of these hidden possibilities.”
—Maria Montessori
More information on Nhimbe for Progress at Ancient Ways.
Esbjorn by Carl Larsson 1910