Project #34 Funded | AFCA [Zimbabwe]

We're so excited to anounce that we've funded our 34^th Project!

Our matching grant with The American Foundation for Children with AIDS (AFCA) has been fully funded for a total of $24,070. We would not have been able to do this without your overwhelming generosity and support. Through your support, ODW will be able to help empower 385 orphan children in Zimbabwe.  

How Did We Accomplish This?

The ability to fully fund this project would not have been possible if it weren't for your support. Several people donated their birthdays, like Clara and Tae Yeon; some of you donated to the campaign directly in small and large amounts; while others simply shared the story with their friends and family. However you chose to be part of this movement, it was crucial to funding this project. 

The Project:

Through the matching grant, AFCA will provide 77 orphan families (an estimated 385 children) with goats, training, support, and oversight to build their capacity to meet their own physical needs. Families will receive training in health care, basic animal husbandry, and nutrition.

After three years, the orphan families will pass two young female goats to other orphan families. This will not only help expand the program in a sustainable way, but will also allow more families to become healthy and self-sufficient.

A Message From AFCA

As I travel through various communities in Zimbabwe, I am always taken back by how dry things are here. The drought has taken its toll and harvest after harvest has failed.  Yet, even through the dust and seeming-despair, folks still work hard to provide for their families and for the orphaned children many have adopted.  Some of the families we support have adopted five children while others have taken in as many as nine. 

We arrive at the village of Coronation with sixty goats in tow and are met by guardians and children who will receive a gift of life.  These hearty animals are indigenous to Zimbabwe and are therefore, able to withstand life with little water.  They look and feel healthy and solid, making more noise than a roomful of toddlers.  They wait in a holding pen while I mark ear tags with ZOE/AFCA and the name of the family who is to receive three goats each.  The veterinarian readies her syringes with vaccines for the goats and in no time, we are all ready to vaccinate and tag the goats.

One by one, they are taken out of the pen and we take care of business.  As each guardian approaches, they are given their three goats and the party begins!  Dancing, cheering and laughter follow each distribution and it is obvious to anyone that joy has entered the village again.  There is a dream of becoming self-sufficient.  

There is hope. 

Each family will continue training in husbandry, basic veterinary skills, budgeting, business management, and more.  They will be visited and assisted so that, as their herds grow, so does their knowledge and ability to provide for their families.  They won’t be left alone to flounder, but rather, will continue to be mentored so that each supported family in a community can be self-reliant and proud of their accomplishments and of providing for themselves.

This is the work you’ve supported, friends. This is what you’ve made happen for seventy seven orphan families!  Thank you to each of you who contributed to this project and thank you, One Days Wages, for taking us on.  You've done a good thing, each of you, and there is celebrating in Zimbabwe today and there will be celebrating for many more days to come as we continue to distribute goats on your behalf.

Tanya Weaver, Executive Director American Foundation for Children with AIDS

Thank you for making this possible!

We’re grateful for your partnership, support, and trust. ODW is you, me, us, and them working together for a more compassionate and just world. 

As always, we'll report back to you with videos, pictures, and progress reports as they become available to us.