The Zienzele Story

The Zienzele Foundation began as the result of a chance meeting in Africa of two committed women — Prisca Nemapare and Nancy Clark.

When Prisca was a professor of nutrition at Ohio University, she led an Earthwatch research project addressing the nutritional status of women and children in her native Zimbabwe. Her project began in 1984 and continued through the 1990s. Each year a group of volunteers traveled from around the world to Zimbabwe to assist her. In 1998 and 1999, Nancy Clark (from rural Vermont) was one of those volunteers. In 2000, Earthwatch discontinued their support due to the dangerous political situation in Zimbabwe.  Undaunted, Nancy returned to Zimbabwe to join Prisca and the two of them set a new course.

At the request of the rural women they had worked with previously, the focus of the project shifted to the emerging crisis of caring for children orphaned by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Children were left in the care of widowed mothers or grandmothers who were unable financially or emotionally to care for them. When Prisca and Nancy were asked, ”What can you give us?” their answer was, “We don’t have anything to give you, but let’s think about what you can do for yourselves.” Thus began the Zienzele Foundation.  It assists children orphaned by HIV/AIDS and their caregivers to generate income for support, to achieve self-reliance, and to gain education to prepare the children for a better life.

This creative enterprise occurred because both women were trained and prepared  to seize the moment and move forward.

Prisca grew up in rural Zimbabwe, living with her grandmother. She was a hard-working, determined student, and eventually she won scholarships to continue her education in the U.S.  After eleven years Prisca received her PhD in nutrition.  Shortly thereafter she became a professor of nutrition at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. She then began wending her way “home” by securing funding from Earthwatch to pursue her interests in nutritional health in Zimbabwe. She returned to Zimbabwe full time in 2000 and carries on the work of the foundation to improve the lives of the children who will be Zimbabwe’s future.

Nancy Clark grew up in Vermont, graduating from the University of Vermont with a degree in nursing. Even in nursing school she gravitated to community health and activitism. Her entire career has focused on the health and well being of women and children through her work in pediatrics in NYC, and then in home care, first in Connecticut and then Vermont, developing programs to meet the needs of young families. It has been a natural transition to this same type of work in rural Zimbabwe.

In Zimbabwe, Zienzele has a network of volunteers who provide oversight and carry out the work of Zienzele when Nancy and Prisca are absent. Each of the 14 Zienzele villages has a Zienzele Representative who has been chosen by the caregivers in their village. There are also three Zienzele Coordinators who oversee several villages each. This model has created a high level of accountability and a quick response to situations as they arise.

Zienzele has active Boards of Directors both in Zimbabwe and in the US. The foundation is registered as a charitable organization in Zimbabwe and qualifies as a 501c3 non-profit organization in the US. Funding comes from private donations from many friends across the US and abroad. Great support systems are in place in Athens, Ohio, and Kyoto, Japan. Another important source of funding for school fees is the sale of beautiful baskets, hand-made by Zimbabwean caregivers.