Our Accomplishments

A SNAPSHOT

POVERTY REDUCTION

Extreme poverty is at the root of a host of other issues in rural Zimbabwe, such as malnutrition and struggling educational systems. To address the economic concerns in the populations we serve, ASAP Africa introduced the Kufusa Mari rural savings club project. The project brings together groups of individuals to pool their savings and invest in income generating activities.

Between April, 2002 and June, 2004, the McKnight Foundation funded ASAP Africa’s pilot village savings and lending project with a goal of reaching 3,025 women. By June 2004, there were 5,798 savings club members, 80.4% of which were women. The project experienced similar growth during its second phase from April, 2004 to December, 2005, which had a target of 9,800 households. By December, 10,406 members were actively saving with 85% women and 732 children. Each of these members learned valuable skills in financial planning and income generation, becoming better able to provide for their families independently. Clubs’ extraordinary survival rate of 78% over two years demonstrates that the participants were highly satisfied with their success!

The skills taught in the Kufusa Mari program accomplish ASAP Africa’s goal of reducing dependency on donor organizations since participants become more able to meet their own needs with the money they save and earn. The project is the picture of sustainability as participants benefit from the knowledge they acquired during the project long after it has ended.

HEALTH

ASAP Africa focuses on improving local health and nutrition through grassroots, community-based development. For the Health and Nutrition Development Initiative, ASAP Africa used the cluster groups assembled for the Kufusa Mari project to disseminate information about HIV/AIDS, medicinal herbs, nutritional gardening, permaculture techniques, and psycho-social support. When equipped with better knowledge, rural communities can make more healthy choices.

Because professional health care is often too far away or too expensive, ASAP Africa created a demonstration plot to teach locals about possible uses and growing techniques for 21 medicinal herb varieties, plus Moringa and Jatropha trees. These plants can help communities to care for their own sick. 9,800 people now have access to locally available medicinal herbs as a result of ASAP Africa’s work.

AGRICULTURE and NUTRITION

Helping families grow enough food to meet their nutritional needs is an important step towards self-reliance. However, farming presents significant challenges in Zimbabwe, a country often afflicted by drought. To meet this need, ASAP Africa has worked to provide drip kits to families supporting orphans and/or vulnerable children. Now, 3,460 people benefit from drip kits that ASAP Africa has provided.

ASAP Africa’s staff continues to work with the recipients of drip kits, teaching them to use the kit and to improve their agricultural techniques.  Through this training, farmers learn how to get higher yields from their resources. ASAP Africa has trained 301 farmers about fertility trenches, 274 about compost heaps, 408 about crop rotation, 156 about permaculture, 334 about crop diversity, and 408 about medicinal uses of herbs.

A Self-help Assistance Program has also worked to provide the Nyanga West community with over 8,600 Jatropha seedlings. Jatropha trees can help improve agricultural practices by creating natural fencing and actually improving the quality of the soil. ASAP Africa also supplied a Jatropha oil press so that communities can press the nut of the plant to create a material useful for the manufacture of lantern oil and soap. The Science and Technology Development Ministry is planning to use Jatropha "to help alleviate fuel shortages in the country through the manufacture of bio-diesel," according to the Bio-Safety Board of Zimbabwe. We are excited to report that the communities participating in ASAP Africa's Jatropha project are preparing to provide the seeds for this national expansion!

In addition, ASAP Africa provided training in rabbit rearing and breeding to 30 families caring for orphans, helping them attain improved nutrition.

EDUCATION

Between 1997 and 2005, ASAP Africa was involved in a series of building projects designed to strengthen the weak educational infrastructure. During this time, ASAP Africa trained local carpenters and worked with local construction workers to build 145 new classrooms, renovate 107 dilapidated classrooms, manufacture enough furniture for 565 classrooms, and build 58 duplex houses for teachers. Additionally, ASAP Africa was able to provide for a school system that was critically undersupplied with portable chalkboards, building tool kits, sewing machines, carpentry kits, agriculture kits, computers, typewriters, and copiers.

The focus of the building was always to equip the community to make the changes they needed in their educational system. For this reason, the staff chose not to leave the community to find qualified builders and carpenters. Instead, they trained 123 carpenters and employed them in building the needed furniture and buildings. After the project ended, the carpenters retained their skills, becoming better equipped to compete for jobs in Zimbabwe’s harsh economy.

ASAP Africa continued its focus on education with the Bridge the Gap project. Staff members work with students and teachers in rural areas to improve math education, one of the most difficult subjects to teach and learn. With math clubs and school competitions, ASAP Africa encourages students to learn and appreciate math. Additionally, ASAP Africa enables teachers to educate more effectively through holding teaching technique workshops and helping teachers to develop common exams for their area. By easing the transition in math education between primary and secondary school, ASAP Africa hopes to eliminate one of the impediments students face to continuing their studies. The ultimate goal is to increase the percentage of students who make the jump with success.

Until recently ASAP Africa also paid the school fees for the many children orphaned by HIV/AIDS through the commodity exchange method. The 28,897 vulnerable children involved in the program would likely been forced to leave school if not for ASAP Africa's intervention. Unfortunately, the requests for funding increased exponentially every year and it become clear that the project was not sustainable. ASAP Africa’s focus shifted from providing financially for vulnerable children to strengthening the communities’ economic ability to care for orphans and other children themselves.

Again, ASAP Africa’s focus is always to provide the education and training necessary to help project participants to help themselves.