Kufunda Learning Village

May 2005

The time has come for another update from Kufunda Village. Since our last update much has been afoot.

* Communities pursuing self-reliance;
* Women believing in themselves
* a little preschool magic
* Relying on local wisdom to treat HIV
* Furthering the Education Fund
* Taking time to still the mind

Communities pursuing self-reliance.

At the beginning of May we ran our first two community programmes hosted in the communities (as opposed to at Kufunda). They were both held in Rusape during the same week, but in two different locations. A total of 73 people participated in the two programmes. It was a similar programme to our basic community development programme run at Kufunda, but there was a different life to it, being held in the rural area itself. During the course of the week people went from being students in the programme with polite interest, to at the end being full participants in the process of blowing new life into their community. It reaffirmed the strength of our process, which combines the very practical and tangible of the compost toilets or organic farming together with the process of appreciative inquiry into the community, and collective thinking through how a community might build on its strengths and capacities. It also was an eye-opener for me in terms of what is available in the communities in terms of people, energy, community as well as of the enormous challenges they are facing, especially due to the AIDS crisis. We are already working with several widows. Almost half of the children in the preschool are AIDS orphans, many of whom are already sick. There is a level at which the problems seem insurmountable, and another at which we realise that we just have to keep walking and working - together. A small story to illustrate what brings me hope:

Women believing in themselves.

At the end of our recent visit to Rusape, Anna Marunda organised a special event to celebrate the graduation of 22 women from her knitting school. She started her knitting school in November with support from Heather Ferris - a volunteer at Kufunda. Heather helped Anna develop the idea. The women paid Anna 10 000 Zim dollars per month (roughly 1.5 USD) for 3 months for teaching them to knit with a knitting machine. They produce lovely garments, especially for children. She is now ready to start a new group up, and the first group has formed a co-operative to continue working together as a small venture. What makes this story special to me is that Anna has had a knitting machine and her talent for years, but has not even considered her ability to teach and share her knowledge with others. Watching her on the day of the celebrations - an organiser, greatly appreciated by the other, was wonderful. Anna and her women on their own are not going to change the face of Zimbabwe. But Anna and her women as a part of a larger wave of people who begin to believe in themselves and what they have to offer may.

Next week we will be running a similar programme in Zvimba. Zvimba is where they are extra keenly engaged in spreading the simple compost toilets, with the goal of 100 toilets built in the next 2 months. More on that after we return from there.

A little preschool magic.

We will be opening the doors to the Kufunda preschool next week. It is the result of a lot of synchronicities coming together that this unexpected development has taken place. Many of the women that we are working with in the communities are running small preschools. In our attempts to support them further, we were looking at identifying a possible volunteer from the US to come and work with the women. Whilst this was in process a local woman from the next farm approached us to ask whether she could move her recently started preschool from where it was to Kufunda, as she had been given a notice. To cut a long story short, we have 20 young children arriving for a part-time preschool where we look forward to playing with the same principles of learning and creativity that inform Kufunda's work with adult to also inform our work with the youth. Patricia Mutsvandiyani will be running the school. Together with others in the Kufunda team, she will also be working with the 5 other preschools that we are involved with through the community organisers that we are working with. It will be good to have children join the Kufunda family.

Relying on local wisdom and resources to treat HIV.

In January of this year we started working with Phil Cass from the Colombus medical association to set up an HIV/AIDS fund. It has developed and merged with a project of the Kufunda HIV/AIDS support group, namely to support the establishment of a Community Herbal Lab. It will encompass working with the communities to grow indigenous and other herbs, to be processed and sold as herbal remedies in the community. These will not pretend to be a cure for serious ailments, but can serve as immune-boosters, and as treatments for minor ailments. It connects with our desire for local self-reliance, and a return to the knowledge and wisdom that is available locally. We are working with the District AIDS commisioner for our area; a friend from the Traditional Healers Association; and we are in the process of bringing in other people with more knowledge in this area.

Furthering the Education Fund.

During my last visit to Rusape I realised just how important the education fund is. Orphans or very poor children, who would otherwise simply be pulled out of the school system, are given a chance to continue to go to school. 118 children are being supported by the fund this year. We are in the process of developing the fund to not only be a financial fund paying school fees. We are wanting to use the fund as a means to connect with the children, and to engage them in other work and learning of Kufunda in the community. This is particularly important given that the schooling system is not very good at meeting the needs of a rural child. Our intent is to use the fund to also complement the academic learning with practical learning, involving older people of the community, and based on an appreciation of the wisdom and knowledge in the community. Exactly how we will connect the children who are recipients of the fund, with the work and learning of Kufunda in the community is not yet clear, except at the level of intention. In the meanwhile THANK YOU to everyone who is contributing to the fund. It is so important during this time.

Taking time to still the mind.

In March we held a 10 day Vipassana meditation retreat at Kufunda. Vipassana is a straightforward technique of mental purification which one can practise on one's own. It is not about religion in any shape or form. Vipassana is a simple but powerful method of eliminating the tensions and negativity of the mind. 17 people participated in the course. Half of them were community organisers, which was the first time for all of them. They all completed the full 10 day retreat, seemingly with great enthusiasm. Several of the women whom I have spoken to subsequently, spoke to the way their minds were relaxed and much more open after the programme, enabling them to work much better once back home. Two women attributed improvements in their project work to their meditation retreat. I am excited by the potential of sharing this tool with the people we are working with. It is of course not for all, but it is wonderful to see it benefit some. We will be hosting our next Vipassana in September 30th - October 11th, 2005.

I think that is all for now. Let me end by extending a special thank you to Wolfgang Oels and co for their support to the Zvimba compost toilet outreach and for their generous contribution to the education fund; to Heather Ferris for continuing to support the women in the communities, lastly with funds for a sewing and knitting machine; to Gary for his support to Ronald and his tree project; to Toke for his ongoing support to Kufunda, to Pat Brandes for her support in trying to get medicine for the sick children we are working with, and to everyone else who is supporting us and our work - Thank you.

Marianne Knuth