The Jabulani Village, near Victoria Falls, is made up of 400 people of all ages from the Ndebele tribe. As wood carvers by trade this village was once world renown for their large Giraffe carvings. In 2006 Environmental issues made aquiring the wood needed for their craft nearly impossible to source. This is how the NGO, Ndebele Art Project Africa, was formed -on the plane ride home from visiting the village of artists when African Art merchant, Jen Kemper and her mom Sandy Orrill saw that the village could use an emergency net and decided to create one.
My name is Miré and I became connected to the village when I traveled with Ndebele Art Project Africa (NAP Africa) in 2007. I was a board member then and helped to fundraise tens of thousands of dollars for large village initiatives like the Windmill and Borehole projects and the Garden project. For more about NAP Africa click: https://youtu.be/8eV0ofjxsxo & https://youtu.be/i1JNsxNk4w4.
Now personally I have been raising funds for the Village since 2020 outside of NAP Africa (which disbanded in 2016). The pandemic hit Victoria Falls hard because with no tourists many people lost their economic lifeline. This was definitely true for the Jabulani Village.
I send funds to the village community leader Lister Nkomo by way of Western Union and then send donors the receipt and any photos she sends me. In this way we have kept the village in basic food supplies during a majorly challenging economic moment.
As the U.S. becomes increasingly unstable both economically and with our relationships around the globe, we know our chaos will have some effect on our friends in Zim. We are trying to anticipate this and are campaigning now so as to be able to continue to support the village regardless of our situation stateside.
• Every month since 2020, we have sent money to support the elderly in the village.
• In 2022 we raised enough to purchase a solar power panel to help support their technological needs.
• In 2024 we raised the funding for a permanent chicken coop.
• In 2024, we also were able to fundraise for a new refrigerator, enabling villagers to store and sell their chicken meat.
• On July 13, 2024, Lister's son, Freedom, passed away. We sent funding to cover the cost of his memorial service.
• In 2025 we paid the school fees for all village school-aged children (6 children total)
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In the recent decades, and for the first time in recorded history, folks in a remote village in the African bush have direct communication access with the rest of the world. I speak daily now with my village friends through texting apps. Through these conversations we have determined that we are very connected although on other sides of the planet.
From our different perspectives and experiences we see what gifts we can share and what gifts we can receive. We've come up with a new name for our group: ONE LOVE, ONE FAMILY.
This group is about mutual support. Fundraising for village basics but also curating life-changing adventures for hand picked groups of folks who want to travel to Zim and learn from villagers.
Village community leader Lister is in her 60's and is now looking to sell concrete at her shop to create some sustainability for her children as she gets older. This is an effort we'd like to fundraise for this year to help her and her family.
Thank you for helping my dear friends on the other side of the planet. With so much gratitude.
Miré
