From the Founder

Dear Friend,

I would like to start off by thanking you for expressing interest in Zanele Poverty Relief Effort. The Zanele Project (herein referred to as ZPRE) was founded in June of 2007 on the eve of my 18th birthday. It was during my last year of high school that I felt called to do something about the injustices occurring in my home country of Zimbabwe. As a relatively conscious young person I had been aware of the political, social and economic realities of the Zimbabwean people. I was not, however, as in touch with the realities of young people, like me, living there. It was only when my mother returned from a trip home with stories of siblings raising siblings, grandparents raising grandchildren and the overall devastation of the country that I realized something had to be done, and I had to be a part of the action.

So, I began to think about how I could get involved. Having participated in AIDS/HIV awareness programming, and activism work before I had some idea as to the needs and methods of helping, but felt compelled to do something new. Though the idea of a feeding program may not be the newest of concepts in the plethora of development and charitable programs in the world the philosophy of ZPRE is what sets it apart from the rest.

It is my hope that, as an organization, ZPRE functions as a network of people working to better the situation of their brothers and sisters in humanity. My motivation for starting a feeding program that operates on the generosity and genuine good will of everyday people was a popular African proverb. The proverb reads it takes a village to raise a child. The children that we assist are members of a literal village, one that takes to heart this proverb and does its best to assist all its children. The people in my community, here in GTA, form another village. Together, it is my desire and the mission of the organization to form a global village; one composed of people working together in an effort to help “raise” these orphans in need.

Another African proverb reads a child without a mother (or father) is like a fish out of water; lost. Through the partnership between local villagers, who facilitate the distribution of groceries to the orphans, and the generosity of their North American counterparts we form a new sort of family. A family that is not based on literal kinship, or genealogy, but instead on the basis of humanity. It is my hope that this family and village flourish to aid as many children in need as possible and grows to establish an even larger network of people working together for a common good.

Thank you for taking the time to learn about the organization, and please find attached some more information about the specifics of Zanele Poverty Relief Effort.

Sincerely,

Saneliso Moyo
Founder, ZPRE