Let's give girls training for a vibrant future

Over the course of the past six years, the American Foundation for Children with AIDS has donated six greenhouses to the Sandra Jones Centre here in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. This is an incredibly generous donation and we are beyond grateful to AFCA and all their donors who made this gift possible.

As I've been pondering this morning, I realized how much more than ‘just’ greenhouses this life-changing donation has been for the Centre and all who reside here. It is truly hard to put into words how much of an impact these greenhouses have made to so many lives.  The extent and breadth of this blessing is wide, and continues to show itself in new ways.

From the beautiful fresh vegetables we grow in our greenhouses, we are able to feed nutritious and well-balanced meals every single day to the 70 children in our care and the 30 staff who look after them. Especially for traumatized and previously malnourished children, some of which are HIV+, being able to ensure the quality and nutritional excellence of their diets is of the utmost importance, and the greenhouse project is an integral part of this process.

Through the sale of the excess vegetables we are able to pay staff and the utilities in our home for abused children, as well us providing our community with nutrient-rich and high quality produce. Thanks to AFCA and the greenhouses we are able to provide training and education in greenhouse farming to  +/- 20 young women in our Vocational Skills Training program each year, giving these girls a profitable and marketable trade to ensure themselves job opportunities and subsequently, a better future. They have also been used to discipline some of our naughty children… spending a morning weeding one the greenhouses is an excellent way to correct a child!

So thank you AFCAIDS, for the donation of greenhouses which provide us with vegetables, a healthy diet, training and education, discipline and correction and much needed finances. They are definitey the gift that keeps on giving!!!

The team here at the American Foundation for Children with AIDS thanks you for supporting this project and the work we do for the children in Africa.  As you make decisions regarding your giving for the remainder of this year, please keep us in mind so we can continue our good work through 2023 and beyond.  If you would like to learn even more about what we do or how you can meet some of the children you have helped, please contact Tanya Weaver at tweaver@AFCAids.org.