Spreading The Gospel Through Serving The Disadvantaged Community of Tanzania
Spreading The Gospel Through Serving The Disadvantaged Community of Tanzania
September 2020
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
i. Project Title
Spreading the Gospel through Serving the Disadvantage Community of Tanzania.
Nyimo, Mission
v. Target Group
The target group for this project is the community members of Sanyati communal area
and of main emphasis are the:
1. Churches – to empower with resources to enable them to preach the gospel e.g.
building of a church, bibles, tents and income generating projects to enable them
to sustain the running of the churches.
3. Parents/ Guardian of the children in question and assist them with capacity
building projects, proper information and the gospel of God on how they can
apply it in their life and give their life to Christ.
4. This project will also target orphans especially child headed households, disabled
children and those children affected and infected with HIV and AIDS. Counseling
services will be run for these children and their parents and also training on
capacity building to enable them to sustain their living.
vi. Duration
Initially the pilot project will be implemented for 2 years an evaluation is conducted. After the
evaluation and the project is found to have positive impacts it will be implemented for a further
5 years
Project Summary
Sanyati is located about 250km west of Harare and 103km from Kadoma and lies in
Mashonaland West province and has a total population of about 15 000 people. The area lies
in Natural Region IV, which receives less than 600 mm annual rainfall. The average land holding
are 5 hectares per household arable and grazing area is communal. It is in the 43rd
disadvantagedest district in Zimbabwe (UNDP 1998, www.lrrd.org/lrrd17/12/chaw17143.htm) in
terms of human development.
Ruvheneko Trust will embark on a project in Sanyati to carry out the following activities:
2. The project aims to assist rural schools to improve the standard of learning for the rural
child. As a starting point the project will work with a school that was identified in Arda
community i.e. Chiguvare Primary School to provide support for constructing the
school’s infrastructure. Assistance will also be provided to improve the general standard
of the school and this include purchasing of furniture, renovations of already existing
blocks which are in a very bad shape, sports kits and grounds, text books and stationary
for the school. Currently in most rural schools there is a high text book to child ratio in
some cases as high as one textbook for a class of 50.
The project will assist identified children to support their educational needs and this
includes payment of school fees, provision of school uniforms and assistance with
stationary requirements. The project will initially start with 75 children and if the funds
are permitting will add on 50 children in the second year to make a total of 125 children
altogether. The project will also encourage these children to attend church services at
the community center. The parents or guardians of the children under the project will
be encouraged to attend training sessions which will be provided by Ruvheneko trust at
their center. These training courses are aimed at imparting income generating skills to
3. The project aims at building a community center that will act as a central point where
the children under the project will go for counseling, encouragement, bible study,
church services and moral support. Some of the children come from families who are
deeply rooted in cultural activities, and it is the aim of this project to assist these
children and their families to know the truth of the gospel as explained in the bible. At
the center they will be training facilities which offer training in agricultural activities,
carpentry, hand skills like sewing, crafting, painting, metal work, and cooking, baking,
gardening and chicken project. These training programs will empower the school kids to
be able to do extra activities to enable them to raise school fees for themselves and also
will empower the parents or guardians to be financial able to support their families. The
Trust aims at commercializing some of the projects to ensure the local community gets
reasonable returns from their projects.
Like most communities in Zimbabwe the Arda community was not speared from the
devastating effects of HIV and AIDS hence they are child headed families. Families like
these ones need a lot of moral support, they also need the gospel of Jesus to give them
hope and to know that God can provide for them. These children also need constant
financial support and income generating activities to ensure they are able to sustain
their daily requirements without resorting to other means like prostitution.
This project is very crucial in most parts of Zimbabwe as communities are not able to financial
support themselves and their children do not have much hope for their future. In most of these
areas the gospel is not being preached due to their remoteness and lack of essential facilities
like roads and accommodation hence they are being neglected by most people. These people
also need to hear the gospel and be given a chance to give their life to Jesus.
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country and access to water bodies is very difficult making
irrigation too expensive if not impossible for the rural farmer. The rural communities of
Zimbabwe survive basically on Agriculture and due to the current environmental
challenges that are being faced world over, the erratic rainfall patterns combined with
lack of skill and inputs have made starvation a reality in rural Zimbabwe.
The government estimate that 65% of the country’s 12 million people resides in the
rural areas and survive on less than a $1 a day (www.mg.co.za). This figure indicate that
the large population of Zimbabwe live in the rural areas and are facing the challenges
described above which implies that a large population of Zimbabwe finds it difficult to
care for their families. This dilutes the effort being made by a number of NGOs to try
and alleviate the problems being faced by, the rural people of Zimbabwe due to the
large number of people that they have to care for.
According to a research done in the district at Chiguvare Primary School in Sanyati, 200
school children failed to pay for their school fees of US$10.00 and they had to drop out
of school. Over 300 school children are orphans and are unable to pay their school fees.
Parents in this area cited serious financial problems due to erratic rainfalls as they
Religion has proved to be the basis of any society world over and in Zimbabwe the
church has proved over the years to be the main source of inspiration and has helped a
great deal to shape the society of Zimbabwe. Any community in Zimbabwe can be
identified to the church that they believe in. Due to this there is great need for the
gospel to be preached to all corners of the nation. The church in Zimbabwe plays a very
critical role in outreach work that aims to serve the community both spiritually and
physically. Several ideal features of the church give it an advantageous position in
working for sustainable development. The church is rooted in the community of
Zimbabwe and is present not just in the urban areas but also in the rural areas including
remote ones that sometimes are beyond the reach of most NGOs. This has resulted in
the church gaining trust and respect from the communities who view it as their source
of hope and inspiration. However the church in Zimbabwe faces so many challenges due
to the economic challenges that the nation is facing. There are very few organizations in
Zimbabwe who support churches hence they is a need for funding in that area to ensure
that the church can continue playing it’s critical role of providing both spiritual and
physical needs to the community. The church is very familiar with peoples’ needs and
serves the whole society and draws voluntary membership from all segments of the
population. With these advantages it has the potential for effective and speedy
community mobilization and influence (Bragg W. G, 1987
A single church will be nominated according to the set out criteria to receive assistance
to construct a church building. The project will start with a single church and if the
finances permit will move on to other churches. The church to benefit will work very
closely with Ruvheneko Trust to implement some of the project activities.
The church in Zimbabwe relies heavily on offerings that are received from the
congregations. However these offerings and tithes are not substantial enough to meet
the cost of the church and many cases fall short of any church projects and outreaches.
Please find the diagram below for a clear visualization of the church and how it relates
with other project components.
Infrastructure
Development Outreach
Programs Counselling
Refresher
Courses for
Pastors
Church
Pastors
Income
Community Church
Generating Center Service
Projects
Elders
Outreach
programs
Training
Uniforms
Children
Identified
income
generating Stationary
skills
Spiritual
need s
Chiguvare Primary school has very bad infrastructure and the children are learning
under very low standards. This project will upgrade the infrastructure of the school and
this includes classroom blocks, teachers’ houses, sanitation facilities, desks, books and
the drilling of a borehole at the school. The borehole will enable the school to expand
the main income generating project which is gardening. The school plans to expand the
gardening to enable them to supply vegetables to nearby stores and villagers. This will
assist them with income to purchase items that are required for the daily running of the
school e.g. toiletries, books, chalks etc. The borehole will also provide water to ensure
Access to
Water
Staff Infrastructu
re
Spiritual developme
Needs nt
Income
Stationary School generatin
g projects
Equipment
School
Linking
Computer
laboritory
The main objective of this project is to spread the gospel through serving of the
disadvantaged, therefore the community center is the main achievement of the project.
The community center is a place where all the children under the project will be
encouraged to go for bible study, church services, training to acquire skills, counseling,
encouragement and moral support. The center will also cater for the parents of the
children who are benefiting from the project and those identified from the church and
the local community. Rhuveneko Trust will work with the local Christian churches in the
Community
Center
Spiritual Physical
Needs Empowerment
Church Christian
Skills Training Computer Lab
Services Counselling
The strategy for achieving each of the following items specified in the project
components (section 1.2) is outlined below:
An initial meeting will be held between Ruvheneko Trust and the various
churches available in Arda and surrounding areas. Currently the Pastors and
Elders from the different churches meet periodically for fellowship. Ruvheneko
Trust will take advantage of such meetings and be present on one of the
meetings to present the project and what the project want to achieve. Initially
the churches will not be given a detailed description of the assistance to be
offered to the churches to ensure that only those churches, who share the same
vision with Ruvheneko Trust, will come forward. The Trust will go ahead and
discuss the criteria that they want in choosing a church to work with as a partner
for the project. The churches will assist Ruvheneko Trust in coming up with the
church that they will partner with for the project.
Working with the churches
From those churches who share the same vision with the Trust, pastors and
elders will be identified to work with the Trust at the community center. The
pastors and elders will be receive training on counseling, and other topics that
they are able to deliver training on. The pastors will also deliver church services
at the Community Center. The pastors will in return receive a small token of
appreciation per month, bus fare and food aid from the trust.
Children Identification
A meeting will be held between the Ruvheneko Trust and the community. The
community will be represented by the traditional leaders, church leaders and the
school authorities. The community at large will be involved in the actual
identification of the children. The following criteria will be used:
• First priority will be given to the children with both deceased and staying
alone.
• After that a selection will be done from those who are under privileged.
• The church will contribute 25% of the total number of the children.
A meeting with the church leaders will be held to identify children from the church who
would have not been identified by the community and should be considered for
support.
After registration a meeting will be held with the parents or guardian of the
selected children to enable Ruvheneko Trust to get to know the parents and to
identify the needs so as to come up with training programs that best suit the
target group. An assessment will be done to identify those that are still physically
able to receive training and apply what they would have best learnt. Those that
are not physically able include people who are above the age of 75 years old. The
parents and guardians will also come up with a list of activities that they can
undertake in the community area or at the school as a way of contribution
towards their children’s education. These activities include maintaining the
school grounds, gardening at school, doing some work in the community roads
etc.
School Linking
Cultural exchange programs will be organized where children from other schools
will visit children from Chiguvare School.
In the rural areas most of the inputs are from agricultural produce. Ruvheneko
trust is also planning to drill boreholes to support the gardening and chicken
rearing projects at the center and other centralized places in the villages. All
these projects will be carried out at the center.
Other none cash motivation items like food hampers will be considered as well.
Christian Counseling
Counseling is mainly for those parents or children with challenging situations
that they are facing. The counseling sessions will mainly be done by nurses and
pastors because of their professions. The pastors and elders from the churches
will be deal those with emotional challenges and the nurses with those who are
sick, those who are taking care of the elderly and those who are HIV positive.
Spiritual Needs
Church services will be conducted at the community center for all the people
who are willing. The trust will take advantage of social gatherings to preach the
gospel of repentance. For those who would have repented church services will
be held weekly at the community service. Also during training sessions the trust
will be obliged to preach the gospel. At Chiguvare primary school the authorities
agreed to create for time to introduce courses like walk through the bible to the
kids on top of their bible knowledge lessons which they cover according to the
prescribed syllabus from the Ministry of education. The current bible knowledge
lessons are covered under a subject called Content which also look at other
2 Overall Objectives
1. The Main objective of the project is to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ even to
the most remote parts of Zimbabwe.
2. To assist the rural church with infrastructure development, evangelist tools and
outreach assistance, thereby helping the rural church which is often limited by
resources to reach out to the community.
3. To assist the orphaned and underprivileged rural children thereby aiding and
shaping a brighter future for a key player in the society of tomorrow.
4. To promote the partnership between the rural school in Zimbabwe and other
schools in the world thus allowing cultural exchange and awareness for the child
involved.
The purpose of this project is to reach out to the rural community and meet their
spiritual needs and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. Furthermore the project will
aid in their physical needs whilst training them to be self sustainable and better their
lives through various income generating projects.
4. Results
Outputs (0 – 6 months)
- Staff recruitment
Outcomes (6 – 12 months)
5. Activities
2.2.3 Stationary
2.2.3.1 The children will receive the
most basic stationery required
by a student and this include
pens, pencils, exercise books
and rulers.
2.2.3.2 All stationary to be purchased
from a well reputable company.
3. To assist and empower 3.1 Identify the schools needs 3.1.1 Hold a meeting with the schools
Schools authority and come up with a list
of all the things that should be
done to improve the standard of
the school
3.1.2 Come up with a budget of each
item and priorities the items. 3.1.3
Carry out an assessment and
Evaluate which ones can be
covered by the project.
3.1.4 For the items to be implemented
under the project a work plan of
activities to be drawn out by the
school with the help of the Trust.
if training is required
arrangements to be made for the
school representatives to receive
the necessary training.
3.4 Introduce bible lessons as 3.4.1 Hold a meeting with the school
part of the curricular headmasters and teachers to
come up with the best times for
the bible lessons and the
methodology of delivering the
lessons e.g. walk through the new
testament
3.4.1 Purchase the required resources
e.g. bibles and Christian study
materials
6. Inputs
Role of the Executing Agent
The executing agent, Rhuveneko Trust, will be responsible for project coordination
implementation and reporting to the Donor. It is the duty and responsibility of the
executing agent to provide timely and comprehensive reports to the donor as specified
in the Memorandum of Agreement. The executing agent shall be responsible for setting
up the board of Trustees to manage the fund.
The community or the beneficiaries of the project have agreed to contribute inputs that
are non financial and they are within their reach and these include, their time, labor,
natural resources e.g. water, wood etc. The community is a hardworking community and
working with them should be a great pleasure.
Role of Donors
The following tools shall be used by the executing agent, Rhuveneko Trust to monitor
the progress of projects to be done by the churches and the school and the income
generating activities to be done at the community center.
These are the indicators that shall be assessed to ensure that the executing agent is
implementing the project as agreed. The following will be assessed
Office Equipment
1. 3 staff Desks
2. staff chairs
3. 4 Visitors Chairs
4. Reception Sofas
5. Visitors Coffee table
6. Fridge
7. Filling Cabinets
8. Telephone Switchboard and
extensions
9. 3 Computers
10. 1 Printer
11. Fax
12. Internet Equipment an
d
connectivity
12 000.00
Local Consultancies
1. Bus fares
2. Monthly appreciation (US$50)
3. Food Hambers
15 000.00
1. Church Projects 1. Infrastructure development
2. Furniture
3. Boreholes drilling
4. Bibles
5. Outreach programs
6. Evangelism
7. Refresher Courses
8. Income generating programs
50 000.00
2. School Projects 1. Infrastructure development and 150 000.00
improvements 2. Furniture
3. School Fees
4. Uniforms and stationary
5. Sports Kits
6. Textbooks and Bibles
7. Income generating projects
8. Borehole Drilling
9. School Linking activities
4. Training consumables
5. Computers (for the lab)
450 000.00
Total budget 817 000.00
4. Overheads At 5% of the total budget 40 850.00
5. Contingency Budget At 10% of the total budget 81 700.00
Overall Total Budget US$939 550.00
Table 3 *Ruvheneko Trust will rent offices for one year awaiting the completion of the
Community Center where the Trust will be housed.
Contributions:
• Labour
• Water
• Stones
Figure 3 showing the two blocks of Chigavure School, the third block is for a preschool.