Stories
Rafiki Girls’ Centre
Bopoma Villages has partnered with Rafiki Girls’ Centre which offers 20 disadvantaged and vulnerable young women from the Zaka area the opportunity to attend a nine-month vocational training course to help them achieve financial independence. Graduates of the Centre have found employment as nurses’ aides, nursery school assistants, and in beauty salons and the hotel …
Saving Water Day
When Ms. Miedema’s Grade 5/6 class at Timothy Christian School in Toronto chose to focus on clean water for its Social Studies Justice Project, the whole school decided to join in. Their “Saving Water Day” was an overwhelming success! For a full day the students drank only the water they had carried up from a …
Water Filter Works Perfectly Five Years Later
This is one of the original BioSand Filters built and installed in Zaka five years ago; it is still working perfectly and will for many years! This precious little girl has had clean drinking water her entire life, protecting her from the many water-borne diseases in Zimbabwe.
Mutendi School
Bopoma Villages worked with Mutendi School to build a large organic garden for the benefit of orphaned students. Watch this to see how the students expressed their gratitude and joy!
Interview with Water Filter Recipient
Mr. Petros is one of Bopoma Villages’ enthusiastic and happy water filter recipients. See what he has to say about his BioSand Filter in this video.
Responding to Tragedy
The Bopoma Villages team recently responded to a tragic situation in Zaka: the mother of three children died, leaving them orphans with no family to care for them. The mother was the children’s last surviving relative in the region; the children’s father had died several years earlier. While she was alive, the mother did subsistence farming but …
Health Department Tests Biosand Filter
The district health department recently tested water from the Nyabise River before and after it was treated with a Bopoma Villages Biosand Filter. The results were compelling. Bacteria in the untreated water were “TNTC” – too numerous to count; in the filtered water there were no bacteria at all. The Biosand Filter is a remarkable …
Joseph Wasosa: A Local Hero
How does he do it? Joseph Wasosa is a gentle, thoughtful, and well-spoken man with a cheerful disposition. He is one of our volunteer Care Facilitators, and one of the most inspirational people we met during our most recent trip to Zimbabwe. When Joseph’s wife died giving birth to their sixth child, he was …
Welcome Elias!
We are thrilled to welcome Elias to Zaka! Elias is a Thrive trainer from Kenya who will live in Zaka for about one year, teaching biointensive agriculture and nutrition. He is training two local students (who have been to the Thrive training center in Kenya for four months) and working with Bopoma Villages’ team developing farming …
No Soap? Try Wood Ash!
Many people in Zimbabwe can’t afford soap, but wood ash is very effective for handwashing and readily available. In addition to supplying families and schools with BioSand Filters for purifying water, Bopoma Villages’ water team provides teaching on hygiene, including handwashing. Handwashing alone can reduce the mortality rate by 40%. These children are learning handwashing …
A Boy Named Tadiwa
When Elsa, Bopoma Villages’ social worker, found Tadiwa, an eight-year-old orphan living with his grandmother, he was “a lovely boy, clever and ever-smiling.” But Tadiwa he had never been able to go to school and barely survived on handouts from neighbours. With Bopoma Villages’ help, Tadiwa is now attending school for the first time and …
Komborero Garira
As in-country director, Komborero oversees all aspects of Bopoma Villages’ work in Zimbabwe including managing staff, overseeing budgets, supervising construction and liaising with Canadian staff. Komborero holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Education as well as an MBA from the University of South Africa. Bopoma Villages has made a very great impact in this …