The Story of Simbiso
In a small village in rural Zimbabwe lives a woman named Simbiso. Her name means strengthening,
and she has indeed strengthened those around her and her impact is spreading further, past the world she knows.
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Simbiso lives in Zishavane, Zimbabwe. She is a loving and devoted mother of nine biological and three step-children. All of her children have families of their own. She has many grandchildren and even a few great-grand children. She became a widow in 1997 when she lost her beloved husband Rodgers. She now spends her days gardening and caring for several of her grandchildren. She is a devoted Christian and enjoys attending church activities. She is an active member of the community in her village. Her calling has always been to help others who are sick or hungry. Her country home has no electricity, no running water, life is as basic as it can be. Each day she fetches drinking water from a borehole approximately three miles away. Her day is never a dull one, starting from early morning she gets her grandchildren ready for school, during the day she hand washes all of their clothes as well as her own. She tends to her animals and crops for hours each day. Simbiso is no stranger to hard work, she was born to a poor family and she learned to work from an early age. She has even continued to share some of her talents such as basket weaving, sewing and crocheting.
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Simbiso grew up at a time when there was lots of political instability in Zimbabwe, then know as Rhodesia. She started a family at an early age and faced the hardest challenge any mother would have to face, protecting your children during war. Her parents had raised her to eat very small portions so that when food was scarce she could survive and not perish. She later taught these same principals to her own children, always worried if they were going to have enough food to provide for her family. She learned to always have a garden and would make use of all the food she was able to grow to feed her family and to help others who were in need. However, even though they would eat what they could, much of the food would end up wasted post harvest because there was just too much becoming ripe at one time. Unfortunately, months later food was always in shortage, much of it rotten or destroyed by bugs. She would travel to her brothers home, who had a little more than she did. She would be gone for a month or more at times, trying to harvest and dry all types of vegetables in hopes that they would store well so her kids would have them to eat in the post harvest season. Sometimes all that hard work would be wasted because she had very limited means to store the food and it would be infested with bugs just after a couple of months. Like any other Zimbabwean for years she would grow Maize (corn), harvest and store it and it would go to waste from the same dilemma.
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Through this project we will help struggling families and mothers in Zimbabwe similar to Simbiso to be able to store food from the crops they work so hard to grow. We will provide them with the education on how to successfully preserve and store their excess food during the harvest. This will give them peace of mind, more financial stability, and more time to apply to other aspects of their family lives.
Simbiso has been a strength to her children and her community, and we hope to do her name justice with this project. Simbiso is the mother of one of our founders, Douglas Sibanda. He has witnessed her struggles and feels a responsibility to give a hand up to those suffering the same way she does. We hope that hearing her story will also give you a desire to end hunger and empower those in Zimbabwe
board members
Douglas Sibanda
Douglas is a devoted husband and father who was born and raised in Zimbabwe. He has a passion for helping those in need. He truly believes that small things can make a big difference and that is how the Simbiso Project was born. He has experienced living in the rural communities in Zimbabwe, and seen first hand the challenges the families living there face . Instead of making him lose hope it gave him a determination to help those people. He currently works for Department of Family Protective Services in Texas. He is also a veteran of the US Military. Douglas holds a Bachelors of Science in International Business Management from Brigham Young University-Hawaii and a Master degree in Educational Administration from Prairie View A&M.
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Megan Christensen
Megan, is a self declared homesteader with her gang of boys (husband included.) Raising and preserving her own food is a lifestyle she cherishes and is grateful to her Mom and Grams for teaching her how. She enjoys sharing her homesteading lessons with anyone who has a question, as well as on her blog and through classes she teaches in her community. Megan holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Utah in Sociology and has worked in numerous non profit organizations including Youth Services of Utah, Jewish Family Services, and the Disability Law Center. Being able to take her knowledge and share it with people halfway around the world is truly, a dream come true for her and she is beyond excited to be part of Simbiso Project!
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Jennifer Sibanda
Jennifer, is a mother and homemaker who loves to travel. She has always had a deep interest in learning about other cultures and countries. She grew up doing service alongside her mother and has always loved to help others. She loves being outside and working in nature. Jennifer holds a bachelor's degree in Biology from Brigham Young University-Hawaii. She has recently worked in the dental medicine field as a pediatric dental assistant and loves to work with children and families. Being able to give aid to those struggling in Zimbabwe has become a passion and life goal for her.