The work of Zimele Wethu Foundation has continued to grow as we; each day/week and month witness households and communities greatly transformed through the Self Help Group programme. The difficult truth is that South Africa is currently experiencing challenges economically. Based on current statistics, South Africa’s unemployment rates is now at 29%, the worst in the last 12years, resulting in much poverty in most communities. We are excited that more than 4,128 women, youth and men on the Self Help Group (SHG) programme are able to work together with the goal of improving their household livelihoods.

It is exciting to note that Zimele Wethu has continued to grow in its social and economic impact among rural communities of KwaZulu Natal. We continue to be grateful to the Lord and indeed to our partners; Zimele USA, Covenant World Relief, E3 Initiative, Zimele Canada and Sinamandla for all the prayers, the support and the resources you provide to enable us play a part in reducing the levels of poverty in rural KwaZulu Natal.

Below are some of the great stories to tell on the impact of the work of Zimele Wethu:

We have had time, as a team of staff at Zimele Wethu Foundation to reflect on the impact of our work among the rural people of KwaZulu Natal. We are all filled with awe, encouragement and inspiration for the future as we continue to witness more self-sustaining communities being created by 3 600+ women, youth and men, who are part of the Zimele Wethu Self Help Group (SHG) programme. God has indeed been faithful towards us.

We are so grateful to our passionate and supportive co-workers (Zimele USA, Covenant World Relief, E3 Initiative, Zimele Canada, and Sinamandla) who have invested so much time, resources and prayer in the work of transforming 13 rural communities of KwaZulu Natal. We are seeing our work bear so much fruit and are so vividly reminded of the fruit of the work by the Thembananiyethu SHG farmers as we admire their fruits in their orchard.

As we march on, totally dependent on our God, we are truly overjoyed to see more community people putting up their hands to be part of the Self Help Group programme facilitated by Zimele Wethu Foundation. We thank you all our partners for your ongoing work that enables Zimele Wethu Foundation to march on towards its December 2020 goal of mobilising 8000 women, youth and men on to the SHG programme.

I am amazed that as the work grows, the resolve, among Zimele Wethu staff team to work extra hard is also growing. As presented in the table below, the work has expanded to other communities. We are currently working with 3 109 women, youth and men in 12 rural communities of 7 Municipal boundaries in KwaZulu Natal province. The table below reflects the names of the 12 rural communities in 7 Municipalities we currently serve.

The current buzz phrase in most community development, seminars or academic papers or grant part of most application requirements is the word ‘project sustainability. In trying to promote project sustainability, most community development professionals are working at empowering project beneficiaries to become self-reliant and less dependent on charitable services that perpetuate ongoing dependency on governments, faith based organizations or non- profit organizations. It is exciting that the phrase ‘project sustainability’ has not only become our everyday lexis at Zimele Wethu Foundation, but our everyday practice.

This report shows that we, at Zimele Wethu Foundation, are everyday working to ensure that programme beneficiaries at both the Self Help Group level and the Cluster Level Association fully participate in community based project planning and implementation processes that lead to ownership, thereby resulting into project sustainability.

The Zimele Wethu staff team continues to be excited about the vision the Lord has given us, ‘Creating Self-Sustaining communities.’ We are also excited to share, with our partners, the progress we are making with our 5 years strategic plan of mobilizing and training 8000 rural women, youth and men for social and economic transformation. By God’s grace we are hoping that the mobilised Zimele Wethu Self Help Group (SHG) participants in the five rural communities we are serving become agents of social and economic change in their communities through their Cluster Level Associations (CLA) and Federations. Currently, Zimele Wethu has mobilised a total of 2377 people into 166 Self Help Groups of which 66 Self Help Groups are under 9 vibrant Cluster Level Associations. In the month of March, Zimele Wethu achieved the following based on its strategic goals:

Zimele Wethu Foundation has continued to trust God for the fulfilment of its 5 years strategic plan (2015 – 2020). On Wednesdays, we dedicate more time to prayer and bible reading as we reflect on the work God has entrusted us with. We continue to be optimistic that the Zimele Wethu Self Help Group programme will mobilise 8000 women, youth and men by December 2020. Since January, we have also been spending much time realigning the staff team so as to effectively work towards meeting our strategic goals. We remain grateful to our partners for all the support we have received and achievements made since the launch of Zimele Wethu in September 2015.

This year, other than continuing to form more Self Help Groups, we are also focusing on strengthening Cluster Level Associations’ social and economic projects in all the 5 communities we are serving.

The work of Zimele Wethu has continued to grow. God has indeed continued to honour the prayers of His people over this great work. We thank God for all the partnerships He has brought together for His work of transforming the lives of women, youth and men in poor communities of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. Zimele USA, Covenant World Relief, Kusasa Le Africa, Sinamandla and E3 Initiative your generosity in this work of our God is amazing and highly appreciated ... THANK YOU!

As a staff team at Zimele Wethu Foundation, we are always in owe of the evident growth, the impact and the higher levels of maturity we are seeing in the Cluster Level Associations and the Self Help Groups. The Zimele Wethu Self Help Group programme has continued to transform people’s lives as evidently presented in the outcomes based on our 5 years strategic plan.

2017 Objective 1 - By December 2017 – Mobilize 1 371 new programme participants into 100 new Self Help Groups
Since the beginning of the year, 2017, Zimele Wethu has mobilized 705 new people into 48 Self Help Groups (SHGs) and in the last 3 months, July – September 2017, 238 new people were mobilized into 25 Self Help Groups bringing the total accumulative number of women, youth and men mobilized into the SHG programme to 2 184 people in 141 SHGs.

As an organization, we have, through the support of our amazing co-workers; Zimele USA, Covenant World Relief, iKusasa Le Africa, Zimele Canada, E3 Initiative and Sinamandla, continued to experience the grace of God in every area. God has been so good to us. Our greatest source of joy is seeing women, youth and men in the five communities we work in overcoming poverty through their economic and social initiatives.

In the second quarter, the Zimele Wethu staff has been fantastic in adhering to the long term five years set objectives for the organization outlined in its strategic plan, (2015 – 2020). And for each year, Zimele Wethu staff set short term goals to guide its yearly work plan. Both the long term and the short term objectives have kept us focused on our main goal of mobilizing 8000 women, youth and men onto the Self Help Group programme by 2020. In this report, I have therefore worked with the five strategic objectives for 2017 to evaluate and report on the impact of the Zimele Wethu Self Help Group programme.

It is such a joy and exciting to continue witnessing the enthusiasm among women, youth and men who are part of the Self Help Group programme and remain participating in creating self-sustaining communities alongside a team of Zimele Wethu staff whose zeal, passion and commitment to work continues unwavering.

A quick reflection on some of Zimele Wethu achievements in 2016

2016 was a year of great successes and 2017 promises to even be more exciting. Outlined below are some of the Zimele Wethu achievements in 2016.

‘Onwards and upwards’ is the common English idiom directly and indirectly shared among the Zimele Wethu staff team. Each day we are fully aware of God’s leadership and God’s lordship on Zimele Wethu work. We are confidently moving onwards and upwards knowing fully that our God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to His power that works in us, Ephesians 3:20. We thank God for all the partners and friends who are part of this great work.

In the South African calendar, the months of July and August are significant in commemorating the lives of people who stood-up to bring positive change in the fight against the oppressive Apartheid system. Zimele Wethu kept itself committed to celebrate the lives of those great freedom fighters.

Zimele Wethu has continued to grow in all aspects of its organizational life. It has not been easy for us, but God has continued to be in control. A big thank you to all our partners; Covenant World Relief, E3 Initiative, Sinamadla, Zimele Canada and indeed Zimele USA for your continued prayers, encouragements, counsel and financial support. Please know that we value your partnership with us. May you be blessed by the Lord now and evermore.

April was another amazing month at Zimele Wethu Foundation. Three major aspects of our 5 years strategic plan were launched.

Amazing! Amazing! Amazing! were the words that echoed during our morning devotions at the Zimele Wethu office as we counted God’s blessings, one by one in amazement of what our God is busy doing. On the 10th of March 2016, Zimele Wethu celebrated 6 months of its existence since its launch on 10th September 2015. We are grateful to God and the people who have stood with the vision of Zimele Wethu. We are excited to share that Zimele Wethu is continuing to lay a solid foundation for its work in line with its 5 years strategic plan.

February, being the month designated as a month of love, it coincided well with a series of community meetings Zimele Wethu had with the women in the communities to create solid work partnerships that have united us in the fight against poverty, unemployment and inequality.
We also had other great successes based on our 5 years strategic plan.

We had a very meaningful South Africa Board meeting to give impetus to Zimele Wethu. Clear policies were discussed. We are so blessed to have a Board that clearly understands our work. Mr. Lindelwa (Development and Business Practitioner), Miss. Nokuthula Zwane (Social Worker), Dr. May Mkhize (Medical Doctor) and Mrs. Sue Hadcroft (Human Resource Consultant and Business owner). Audrey Matimelo (Executive Director) and Xolani Zondi (Director Operations) sit on the Board as executive members. What a blessing that all our Board members are God fearing men and women.

After the end of year holiday season, Zimele Wethu staff were back to their office desks and into the communities on the 11th January 2016 to work and work really hard to the glory of God. We ourselves are amazed at the growth and impact of Zimele Wethu Foundation, which was only launched four months ago. Our God is indeed walking and working with us. Four of our major achievements in the last four months are:

Please join us in celebrating the goodness of the Lord on how He has thus far helped us in His work. This report presents some of the exciting developments that happened at Zimele Wethu in the month of November, 2015.

We continue to be grateful to God and all the friends of Zimele Wethu who have been praying for us, sending us words of encouragement and funding the work on the ground. There are several exciting developments at Zimele Wethu and below are some of the highlights of the month.

Throughout the month of October we have been encouraged, through the reading of scriptures and the people God is bringing to be part of Zimele Wethu Foundation, that strong and sound relationships are key to the growth of any organisation. The proverb above has been our theme for the month. It has encouraged us to not only be inward looking, but to go out and connect with as many people as possible who will work with us to realise the dream of empowering, economically and socially, 8 000 poor women in rural and township communities of KwaZulu Natal by 2020. We therefore want to, through this report, share our new connections, office and field work activities, and achievements for the month of October.

This report on Zimele Wethu, shares the work done in the month of September in which we spent much of our time establishing a strong foundation for the organisation. Zimele Wethu is a new organisation founded to socially and economically empower women, youth and men in the communities of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. It is our passion that Zimele Wethu will be set as a model for other non-profit organisations in South Africa and beyond. This is why we desire more partners and experts in various fields to journey with us as we work to create self- sustaining communities for this generation and generations to come.