There are 100 orphans in each group. Their ages range all the way up to
the age of 20.
The program is religiously non-restrictive and focuses on education,
community integration and starting businesses. All staff is indigenous to the
country where the program is based. However, the orphans in the programs
have begun sponsoring orphans in other countries by raising money
- all by themselves - to start new cycles of life. There is a strict policy that
no Americans are allowed to make suggestions on how to improve the
direct program. All improvements come from people indigenous to the
countries where the programs are being implemented.
In Rwanda and Kenya this program’s success rate is around 95 percent.
In other African countries the
return is just as spectacular. They
are just getting started in India,
where the percentage is lower,
but every day more children
are brought into the program.
The return on investment,
needless to say, is off the charts.
The average cost per year is
$86 per child and after three
years of spending that $86,
each child has the tools to take
care of themselves and their
family. They literally do less for
orphans so they can do more
for themselves. The children
take responsibility for their
own journey out of poverty.
Children who once would
have been a detriment to their
community are now an asset.
One of their favorite sayings is, “I
was a beggar, now I’m a boss.”
“They are so motivated by the
Zoe Empowers started as a relief
organization called Zimbabwe
Orphan Endeavor, for orphans
left in the wake of the HIV/AIDS
pandemic. It began in 2004 as an
American relief effort, but the
founder of the empowerment
program, a young woman named
Epiphani Mujawimana, realized
a need for something much
different than temporary donations
and “relief.” She grew up as
a vulnerable child in Rwanda, put
herself through school and became
a teacher, and survived the
1994 genocide in that country.
Epiphani wanted to dedicate
herself to helping her people
recover and started working for
several relief organizations. She
quickly became disillusioned by
the cycle of relief and dependency
that she saw over and over, so
she enlisted the help from other
friends who were frustrated by
the process, and they created
a three-year empowerment
program. It was originally called
“ZOE” as an acronym for its
original name, Zimbabwe Orphan
Endeavor, but as fate would
have it, it is also the Greek word
for life.
In 2019 Zoe Empowers will
have close to 50,000 children
enrolled in the program. There
is one staff member per 1,000
orphans. The whole philosophy
is to not do anything for these
young people that they could
otherwise do for themselves. Zoe
provides on-ramps to provide
them a way to get the things they
need - the ability to grow food,
to keep themselves safe, and to
create business opportunities to
attain other necessities.
A look into the mind of one of the
orphans, who describes here what
makes them happy and sad. Hope for
the future is displayed as well.
70 GASPARILLA MAGAZINE November/December 2019