Global Giving: Zimbabwe Trip Summary

My goal is to make a difference and to contribute to the country that raised me, Zimbabwe.

After 8 hours on the coach, logistical nightmares, countless emails and numerous phone calls I was finally in London. This is just the beginning of the journey but Eleanor Harrison, CEO of GlobalGivingUK, continually reminds us to celebrate the small victories. I had made it and to me personally this was a (small) victory worth celebrating.

So WHY am I here? 

GlobalGivingUK is a small UK charity working at making a BIG difference world over by supporting grassroots non-profit organisations helping them to positively impact their communities and attain long term sustainability. They do this by connecting these projects to the resources they need to create change. These resources include: access to online fundraising platforms, access to learning opportunities to build skills and knowledge and access to support through a growing network of volunteers and corporate partners.

I have been granted the remarkable opportunity to be a part of this cause and this August I will be travelling back to where my heart lies, Zimbabwe, as a GlobalGivingUK overseas volunteer and Impact Assessor. This week past I spent 4 days doing some intense training with Eleanor and her wonderful team and this has both enlightened and equipped me to be effective in my role.

I cannot wait to be back in Zimbabwe and I am looking forward to working with the various projects I will be visiting. These encompass a mix of people working hard to assist and positively influence where the need is greatest despite the adverse circumstances waging against them. I will be visiting; among others:

1.  ZimKids Orphan Trust
2. ASAP Zimbabwe
3. Island Hospice  and 
4. Zimbabwe Educational Trust

Through my visits I am aiming to get a better understanding of these charities and their work, as well as their strengths, difficulties and challenges so as to determine how best GlobalGivingUK can assist in meeting their needs. 

I will be using this blog as a platform to document this journey as well as an opportunity for all who wish to; to travel to Zimbabwe with me. I will be sharing pictures, videos, life stories and testimonies from the people I meet as well as some personal feedback on all My Hearts Impressions while volunteering. 

I have also created a fundraiser page for all who would like to and can contribute financially to my trip. My goal is to raise £650 and I will be donating £400 to one project of my choosing (with your help of course). You can donate by following the link below, I promise you the process will not take more than 2 minutes of your time: http://www.globalgiving.co.uk/fundraisers/zimbabwe-impact-assesment/

Thank you for being a part of my journey. 

XOXO

Chido Dziva Chikwari 

P.S If you would like to find out more about GlobalGivingUK, the charities they support and how else you can get involved you can visit their web page at http://www.globalgiving.co.uk/  or their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/GlobalGivingUK?fref=ts

If I knew Friday was the End of the World….

What would I do? What would I regret?

I was going through an old diary of mine and I stumbled upon a page where I had asked myself and answered the two questions above. It really was an interesting read and I think the moral of the exercise has been made clearer to me today than it must have been four years ago.

My responses where very interesting and funny enough most are still relevant today, probably with a few tweaks here and there but things are pretty much the same. I guess some things in life remain constant. I’m going to share my responses here mainly because I think they highlight the things I care the most about in my life and also because this whole sharing exercise might just inspire someone else. Self evaluation really is critical for advancement. 

So…

What would I do?

1. "Get T roses and hug him a span."

T was the boyfriend at the time. The fact that he came first on the list was really really interesting to me because when we broke up (two years after this) one of the reasons God gave me as to why the end of that relationship was eminent and beneficial for me was that I had given T an idol like status in my life. I had started to put him first and not God. Also I love roses and he always used to get me roses so I suppose getting him roses was one of my final ways of reciprocating all the love. Hmmmmmm 

2. "Get A chocolate."

A is a very close friend of mine who I love with all my heart. I have no idea why she came second on the list but one thing is for sure she loves chocolate and although we are continents apart all the time we are constantly talking. I mean I talk to her ALL the time. Hahahaha yeah, I don’t know what state of mind I was in. LOL

3. "Write mom and dad a letter telling them I love and appreciate them. Give them Hugs."

I think this is one thing that will always always stand no matter what. I mean I know for sure that over the years I have worked harder and harder at this, before it really wasn't the order of the day but I know now most phone calls with my mom end with I love you and with dad it may be a bit awkward to go for the whole mushy I love you stuff but it happens once in a while and definitely in texts and emails. I try to always show my gratitude but with that said if I knew Friday was the end I would still have this one on the list.

4. "Do something cool for C2 and C3. Leave C2 all my money and give C3 my iPod. Give them hugs."

C2 and C3 are my brother and sister respectively. I’m not sure how much money I had at the time and I know now oftentimes C2 has more money than me but I guess at the time those were my most prized possessions. I doubt today I would use the word ‘cool’ and I think one thing I would do rather than give them stuff would be just to spend some quality time with them and tell them how much I love them and how they are so precious to me. If it wasn’t the end of the world and it was just me departing from this world I probably would encourage them never to give up on their dreams and to work hard in life because I believe in them and know they will do great and mighty exploits….then leave them with all my stuff. I think now this is extended to all my cousins who I have grown closer to over the years. They are not immediate family but we have grown so close that they might as well be.

I also think Hugs were a way of showing my love back then. I’m not sure if they would be part of the big send off now.

 5. "Make sure I went to Lunchtime prayer on Thursday."

This is funny. God/church/ prayer finally makes an appearance at #5, scheduled for the day before the end. I don’t know what exactly to say about this. Maybe it's an indicator ofwhere my priorities were placed at the time and the position I gave God and my spiritual life? I'm quite disappointed actually. 

6. "Text A, B, C, D, E and F and tell them I love them and thank you."

A, B, C, D, E and F were my close circle of friends. I’m still pretty close with most of them and casually talk to the one I’m not so close with and well as for this entry I think I probably would have the same entry but maybe not with so much emphasis because I think I tell my friends I love them waaay too much for their comfort zones. I’m the mushy one amongst and if it’s not a random message or an emotional voice note it’s an inbox every few weeks. I’m doing much better in this department and would probably leave without a guilty conscious if I had to. As with every other thing there is always room for improvement though.

7.  "Get P a thank you something that she would always remember me with."

P is also a really close friend of mine. I don’t know if she has that something that she will always remember me with, I’m not even sure why it was critical that she remember me but yeah she is a friend that has stood by me for years and years and her featuring on my list makes a lot of sense.

Aaaaaaand that was it…..

Not much to ride home about but in summary  I realized that put simply all the above was centered on 1 thing : RELATIONSHIPS.

·         My romantic relationship

·         My family relationships

·         My friendships

·         My God relationship

The people in my life matter to me. More than I knew. My relationships form the core of who I am and what I value. They formulate the things I would think about if Friday was the end of the world.

I suppose now after realising this I should carefully consider investing more time in them and nurturing them because without them at the end of my time what would I stand speak of?...nothing.

It wasn’t money that came to mind or my education or the level of success I hoped to attain. It was People!

So on the 'what would I regret' side of things, the list was pretty short. I mentioned 4 things.

1.       Not being baptized.

I have since been baptized. Praise the Lord. At the time I think I thought being baptized was a deciding factor for weather or not you went to heaven. 

2.       Not helping Mummy cook.

I’m not a fan of cooking. Never have been, not sure if I ever will be but it’s something my dad always used to fuss about. My mom doesn’t do much cooking anymore but I think now this can be linked generally to just helping her. She had a stroke later on that year and as a result us just being there to help her with whatever she needs is a critical element. I try to do so always, sometimes I get tired and frustrated and try to avoid the duties but yes at the end of my time here on earth, if I don’t give off my best in helping mummy (and daddy) it’s something I’ll always be one down about. I’ll remember this. Help mama! J

3.       Not going for prayer with P.

Yeah I think I had other priorities that went above prayer meetings at the time and I guess it was something I always felt I should be a part of. I must say now I do attend a lot more prayer meetings and I guess now what would be the replacement of this would just be spending more time with God. Reading his word and serving him through whatever I do in life.

4.       Not answering calls from M and P.

I must confess that sometimes I just don’t feel like talking and I ignore phone calls. I don’t feel so bad about it anymore, maybe coz now it’s so deeply embedded in me (cringe)…probably not a good thing. I’m not really bothered by this one to be honest, sometimes I just don’t feel like talking and I normally call people back when I’m in a better mood. I will definitely think about this some more.

I am really glad I did this 4 years ago. Reading this now has helped me put stuff into perspective. To see where I have come from, to evaluate where I am at now and highlight what really matters to me. I would like to encourage anyone reading this blog to do this exercise for themselves…..I’m doing a rerun of it again today! J

Ask yourself; If Friday was the end of the world what would I do and what will I regret? It's worth the effort and remember the faintest ink is better than the best memory so write it down. It will be worth the read in 20 years time. 

XOXO

Chido Dziva Chikwari

P.S The reason why I went to my old journal was to review my Strategic Life Plan. Something I think everyone should work on. More to come on that.

Stay smiling!

Let them Walk

If somebody wants to walk out of your life,
Let them walk.
In fact; Hold the door open.
You are beautiful,
You are intelligent,
You are good enough,
Weaknesses and all,
You are a woman worth fighting for.
And if somebody wants to walk out of your life,
Let them walk.
In fact; Hold the door open.

XOXO
Chido Dziva Chikwari


This was inspired by a somebody that walked out of my life when they  actually attempted to make a comeback. I had felt bad about them leaving for sometime and I blamed myself for following my gut instinct on the decisions I had made. At the time it was like I had let a 'good' person go but then it hit me a couple of months on that REALLY if somebody wants to go then that's just it. They should go. I should have enough self worth and self pride to acknowledge that no matter how great they were they probably weren't measured up for the next level of my life journey and neither was I for theirs. Especially since I had tried the best I could to nurture that relationship. It's a sad truth but not everybody is going to appreciate or understand you in life. The reality of it all is that that doesn't make you any less of a gem. Never compromise your belief system to please somebody else, never stoop so low as to consider somebody else being part of your life as them doing you a favor and never forget that even though you are not perfect you are a diamond in the making and as my mom would say maruva enyika haapere (the flowers of this earth don't finish). No bitterness, no hard feelings...Just Adios Amigo!

Two things you might find interesting/helpful in regards to this (follow the links):
1) Madea's Broken heart Speech
2) Bishop T.D. Jakes: Let them Walk

Stay smiling! :)

Biblical References

Luke 12:7 

Indeed, the very hairs on your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid, you are worth more than many sparrows. 

My Time with Nature

A friend if mine invited me to go for a walk with him the other day. Taking walks is something I imagine I love to do, I mean once i'm out there and going it's great times but it's that period before getting out of the house that bogs me down...you know how they say getting out of bed to go to the gym is the hardest bit? It feels kind of like that with me and walks. Buuuut Anyway......

I've got this mental picture though of me and my husband taking walks every evening, just to get away from stuff that may clutter our minds and talk. To keep some sort of peaceful communication between the two of us where there is nothing else to interrupt or get in the way. Walks will be our daily escape! :) Husband if you are reading this-this is part of 'our' plan! lol

So anyway I was saying, the walk was an eye opening experience for a number of reasons and it actually led onto something even bigger but yes....

1) During that walk I realized just how much I had been missing out on. This park we went to is literally 2 minutes walk from my house and although I had been there before I had never walked the full trail before. The beauty I saw astounded me: the leafy green trees, the river flowing so graciously and then transforming into a beautiful waterfall within moments as well as the peacefulness of that environment was just marvelous. And I think just in relation to this, before I go too far, it's a sacrifice worth taking to take time out, stop whatever you are doing and get out of the house. Get some breathing space.


We live in a world today where you are constantly bombarded with information. Be it voluntary or involuntary. I'll take myself for example. I'm active on Facebook...I check my account every few hours. A habit I have developed over the years and whatever other people have posted on their profiles is going to be infiltrating my mind each time I do so. There is no Chido in that. I'm also active on Twitter and Instagram-same story. I live in a house where we are constantly playing music. Whatever the artist has to say weather I like it or not infiltrates my mind day in day out. In some cases it can be TV, were the natural state for the house is TV on or Laptop on. I've also got Whatsapp downloaded on my phone. This means anyone and everyone who has my number can contact me anytime and unfortunately for me, who cannot ignore people, this often leads to full blown conversations. These conversations are often not necessary and neither are they beneficial to the advancement of Chido and yet countless hours are spent texting or on Snapchat or GTalk or Skype or whichever instant messaging site you choose to find me on.

Although these technological advancements have been great in-terms of keeping the world connected I'm beginning to understand more and more that for me personally it may be a wise idea to take a step back and regroup. Find me without all the 'noise' entering and leaving my mind constantly. What do my thoughts sound like without the prompt of a Facebook post or a newspaper article?

So essentially you may not need to go as far as to take a walk but turn stuff off. Disappear from the radar. Liberate yourself from technology. Learn to enjoy your own company and your own thoughts. I'm single at the moment and I figure now is the time to fully BE Chido....just Chido!



2) Second thing I learnt is there is beauty all around us. Sometimes you don't even have to look too far. For me it was nested sooo openly in what I like to call my back yard. Nothing New is a post I wrote a few months back after actually SEEING the beautiful scenery and flowers on my way to the library. A route I used to take everyday.

Okay so I understand not everyone is a nature lover and may not be in awe of this like myself but I guess this can also be extrapolated to general life situations where I believe there is so much beauty in the ordinary. There is so much good in what we at first glance look at and term 'normal' or unexceptional. If only you'd open your eyes to really see or even just look more closely. I never thought I'd have such an appreciation of dull England but three years later here I am singing praises for some of the good I see being cultivated like their parks. Another example is people I have met in the past and immediately brushed them off but with time due to close proximity with them that I could not avoid, I began to discover such wealth in them in terms of the love they have to share, or just the wisdom they have tucked away in their dreams and visions. All I had to do was take time out to look closely or dig deeper. I have since oath-ed to never take people for granted again but anyway yes learn to appreciate and look closely, you never know what's in plain sight but you are missing out on.

3) This could actually constitute another blog post on its own but one other thing I wanted to mention briefly was that I have always thought of them Environmentally friendly people as 'fanatics' with nothing better to do with their time but after this walk and then watching a TED talk by Allan Savory it really dawned on me the severity of the situation and how back home in Zimbabwe we actually do have desert areas now, that were not there before. If we do not take measures to fix this soon it's going to keep getting worse and worse. We are already crying foul about droughts year in year out and in all honesty stuff like that has nothing to do with politics or sanctions. Its climate change and how we manage and treat our environment. We really need to take this more seriously. In his talk Allan Savory highlights effective and easy to implement ways to keep our grasslands sustainable and I'm not sure if anyone who owns a piece of land would be reading this blog but you never know there may be future leaders among my peers. In fact I know there are so yes guys consider this, have it down in your hearts and minds. Hunger and drought is not our portion and we need to take a stand and do something.


One thing that could help is that about 5 years ago I was all passionate about the environment and went and planted about 100 trees at our farm in Kwekwe. The trees were not expensive to buy and if I am not mistaken they are not too difficult to maintain, once you plant and water for the first few months they can pretty much grow on their own. We got them form the Forestry Commission in Highlands, Harare. If anyone needs more info feel free to contact me or the Forestry Commission or Allan Savory but I suggest you watch the talk first. It's really eye opening and can be accessed form this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnNaLSKDf-0

 XOXO
Chido Dziva Chikwari

P.S Thank you to the friend who took me for a walk! :)

Zimbabwe Impact Assessment Fundraiser

Hi there! 

This is just a quick shout out: Over the summer, I am travelling back to my home country, Zimbabwe, as part of GlobalGivingUK’s Overseas Evaluation Programme. As a Project Evaluator, I'll be visiting development projects within Zimbabwe (mostly orphanages) to build a greater understanding of what they do, their strengths and challenges as well as explore how GlobalGivingUK can better support their training needs.

I am determined to contribute as much as I can to these projects, however, I need your help to raise funds to cover my training and donations to the projects. I have set up a fundraiser that you can access from this link ----> Zimbabwe-Impact Assessment Fundraiser. Any contributions you can make are greatly appreciated by myself and those who need it the most. 

Thank you. 

Chido Dziva Chikwari 

P.S. Please do check out my poem entitled Nyika Yangu written to Zimbabwe. It is written in my native language, Shona, but there is a brief  English translation in the notes at the bottom. And also another poem I wrote, 'They Need it More than I Do' . This second one is about giving in general written after I had a light-bulb moment about just how much I had and how much of a difference I can make to someone elses' life with little or no effort at all. 

Stay Smiling! :)  

Nyika Yangu

Nyika yaBaba naAmai,

Nyika yemadzisekuru  naanambuya

Nyika yangu.

Moyo wangu unorwadza pose pandinokufunga,

Pandinofunga marwadzo ako,

Pandinofunga kutambura kwako.

Ndiooona musodzi uchierera pamatama ako.

Ndinoona kushupika kwako.

Ndinoona marwadzo awaberekeswa nehupenyu.

Pandinokufunga iwewe.

Nyika yaBaba naAmai,

Nyika yemadzisekuru  naanambuya

Nyika yangu.

Runako rwako runondishamisa.

Mauri ndionoona mufaro,

Mauri ndinoona hupfumi hunopfurikidza amwe maruwa.

Mauri ndinoona kubudirira.

Zvipo zvako zvokudenga zvishamiso

Vana vako vokubereka vanenjere nerudo.

Asi pandinokutarisa iwewe

Runako rwako rwakavanzika.

Nyika yaBaba naAmai,

Nyika yemadzisekuru  naanambuya

Nyika yangu.

Chichemo chemoyo wangu ndechokuti, umwe musi…

Umwe musi uchasimuka.

Umwe musi uchaponeswa.

Umwe musi uchahwaima pararuwa ose.

Umwe musi vose vachaona runako rwako

Vachapa kutenda.

Rufaro rwako ruchazadzikiswa.

Nyika yaBaba naAmai

Nyika yemadzisekuru naanaAmbuya

Nyika yangu,

Ndinokuda.  

XOXO

Chido Dziva Chikwari

‘Nyika Yangu’ is Shona for My Country and this poem is specifically about where I come from/who I am and that is Zimbabwe. I guess in a way it can be extrapolated to Africa in general because that’s the heart of it all but yes in summary it’s a poem to Nyika Yangu (Zimbabwe) and it says, “When I look at you I see your hurt and your scars and the burdens that you carry but then when I look at you closely I also see your beauty and your wealth and your potential." And then it ends up with how I love her and how one day her salvation shall come and she shall also rise among the nations.

For starters I know my Shona isn’t that great (especially when it comes to writing) and I probably misspelt some words there. If anyone spots any errors please do let me know but yes essentially this is just a cry from my heart and it’s based on those words above. Written in Shona because I felt that that’s the best way I could articulate my feelings and also because I’m on a culture-preserve my language tip.

I love my country. My country is full of wealth, rich in natural and human resources and yet in the course of time we have hit what others describe as ‘rock bottom’ and some really trying times. People have been forced to leave Zimbabwe because of the situation there and we've been labelled so many undesirable things by others but the truth is there is so much within Zimbabwe and my prayer is that one day Zimbabwe will rise again. In fact I know that one day Zimbabwe will rise again and the world will see her for who she really is. 

Much Love! 

Biblical Reference

Micah 7:8

Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me.

Deuteronomy 31:8

It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.

Psalm 30: 5

Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.

Set Me Free

I try not to think of you, 

but you haunt me in my dreams.

I've tried to eliminate all reminders of you, 

but it seems the're everywhere still. 

My desire is to forget about you, 

but I constantly remember 'us'. 

Everyday is a battle, 

I wonder if you are fighting too.

I wonder if you miss me,

I wonder if you think of me, 

If you worry about me, 

If you dream of me. 

I wonder if we'll ever meet again. 

I'm not sure if i'd want that. 

I wanna take a peak of your life, 

I wanna take a peak at your heart. 

I'm trying to look, yet keep my distance, 

for fear of falling again.

For fear of falling in love. 

In love with your smile. 

In love with your eyes. 

In love with your touch. 

In love with your heart. 

I loved you, I did. 

With all I had. 

I question, I do. 

If all that was real. 

I never knew we'd end up here. 

'Our story' never ended like this. 

Yet here we are...apart. 

Distant in time and space. 

My heart lies with you still. 

Do give it back. 

I want so much to move on, 

To forget you, 

To forget us. 

I want so much to be free, 

Free from those glorious memories we created. 

Set me free from this heartache, 

These memories, 

This pain. 

Set me free from that past, 

That yesterday, 

That 'us'. 

BY
CHIDO DZIVA CHIKWARI

Okay so this poem was originally entitled 'The State I'm In'. I'm so glad I'm not at that place anymore but even reading this still managed to evoke so much emotion in me. Gosh. Anyway ummmm yes this was written some months after that 'BIG' break up and well I guess with time all those emotions sort of subsided. I've moved on, I'm free from the pain, most of the memories have faded or they are no longer such a big stronghold but yeah 'forget' is the one that's probably not likely and it's okay coz even though the end was sour there is still soo much good that can be remembered. And I guess the critical thing is to just be at peace with it all and I think I am now. If this has not been made clear before I'm a very emotional person so this is the 'emo' me.
Relationships (Romantic ones) are something that's embedded sooo deeply i
n my heart and they are something I really want to write about from my own perspective but the thing is every time I get down to it there is sooo much I want to say and then my thoughts just go crazy and then I fail to articulate the message. Hopefully I will be able to sometime soon. I'm praying for God to help me with that one coz heish! Anyway Stay Smiling!

Lotsa Love!

Biblical References 

John 8:36

He whom the Son sets free is free indeed.