Improving lives of Zimbabwe musicians and their communities.
Our Three-fold Mission
- To assist Zimbabwean musicians and their families generate income through self-sustaining musical, cultural arts, and micro-loan projects.
- To support the education of family members of Zimbabwean musicians.
- To facilitate a cross-cultural sharing of musical expertise and artist development between Zimbabwean and American musicians.
School Fees Project
Being government schools, there is no publicly funded education.
Life in Zimbabwe is already extremely difficult with so many people living in poverty. The cost of tuition, uniforms, and supplies is unattainable for many families.
Health Care and Food
In 2022 we expanded the project to include health care and family food support.
Women’s Business Project
In 2023, Matanho Project is launching the Women’s Business Project. It will sponsor Zimbabwean women’s dreams of helping support their families.
Matanho Project will provide the seed money to purchase the equipment and materials necessary for starting a business. We will also provide ongoing encouragement and support for learning money management skills in a difficult economy.
Who We Are
The history of the School Fees Project started back in 2015 when Dana Moffett and Leslie Breeden went to Zimbabwe with their mbira group, Sarungano.
One of the highlights of the trip for Leslie was visiting the homes and families of the beloved music teachers she had come to know during their time teaching on Whidbey Island in Washington. Upon arriving home, it became her mission and also that of Matanho Project to help provide the support these families would need to send their children to school, and so the School Fees Project was launched!
Dana, founder of the Rubatano Center, is a performance artist, teacher and philanthropist. Dana’s love of music has taken her to Zimbabwe several times to study the rich music and culture. Dana has been dedicating her life to enriching lives globally, from sharing the Zimbabwean music with her local community to supporting the families and communities in Zimbabwe.
Success Story
Women’s Business Project: Shylin, a 31-year-old mother of four, lost both of her parents at a very young age. She was raised by her grandmother and was never able to finish school. With the help of the Women’s Business Project, she was able to attend a three month baking school to learn the art of baking and acquire the equipment needed to start her own baking business. She has excelled and is now baking and selling donuts and birthday cakes. She said it fills her heart with pride to now be educated and able to help provide for her family.
Success Stories
School Fees Project: For Roni, at age 13, attending school had only been sporadic and he was very far behind in his studies. With the help of the School Fees Project, he was able to start going to school regularly and worked very hard. In five years, with this support, he was able to catch up and pass his final exams. Earning his certificate, he was able to attend Truck Driving school and earn a license and begin a career that would otherwise have been extremely difficult without the School Fees Project. We are so proud of him and his motivation to succeed and create a successful life for himself.
Chiwoniso, a bright, young girl, had dreams of going to school, but her family just could not afford it. When you must choose between food and school, families have to choose feeding their children over an education. The School Fees Project has been supporting Chiwoniso for several years now, and in 7th grade she was declared the best composition writer in the class. Currently, she is at the top of her class in all subjects. In fact, she is so far at the top, she received the highest scores that any student has ever received at her school!
What better way is there to embrace Zimbabwe, than to educate its youth?
Marimba Cafe
A 20 year milestone, Rubatano Center invites you to celebrate with us as we honor 20 years of musical connection and cross cultural exchange with Zimbabwe. We have put together an evening of our cherished Zimbabwean Music, song, and dance for you to enjoy at Dancing Fish Winery on Saturday, March 4, 5-8:30 pm.
Dan Kusaya, our special guest from Zimbabwe, will grace the stage along with our many local marimba musicians.
Women’s Business Project:
Matanho Project is a nonprofit that supports Zimbabwean musicians, teachers, and community who so generously share their music and cultural heritage with us. In turn, we encourage you to give generously at this event, where our focus will be the launch of the Women’s Business Project. Donations are tax deductible to the extent provided by law.
Donate
What a challenging and inspiring year it has been for our school kids and families in Zimbabwe. As always, we send our deepest gratitude to you, our donors, as we continue to help educate these youth of Zimbabwe and lift up their families. By doing so, they have hope for the future and their lives have been extremely enriched by this generous and loving community.
