Yesterday I spent part of the day at Project Tariro (Tariro means Hope) at the invitation of Violet Chikanya, the project manager. This project provides support for HIV patients and their families. I met fourteen clients who had attended fifteen weeks of classes in which they learned about good nutrition and improved sewing and gardening skills. This was one of their final sessions, and for me, it was both enlightening and moving. The clients greeted me with a rousing welcome song, and then proceeded to show me some of their skills. They told me with that Project Tariro had given them new hope in life, and their faces and voices told me how deeply they meant this.
Later, Violet and David (the horticulturist on the staff) took me to the home of one of the clients. Mandi is a woman in her early forties who cares for her two children and her elderly mother. She also maintains a good garden and has a rabbit hutch full of rabbits. She was given one rabbit by Project Tariro, and so far, that rabbit has produced two litters giving her sixteen more rabbits. Mandi picked some greens from her garden to give me, and I enjoyed a delicious mess of greens with my supper last evening. Mandi’s energy and enthusiasm was wonderful. The work that Project Tarito is doing is truly heart-warming.
