My Nonprofit Reviews

I’ve been fortunate …very fortunate and blessed throughout my life to have good family and role models, access to good education, and a good and supportive environment in which to prosper and grow. My belief system includes that I appreciate the blessings in my life and that I do my best to give back to others in return.

With that in mind, I am fortunate to have been involved with many different charitable and humanitarian organizations over the years. Those connections led me to AFCA and a trip to Africa, and more specifically, Bulawayo Zimbabwe this summer. The expanse of work that AFCA is involved with is broad and impacts not only specific individuals but the broader community in both short term and long term benefits. One of the basic tenets of AFCA is a core belief in “a hand up and not a hand out”. The programs to partner with local resources to build greenhouses to grow food; raise and herd goats, chickens, and other livestock; teach women to sew; build “Loo Love” toilets; and build wells and water storage facilities to provide clean water systems are all ways that improve the overall health of specific individuals but also teach sustainable skills to expand and build a better life for the community at large. The old prophecy of “give a man a fish and feed him for a day but teach him to fish and feed him for a lifetime” is never more true of the work that AFCA does.

I can’t say enough about the tireless work that Tanya Weaver and her family, including her adopted family of locals, do for Matopos & the Bulawayo community, including Morning Star Farm, Harvest Family Village, and Sandra Jones Center. The work is overwhelming in scope and the resources required to not only sustain the work completed but also to ensure the work continues on. While Tanya and Eric must feel the weight of the world, or at least this part of the world, is on their shoulders at times, I know they lay their heads down at night with the knowledge that they have made a difference in the lives of the children at the orphanages and the work being done to overcome the abuse and neglect of so many.

I will volunteer again and I will work as hard as I can for as long as I can. I will spread the message of hope and give generously to continue the good work being done by AFCA and the many teams of volunteers from across the globe.

“To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch….to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded”. – Emerson

With much love and respect,
Kimberly Rome Kuhn,
AFCA – Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, 2023