Chaya: Growing Gardens. Nourishing Students. Inspiring Communities.
A Chaya cutting planted in a school garden holds possibility. Better nutrition. A hands-on lesson. An idea students can carry home.
This September, MATTER’s Chaya team partnered with Children in the Wilderness (CITW) to bring those possibilities to life at nine primary schools and one vocational training center in Zimbabwe. Together, these learning communities serve 3,345 students. Through hands-on training, 319 Chaya Champions learned how to grow and prepare Chaya, helping build a foundation for better nutrition in their schools and communities.
The work began before students gathered. Members of the Chidobe, Monde, and Jafuta Cooperatives helped harvest, process, dry, and package Chaya. The team then visited eight Lupane schools to assess gardens, kitchens, and water access, tailoring the training to each school’s resources.
Then came the learning. And the planting.
Students and teachers explored how Chaya can support school nutrition, then headed outside to prepare soil and plant cuttings. Cooking demonstrations brought the lessons full circle, showing how Chaya grown in a school garden can become part of a school meal. Lupane’s District Schools Inspector joined the activities and endorsed expanding the work to additional rural schools.
That enthusiasm extended beyond the classroom. At a joint session for Ngamo Primary School and Ngamo Vocational Training Center in Tsholotsho, the local Village Head and farmers joined in. Community members asked for cuttings to plant at home—a hopeful sign that these lessons could take root far beyond the school grounds.
The team plans to resume outreach to the remaining Tsholotsho schools after national exams conclude.
Thank you for helping turn small cuttings into growing opportunities. Together with CITW, local cooperatives, teachers, and students, we’re helping communities grow the knowledge and gardens to nourish their future.
MATTER Education: Student Spotlight – Sheryl
Watch this conversation with Sheryl Nyathi (MCRI graduate & Software Engineer) & Cory Gregory (Director of Generosity at Tradition)
From MCRI student to intern to full-time software engineer, working remotely from Zimbabwe. Sheryl started her internship with Tradition Capital Bank in May 2024 and joined the team full time that November.
While Cory Gregory, Director of Generosity at Tradition Capital Bank, was in Victoria Falls last month, he took time to sit down for coffee with his coworker and friend, meeting in person for the first time. Sheryl shares what it’s like to work across the globe, why a trusting team makes remote work feel less isolating, and how the bank’s commitment to generosity made it the right place for her.
Distance doesn’t define a team. Shared values do.
MATTERbox: Fall is a Time for Gratitude and Giving Back
Many companies recently held MATTERbox packing events, including our friends at Bell Bank, Best Buy, and Mankato Clinic!
Thank you to these companies, and many others, who packed Snack Packs and Hope Kits to benefit the community!
If you’d like to plan an activation for Give to the Max Day or Giving Tuesday, now is the time to connect with us to make plans!
Basa Fund Recipient Stories: Meet Ruth!
Watch this video to learn more about Ruth’s story
Meet Ruth, a mother of four and proud grandmother of two from Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe and a Basa Fund Recipient.
Local farmers used to get their day-old chicks from Bulawayo, over 400km away on rough roads, and many chicks arrived stressed or didn’t survive.
Ruth set out to change that by bringing the first incubators to Victoria Falls. We’re happy to share that her incubators and breeders are up and running, and she is already producing eggs, offering healthier, more affordable chicks right in her community.
A local business solving a local problem!