Zara's Center is an after-school safe haven for AIDS orphans and vulnerable children in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. The Center provides daily meals, academic enrichment, medical care, work training, recreation, and artistic development to children in Emganwini Township. 

Life in Zimbabwe is difficult, especially for low-income, vulnerable youth. Prices of basic food commodities have surged, and many food items are sold in United States dollars - an impossible obstacle for most workers who are paid in the local currency. In 2022, the country had the highest rate of food inflation in the world, caused, in part, by a decline in food production due to poor rainfall and the war in Ukraine. Low-income and vulnerable children in Zimbabwe suffer medically and academically as a result of consistent economic instability. 

Zara's Center works to fill the gaps:

24% of all children in the country aged 0-5 are stunted due to malnutrition, and low-income children are twice as likely to have stunted growth as those in the richest households. 

• Our nutrition program ensures that more than 90% of Zara’s kids are at a normal weight. Zara’s Center partners with a local, licensed, doctor to provide annual check ups (free of charge) to all of our kids.

Due to the cost of public school, only 19% of the poorest youth in Zimbabwe complete lower secondary school (the equivalent of 10th grade in the USA), and nearly 50% are out of school entirely. 

• Zara’s academic support programs allow 100% of our kids to complete lower secondary school and ensure that 100% are enrolled in school.

Only 4% of the poorest children in Zimbabwe have access to the internet and only 3% of 15-24 year olds have computer and technology skills. Educational gaps are directly correlated with access to the internet and electricity, both of which are associated with household wealth. 

• Zara’s Center fills these educational gaps by offering computer instruction, internet access, and computer coding lessons to children from day one of their Zara’s experience.

Zara's Center is supported by the PG Family Foundation. The Foundation was officially incorporated as The Jonathan Plutzik and Lesley Goldwasser Family Foundation. The Foundation is a designated charitable entity as described in U.S. Tax Code Section 501(c)(3). The Center is registered as a Charitable Trust in Zimbabwe.  Registered as "Zara's Centre Trust" (Registered Trust: MA137/2007)