The nation of Zimbabwe continues to suffer as a result of the tumultuous instability precipitated by President Robert Mugabe and his administration. Once considered the "breadbasket" of Africa, the World Food Program estimates that 1.4 million Zimbabweans are currently in need of immediate food assistance and 44% of the total population suffer from malnutrition. In 2005, over 80% of the population lived under the international poverty line of US$1 per day.

James Elder, a spokesperson for UNICEF, has said that Zimbabwe has the highest number of orphans per capita in the world. These circumstances, combined with an HIV/AIDS infection rate of over 21% and a 70% deficit in trained healthcare professionals are killing the nation.

As the birthplace of CLI Director and Co-Founder, Karen Rogers, Zimbabwe holds a special place in our hearts. Many in the international community have given up hope for the nation, believing that nothing can be done until Mugabe is out of power, but we continue to fight the Zimbabwe Crisis to help her people change their destinies.

Rural Healthcare


The Chingele Clinic, our primary healthcare center, serves a catchment area of over 40,000 rural people. Powered completely by solar panels and wind turbines, which provide a stable source of electricity for lighting, equipment, and medicine refrigeration, our highly experienced staff have delivered hundreds of babies and treated illnesses as severe as HIV/AIDS to ailments as simple as scraped knees. All who enter her doors are offered high-quality medical treatment, as well as vitamin/nutritional and HIV/AIDS counseling. Over half a million cases have been treated at the Chingele Clinic since it was established in 1993.

Orphan Care

The Chingele Children's Home is home to 60 adored Zimbabwean children. Although they are without mothers and fathers, our staff loves and nurtures each individual child, providing them with a home-like environment in which to thrive.

Vocational Training

The Life Sowing Training School, our vocational training center, has graduated over 5,500 students with over 80% retaining income-earning jobs today.

In a nation facing rates of 80% unemployment, this is a testament to applicable skills training.

Hundreds of teenage prostitutes and street kids are given the opportunity to learn a trade that keeps them from living lives of crime just to survive. The school is the heartbeat of our organization – renewing hearts and minds.

Community Outreach

We developed our Social Outreach Program when the Zimbabwe Ministry of Social Welfare began sending destitute individuals (from the elderly and disabled to infants and street kids) to our doorstep in Chiredzi.

Our outreach program is loosely structured in order to meet the various needs of diverse groups of people. From providing school fees for children being raised by their grandparents to feeding, clothing, and providing medical treatment for infants, street kids, the disabled, and the elderly, the outreach program operates to strengthen our extended community.

In addition to CLI’s Zimbabwe facilities, we have also operated various feeding initiatives, including a seven-year feeding program during one of the nation’s worst recorded droughts.

Over 60,000 people, mostly children under the age of five, were given a nutritious meal every single day.