How a chance encounter turned into a school.
In Shona, a sahwira is a trusted friend for life: someone who shows up, no matter what. For nearly two decades that idea has carried a small group of volunteers and a community in rural Zimbabwe, one classroom and one well at a time.
"I was inspired by Mr. Maulana's explicit vision for creating an orphan school, starting from literally nothing."
— Braden Coolidge, Founder
"When 800 kids showed up on my first day,
I knew I couldn't just walk away."
— Braden Coolidge, Founder
How it began
A story written one classroom at a time.
What began as a chance encounter in rural Zimbabwe has grown, year by year, into a thriving school for hundreds of orphaned children, built entirely through the generosity of people who chose to show up.
A chance encounter
On a visit to Epworth, our founder met Mr. Maulana and his vision for a school built from nothing. On the very first day, 800 orphaned children arrived to learn. Walking away was never an option.
Built from the ground up
Lessons began outdoors, with teachers writing on the flat faces of granite boulders. Year by year, donor by donor, classrooms rose from the dust, with desks, chairs, uniforms and shade following close behind.
Toward self-reliance
Today the campus has ten classrooms, three wells, a garden and a cattle program. Each new project brings the school closer to sustaining itself, so the next generation never has to start from nothing.
To establish and nurture long-term relationships with grassroots organizations promoting improvements in health, education and quality of life for orphaned children in Zimbabwe.
The Sahwira Fund works in direct partnership with the Maulana School for Orphans in Epworth, caring for, educating and meeting the health needs of more than 800 orphaned children, with self-sustainability the goal for every project we support.
Braden Coolidge
Founder
Board of Directors
Braden Coolidge
Moses Nyanhongo
Sherrie St. Clair, NP, CNM
Rohana LoSchiavo
Established
March 17, 2007
Status
501(c)(3)
Watch · The Sahwira Journey
See where it all began.
Filmed in 2012. It begins in 2006, when we found 17 volunteer teachers holding classes on the ground — no desks, no chairs, no supplies — for more than 1,600 orphaned and vulnerable children in Epworth. The figures you hear are from that era; 10 classrooms later, demand has still not softened.