Pahushamwari is Shona for "Between Us Friends". Shona is one of many languages spoken in Zimbabwe, Southern Africa.

Pahushamwari is a pen-pal program aimed at fostering friendships across the world. Working mainly with girls in rural and under-resourced communities in Africa as we connect them with the world. We believe as children interact with other children, they will be exposed to other cultures, languages, way of living and a global worldview. It also helps children (and parents) have deeper appreciation of the blessings they have around them.

"As a daughter of a war veteran, when my father was a political prisoner, my siblings and I were introduced to pen-pals by Christian Care, UK as a way to help us cope with that horrible experience. I cannot begin to tell you the way those correspondences expanded my worldview. Then fast forward many years later, my son - now an adult - his immigration story cannot be told without the power of a pen-pal relationship." - Teresa Dangwa, Founder/CEO Dangwa Initiative in Zimbabwe and Dangwa Empowerment Center .

The world has truly become a melting pot and the world, in many ways, has become smaller with the access to Internet, social media and all the 21st century technology.  Sadly, even with all these advances, our children are not as exposed to other cultures as they can be.  Through Pahushamwari, we aim at opening up more doors and opportunities for them to connect, through letter writing with their peers across the globe.

Country coordinators recruits interested parties through schools, parents, Girls & Boys Clubs, Girl Scouts/Guides and churches. We match your child with a child in Africa and encourage correspondence between them. All correspondences will be monitored by both parents and program coordinators in each country to ensure appropriateness.

International exchange opportunities are offered to children 15 and older as funds permit.  Children must be able to read and write English and be 8-17 years old.