About us
Since 1972, development that starts in the community
Caritas Gweru is the social services and development arm of the Catholic Diocese of Gweru, established in 1972.
Our identity
We are an evangelising arm of the Catholic Church, commissioned to develop the human person through community based interventions.
Established in 1972 as the commission for social services and development, Caritas Gweru was registered as a private voluntary organisation under Caritas Zimbabwe in 2014 under PVO 25/2014. We are a member of Caritas Internationalis and one of the diocesan offices through which Caritas Zimbabwe carries out its work.
Our vision
To be an effective agent of evangelisation, relief and integral human development in the Diocese of Gweru.
Our mission
We are committed to evangelise and develop the human person with special emphasis on the poor and vulnerable groups in the Diocese of Gweru through education, skills, livelihoods, food security, health, social response and emergency programmes.
Our values
What we hold ourselves to
- Accountability
- Confidentiality
- Integrity
- Mutual respect
- Preferential option for the poor
- Respect for human dignity
- Solidarity
- Transparency
How we work
Community owned, or it does not last
Every programme is designed and implemented with the people who will live with the result. Caritas Gweru works alongside government departments, communities, local leaders, parishes and other stakeholders, and that partnership is what guarantees community ownership and sustainability.
In practice it means that structures are trained before assets are handed over, that local leadership sets priorities, and that the people closest to a problem are the ones deciding how it gets solved.
What that looks like
- Priorities identified with communities and local leadership
- Implementation in partnership with government line ministries
- Parish structures as the link between the office and the village
- Committees trained to manage and maintain what is built
- Safeguarding and accountability standards applied throughout
We are committed to evangelise and develop the human person with special emphasis on the poor and vulnerable groups in the Diocese of Gweru through education, skills, livelihoods, food security, health, social response and emergency programmes.
Our mission
Our work
Six pillars of sustainable change
Water, hygiene, sanitation and care for the environment
Safe water within reach, and community structures equipped to keep it flowing.
Climate change
Disaster risk reduction, conservation farming and solarised gardens that hold through a dry year.
Livelihoods, food security and nutrition
Skills, inputs and gardens that move families from dependency to self-reliance.
Women empowerment, gender, child protection and safeguarding
Inclusion, protection and economic empowerment for women, children and people with disabilities.
Emergencies
Response, resilience and recovery when disaster disrupts community life.
Youth empowerment
Skills, enterprise and civic participation with young people across the diocese.
Support our work
Stand with the Diocese of Gweru
Support from individuals, parishes and institutional partners is what keeps this work moving from one community to the next.