Tree of Life

The Tree of Life Trust Zimbabwe is a non-governmental organisation focusing on individual, family and community wellbeing and resilience building. We provide community-based mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) approaches that help people living with trauma to reconnect with self, nature, family and community. Tree of Life (ToL) works in 8 of the 10 provinces across Zimbabwe, largely through a network of over 200 seasoned Community-based Facilitators located in 22 districts. We have a team of 35 core staff and operate from 3 offices (in Harare, Bulawayo and Masvingo). ToL also collaborates with other Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) by providing capacity building in Trauma Informed Care processes, as well as through the provision of Trauma Healing and Psychosocial Support services.

Our Vision: A healed and resilient cohesive society

Our Mission: To inspire peaceful communities through processes of wellbeing and social cohesion

Goal: Tree of Life will be recognised as an organisation that inspires relevant and scalable collective trauma healing processes that are evidence-based

Our Theory of Change: If trauma is dealt with through a group-based community-rooted process, including both victims and key people, then social-cohesion will increase, enabling reconciliation, peace and development to happen.

Between 2003 and December 2023, we have reached over 210,000 people as follows:

Facilitated over 2,000 Trauma Healing & Empowerment workshops for over 19,500 trauma survivors
Trained over 750 Community-based Facilitators (CFs) across 8 Provinces
Conducted Psychoeducation and Singing to the Lions (STL) workshops for 425 Children
Had direct collaborations with over 40 Civil Society Organisations
Trained & Mentored 15 Regional Facilitators from Sub-Saharan Africa in Trauma Healing
Provided psychoeducation workshops for over 22,500 people, including community leaders, youth, women, communities and NGO staff
Facilitated thousands of referrals for further psychological support
Worked with youth since 2014, reaching over 11,000 young people with effective youth programming, livelihoods development and entrepreneurial mindset training
Reached 157,938 people with COVID-19 Psychosocial support and awareness
Been in consortiums led by: World Food Programme (WFP), Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Childline, Island Hospice, Trocaire and Welthungerhilfe (WHH)
Collaborated with over 40 other Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and Faith Based Organisations (FBO's) in 36 Projects and received multi-million dollar funding from over 20 Donors, including direct donor funding since 2012.
Developed Training modules in: Psychosocial Awareness and Coping Skills (PACS); Psychosocial First Aid (PFA); Trauma Informed Care (TIC) Practices; Self-Care (SC); Covid-19, and Bereavement and Loss support; Training in Mentorship Skills for Mental Health

REPORTS AVAILABLE

USAID ToL Longitudinal Study Synopsis 2024.pdf

Tree of Life - WFP Zambuko End of Project Evaluation Report 2022 (Click Report or see end of this page for a link)

Tree of Life - WFP Zambuko Graphic Report_2022 (Click Report or see end of this page for a link)

Download the Annual Report - 2022 (Click Report or see end of this page for a link)

Download the Annual Report - 2021 (Click Report or see end of this page for a link)

Download the Annual Report - 2020 (Click Report or see end of this page for a link)

Download the Annual Report - 2019 (Click Report or see end of this page for a link)

Download a healing workshop brochure ( Click Brochure or see end of this page for a link)

Summary of the meta longitudinal study finding commissioned by USAID to assess the long term impact of TOLs key interventions

Tree of Life Annual Report - 2022

Tree of Life Annual Report - 2021

Tree of Life Annual Report - 2020

Tree of Life Annual Report - 2019

Tree of Life Brochure

Tree of Life WFP Zambuko - End of Project Performance Evaluation 2022 by Q Partnership

Tree of Life WFP Zambuko - End of Project Graphic Report_2022

“ToL programs not only benefited the physical and mental health of participants but also improved individuals’ lives, family dynamics and friendships and brought together communities as a whole.” – USAID external evaluators, The Cloudburst Group

Between the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024, long standing Tree of Life funders USAID Zimbabwe, commissioned a longitudinal Study on the long-term effects of Tree of Life’s core interventions: the Tree of Life Trauma Healing & Empowerment Workshop (TH&E) and the Psychosocial Awareness and Coping Skills (PACS) workshop. The study included over 800 randomly selected ToL beneficiaries, many of whom had participated in ToL workshops from as far back as 2014. Impressively, both interventions proved to have had a positive long-term positive effect (see USAID 2 pager synopsis in the reports section for more).

Key findings from the study:

1. Program Impact: The Tree of Life initiatives, specifically the Trauma Healing and Empowerment (TH&E) and the Psychosocial Awareness and Coping Skills (PACS) workshops, had a transformative effect on participants. These effects were observed in individual mental and physical health, family dynamics, and community cohesion.

2. Skill Utilization: Participants reported high uptake and use of skills learned in the workshops, applying them in various personal and communal contexts. The evaluation highlighted the flexibility of these skills, catering to diverse demographic needs.

3. Community Initiatives: Enhanced community cohesion led to various community-led projects such as drilling boreholes, building roads, and starting savings groups, showcasing the programs' extended benefits beyond the individual.

4. Youth Engagement: Both programs were particularly effective among youth, leading to reduced substance misuse, increased civic participation, and decreased violence.

Recommendations for Future Programming:

1. Program Expansion: It's recommended that the funder design a follow-on activity leveraging the successes of the Tree of Life programs to further enhance community and individual well-being.

2. Rapid Response Mechanism: Future programs should include mechanisms for quick deployment during crises, like political instability, to provide immediate support and refresher trainings.

3. Focus on Youth: Given the success with youth, new initiatives should especially target youth and school-aged children to maximize the positive impacts seen in these demographics.

4. Integrated Approach: A combination of TH&E and PACS should be employed to maximize individual healing and social cooperation benefits.

5. Integration with Other Programs: Future programs should align with other USAID initiatives in health and livelihoods to enhance overall impact, drawing on the positive feedback from integration in past projects.

Our Principles

Respect - We treat others as equals and embrace our differences

Responsibility- We accept our duty of mutual care and to make constructive contributions

Integrity- Always to the right thing and speak with honesty

Connection - We believe in the power of community, collaborations and partnerships

“A healed and empowered society that puts its energy into processes of peace, recovery and reconciliation”

Between 2003 and December 2023, we have reached over 210,000 people as follows:

Recent Stories

“ToL programs not only benefited the physical and mental health of participants but also improved individuals’ lives, family dynamics and friendships and brought together communities as a whole.” – USAID external evaluators, The Cloudburst Group

Our Principles

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