Our story

About

A legacy of voluntary service, leadership and practical community action across Matabeleland.

1993Who we are

Legacy turned into action.

DP Foundation was founded in memory of two legendary women from whom it derives its name – Dinah Falala, the Founder’s beloved mother and Phoebe Sandi the Founder’s cherished mother-in-law. Both women committed their lives to voluntary community work to improve the lives of people. They travelled the extra mile, stood firm and assumed a leadership role as they understood that if you want change, you should stand up and work for it. In understanding their trail-blazing role, they assumed leadership (through strength and dedication to voluntarily work for the betterment of the Rhodesian, and later Zimbabwean community) especially in Matabeleland and Bulawayo. For the rest of their lives, they worked tirelessly to start a movement which became a fundamental part of the Bulawayo people and Bulawayo City Council (BCC) particularly the trend setting Youths and Women’s Clubs.

As a vital part of their movement, Dinah and Phoebe focused on information dissemination (which encompasses cultural, moral and religious facets) through the media and community churches. They also trained women in various social skills for self-reliance and poverty reduction. Their movement instilled hope in thousands of Zimbabweans (and around the world) for women and youth to have a different panoramic view of life. The DP Foundation, the brainchild of Mrs Mildred Sandi (Nee Falala) is therefore, dedicated to immortalizing this legacy by working tirelessly towards resource-mobilization, family bio-psychosocial counselling, leadership-training, creation of opportunity, entrepreneurship-mentoring as well as social and community development.

Community-led action, learning and partnership
Women and community leadership

Mrs Mildred Sandi
MASCW, LCSW, CQSW, BA (Hons) Soc Sci/SW (UK)
Chief Executive Officer
Purpose

What we stand for

Dignity, equality, opportunity, development and wellbeing sit at the heart of the Foundation’s work.

Vision

Envisions transformed individuals and communities of previously disadvantaged groups, providing opportunities for self-actualization, justice, equality, development and mental health to improve people’s quality of life.

Mission

Seeks to fight poverty and inequalities among marginalized groups through facilitating development in a multi-dimensional, social work, legal, cultural and environmental context.

Our values

Values that guide the work.

01Healing of the Soul, Spirit and Body
02Ubuntu, Humility and integrity
03Non-discrimination
04Mutual respect, human dignity and personal worth
05Accountability, honesty, transparency and commitment
06Trustworthiness
07Empowerment of communities
08Transformation and innovations
09Good governance
10Teamwork and Partnerships
11Excellence and professionalism
12Apolitical
Go deeper

See the objectives that turn the mission into action.

Explore the Foundation’s documented objectives, then follow the flagship pillars and programmes that support them.