Zimbabwe Gecko Society, Surrey, BC

The Zimbabwe Gecko Society is a non-profit organization based in South Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. The Society was founded in 2008 by Susan and Frank Janetti as a response to the horrendous circumstances facing orphaned children in Zimbabwe. After learning how young children were so hungry they dug up and ate earthworms, Susan and Frank knew they had to help the people of the country they once called home. The idea to start the Zimbabwe Gecko Society came about when Susan’s brother gifted her a wire-beaded-gecko from Zimbabwe. Traditionally, street children made and sold them in order to survive, but with the tourist trade in Zimbabwe now on the decline, this was no longer a feasible source of income.