AFTER completing his Ordinary ‘O’ Level studies in rural Chiweshe, Mitchele Nyanhi (19) was faced with the harsh realities of life as he could not secure any form of employment. Since both his parents are not gainfully employed, there was no one to take up the responsibility of sending him to any form of training so that he could either secure a job or start his own self-help project.
By Michael Gwarisa
With no employment prospects on the horizon, Mitchele found himself taking up Chikorokoza or artisanal mining where he was introduced to other dangerous habits like alcohol and substance abuse, violence among other ill behaviors associated with the trade.
What pushed me into artisanal mining is that things were not well at home. My parents don’t even work. Even for me to complete my ‘O’ Levels, it was by the grace of God, otherwise my parents would go and beg the teachers and school head to allow me to learn even without paying school fees,” said Mitchele during an interview with HealthTimes on the side-lines of a media tour that was organised by the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists in Chitungwiza.
“To be honest, I would make some money as an artisanal miner, but somehow, I would just spend it on useless items. When you are into artisanal mining, you end up mixing with the wrong crew, so I found myself taking some illicit substance just to keep up with my friends. However, after spending some time panning for gold, a certain Councillor from our ward in Chiweshe came and told my parents about the Mahamba family whom he said was helping vulnerable children to pursue life skills training and start self-help projects.”
Even though he was hesitant at first, his mother convinced him to take up the opportunity and he is now happy with his newly found life where is training to be a Carpenter under a project that is being run by Vana Vedu Trust, an organization operating in Chitungwiza.
“I have since stopped taking drugs and I thank the Mahamba family for coming to my rescue. I even go to church now. I came here and started learning Carpentry. Now I see that my life has changed and in a year’s time, I will have completed my Carpentry course. It’s a two year long course. I can now do roofing, roof renovations and roof tiling and all this, I owe it to Vana Vedu Trust who have dedicated their time and resources to helping vulnerable children like me so that we have a second chance at life,” said Mitchele.
Due to dwindling economic opportunities in Zimbabwe, most young people in both rural and urban settings are finding themselves at the mercy of drug peddlers who find a ready market in idle youths. However, for Vana Vedu Trust, they have taken it upon themselves to shoulder the burden of vulnerable children through providing survival skills training and empowerment projects.
The organisation was founded by Mrs Chipo Mahamba in 2019 and started operating in 2020 at the height of The COVID-19 pandemic where they also took it upon themselves to provide food to children from struggling and vulnerable backgrounds. They are currently using their own financial resources and are operating the trust from their home in Chitungwiza but funds and resources permitting, they intend to move out into a more comfortable space where they can render assistance to as many children as they possible.
“We have assisted more than 300 children since we started operating in the year 2020. These are children we have assisted through our feeding program, food hampers and also those we have trained in various life skills such as Baking, Carpentry and other programs. Every Saturday, we have our feeding program where we feed the less privileged,” said Mrs Mahamba.
Since the organisation started however, they have had their own fair share of challenges. “We are also experiencing numerous challenges especially the issue of acceptance in our community as some are not very much aware of our intentions. We also have other programs that we cannot do since we are still operating as a trust and we are yet to become a Private Voluntary Organisation (PVO). Because of that, it is difficult to even apply for grants from International donors. It’s not easy get PVO registration finalized in Zimbabwe even though we have already applied and done all the other processes.”
She added that idleness and poverty had driven most young people in Chitungwiza into drug and substance abuse, sex work, domestic violence and crime.
Meanwhile, Ministry of Youths Sports, Arts and Recreation Administrative Officer in Chitungwiza district, Memory Kanyati commended the Vana Vedu Trust program saying it was complementing government’s efforts of eradicating drug and substance abuse by providing solutions through economic empowerment.
“This program is good and we have actually been working with Vana Vedu Turst in some projects here in Chitungwiza. We have seen that Vana Vedu Trust have a vision and they need support. The program is important for us as the ministry of youth because it’s empowering young people. A few weeks ago we commemorated the national youth day and the theme was that of fighting and eliminating drug and substance abuse.
“This is in line with what we want to achieve as government. Now we have a number of illicit drugs and substances on the market. There is Mutoriro or Crystal Meth, Tumbwa and others. We have found it prudent to address the issues of drug and substance abuse at community level. We are expecting that all programs that are being done by Vana Vedu Trust should help children and take them off the streets through empowerment,” said Ms Kanyati.
She added that government was working on linking young people who use drugs and other dangerous substances to rehabilitation centres so that they get help and stay off drugs for good.
