27 June 2009
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MABVUKU/TAFARA on the eastern outskirts of Harare is a windswept high-density area famous for going for years without water.
But it is not just the shortages of water that blight this area with an estimated population of more than 101 000 people, according to the 2002 census.
With an unprecedented unemployment rate and increasing numbers of people affected by HIV/AIDS the demand for assistance is enormous.
And nowhere is this felt more than among the young people. There just aren't any facilities for them or activities to engage them. A religious order undertook a needs assessment and identified the absence of activities for young people.
Mavambo Trust, headed by Fr Benjamin Posvo and Sr Kathleen Barbee identified very young children; the orphaned and young school leavers as among those requiring support in the Mabvuku/Tafara and the surrounding rural areas.
Their work not only gives hope to those they work with and the community around them, but it is a project that is empowering young people to deal with their condition of deprivation.
Fr Abel Makahamadze the Parish Priest for Mabvuku said Mavambo Trust is empowering children and has been successful in assisting some of them to secure birth certificates.
"We enable them to live better lives," he told an official handover of grants from the World Bank's Social Development Civil Society Fund Programme (CSF). "We look after them up to the ages of 18 - 25 years and ensure that they are equipped with skills to look after themselves."
And they are making a difference. Reinhard Woytek from the World Bank Country Office in Zimbabwe and colleagues from the office were in Mabvuku to see the difference that Mavambo Trust is making to people in that community.
"Every country's future lies in its youth. They embody hope, aspirations and capacity. The Social Development Civil Society Fund is there to help civil society organisations in their efforts to promote social development," Woytek said.
"This year our awards go to organisations that deal with youth organisations."
In thanking the World Bank's support, Fr Posvo said they would put the support to good use.
One of the creative projects Mavambo Trust has established in Mabvuku/Tafara is the Young People Care initiative, which is reaching out to the young people in the area so that they remain focused by engaging in productive activities.
The other beneficiary this year was Simuka Africa, a youth group based in Norton.
Last year's winners were Development Aid from People to People, Scripture Union and Christian Care.
The fund focuses on capacity building, empowering and strengthening the voice of vulnerable groups including disadvantaged children, women and youth as well as people with disabilities. The activities aim at supporting these vulnerable groups and promoting social inclusion.
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