Female Blogger Honoured

STAFF REPORTER

Young Zimbabwe blogger, Angelinah Chiwonerwa was on Wednesday presented with the Youth Voice Award by the Youth Empowerment and Transformation Trust (YETT), at a colorful event held at New Ambassador Hotel, Harare.

Angelinah Chiwonerwa with the guest of honor , Abigail Gamanya (Director of Gender and Media Connect)

The Youth Voice Award is a  two year old baby of YETT. The award was initiated in  2014 to encourage journalists to recognize and reflect youths as positive drivers of social change in their communities. This year, YETT  made another call for journalists to submit their broadcasted clips, published and specific online links for monitoring. In a speech given by the organisation's  Programmes Officer, Samantha Moyo, she disclosed that the organisation reached an average of 984 journalists from Masvingo, Harare and Bulawayo. With the help of independent consultants, 98 journalists were shortlisted from 30 media houses based on their relevance to Youth Voice Award .

The selection for the 2016 Youth Voice Award was done under three main categories: Print Journalism (Comprising of features/articles published in newspapers and online newspaper publications on contemporary youth issues), Community Journalism (Publications on contemporary youth issues in the community) and Online Journalism (online blogs on contemporary youth issues). Angelinah Chiwonerwa scooped the award for Best Female Online Journalist as she covered relevant issues pertaining to young people in Zimbabwe.

During a question and answer session, the editor of the Suburban Newspaper, Itai Musengeyi suggested that YETT should offer training workshops for journalists who cover youth issues so that they can improve in their work. Currently, most reports on young people's voices in the politics of the country are inclined to political violence. In the same vein of negative publicity, Samantha Moyo also explained how media houses like H-Metro focus mostly on scandals. Journalists who cover youth issues are called upon to take the bull by the horn and shout from the rooftops on the impact made by young people in the nation and the world at large.

Abigail Gamanya, the Director of Gender and Connect, was the guest of honor at this inspirational event. She  has over 16 years in media activism and strategic communications, standing as a role model to young female journalists.

The Role of Young People in Climate Change Issues

By Thabiso Makhurane

"The most important thing about global warming is this. Whether humans are responsible for the bulk of climate change is going to be left to the scientists, but it’s all of our responsibility to leave this planet in better shape for the future generations than we found it.” Mike Huckabee

Climate change is by far the most serious, recurrent challenge facing Zimbabwe as it adversely impacts on the sustainable livelihood and well-being of the current and future generation. Climate change has resulted in increased temperatures, heat waves, altered rainfall patterns, drought, diminished natural resources and depleted environments. These changes have enormously affected the economic, social, environmental health and national security. The impact of climate change is that it has plunged communities into poverty, hunger and vulnerability. As leaders of today and tomorrow, young people have a crucial role to play towards addressing climate change issues.

Young people are the largest demographics in the world and the first generation to feel the impact of climate change. Young people are also the most economically active group, have the monopoly of the latest technology, access to information, education and numerous opportunities. If the world is to curb the global challenge of climate change, the honors fall on young people to take the leading role in such issues. The role of young people in addressing the challenge of climate change involves them steering climate change research, education or awareness, information dissemination, adaptation and mitigation initiatives.

The role of young people in climate change research involves them coming up with area specific information about the impact of climate change in specific localities. Research thus entails young people coming up with localized climate change information. Young people also hold the responsibility of creating climate change awareness and education. This entails going back to their communities, education them about the cause and impact of climate change. Since young people have monopoly of the latest technology, they occupy a central role in climate change information dissemination. Young people have the responsible of dissemination information through the various social media platforms. The role of young people in addressing climate change also involves them coming up with adaptation as well as mitigation initiatives. Adaptation initiatives involve ways of reducing people’s vulnerability to climate change while mitigation involves slowing the process of climate change through initiatives like afforestation.

The role that young people play in steering climate change initiatives cannot be overemphasized. Young people have enormous power, energy and potential to initiative social change and create a better tomorrow for the current and future generation to come. Young people are agents of social change and occupy a central role in the addressing the global challenge of climate change.

A Call to Civic Leadership

By Angelinah Chiwonerwa

"You can not teach an old dog new tricks", so they say. Well, this does not mean that we should not at least try to "teach", or try to eradicate the bad thoughts and ideologies that some people hold about community development. This does not mean that we should fold our hands and watch the society's morals go down the drain.

It is time to ask the appropriate questions , "What can we do for our country?", not, "What can our country do for us?". We are rolling the sleeves and getting our hands dirty. This is a call to CIVIC LEADERSHIP.

Civic leadership? Yes... CIVIC LEADERSHIP!

You have to offer a helping hand in the development of your community and nation at large.You make a decision to be part of the solution providers.You cease to be the team leader for those who are waiting for someone to catch a fish for them and feed them.You are out there teaching people how to fish. It reminds me of a Chinese proverb, Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.

The unemployment rate in Zimbabwe is at alarming levels and the youths are greatly affected. This is not the time to play the blame game, blaming the government and other leaders. It is the time for young people to wake up and smell the coffee.Wake up! If jobs can not be provided to you, you need to create them. Remember, you are the "future" and this "future" begins now. You went to school to get an education to become something. NOW BECOME that thing. Education is there to open your mind to infinity possibilities. Do not wait for someone to come and feed you. In these hard times, young people have to rise. As Maya Angelou recited it:
 

Out of the huts of history's shame

I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise

Zimbabwean young people should be actively engaged in community building and nation resuscitation. With whatever you have, you can make a difference. Our nation has a strong sense of  "UBUNTU",  humanity to others. Let us work on maintaining that as young people. You may not be formally employed but that does not mean you do not have the skills to help your community. YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO GIVE. THE WORLD IS WAITING FOR YOU. Other young people offer mentorship sessions to students in high schools. That is impact! Others volunteer in different projects. Mr Rabison Shumba works with young people in his initiative "Touching Lives". Hope has been restored, dreams birthed and nurtured as this team knocks on doors with solutions. You can not afford to be doing nothing. This is a call to civic responsibility, civic leadership... answer it! Remember - Nothing About us Without us.

Arise Young African Woman

 By Thabiso Makhurane

Arise young African woman, for your time is here. Behold, the time has come for you to blossom into that jewel the world has been longing for. For too long have they silenced your voice, in critical issues in both local and national spaces. For how long shall they confine you to a box? Detecting how you should live, how you should behave, what you should aspire for, and what kind of knowledge you should possess. For how long are you going to seat and succumb to their definition of how a young woman should be?  

Arise young woman and take your place. The world awaits for your contribution. They have told you a young woman should be smart, but not ‘too smart.’ They have told you education is good but don’t let it get to your head. They have also told you to pursue success and education, but to disallow that quest from silencing your ultimate life purpose - marriage. But how come they have not put limits to your prescribed gender roles of ‘womanhood.’ How come they have not put limits to your roles inside the home? They have said you are supposed to be exceptional in keeping the house clean, be an excellent cook, and know how to raise children. Instead of limits in the house, they actually require you to have too much of those abilities.

But today l say to you, arise young woman. You have so much power and greatness in you. Why do you think they bother so much about putting limits to what you can do? They put limits on you young woman because they see your worth and great potential. Today l say arise young woman. Life is so much more than what they have said. You can be anything that you want to be. There is nothing stopping you from occupying those high places they said you won’t occupy. Young African woman, you are worth more and you can do more. The sky is not the limit, the limit exits only in the mind.

Support Her

By Angelinah Chiwonerwa

"The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who’s going to stop me.” - Ayn Rand

One is bound to come to the conclusion that the women bombarding the informal sector are parading this attitude, "Stop-me-if-you-can". They have turned the CBD pavements into a bustling vending area. Without a sign of shame and remorse, they sit there with their neatly arranged tomatoes and other stuff of course (whatever sells on the streets).

They are entrepreneurs in their own right. Fighting for a dollar in the pocket at the end of the day, a hot meal in order to keep going... that is how far this thing goes. One day at a time. If they survive the fierce attacks from the city council police on a particular day, that is good enough. As a nation, we cannot turn a blind eye to the courage, determination, and strong drive expressed by these young women. Some of them are bread winners of their families yet they are still young enough to be at school. However, they have to face the scorching summers and the frosty winters in the streets.

PROWEB, an organisation that deals with women empowerment initiated a discussion about these women.

One may have the creativity to come up with new business ideas but lack the means to implement the ideas. Different initiatives have been put in place to help young women in the informal sector but more still needs to be done.

The drive is there, but the vision has an expiry date of 24 hours. These young women need to be taught to think about the future in terms of years, plan businesses with SMART objectives. Life must not begin and end with attaining a dollar in your pocket. When ignorance goes on rampage, the nation cries foul. Why not extend the education of women beyond classroom walls? Sometimes what is needed is just an addition of information, just a bit of enlightenment and giving them new perceptions about life.

During a snap survey by the Research and Advocacy Unit (RAU) in 2015, one young lady said, “ If you look at my stock, I have mostly small items like Jiggies snacks, and sweets, and from these items I only make R1 profit. Imagine how long it will take me to sell and make a dollar. It is very difficult.” Clearly, vending is not an easy thing to do but the young women are forced to turn to it for survival.

Oliver Mtukudzi sang:

Kunzwa musoro kutema mukoma, handiro dambudziko mukoma,

Chapa musoro kutema mukoma, ndiro ka dambudziko mukoma,

Chapa musana kudzimba mukoma, ndiro ka dambudziko mukoma,

Wongorora chikonzero chaita musoro uteme,

Ugogadzirisa chikonzero chaita musana ubande...

The increase in vending is just a symptom of underlying problems – unemployment, lack of education, and so many other problems.

Instead of fighting with her – support her, she only wants to come out of this economic crisis alive!

Choosing To Be Different

Chipo Paradzai (right)

By Chipo Paradzai

“The graveyard is the richest place on earth, because it is here that you will find all the hopes and dreams that were never fulfilled, the books that were never written, the songs that were never sung, the inventions that were never shared, the cures that were never discovered, all because someone was too afraid to take that first step…” - Les Brown

Hmm, this is a powerful quote, I must say. It is sad that most people die with a tremendous amount of potential. A couple of months ago, I was sad to hear of two young women that I knew who were in their early 20s that lost their lives. It dawned on me that the world would never get to experience their gifts and talents. It struck me that their chance to unleash their potential was gone, their opportunity to fulfill their purpose on this earth was up. BUT today you are alive, you still have a chance to be who you were created to be - its a matter of making a decision. It is all up to you! Today CHOOSE TO BE DIFFERENT!

Choosing to be different means doing things you have never done before, getting yourself out of your comfort zone, implementing those ideas that are constantly lingering in your head. It means taking on a different mindset - a winner's mindset. You don't just wake up a winner, you decide to be one, so you walk like one, you talk like one, and you do things like one.

We were all created for a special purpose. Yes. That means you are very unique, you are important, and your life has a meaning. Your contributions to the world are very important, you have something powerful to offer to this world. You may not know it. You see, not knowing something doesn't mean you don't have it. Let me give you an example. Lets say you know for a fact that you are currently penniless. You know that all your pockets are empty. If I secretly place a $100 note into the back of your jeans, you might walk around starving, wishing you had money to buy food at a restaurant, but the fact is that you are $100 rich. You just do not know it, LOL. So its up to you to find out what was deposited in you and to make use of it. Its up to you to identify your capabilities and maximize your abilities!

You have a divine assignment, so you have to tell yourself that you will fulfill it no matter what! This means eliminating any form of distraction from your life - a bad friend, a toxic relationship. Associations are powerful. You'd rather be alone for some time than to associate with rotten apples that will spoil you as well.  When you choose to let go of certain things such as a bad lifestyle or anything in general that does not build you nor edify you, you save yourself from a lot. As young people, sometimes we may feel like we haven't lived our lives to the fullest if we do not experience things such as smoking weed, having sex with various partners, living the music video lifestyle (you know what I mean), but let me tell you that that's an illusion. Its not true. Use the days of your youth wisely - instead of wasting an awful amount of time and energy, all that focus could be redirected towards making a difference to this world, leaving your footprints on the sands of time, leaving your mark in this world. Your purpose is more important than any form of relationship that doesn't build you.

You have to be intentional about the change you want to see in your life! That means you have to put deliberate effort towards the change. You have to work on it until it becomes a habit. Make the decision to be different now! It all starts with a decision. You see, you don't just get there in a day or two, it takes time but with consistency you will get there. Start working on yourself:

• Expand your knowledge: read books and blogs that will inspire and motivate you. My recommendations are works by Jack Canfield, Dr Cindy Trimm, Napoleon Hill, Zig Ziglar and Les Brown's books and blogs (which you can easily access online).
• Research about people that are in the same field as the one you would like to venture into - their biographies and their lifestyles. Get to know the methods that got them there.
• Implement any ideas you have in your head. I believe that great ideas cross our minds for a special reason, that is, for us to make them happen.
• Try out new activities - engage in activities you have never done in your life before. I can use myself as an example. I had never blogged before, nor do I consider myself a creative writer, but my head is filled with so much knowledge in certain areas so I had to use the blogging platform to express and give out this knowledge to those who need it. I tell you, the feedback and impact has been tremendous.
• Self introspection - take a private moment right now. Ask yourself a few questions. Where am I right now? What got me here? What can I do to get where i want to get? What do I need to change that will make me a better person?

 

It may even be overwhelming when you begin to realize there's a lot of work to be done in your life. But start by choosing one area in your life, do things one step at a time, work on one area at a time. Please note that in the process of changing your life for the better, choosing to be different,  and aligning yourself to your destiny, you will get a lot of resistance. You will be criticized, mocked, or even discouraged by those around you - even those you love, or by the look of circumstances. You will make mistakes because you are learning and taking on a new thing in your life and that's okay. Learn from those mistakes and continue to push yourself. KEEP ON KEEPING ON. Basically, PRESS ON. With time you will get there. Just as there are bad consequences for making the wrong decisions, there are also rewards for making great life changing ones. The rewards may not come immediately but eventually they will, and when they do, they will be in excess. You will look back five years later and be happy with the decision you would have made now, that is, the decision to be different.

KEEP SHINING!!