We arrived in Zimbabwe on the 6th of September 2011. We were warmly welcomed in Harare by Zimbabwean Red Cross officials who showed us the city and introduced us to various stakeholders. After about a week in Harare, we drove to Mutare where we would be spending nine months of our mission. We were told that Manicaland province, in which Mutare is the provincial centre, is the most beautiful part of Zimbabwe. After driving through the undulating mountains, refreshing green vegetation and scenic view of Manicaland, it dawned on us how spectacular and beautiful the place is.
In Mutare, we were warmly welcomed by the local Red Cross branch officials and volunteers. We quickly learnt that we are two lucky youth delegates who will be spending nine busy months in Mutare together with very active Red Cross youth volunteers.
We will be working on various activities in Mutare but we will start with establishing Red Cross clubs in schools. In these schools local Red Cross youth volunteers will be teaching i.e. environmental issues, gender based violence, first aid, traffic safety, Red Cross history and principles.
The energy levels an enthusiasm is very high even though we lost some of the school club members as their families failed to pay school fees. For many Zimbabwean families paying for school transport and school fees become too costly and for that reason many children sadly drop out of school. It is very sad for us to lose members this way, and more sad for the children who are unable to attend school.
Red Cross does it's best to respond to the situation of Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) in Zimbabwe. Red Cross currently pay school fees and provide food for some children who are most in need. Providing food is particularly important for children affected by HIV/AIDS.
We are also targeting OVC in our activities, especially when working with Red Cross clubs. In the clubs we tackle issues that are important to orphans and vulnerable children such as gender based violence and behaviour change. We also use peer to peer education so that children of different backgrounds can contribute to the activities.
Furthermore, we will open a Red Cross club at Africa University, Mutare, that will be planting trees, training teachers in first aid in addition to recruiting new members and volunteers to Red Cross. Another important part of our mission is to share experience and learn from each other. We are learning a lot from the youth in Mutare and we hope to share our experiences with Red Cross in Norway. We can toghether strenghten Red Cross youth activities in Norway and Zimbabwe.
Red Cross in Norway aims to strenghten disaster reduction and organisational development. The objective is to assist Zimbabwe Red Cross in helping vulnerable people in Zimbabwe.