Shandira Zimbabwe readies to upgrade community facilities

Thursday, 26 November 2009 17:00

Shandira Trainers on fact-finding and motivation tour in northern towns: Banket, Karoi and Alaska.

Shandira Zimbabwe trainers/leaders toured several towns in the Northern part of the country by Mid November to catch up with the several Shandira initiatives, monitor and evaluate the progress so far as well as to enquire the specific needs of the respective communities.

The purpose of the visit to Karoi, Banket and Alaska Mine was also to set the tone for the second phase of implementation which is upgrading community facilities.

First stop on the Shandira trainer’s trip was Karoi, where the Shandira team met with the councillors at the Karoi town offices. The encounter was very fruitful and after the meeting both the Shandira team and the councillors were convinced that significant progress had been made towards encouraging community involvement and action towards issues of common interest in the community.

The councillors gave reports on the work done so far and they gave a list of the community facilities that their teams had identified as in urgent need of upgrading. These are: Chikangwe clinic, which needs ceiling repair, painting and minor renovations; Chikangwe Primary School, where toilet repairs and painting has to be done; and the public toilets at the bus terminal. The lavatories are blocked and seats need repair.

As with all the areas were Shandira is active, there is always time to play. The Karoi community is hosting a sports tournament on Saturday, 28th November 2009 at a local primary school. Karoi has ten (10) football and ten (10) netball teams.

The next stop for the Shandira trainers was Alaska mine, where more than 300 residents gathered at Alaska hall together with their local councillor, Mrs Chipo Mlothswa. Alaska residents together with their councillor have been doing a lot of work under the Shandira banner and as a result Alaska has been transformed into a clean community. For instance, the drains have been cleared to allow the water to flow and thus avoid the occurrence of water borne diseases such as cholera.

The residents were taken through a presentation about the Shandira initiative so that they may have a greater understanding of the scope of the project. The residents expressed their happiness to be part of the Shandira initiative and they gave positive contributions of how best they think the project could be implemented. The local councillor also presented a brief report on the work done so far under the Shandira banner which furthermore included slashing of the grass on the road sides, clearing of drainage systems and removing refuse heaps from the streets corners.

Alaska mine was closed down in 2001 and since then no infrastructural maintenance has been done. As a result, the water and sewer systems have collapsed. The residents also hinted that the only mortuary in the area has not been working for the past two years and needs urgent repairs.

The councillor is being assisted by a team of four people who include a local church pastor. The team is very dedicated and hard working as evidenced by the number of people who participate in the project. For the Alaska community, however, it’s not all work and no play as they agreed in the meeting to organise a sports tournament on 29th November 2009 at the Alaska football grounds. It was agreed during the meeting that netball and football be the only sports at the tournament. Alaska has six (6) football and six (6) netball teams.  

The last place to be visited on the trainer’s/leader’s tour was Banket, where they gathered for a consultative meeting with the councillors and representatives of their Community Action Teams. Shandira Banket has been doing a lot of work despite political interference from the C.E.O of Zvimba Rural District Council who had branded the Shandira programme as MDC affiliated.

The councillors acknowledged the receipt of medical equipment recently distributed which they said is helping the community as the local clinic had closed down. The councillors also presented challenges that they are facing in implementing the Shandira programme. The problems highlighted by the councillors are mostly emanating from lack of capacity and thus more training programs need to be facilitated to help the councillors to be more effective in organising and interacting with the community.

Councillor Chinanzvavana highlighted that Banket was faced with an acute water crisis and added that he together with his Action Team had approached the owner of   Banket Cattle Sales on the possibility of Banket residents getting water from his borehole. The owner agreed on condition that the residents purchase or hire a water pump for that purpose.

Banket will also host a sports tournament in due course as they have six (6) football and six (6) netball teams. However, they are still to finalise on the dates and arrangements for their sports event.