children’s rights, banking, business development, and more.
Vanavevhu works to educate the youth and sharpen their ex-
isting practical skills. It provides childcare support and resources for food and utilities, valued at about $100 per month. Originally, Mhangami thought that, with the financial support
of Vanavevhu, the youth might be able to return to school, but she found that their experiences as heads of household made it difficult for them to go back to their old routines. “They’re not your conventional teenagers anymore,” says Mhangami.” The idea of putting that child back into the school system—especially in Zimbabwe, which is very top-down and authoritative—doesn’t work. A child who has been making life choices on her own and supporting a family is not going to thrive there.” Many of the youth no longer talk to friends they had in school and suffer ad- ditionally under the stigma of being an orphan. “We took this as an opportunity to be creative and to provide
them with a different sort of education,” says Mhangami. She borrowed from her experience at Loyola, where she ran a project called Rogers Park Yes—a youth entrepreneurship program. “I borrowed that curriculum, contextualizing it to teach busi-
ness development and entrepreneurial skills,” she says. Vana- vevhu started a market garden, through which the youth learn agriculture and sell vegetables to the local community. They began candle-making and beekeeping projects. Mhangami hopes they will eventually be able to start a for-profit beekeep- ing enterprise producing honey and beeswax candles. Because there are three or four power cuts a week, every household buys candles. The agricultural industry has also suffered. “We no longer produce sugar; we import it,” says Mhangami.
“Honey would contribute to the rebuilding of the economy. These are local products that can be consumed, and the youth are making something of themselves in a difficult environment.” The youth come in to Vanavevhu Mondays through Thursdays
from 10 to 4. For the first two hours, they work in the garden, making beds, watering plants, or planting crops. In the afternoon, they split into two cohorts—one that has been with the organiza- tion for over a year, and a newer group. The older group works on
small business courses, making candles, and doing beekeeping. They then sell the candles they’ve made, putting coursework into practice and trying to make a little money. “What’s fun about Vanavevhu is how theory is being turned
into practice, which is really exciting to me, having spent so much time in academia,” says Mhangami. The second, newer cohort is in security and stability training this year. They learn about hy- giene, sexual responsibility, children’s rights, and budgeting and banking. They also participate in an intensive outreach program, in which Vanavevhu staff visit their homes every Friday to assess how they’re using groceries and dealing with health issues (some of the youngest siblings are HIV-positive). Vanavevhu also does social and emotional assessment of the youth, with the eventual goal of helping the head of the household reintegrate into the community. Mhangami is pleased with the progress so far. “There have
been challenges along the way, but our project has been really successful,” she says. “We have youth that have been so isolated from mainstream society, and just getting them to trust us as quickly as we have is a success.” Rachel Slager, a Vanavevhu volunteer who spent three months
in Zimbabwe, says she has been inspired by Mhangami. “She said she didn’t want to create a food program or apply a Band-Aid; she wanted to solve the problems,” Slager says. “I was compelled by her vision to create long-term solutions, to start small and ensure a measurable impact.” Mhangami hopes the organization will continue to expand,
adding new households and cohorts annually, as well as staff to support them. She also hopes Vanavevhu can start offering small business training to other underserved youth, aside from those that are heads of household. “The education system in Zimbabwe has deteriorated in the past 10 years,” Mhangami says. “A lot of kids are going to school, but what they’re getting isn’t practical in this environment. Entrepreneurial and practical skills will allow them, I hope, to start their own businesses.”
CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE
FALL 2011
15
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80