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| Chef Charumbira converses with CGCDZ staff during the launch of a community development project |
Nyashadzashe Mambure
National
Council of Chiefs president Chief Charumbira has praised the Centre for Gender
and Community Development Zimbabwe (CGCDZ) for initiating projects that are
meaningful to his rural subjects, saying all people needed to work together for
development.
CGCDZ
visited Chief Charumbira’s homestead on October 13, 2020 to launch a project in
the presence of many other villagers.
The
organisation will in the near future drill boreholes for the Charumbira
community, introduce fish farming projects and establish a gardening project on
a one-hectare piece of land.
Charumbira
said he was pleased that non-governmental development partners were now more
sensitive to local traditions and were now more tactical in their engagement.
“What
I like about CGCDZ is how they have involved us right from the beginning; they
did not simply come and make recommendations. Different people have different
needs and I am glad that the development assistance that will be rendered to us
is a result of consultations.
“I
therefore challenge them to carry-out the projects to their conclusion because
we as a community have given them our blessing. Many other people came before
them and proposed other things but they failed because the ideas were not born
out of sufficient consultations,” remarked Charumbira, who has vast knowledge
of developmental support models, having in the past worked with the World Bank.
He
said he looked forward to another gathering with CGCDZ in the future, but that
time celebrating the successes of the envisaged projects.
CGCDZ Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Elliot Vengesa said his organization fully understood that communities have to be consulted if development is to succeed.
“We are aware of the significance of broad consultations in successful development interventions. We are grateful to Chief Charumbira and the community he leads for realising that sustainable development needs a collective approach whereby all stakeholders work hand-in-glove. We are very confident that this project will make a big difference in the lives of the local people,” sad Vengesa.
CGCDZ
operations manager Chida Mudadi said the project was focused on development and
fighting poverty.
“This
is one of our ways to help this community adapt to climate change and fight
poverty by improving livelihoods. Whatever piece of infrastructure installed
here will belong to the community. We therefore expect people to respect that
property and care for it, knowing fully well that it belongs to them and them alone,”
said Mudadi.
In Mashava Ward 33, CGCDZ is implementing similar projects which will directly benefit a total of 65 people from different families.
