The Sunday News
Zibusiso Moyo, Sunday Lire Reporter
HAND IN HAND Zimbabwe last Friday held its inaugural schools’ competition, in Chirumanzu and Shurugwi, as part of the organisation’s desire to equip students with knowledge and skills in motivation, health and entrepreneurship under its Motivated and Entrepreneurial Youth Project (MEY).
The competition, which ran under the theme “Building a motivated, healthy and entrepreneurial youth begins now”, attracted 15 schools in each district.
In Chirumanzu, Leopold Takawarira Secondary School took the first prize, followed by Hillview Secondary School and Siyahokwe Secondary School which came second and third, respectively, in the quiz competitions.
In the poetry competitions, Mukomberamwa Secondary School took the first prize, while Leopold Tawawira High School took the second and Driefontein High School the third.
In Shurugwi, Chironde Secondary School took the first prize, while Kushinga Secondary and Zviumwa Secondary took the second and third prize respectively in the quiz competitions.
In the poetry competitions in the district, Kushinga Secondary took the first prize, Gato Secondary the second and Bokai the third prize.
On top of the trophies, winning teams walked away with stationery and prize money, which will go towards starting enterprises or scaling up of existing ones.
Other schools that did not make it to the podium also received consolation prices which included stationery and Hand in Hand Zimbabwe Star for life t-shirts.
Various stakeholders from Government Ministries, National Aids Council, Midlands Aids Service Organisation (Maso) and educationists were in attendance at the schools competitions.
Hand in Hand Zimbabwe MEY Project Co-ordinator Rejoyce Moyo said the schools competition is part of the Motivated Entrepreneurial Youth (MEY) learning project, where Hand in Hand works with schools and train students in entrepreneurship and health as a way of equipping them for the future.
“The competition component is a new initiative that came about through interactions we have had with school patrons who believe that for the students to remain motivated and interested in MEY activities, we should bring in an element of competition and rewards,” she said in an interview.
“After careful considerations we couldn’t think of a better way of testing the knowledge that we would have imparted into students, with regards to entrepreneurship, than a schools competition. Through the MEY Project students are trained in health, motivation and entrepreneurship, so there is a need that we test the knowledge that they have gained through training sessions. This knowledge will be tested through quiz, poetry and drama competitions,” she said.
Chirumanzu Acting District Schools Inspector Bornface Chimbiya said the schools competition is a good initiative as it supports the National Schools’ curriculum.
He commended Hand in Hand Zimbabwe for the work it is doing in Chirumanzu and Shurugwi through the MEY project.
Midlands Aids Service Organisation (Maso) Programmes manager Jabulani Mapingire said their partnership with Hand in Hand Zimbabwe on running the programme has been very fruitful.
“The project has greatly impacted lives of students as accurate information pertaining health, entrepreneurship and motivation is being disseminated. This has positioned these youngsters at the right place, as they are getting information at an early age before they even experiment, to a point that even when they want to experiment, they do with full knowledge of the consequences,” he said.
Deovelance Mpofu (16), a Form Four pupil at Driefontein, hailed Hand in Hand Zimbabwe saying she and 20 other Star-for-life club members under the MEY Project have managed to open a tuck-shop at their school where they sell fresh chips and make profits of up to $2 000.
Hand in Hand Zimbabwe is a non-profit organisation that helps resource limited and marginalised people in rural communities, particularly women, to create better livelihoods for themselves and their families through its flagship series, the Jobs Creation Programme (JCP). The organisation is supporting communities in seven districts namely Bulilima, Chikomba, Chirumanzu, Gwanda, Lupane, Nkayi and Shurugwi.
