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.
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