Zimbabwe Young Leaders

Ashley Dobia Mwanza

We have come a long way and our prospects continue in disarray but we must remember that in any country, youth represent the future. Let us step forward and be counted, yes the conditions are not the best but we ought to try. We the youth are the backbone of the country, because we are today’s pillar of society and inheritors of tomorrow. But what is it that we seek to inherit from those in power today? If we are to remain standing at the foot of the mountain (watch as our future is plundered) we will never achieve our ambition, but we should ‘conquer’ the mountain, hence we should have the courage to climb (challenge) the mountain and get to the other side.

We the youth must be enthusiastic in what we do and passionate about our country. As young people we must start making decisions and taking actions that affect our communities, towns, cities, and our country. It is good to note that a commendable project a brainchild of Zimbabwean youth has sprouted; the Zimbabwe Young Leaders (ZYL) project. This ‘voice’ (strong commitment) no doubt is destined to deliver a great deal to Zimbabwe’s future. “A man who works with his hands is a labourer; a man who works with his hands and his brain is a craftsman; but a man who works with his hands and his brain and his heart is an artist,” Louis Nizer. This is a great ‘art’ by great ‘artists’.

A growing number of sophisticated projects are being led by young people in schools, universities and community organizations across the nation and indeed across the globe. Instead of conducting one-time, single issue projects that limit the impact and validity of the youth’s voice, young people today we are becoming lifelong advocates with sophisticated understandings of divergent movements for social change, hence the projects that will create better lives for us all.

This is a building in progress as a nation is being built from its foundation up. To build a nation one needs a strategic plan and or policy. To achieve any meaningful resolutions, we the youth must be empowered through policies to participate in development projects, guaranteeing that we play a role in the evaluation of national policy changes, national and global progress. Youth will play a greater leadership role in socially-aware ventures, narrowing the gap, making Zimbabwe more equal and inclusive for all.

Many youth in Zimbabwe live in poverty and have far fewer opportunities than their more advantaged peers. Often, their homes lack parental support most whose lives were cut short by the HIV/AIDS pandemic and other diseases. What kindness can you offer? There are so many benefits in helping disadvantaged children. We can help so that they in turn can help themselves, a humanitarian commitment to improve the world and the lives of people in need. All the same we should come up with ideas on how to resolve this problem. Through our actions, we young people can significantly contribute to meeting the needs of the vulnerable people within our or their local communities and beyond. Zimbabwe is facing growing inequalities. With an increasing number of underprivileged people, the gap between the rich and the poor is colossal. Children and youth are particularly affected, facing bad health and poor education. They are also more likely to remain poor when they grow up. Nevertheless, poverty can’t be an ignored topic in our country because it is right there in our face. We should not allow social inequalities. As a generation we want our leaders to open their eyes to the growing problems within our society, and we must work at positive changes.

For a long time in the last decade we were told that Zimbabwe’s worst enemy was inflation but the stark reality is that it has always been poverty, because now even with inflation having ‘disappeared’, poverty remains. The answer is education. Investment in the education systems should be of paramount importance. Education opens the path for the exploration of individual talents, skills and wherewithal. Only through education for all and its stable long-lasting effects will we be able to eradicate poverty and hunger. Investing in youth education is vital for Zimbabwe’s development, the creation of tomorrow’s leaders. The tutoring of our nation’s youth is essential to their economic well‐being and of vital importance to our economic future.

Not only are the youth important to the future of Zimbabwe they are important to the future of our world. We all must take responsibility for moving Zimbabwe into the future by playing our part in one way or the other. Young people are an important and valuable part of the community and make a major contribution to the vitality and creativity of the country.

“No one is born a good citizen; no nation is born a democracy. Rather both are processes that continue to evolve over a lifetime. Young people must be included from birth. A society that cuts itself off from its youth severs its lifeline.” (Kofi Annan, Former UN Secretary General)

Franklin Delano Roosevelt once said: “We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future.” True with the Zimbabwe case because as things are now there is no future that has been built for the youth. Improving the world is a continuous process. Now is the time to capture this passion and the new government to provide an introduction of valuable chapter programs and services to this generation to catapult us into the future so that we can stand hand and shoulders with our counterparts around the world.

The ZYL project helps to stimulate young minds, future leaders; this will help to produce socially aware young leaders who are empowered to fulfil our country’s mission. It is a long road, but even though it is a long road it is not impossible. We should realize that we will be recipients, and drivers, of change in the future.