ICS Zimbabwe

This week was our first practical gardening workshop in the youth clubs, our first workshops in schools and also our first team attempt at making sadza (Zimbabwe's staple food).

In response to the concerns from the school authorities of Beulah Heights Secondary School, Zimbabwe, over the lack of trees around their school property which had resulted in flash flooding; we decided to present them with nursery tree donations and educate their children on the importance of trees. The school has been affected by flash floods which resulted from heavy down pours and heavy wind on the night of 17 December 2014, and the more recent 2015-2016 rainy seasons.

Home visits are an exciting experience that enable ICS volunteers the opportunity to effectively engage in the community. This is a once in a life time experience, especially for the UK volunteers, to witness the different household settings in Zimbabwe rural areas, their living standards and culture. Enthusiastic volunteers who are committed to make a difference in developing countries or within their local community are given the chance to make a difference in someone’s life through these visits.

With preparation as a key factor to success, I began my research for Zimbabwe pre-departure. One of the things I discovered is that Zimbabwe has an 80 per cent Christian population. I noted this point noticeably as a practicing Muslim and gathered several sources of information to take with me. When I arrived, I realised I would be staying with a Pastor in a Baptist Church and upfront with a statistic I had read. When we arrived in Gweru, we were introduced to all our host parents straight away and then driven to our homes. 

Our first workshop - a UK volunteers’ perspective

On 7 May we conducted our first workshop for our Rowa beneficiaries. Income-generating activities (IGAS) were the focus of this workshop. All the beneficiaries are involved in both group and personal IGAs, with some of these including goat rearing, piggery, poultry, and groceries. Out of 191 beneficiaries, 156 came to the workshop.

Since completing my ICS placement working alongside a local Zimbabwean charity, Simukai; I decided to start a motivational speaking project aimed at young people in Primary and Secondary education to encourage staying in school, safe sex and a life without drug abuse.

As it is International Day of Families, we at MASO thought it would be a good opportunity to reflect on the past six weeks with our host families. We didn’t know what to expect before meeting our new parents and siblings. We were leaving the familiarity of our own families in the UK and were apprehensive about adapting to new dynamics. Immediately upon meeting our parents we were greeted with smiles and the nerves eased. We were welcomed as daughters, and one of our fathers even joked he had to invest in some guard dogs to protect his new girls.

At my host home there is only my host mum, me and another UK volunteer. Our host mum is a paramedic, so is in work a lot. We have three sisters who all live in South Africa. Jamie and I are the only boys our host mum has and she really treats us like her own children. Out of all our host mum’s children I am the youngest, which is the same with my UK family. Joe

On Sunday, the world will celebrate International Day of the Families. We wanted to commemorate this by talking a bit about our host families - an integral and exciting part of the ICS experience. For anyone hoping to head overseas on placement, we hope this will help with expectations and settle any apprehensions you might have. Let’s look at Cycle 4’s three different host homes from three different perspectives…

A volunteer’s point of view…

International Day of Families, a day we celebrate the greatest gift of life and thus being part of a family. What is a family one may ask? A wise man once told me that family is not only defined by blood but also by association. What best way can we ever describe a family other than asking each person to share their views, experiences and values of their families. Here is what each volunteer had to say about his or her family.