27 January 2022
Charlene T Mguni
Londiwe Dube
Residents from different sections of Cowdray Park on Tuesday showcased their projects to their sponsor and founder, Africa AHEAD.
Africa AHEAD is an NGO aimed at developing communities by teaching them health and safety measures to keep the environment clean and safe.
In partnership with the Bulawayo City Council, Environmental Management Agency (EMA) and UNICEF, Africa Ahead has been able to help many communities spanning over 30 years.
In Bulawayo these projects have been implemented in Cowdray Park, Nkulumane, Makokoba, Nketa, Pelandaba, Queenspark and Waterford suburbs to assist communities practise hygiene and keeping a safe environment which is disease free.
Over 30 different groups gathered at Holy Trinity, Roman Catholic church in Cowdray Park suburb, for the ceremony where esteemed guests from Africa Ahead came to witness works from these groups.
The clubs included; Safe’n’Clean, Spik’n’Span, Stop Covid, Vuka, Simunye, Ukuhlanzeka, Sikhanyisele and Sikhona amongst others.
The clubs whose membership comprise mainly of women are trained to recycle plastics to make mats, manufacturing dishwashing liquids, pine gel, toilet cleaners floor polish, and beard work.
Siphiwe Ndlovu, the Africa Ahead Bulawayo Programs manager, said that the organization equipped 40 community health workers to train the community clubs on health and hygiene and offer income generating projects.
“The organization is also facilitating communities to keep the environments clean and safe from diseases”,said Ndlovu
The Director of the Organization Mr. Reggis Matimati, said that his organization is helping the communities maintain good health by teaching them ways to connect with the environment.
“What we have done now following reports of various disease outbreaks is partner with City Council, we abducted our strategy of mobilizing communities into groups of women and men, which is quite a plus and we train them and form community health clubs.
… our model of public health education is not didacted, it is not one sided it requires interaction with the view that everyone of the club members contributes something to the problem and to the solution”.
He said that he was pleased with what the clubs were showcasing, showing abundance of knowledge they received and implemented in their daily life.
In another interview, a representative of Environmental Management Agency (EMA), Sithembisiwe Ndlovu, regarding their role as an organization on these projects said:
“Right now we encourage communities through awareness programs to take care of their environments especially in urban areas where a lot of waste is being disposed and sometimes carelessly”
She added that their relationship with Africa AHEAD is through keeping the environment clean and safe for the communities so as to improve their health and well being.
Also in partnership with City Councils in all cities, Sphiwe Ndlovu narrated that they offer Covid-19 vaccination programs encouraging people to get vaccinated and also that the organization provides masks and sanitizers to communities so as to curb the rapid spread of Covid-19.
The clubs also provided entertainment for the day, reciting educational health related poems, songs and dances on what the organization taught them.
In this journey of promoting clean environments through the formation of clubs, women were encouraged not to leave men and children behind so as to have a healthy community for everyone.
In a bid to reward these clubs the organization said that they were setting up a graduation ceremony in March to honour the clubs and their works.