Youth : Heroes of a new Zimbabwe

A.D.Mwanza – If other youths fought for the liberation of Zimbabwe why can’t we fight for our future, a new Zimbabwe? Let us use our ‘guns’ which are our voices!
We have come a long way and our prospects are in disarray but we must remember that in any country, youth represent the future. The youth of Zimbabwe, united in the name of the development of our country and the safeguarding of a bright tomorrow can revolutionise Zimbabwe. It doesn’t matter who you are in as long you are Zimbabwean you can do it. Sporting greats like Kirsty Coventry have set the tone of what we long to see. Her success continues to bring rare cheer to Zimbabwe; in her own words she said “it’s a great honour to represent my country… things aren’t that good. I take any opportunity I can to raise our country’s flag really high and get some shining positive light on things over there.” We have to start charting the way forward; Kirsty has taken the first steps.

We the youth we are the backbone of the country, because we are today’s pillar of society and inheritors of tomorrow. If we are to remain standing at the foot of the mountain we will never achieve our ambition, but we should conquer the mountain, hence we should have the courage to climb the mountain and get to the other side.What Zimbabwe’s youth need is:

Zealousness…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. Youth hold decision or policy making power by voting (the youth changed the face of Zimbabwe at the March poll) or having a ‘voice’ (strong commitment that has positive results) in what we do. “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. Youth of Zimbabwe let us paint our country and put it on the world map.

Involvement…Involving youth is an advantage to any community to ensure that Zimbabwe can once again start providing excellent service to its people, neighbours, Africa and the world. By pairing the youths’ growing awareness with a particular sense of urgency, many young activists today are not waiting for adults to lead them forward in action. A growing number of sophisticated projects are being led by young people in schools, universities and community organizations across the nation. This has to be continuously encouraged; young people we must continue involvement as adults. Instead of conducting one-time, single issue projects that limit the impact and validity of youth voice, young people today we are becoming lifelong advocates with sophisticated understandings of divergent movements for social change. Hence our voices must be heard. True youth participation is if youth can be involved in every part of the process: decision making, implementation, and the evaluation.

Multiplicity…This must be central to taking action, ‘Diversity is good; difference is bad.’ This is the prevalent view in European minority debates. As a result, the class constituent disappears, and an unacceptably vague catch-all concept of culture is allowed to predominate. Young people of all colours and classes ought to speak out for themselves and their neighbourhoods, encouraging others to do the same, and representing their elders and communities with respect and dignity. It must be realised that a country’s national diversity can be a development asset.

If we aim to achieve a harmonious coexistence of diverse peoples it should not mean forcing minorities to follow the tune of the majority. Excellent diversity management can help everyone, minorities and majorities alike reap the full benefit of living in a society made up of many different kinds of people. If a government is to manage diversity well, it must overcome discrimination and prevent marginalization. The hate game must end, we are all equals. If this has worked well in the schools then why can’t we implement it in society?

Building…To build a nation one needs a strategic plan and or policy. We should therefore take our government to task to ensure that under each policy area and objective, strategies must be developed that are to be implemented over a practical period of time. 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 and global progress.

We must be mobilized to build networks for the purpose of having effective dialogue and collaboration on a regular basis. This will enable us to have our voices to be heard in shaping policy and directing the future of the Zimbabwe and society as a whole. It’s a necessity for us to be encouraged to take initiatives in bringing greater social awareness into policy-making regarding resources and development in the country.

Youth will play a greater leadership role in socially-aware ventures, narrowing the gap, making Zimbabwe more equal and inclusive for all.

Amalgamation… Society should work hand in hand. Adults must become more authentic allies. We must advocate for this. What do we gain from this amalgamation? When youths have a say to the larger purpose of the community, we will develop leadership, citizenship, and life skills.

Adults and the community reap the benefits of what youths can accomplish when we are challenged, engaged, and valued as citizens. When youths and adults work in partnership, they create a formidable unit that can have a powerful effect in problem solving, solution implementation and positive change in the country. Us the youth should have a voice in issues that affect us, and youth-adult partnerships can empower us to participate and move the country forward.

Benevolence… 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 poor children. We can help so that they inturn 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 the public and politicians to open their eyes to the growing problems within our society, and we must demand positive changes.

Willingness… There is so much positive energy among youth and willingness to change this world, it is necessary to develop notions of co-operation and global responsibility in young people now, or we might find ourselves in a point of crisis down the track. What we can give is a new way of looking at things and a lot of energy. Young people have a willingness to be active and participate in a positive way, whether that is on a local or global level.

Let us start volunteering with other young people in our communities. The surrounding community may be biased but we must be willing to face the challenge. This observation must change, challenge and motivate us to keep working in our communities in other capacities as well.

Education…Our government must invest in the education systems since this gives individuals chances to become aware of the reality in the world and fight poverty which is Zimbabwe’s worst enemy and not inflation. 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 tutoring of our nation’s youth is essential to their economic well‐being and of vital importance to our economic future.

The nation is ready for a renewed youth voice. Not only are the youth important to the future of Zimbabwe we are important to the future of our world. In the same way youth participation keeps the country’s engines running, youth voice keeps our communities honest, vital, and responsive. By deliberately providing dynamic opportunities to engage diverse youth voice, Zimbabwe can be able to provide a vital response to looming threats in these urgent times. We all must take responsibility for moving Zimbabwe into the future by engaging our government. 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, but the youth have been made bold by the status quo and need to be continuously encouraged. If other youths fought for the liberation of Zimbabwe why cannot us youth fight for our future, a new Zimbabwe? Let us use our ‘guns’, our voices!

Improving the world is a continuous process. There are people who have a lot of proficiency but may not have the energy or mentality to do a lot of things. Young people on a broad-spectrum we are eager and energetic but may not have the knowledge. Working together may be very good. Also we all live together in this world so we have to work together. Young people may have very different attitudes about certain issues than older people. 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.

I therefore urge the Zimbabwe government to promote an environment that 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.

Ashley D. Mwanza is a Perspectives Columnist. He is based in Dublin, Ireland.He writes for the Harare Tribune