Activistas Tideco on 90km/ hour

chikondi giving the TA Khosolo petition for protection children from abuse and marriage

The unstoppable activista Train of kanjuchi is now on 90km/hr as it has  been vocal and has gained a lot of strength since January. The activistas have achieved more than expected within a short period of time Conducting 3 human rights soccer Tournaments with the 3rd one stretching to Mabilabo the next traditional authority catchment area. Furthermore the popularity of the tournament has spread to central region Kasungu where by other teams get their players from in a bid to win the Tournament.  The tournament has been used to address different issues affecting youths. Activista membership is escalating and the local leaders are now working with the their committee who meet everyday to find solution to the community problems. Current issue on the table the activistas want to expand their enterprise sector so as fight against unemployment .  With help from action aid trainings  ( adviser Stella Agara  and Ayanda inspirator, Harry Chikandira) the group has immensely grown capacity to pull the strings of activism to another level.

They completely boost our self esteem

At first I thought it was a joke when Harry Chikandira the Action Aid Programes officer told us that we were going to translate the child massages and help in renaming the child sponsorship photos. I looked at the place we are coming from which is completely a remote place and I never trusted one of us to march the standard of translation of about 450 child massages that were going to be read by people from overseas.

I was however proved wrong when I saw Harry Chikandira and his colleague Alepha coming to train us on message translation. When the training started most of us were expecting to go straight and start practicing writing but it was a different story when Harry started to give us a strong foundation on the following:

 Understanding of AAIM by the youths –Mission, vision, values

How Action aid get its source of funding.

Processes followed in child sponsorship management

Supporter needs dissatisfaction and appreciation to continue with the link.

Community expectation and roles in the management and utilization of the funds

After that I felt motivated to and encouraged to start off the training as I felt that I was obligated to do so and it was part of my duty to help translate the child messages. The background of child sponsorship motivated the rest of the activista team to give their best during the training.

After the training we however went on to translate about 450 messages and renamed photos on computer with the help of the computer literacy skills we were trained by the Action aid inspirator Ayanda it was easy for us to grab fast on how to rename them when Harry taught us.

two activistas translating massages.

Our activista group has been cemented during the past 5 months having an inspirator and the child massages translation put concrete on us and we will never be the same again. I now believe if action aid’s motto is saying “lets end poverty together” despite our location, level of education and age these action aid ambassadors are enriching us and empowering us. 

by albert sakala