Back to Index

Mzingwane action team revives health project campaign
Habakkuk Trust
May 06, 2013

After being trained in advocacy, human rights and development; the Mzingwane Rural District Council Ward 8 Habakkuk Trust Community Advocacy Action Team has embarked on a campaign to revive a community health clinic project that was abandoned due to political bickering and differences.

The action team made this resolve at an action team meeting that was meant to identify and prioritize community advocacy initiatives. ‘This clinic project is an initiative that is more than 20 years old now. We have long since abandoned it though the site was pegged and the plan is there at the Council offices... now that we are all agreed that political differences have not benefited us anything as we still travel more than 25 kilometres to the nearest health institution, I hope and pray to see it happening,’ narrated Action Team Convenor Mr. Gelot Moyo.

The local Village Head and Action Team Treasurer Mr. Timoth Dube also explained that, ‘The community has not developed over the last 20 years due to failure to finish the clinic project. Qualified teachers shun the area for lack of access to health and women suffer even more….’

The Action Team resolved to follow up on the plan at the council offices, mobilize every household to participate by contributing bricks, quarry stones for foundation, pit sand and river sand. They also agreed to encourage community members to make periodic small financial contributions towards the project. Furthermore, the action team has identified various business people operating in the community as well as children in the Diaspora to be requested to assist the new endeavor.

‘Habakkuk Trust taught us about mobilization and resource mapping and tracking, we are now going to use that knowledge and skill in mobilizing resources for our clinic. We are also looking at requesting our local schools and churches to make contributions to this cause. We may however, need additional assistance especially on cement and roofing materials,’ added Action Team Organizing Secretary Mrs Thokozile Sangweni.

Habakkuk Trust staff members took time to visit the site of the proposed clinic which still needs clearing. Mzingwane Ward 8 Action Team joins other teams like Zhukwe, Datata, Dambashoko, Bethel (in Gwanda) and Ezimnyama and Valukhalo (in Mangwe), who after their training used local resources to complete essential services infrastructure in their communities.

Visit the Habakkuk Trust fact sheet

Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.

TOP