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A great day for Chipawo youth
Chipawo
June 16, 2008

Yesterday, at a meeting held at the Zimbabwe College of Music, the CHIPAWO Youth Council finally came into being.The CHIPAWO Youth Council is the representative, elected body that represents CHIPAWO graduates who are members of the Youth Programme. Its aims and objectives are as follows:

Aims:

1. To assist in the management and development of the CHIPAWO Youth Programme
2. To make the voices of the members of the CHIPAWO Youth Programme heard,
3. To strengthen democratic practice in CHIPAWO

Objectives:

1. To assist in employment, income-generation and training programmes and projects for the members
2. To make the Council a formal organ in the organization structure of CHIPAWO.
3. To influence policies and decisions within all the CHIPAWO structures, including: a) Having a Council representative on the Board of Trustees. b) Having a representative at all important decision-making meetings of the Media Centre. c) Being informed about the activities of the Marimba Manufacturing Project and the CHIPAWO Secretariat.
4. To take an active part in the planning and hosting of CHIPAWO events pertaining to youth, such as festivals.
5. To maintain a strong inter-face between the Council and other stakeholders such as arts educators, trustees and other youth organizations

Tinashe Wizimani was elected the first Chairperson of the Council, with Farai Kuzvidza his vice. There were five men and three women elected. The meeting adopted the Rules and Regulations and the Constitution and took in new applications for membership.

The following is what the Youth Programme in CHIPAWO is all about:

YOUTH PROGRAMME- Ever since 1989 when CHIPAWO started, CHIPAWO has seen itself as a children's organisation and children were defined as those in school. CHIPAWO included youth groups and youth activities but in this case youth always referred to the older children in school, namely Grade 7 to Form VI.

However some years ago the first 'children' began to graduate, leave school and technically were no longer in CHIPAWO. As this happened, CHIPAWO began to adjust and make accommodation for these CHIPAWO graduates - the youth that was not the 'youth at school'. Many were brought into the organisation as part-time arts educators or through the Youth Trainee Scheme eventually as employees. With the establishment of the Zimbabwe Academy of Arts Education for Development a further step was taken to cater for CHIPAWO school-leavers and many of them enrolled on bursaries for the first intake and graduated with Diplomas from Midlands State University in Performing Arts and Media Arts.

Even then that left many skilled graduates in no-man's-land. From time to time performance opportunities came up and available graduates would be called on to take advantage of them. Some of them found some scope in the CHIPAWO Performance Company. The Academy, largely under the aegis of the Principal and Chairman of CHIPAWO, Stephen Chifunyise, began doing commissioned plays with a select group - and they eventually constituted themselves into an independent theatre company, New Horizon. Then there came into existence Cool Steel, the CHIPAWO steel band.

However problems were never very far away as indiscipline, poor behavior, negative attitudes and others led to some embarrassing incidents. A meeting was held and from the meeting a consciousness emerged that CHIPAWO needed to adapt its policies to the new situation. It was no good saying that these youth were no longer CHIPAWO. They clearly were. It was this realization that led to the setting up of the Youth Programme.

Any young person who was registered at a CHIPAWO centre for two years or more, became eligible to apply for membership of the Youth Programme. Members are eligible to apply for the Youth Trainee Scheme - training on the job with transport and a monthly stipend in a CHPAWO department or unit eg. the Academy, the Traditional Music and Musical Instrument Manufacturing Unit, Wardrobe, Finance, Administration, Arts Education for Development and Employment, Performances or Media.

They can also access - often with full bursaries - diploma and certificate courses in Performing and Media Arts at the Zimbabwe Academy of Arts Education. There are numerous professional opportunities too such as performances, workshops and festivals as members of the Performing Company, Cool Steel (the CHIPAWO steel band), New Horizon Theatre Company, the Musical Ensemble and the Umoja Flying Carpet.

Employment creation and poverty alleviation among CHIPAWO youth are addressed in projects aimed at employment creation and poverty alleviation. Many youth also take up employment in CHIPAWO itself.

Finally the Youth Programme offers training opportunities, not only in CHIPAWO but also Life Skills, Gender, Human Rights, Leadership and HIV/AIDS Workshops and/or Courses.

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