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The inception of the “Water for Life in Jesus Name’’ project in Murehwa district of Mashonaland East Province in Zimbabwe by the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe (EFZ) and Living Water International (LWI) brought about holistic transformation of local churches and their immediate communities. Unlike before, churches embraced developmental programs as they actively engaged and participated in WASH and the WORD project. After a clarion call by the Salvation Army church to have their local borehole rehabilitated, EFZ/LWI together with the District Development Fund team responded with immediate effect and rehabilitated the borehole. Prior to the rehabilitation of the well, it was a pathetic situation to note that N’andu village borehole (the only in three distant villages) served N’andu, Mutsahuni and part of Chikupo villages. Both humans and livestock were in dire need of water. The integration of water and the word saw the provision of the much needed water, formation of hygiene clubs in the program area and preaching of the gospel message of Jesus Christ. As a result of these efforts, the relationship between EFZ/LWI and government’s District Development Fund department was fostered, villagers were exposed to the gospel with several others turning their hearts to God and health issues were promoted as people had access to clean and safe drinking water.

EFZ WASH Report

The Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe (EFZ) is mobilizing, empowering and networking the local churches to become active agents of holistic community transformation through improving sustainable and equitable access to and use of safe water, sanitation and hygiene services. In partnership with Living Water International, EFZ is implementing WASH program in Epworth and Mashonaland East province since 2013. The WASH program dubbed, ‘Water for life in Jesus name’ is currently being implemented in Mutoko and Murehwa districts and Epworth peri-urban area. The project have 3 main components namely water access, hygiene promotion and Christian witnessing is being implemented using Salt and Light Church engagement model. Since 2013-2017 EFZ has improved access to safe water by drilling 54 boreholes and rehabilitating 196 boreholes in Epworth, Mutoko and Murehwa. In the 2016/2017 financial year, EFZ drilled 27 boreholes and rehabilitated 98 boreholes in the aforementioned WPAs.

 

Key highlights for 2016/ 2017

  • In Murehwa EFZ managed to improve access to safe water coverage by 27 % through rehabilitation of 47 boreholes and drilling 14 boreholes; 61 boreholes gives access to safe water to 18 300 people.
  • In Mutoko EFZ rehabilitated 41 boreholes and drilled 11 boreholes giving access to safe water to 15 600 people. Overall EFZ increased access to safe water in Mutoko by 20 %.
  • In Epworth EFZ rehabilitated 10 boreholes and drilled 2 boreholes giving access to safe water to a total of 6000 people and increasing access to safe water coverage by 8.9 %

 

Water Access in pictures

 

Bwanya Rehab Site

 

Hygiene and sanitation promotion- The EFZ has also created demand for sanitation and hygiene services at community level and this has seen a marked transformation in communities as evidenced by:

  • Improved hygiene and sanitation Knowledge, Attitudes, Behaviors and Practices (KABP) by communities
  • Reduced burden of water collection especially on women and girls
  • Reduced productive time lost scavenging for water

 


One toilet completed with support from Zvakanaka health club in Mutsahuni village


One of the 20 sinks completed by Zvakanaka health club in Mutsahuni Village

 

Christian Witnessing- Most importantly, the gospel of Jesus Christ is made known to communities through gospel proclamation at well sites and there is exponential proportional growth in churches both numerically and in relation to their capacity to respond to the socio-economic, spiritual needs of communities.

 

Fig 1 shows Goto community praying at well site during hygiene promotion, Murehwa District.

Fig .2 Shows Bishop Moses Chinyama sharing the word of God at borehole commissioning in Epworth.

Fig 3  Pastor Bernard Chiripanyanga and Pastor Pedzisai Katsande praying with community members in Village 65 after sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ at well site, Mutoko District.

 

Key story of the year

Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe WASH Interventions in Epworth Improves Hand Hygiene in Schools

Good hand hygiene is an important infection control measure as person-to-person contact, including via hands, is common mode of transmission for gastro-intestinal and respiratory infections. In a school set up, hands can be contaminated with human excreta, body fluids, chairs, desks, floors, dust and doorknobs. The aforementioned can be vehicles of bacteria, parasite and viruses. Infectious agents can enter the body when unwashed hands touch the mouth, nose and eyes.  This underscores the fact that hand washing cannot only prevent diarrhea but also other infectious diseases such as acute respiratory infections. Before the WASH intervention at Chinamano Primary School, the rate of hand washing at critical times was very low (12%). The low rate of observed hand hygiene comes along with high rate (88 cases per 1000 population) of diarrhea among Chinamano school children. Expressing gratitude two months after WASH interventions at the school, Chinamano primary school health master said:

I would like to thank the local churches, government departments and EFZ for remembering our schools. Getting safe water was a mammoth task for both school children and their teachers. Children used to carry containers of water from their homes for use at school; the water was always inadequate and more often than not unsafe for human consumption. As a school we thank God, we got a new well and it is functioning well-we now have access to safe water 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Our children were taught the importance of hand hygiene and they are always reminded by their peers through Edutainment during school health club sessions. The hygiene promotion session conducted by EFZ encouraged school children to replace their unhygienic practices with safe alternatives. I am very proud to say, diarrhoea   incidence have dropped by 61%; I used to receive 15 to 30 cases of diarrhoea per week before the intervention but now a week can pass without receiving any case of diarrhoea at the school. 

Allow me to ask for a favour from the churches, government and EFZ; please extend your kind gesture to other schools within the district and beyond because a School without Safe Water is an Unsafe Environment for school children.

School children at Chinamano primary school are now practicing good hand hygiene, which could be attributed to improved knowledge regarding importance of hand wash at critical times and availability of safe water within the school yard. Thanks to the churches and other stakeholders and Glory be to God.

Story by Rameck Makokove

WASH coordinator, EFZ

Research and Development Commission

RDC

 

 

Goals

To promote the implementation of evidence based interventions through generation and dissemination of relevant information and knowledge.

 

Key result areas

  • Monitoring and Evaluation
  • Research and Documentation

 

Key Achievements

The commission has been key in supporting EFZ commissions programming through various ways like coordinating programs meeting, designing relevant data gathering tools, collaborating with commissions on data gathering as well as conducting Internal Program assessments

Future programs

  • Membership mapping for membership retention and consolidation of the organizational database
  • Survey on unreached areas-to identify opportunities for membership recruitment and growth
  • Research on capacity gaps among Heads of Denominations to inform future capacity development initiatives
  • Facilitating platforms on Theological Reflections on topical issues
  • Capacity Building  of membership on Monitoring and Evaluation and Research methods
  • Development and continual production of EFZ newsletter and magazine that will feature the work that membership is doing

Peace and Justice Commission

PJC

 

 

Goals

An informed and empowered citizenry that contributes to national transformation 

Key result areas

  • Strengthening dialogue for national transformation
  • Promoting good governance and social integration
  • Election monitoring and observation

 

Some key highlights from the Commission

Position Paper on Constitutional Amendment Bill Number One

In April 2017, EFZ mobilized the participation of its members across the country in the parliament driven public hearings on the bill that would usher in the first amendment to the new constitution. EFZ members participated in all the 10 provinces were these hearings were conducted. Further, EFZ facilitated dialogue between its members and legal experts on the bill. The technical dialogue culminated in the development of an EFZ Position Paper on the Constitutional Amendment Bill Number One. The Position Paper which was submitted to Parliament, clearly highlighted that the church did not support the proposed amendment.

Successful completion of 2ndPhase of Social Accountability Initiative

The Commission also successfully completed the second phase of its Social Accountability Initiative in Tsholotsho, Chipinge and Gokwe. The Initiative was 12 months long and it helped to, among other things, i) establish sustained platforms for dialogue between communities (led by the church) and their local authorities, ii) improve the delivery of basic social services in these districts by at least 30% within the 12 months period, iii) enhance the capacities of communities to effectively engage local level decision making process and iv) strengthen communities capacities to actually hold their public officials to account


ZHOCD Meeting with the Chiefs’ council

EFZ, through the Zimbabwe Heads of Christian Denominations (ZHOCD), facilitated its maiden dialogue platform with the Chiefs’ Council in July 2017. The meeting was the first step in establishing a tripartite dialogue platform between the church, the Chiefs and War Veterans with the aim of working together to promote peace and peaceful co-existence especially as the country prepares itself for elections in 2018. The history of most of our elections is tainted with violence and high levels of political intolerance. Therefore, it is hoped that sustained engagements with key Institutions such as the Chiefs’ Council are necessary steps to follow as the church works towards promoting peace and tolerenace especially in electoral processes.

Some of the key outcomes of the meeting were that:

  • There was agreement on both sides that the engagement or collaborative platform of the church and Chiefs will be issue based. Therefore, both parties agreed on the need to establish a list of the issues that both institutions can collaborate on.
  • The next meeting (date was not settled on) will be considering the list of the issues that will be presented by the church and possibly agree on specific issues that will resonate with both institutions.
  • Additionally, church leaders agreed to go back and clearly outline the WHY, HOW, WHEN and WHAT questions raised by the traditional leaders. Responses to these questions will necessarily inform how the collaborative platform will be engaging.

 

ZHOCD Strategy Building –Learning Exchange

EFZ through the ZHOCD platform conducted a learning exchange workshop. The workshop brought together church leaders from all 4 ZHOCD members to learn from churches from Lesotho, Kenya and Zambia on the roles they have played in their electoral processes. Additionally, the event also allowed for ZHOCD to develop a strategy document that highlights the key actions that the church in Zimbabwe has now committed to take in this election process. Commitments have also been made to ensure the replication of the ZHOCD structure at district and provincial level

Consultations on church’s view on voter registration and elections

As the country prepares to go into another election period, the Commission has also conducted feedback meetings with its membership in some of the provinces to establish their perceptions on Voter registration, that may hinder their participation, especially the newly introduced Biometric Voter Registration process. Some of the key points established from this exercise are listed below:

  • Lack of trust in the electoral process and registration process in particular
  • Techno- phobia
  • Distances to registration centers
  • Bottlenecks in registration requirements
  • Lack of information on the voter registration process
  • Time frame given for registration may be insufficient
  • Few/ limited options for candidates

 

CVE workshops

To respond to the concerns that EFZ members raised regarding the new BVR process, the Commission has developed a civic and voter education intervention. The intervention is aimed at demystifying the BVR process and motivating Christians to take responsibility and register to vote. The intervention begins in October 2017 in Mashonaland East, West, Central, Manicaland, Mavingo, Midlands and Matebeleland South

Gender Development Commission

GDC

 

 

Goals

To facilitate gender mainstreaming in all EFZ systems, processes and programs

 

Key result areas

  • Women’s Ministry and Leadership Development
  • Gender Mainstreaming and Community Mobilization
  • Advocacy and Governance

 

Key Achievements

 

  1. Women’s Ministry and Leadership Development

The Commission works with the EFZ Women’s Advisory Committee through the Women’s Committee to resource and equip women in the fellowship in their leadership roles. Through Leadership Development programs, the Gender Development Commission seek to foster increased satisfaction and ministry excellence, resulting in greater glory to God. The objectives under the Key Result Areas are:

  • Mobilise the women in the Fellowship to take a full role in all the programmes and structures of the Fellowship, the Body of Christ and the nation – provincially and nationally.
  • Equip women in and outside the Fellowship for biblical womanhood and motherhood
  • Advocate and lobby in order to establish for society a vision for a model biblical woman.
  • Facilitate and/or undertake any developmental, charitable and spiritual projects and activities of uplifting women and the needy through the Gender Development Committee.

 

  1. Gender Mainstreaming and Community Mobilization

 In order to engage with religious and cultural practices that have a negative impact on the lives of women and girls, the Commission has trained 35 Trained Channels of Hope Facilitators implementing the Channels of Hope – Gender Methodology in their communities across Zimbabwe.  The Channels of Hope – Gender model was used to sustainably impact communities thorough looking at all obstacles to girls’ success emanating from religious beliefs and practices in the IGATE project.  Channels of Hope places local religious institutions at the center of Developmental outcomes strengthening church’s response to gender injustices by assisting faith leaders in becoming community change agents who offer messages and provide/support programming which address these key gender issues. Through a Gender Competency Bucket, a tool that analyses and evaluates the following Key Gender Competencies in Churches:

  • Relevant and responsible use of the bible
  • Accountable leadership
  • Knowing and acknowledging vulnerabilities
  • Transformative justice
  • Compassionate care and support
  • Comprehensive prevention
  • Meaningful community interaction

A number of religious practices that need to be addressed in  the Churches across Zimbabwe are being identified and addressed by Local Church Leaders.

 

  1. Advocacy and Governance

Through the Gender Development Commission, EFZ is implementing Non State Actors Coordination and Capacity Strengthening Programme collaboratively with The Non State Actors Apex Alliance which is a consortium of civil society apex bodies. The two and half year programme is being supported by the EU and it commenced in 2016. The main objective of the project is to build capacity of non state actors to effectively participate in national development processes and strengthen coordination mechanisms within the CSOs. In addition, the programme seeks to influence the creation of an enabling environment for non state actors to effectively carry out their development work across all the sectors. The following partners are the ones who are spearheading the implementing of the programme: Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC), Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe, National Association of Non-Governmental Organisation (NANGO), Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe (WCoZ), the National Association of Youth Organisations (NAYO), National Association of Societies for the Care of the Handicapped (NASCOH), and Zimbabwe National Council for the Welfare of Children (ZNCWC).

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