Transforming Livelihoods Through Agriculture Input Support Programme
Our Enhancing Food Security and Livelihoods of Poor small-holder farmers in Zimbabwe project has reached to the most vulnerable in Bindura and Makoni districts.
Thinking Theology
Thinking Theology gathering, the first time in Zimbabwe, was held on the 8th-11th of May 2018 at ZESA Training Centre attracting an average of 90 participants from EFZ and ZCC members. This was unique in that there was collaboration with various partners to make the event a success, the rich presentations on family, leadership and integral mission enhanced our EFZ Mission as well as approaches to this mission. A follow through on the REFLECTIONS and OUTCOMES of this Gathering will be made and communicated soon. Theological Reflections Theological reflections on the role of the church in public life, were held in Bulawayo and Harare in April 2018. The theological reflections seminars’ provided platform to stimulate sustained dialogue within the church to understand their social responsibilities and obligations as informed by the scriptures and to contribute towards the development of a compendium focused on promoting public participation within the Church. The theological seminars’ also provided a platform for church to reflect on its mandate and through the presentations of developed papers by theologians from different schools of thought church reflected on how it can operationalise its role as the salt and the light of the world and also look into its regulation system in order to provide a leadership role for the nation. Theological Reflections Meeting – Bulawayo Enunciating the role of the church in Zimbabwe’s Peace Building Agenda The Zimbabwe Heads of Christian Denominations (ZHOCD), with the support of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and the ACT Alliance hosted a Dialogue Exchange Programme under the theme “Religious Leaders Supporting the Peace Process in Zimbabwe”. The DEP follows key (peace-building related) events that have taken place in Zimbabwe over the past five months, including the signing into law of the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission Act, the appointment of the Commissioners to the NPRC and nation-wide consultative processes conducted by the NPRC which have culminated in the development of the Commission’s strategic plan. All these events were as a result of the years of work that various stakeholders, particularly the church and civil society, have put in as their contribution to the peace building agenda of the country. It was therefore against this background that this DEP was conducted. The DEP had both local and international participants including representatives from Kenya, Togo, Burundi and South Africa. Specifically, the ZHOCD has been involved in shaping the peace and reconciliation agenda in Zimbabwe and this DEP was constructed to build upon an on-going engagement between the churches and National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC) in Zimbabwe and to strengthen capacities of the church to contribute to the implementation of the peace framework and peace-building broadly. While the ZHOCD has contributed significantly to the establishment of the NPRC, there remain gaps in the area of capacity building for church leaders. These capacity gaps have been identified by church leaders themselves and include limitations to appropriately map scenarios and to conduct mediation and negotiation as they host various national dialogues with different stakeholders. Additionally, the NPRC conducted consultation with Zimbabweans across the country earlier this year and the DEP was critical at this stage in order to prepare participants/church leaders to understand the scope of work of the NPRC, its legal and technical limitations and capacity challenges as well as to influence its subsequent interface with stakeholders and communities in rolling out a peace & reconciliation process. The DEP also provided a platform for church leaders to critically reflect, through a process of theological reflection, on their religious mandate to uphold and strengthen peace in Zimbabwe. Delegates at the Dialogue Exchange Programme
World Menstrual Hygiene Day
The Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe (EFZ) together with 7 of its members namely Faith Ministries, Faith in God Church, Assemblies of God Church, Jabula New Life Ministries, ZAOGA, Jesus Power Christian Ministries and The Apostles Church as well as the Harare Provincial Women Committee joined to commemorate the World Menstrual Hygiene Day at Chikurubi maximum female prison on the 28th of May 2018. The menstrual hygiene day also known as the menstrual health day is an annual awareness day, which aims to highlight the importance of good menstrual hygiene management and is meant to benefit women and girls worldwide. The day is commemorated on May 28 of each year since 2014 when it was initiated by the German-based NGO WASH United. The objectives of menstrual hygiene include: To address the challenges and hardships many women and girls face during their menstruation. To highlight the positive and innovation solutions being taken to address these challenges. To catalyse a growing, global movement that recognizes and supports girls and women’s rights and build partnerships among those partners on national and local level. To engage in policy dialogue and actively advocate for the integration of menstrual global, national and local policies, programmes and projects. The theme for 2018 menstrual hygiene day is Empowerment. While the issue of menstrual health does not have a specific SDG, it fits well in Goal number 5: Achieving gender equality and empower all women and girls. The commemorations were held with an aim to empower the female prisoners by educating them on issues of menstrual health, preaching the word of hope as well as providing them with hygiene packs to use during menstruation. The EFZ Secretariat and the Churches involved managed to gather resources to distribute to the inmates such sanitary pads, pants, bath towels, soap, Vaseline, baby clothes, sugar, slippers, disinfections, toilet paper, blankets, tooth brushes and tooth paste which had a value of $1500.00. Precious Pearls was of great assistance by donating reusable pads and hygiene packs. Other individuals like Dr Grace Taruvinga and Thobekile Ncube partnered with EFZ to make the day a success. The inmates were also blessed with a lunch on the day. A total of 101 inmates benefited from the donations and the event was attended by Swedish Embassy, Canadian Embassy, Dutch Embassy, Zimbabwe Prison Correctional Service (ZPCS), Female Prison Support Trust (FEMPRIST), Southern Africa Trust (SAT) and Women on Fire. The ZPCS represented by the Deputy Commissioner General Mrs Mupure expressed her gratitude and testified that it was the first time the Prison had people coming to celebrate the day with them. It was a day to remember as the inmates were taught on menstrual hygiene, encouraged from the word of God, prayer for, celebrated the love of God through song and dance as well as fellowshipped with food and drink. As EFZ seeks to impact the nation in all aspects of life, showing love, care and concern for those in prison illustrates how the church promote life with dignity to all regardless of gender, religion or political affiliation. EFZ pledged to lift the flag of the menstrual hygiene day that is aimed at helping women on menstrual hygiene management and carry the SDGs mantra of “leaving no one behind”.
Tamuka Village / Esnath Story Piece: By Ernest Nhamo
Tamuka village is located about 40km from Mutoko Centre and the people there do peasant farming for their livelihood using rainy water. This is where the people of Tamuka village would fetch water before the intervention. Their borehole broke down 3 years ago. The borehole would produce 2-4 buckets of mudy water hence people would resort to the open space in a valley close by. We spoke to Esnath’s mother, the lady with a baby on her back on the photo. Esnath is an eight year girl and they stay about 1km from the borehole. The way from their homestead to the borehole is bushy. We learned with surprise Esnath is sometimes sent alone to the open space to fetch water after school from the open space. This is where she would spend more than 30minutes alone trying to get 10litres of water. The mother confirmed that this has exposing her girl child to many dangers. With the new well even though it is still about 500m from their homestead she was confident it was going to make Esnath’s life more comfortable as t is easier and quicker to draw water from the well. [half first]Previous Water Source[/half] [half last]This is where Esnath and the Community of Tamuka Village ares getting safe and clean drinking water after the intervention[/half]
Orality Success Story
[half first] Story by Pastor Douglas Makoto from Pilgrims Region Mission-Murewa [/half] [half last] Pastor Douglas Makoto-Murewa [/half] Before I was exposed to orality, I was like any other pastor preaching according to seminary knowledge. In 2014 September, I was one of the first 10 Zimbabwean pastors to be trained as a trainer by Professor Jerry Wiles. I came back to Murehwa district and mobilized 16 local pastors whom for 2 days I trained the 5 story set. I released them expecting a quick feedback which they brought back 3 months later. Surprisingly it seems in all their home cell groups, orality had boosted midweek attendance by over 150% which to me was overwhelming. Sunday school teachers were enjoying the orality methodology and most children could retell the stories anywhere and anytime. In their reports, they indicated that orality was more engaging and it promotes open platform for conversations and in-depth bible study. Unlike preaching, they said bible story backgrounds could be understood and a lot of relevance could be unraveled. I enjoy telling the true stories from the word of God. I personally was invited to preach at about 7 funeral platforms using orality and surprisingly the responses from people who accepted Christ was a notable testimony. Later on this 2016, we organised a 2 days’ workshop on Orality without support from the EFZ secretariat. This time we mobilized leaders including those 16 pastors I trained and other 55 people were trained on the 5 story set. These leaders were from the whole district and some from other non-bible reading churches like the apostolic white garment churches. Orality has transformed me personally. I am now more of a teacher of the word than an evangelist, more grounded in the word. I use it everywhere and anywhere freely. Of the 17 rehabilitated water points in Murewa, I preached on 11 of them using orality. I saw many giving their lives to Christ. That has enhanced the way I do ministry work. I noted also that the young generation that is the youth and Sunday school are very receptive to orality concepts of art, drama and poetry. I love Orality, I love the true stories from the word of God, and I will tell the true stories from the word of God, the undiluted gospel and the untainted truth!
Working with the Community: Story by Kudakwashe Kurashwa
[half first] Interview with the Chikupo Modeling Church Pastor in Murewa on what he feels as the Modeling Church Pastor and his experiences working with the Community: Story by Kudakwashe Kurashwa [/half] [half last] Lieutenant Enerst Chikangangeni from Salvation Army-Modeling Church for Chikupo in Musami Murewa Traditional ward [/half] “Being a modeling church involves transforming people’s mindsets…It is a leadership role that requires one to think beyond the normative rules of the game and to be exemplary so as to convince people to adopt positive behaviors for development” echoed Lieutenant Enerst Chikangeni from Salvation Army which is the modeling church for Musami traditional ward in Murewa District. He narrated his story with regard to what it took him to get the community into action during the construction of the Chikupo well site. “It was a tall order initially for me to settle and get the community to do the work. Although, I have always been convinced in myself that it was possible to mobilise the community, I strongly doubt if others held a similar line of thinking. As has been the norm for the people in Chikupo area that when donors come with development initiatives, they do everything for the community and that has been the thinking framework that the still had; what a disempowered mindset! When we started work, only a few people showed up; I and my team of pastors and church members had to get our hands dirty so that people would see and learn what they needed to do. Together with other pastors in our section, we organised several meetings with the community and their leadership trying to drive home and to educate them on the need for them to own processes of development and being good stewards. It was a long and taxing journey especially with the understanding that people were in a water crisis and someone has come in to bail them out. Normally, people should easily commit to the work. But in this community, it was far from that What was a bit inspiring was the fact that numbers that were coming to the borehole to do the work were added each time we had a meeting with them. People came to appreciate that we are the church and very different from non-governmental organizations. I saw people pledging to bring the river sand, the stones, and the food as the need was unraveled. These were great signs of change. We did not stop, we continued singing the song of community participation and ownership and more resources were mobilised from the community to the extent that funds towards thebuying of the fencing material were mobilised. At the end of the process of construction, people emerged as the rightful owners of the project. The work was well done and we were all proud of it. Through the process of organising and leading the community to a successful project, I earned a lot of respect from community people, which was never before. The following time, there was another borehole that has been down for close to three years and the community was in a difficult situation. They approached me as the modeling church pastor, to see if anything could be done to resuscitate it. The most intriguing and interesting thing was that they had already mobilised resources on their own and were willing to assist in any for possible within their means. This is how were are managing to transform communities through the WaSH program and we love our work”, Lieutenant Chikangeni spoke with smile
“Water for Life in Jesus Name’’ Project in Murehwa District
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 {gallery}WaterAccess{/gallery} Bwanya Rehab Site {gallery}BwanyaRehabSite{/gallery} 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 {gallery}HSPromo{/gallery} [half first] One toilet completed with support from Zvakanaka health club in Mutsahuni village [/half] [half last] One of the 20 sinks completed by Zvakanaka health club in Mutsahuni Village [/half] 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. [grid12][/grid12] 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
[grid4 first] [gobox featured=”yes”] [image path=”images/kallyas_images/ok.png”] RDC [/gobox] [/grid4] [grid4] [gobox] Goals To promote the implementation of evidence based interventions through generation and dissemination of relevant information and knowledge. [/gobox] [/grid4] [grid4 last] [gobox] Key result areas Monitoring and Evaluation Research and Documentation [/gobox] [/grid4] 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
[grid4 first] [gobox featured=”yes”] [image path=”images/kallyas_images/ok.png”] PJC [/gobox] [/grid4] [grid4] [gobox] Goals An informed and empowered citizenry that contributes to national transformation [/gobox] [/grid4] [grid4 last] [gobox] Key result areas Strengthening dialogue for national transformation Promoting good governance and social integration Election monitoring and observation [/gobox] [/grid4] 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