I feel blessed that I have had the educational and professional opportunities that my path has led me to here in the USA. As an avid scientist and software engineer, I couldn’t imagine gaining experience in this field in any other country because I believe that this is the melting pot of the best scientists from around the globe. Needless to say, I make an effort to go back home every chance I get because over the years, it has become very clear to me that I thrive on that nourishment. So on May 9 2008, I journeyed back home to Macheke, Zimbabwe. My one intention was to visit family that I have not seen in years. I find healing in being home with family and with each trip, I feel more rejuvenated, more renewed. There’s something incredibly therapeutic about the humility in the people, the wild fruits, the scent of the soil. My other intention was to see Macheke for the first time within the lense of my new-found vision. The last time I had been back home was in 2004, yet the idea of the Macheke Sustainability Project (MSP) only began to brew in the summer of 2005. I wanted to remind myself of the beauty that was being drowned by the endless reports of deterioration. I knew that if I took that tour of duty, I could reconnect with my people and hear it from directly from them, how badly help is needed. The last few times I had paid a visit home had been blinded and preoccupied by my father’s funeral, my father’s ‘chenura’ and my brother’s wedding. I had been able to mask away the site of the erosion that was gradually worsening with each visit. But as I landed in Harare on May 10, it was undeniable that I stumbled into a whirlwind of struggle to survive hunger, disease and the hard hand of political strife. People were working, yet this could not adequately feed them. Right then, I knew that I had to immerse myself in my role as the transformational team leader of the Macheke Sustainability Project. I met with some of my other partners that have supported me in building the foundation of this project. Caleb (a philosopher/educator-turned-community developer in the USA) came along with me to advise and counsel as we toured. Winnie (a practicing nurse in the UK) joined our tour to serve as a consultant on health-related issues. On the ground we met William (lead farmer at Orange Park Farm in Macheke), Sr Martina (lead farmer at Monte Casino Farm in Macheke), Sr Helena & Students (Monte Casino Girls High School), Madame Gaudiosa (community traditional herbalist) and Ms Moyo-Mhlanga (Small Grants Programme of the UNDP). During our visit, one of the students gave me the contact information of the well-respected Mr Hakutangwi of Swedish Cooperative Zimbabwe. This is a great door for us because through his support, we look forward to attaining assistance from Swedish Cooperative as well as the Kellogg Foundation.
The month of May leads into the winter season where there’s hardly any rain (I should mention that Zimbabwe hardly gets more than 4 months of rain a year – all the more reason to water harvest). But I was impressed to see that both Orange Park and Monte Casino Farms were fully involved in both harvesting and growing of winter-surviving crops such as potatoes. The small irrigation systems there were at work each minute the electric supply was available. The 500-heactare Orange Park Farm has the capacity to produce corn and vegetables in both winter and summer seasons, but there’s a dire need for water harvesting, improved irrigation systems, renewable sources of power (biogas, biodiesel, wind-energy, solar power, etc) and the very basic farm equipment that can get the job done. The labor is available in multitudes because of the growing unemployment rates in the region – so the farmers’ most desperate quest is the support to attain equipment and infrastructure fit for effective farming practices.
Our visit to Monte Casino Girls High School is one we’ll never forget because the passion for education that these young students carry is most heartening. They are very eager to begin the Entrepreneurial Course that this project seeks to provide them beginning in 2009. The course aims to empower these young minds with the tools to create business opportunities in a decaying economy. Through this project, we would like to give them internet access to make them visible to other students all around the world. They have a keen interest in supporting the community and partaking in the activities that will put them on the global map, but without internet access, this will be virtually impossible. The local government awarded the school with computers, but we are seeking funding to install internet service that will benefit the Macheke community.
We paid a visit to the beautiful Nyanga Mountains and took a tour of a simple but very effective Dairy Farm. Macheke desperately needs such an operation and this can be implemented at both Orange Park and Monte Casino farms. The farm workers in Nyanga have agreed to provide some training on the Dairy processes once we receive the equipment. We are looking for funding or used dairy farm equipment to begin a small implementation of this project.
While in Nyanga, we were also enlightened to the natural diesel plant. This was of special interest to us because there’s a growing concern of corn/maize being used for bio-diesel at this dreadful time of global food shortage. Our goal is oversee that the MSP farms in Macheke grow corn for human consumption markets and in the beginning, make use of yellow grease [used frying oil from restaurants] as a biodiesel source. As the project progresses, our intention is to look into supplemental farming of this “diesel plant” so as have a constant availability of the biodiesel oil source.
Our conversation with the traditional herbalist was to gauge how we can incorporate Integrative Medicine into the Students’ Sustainability Course. We have previously dialogued with Dr Kasilo of the World Health Organization’s Traditional Medicines Unit (WHO) and we feel that it is an elegantly essential sector to include in the Macheke Sustainability Project. Local Africans have long sustained their generations’ health with the use of traditional medicines and in echoing the concept of sustainability; we ought to prepare our youth by giving them access to this well of traditional knowledge. We look forward to connecting with some subject-matter experts from the local University, so that along with the WHO, we can grow an effective program that respects our medical spirit medium.
In general, our grim observation of this once bread-basket was that the grocery stores in the region were just about empty and did not carry the staple corn/maize meal. There was hardly any electricity coming through the sockets because each day there’s a national electric rationing. With no electricity, that meant no water being pumped up into the water pipe system. Fuel was a major shortage and we had to hassle for it on the street, because the gas stations never had any. The enormous shortages of fuel, electricity, water and food proved to me that the Macheke Sustainability Project is vital and fundamental to the renewal of this community. If we can get support to implement sustainable agricultural practices while using renewable resources, we could awaken the citizens back into a live society. I believe that the people of Macheke are very smart and I have seen their hard work. All we need is the support to make an effective program to empower the locals to engage in sustainable lifestyles even in these rough times of Zimbabwe...
This is a call to all organizations and individuals who can assist in any way. Please reach out to us via comments on this blog, or contacting any of the following:
UNDP [small grants programme]: Khetiwe Mhlanga-Moyo
UNDP: Ambrose Made
Swedish Co-op [or Kellogg]: Marcus Hakutangwi
Farm # 2: Sister Martina
School # 1: Sister Helena
Maharishi University: David Fisher
Farm # 1: William Madziva {011-756516 or 0912-831295 }
MSP - primary contact: Moleen Madziva { +1-732-771-5443 }
I managed to take some pictures & video-clips and am delighted to share them with you (please click on the link below):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12002875@N04/sets/72157605426614724/
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