The Sunday Mail
Sunday Mail Reporter
Zimbabwe needs to invest in youths to guarantee development and a prosperous future, Japanese Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Toshiyuki Iwado has said.
Japan recently awarded grants worth US$248 000 to three local non-profit-making organisations — Methodist Development and Relief Agency (MeDRA), Simukai Child Protection Centre and Harare Children’s Hospital Trust.
“Children need special protection because they are among the most vulnerable members of society. They are dependent on others for care and protection,” said Ambassador Iwado during the grant signing ceremony in the capital.
“Only through taking care of the younger generation will Zimbabwe be able to develop and prosper in the future. It is for this reason that Japan is supporting these three projects,” he said.
Simukai Child Protection Centre, an organisation which houses children from abusive environments, was awarded a US$90 858 grant to construct a rehabilitation centre.
Currently, the organisation is renting a house from where it provides care and counselling to children and child migrants who have been abused or experienced violence.
The centre’s director, Ms Francisca Matsanga, told The Sunday Mail that the support will enable the organisation to do more for vulnerable children.
“This grant will enable us to construct an all-inclusive centre and enable us to conduct and embark on activities that will fully address the issues that children coming from abusive environments are facing,” she said.
Harare Children’s Hospital Trust received US$68 526 that will go towards the construction of a children’s rehabilitation centre at Harare Children’s Hospital. The new unit will boost the rehabilitation of children with disabilities from all over Zimbabwe and to provide support to caregivers.
It will also be a centre for workshops on the care of disabled children.
Chairperson of the Harare Children’s Hospital Trust, Dr Greg Powell, said the grant had come at a time when the hospital was in dire need of support.
“It (Harare Children’s Hospital) was built in 1998 with the assistance of the Japanese government, unfortunately much of it, the infrastructure, has deteriorated and equipment needs replacement.
“I think this grant is going to make a huge impact. Some of these children have permanent disabilities or brain damage from lack of oxygen at birth, so it is about helping them reach their full potential and help their mothers to care for them,” he said.
MeDRA got US$88 616 for the construction of classrooms and a teachers’ house at Cherutombo Primary School in Mbire District.
The school does not have sufficient classrooms.
A representative from MeDRA, Mr Owen Tabaziba, thanked Japan for its assistance.
“It is our hope that the assistance we are getting from the Japanese embassy will go a long way in assisting the learners of Cherutombo Primary School who are learning in makeshift shelters. We assure you that the grant will be put to good use,” he said.
The Japanese Grant Assistance for Grassroots and Human Security Projects is a scheme which provides support to improve basic human needs in the fields of education, health, food and nutrition security, and sanitation.
It was launched in Zimbabwe in 1989 and has to date supported implementation of projects worth over US$10 million.
