| Latest Update - May 2007 |
| Kufunda and the Millenium Development Goals |
| By Claudette Lloyd |
| When I first stumbled across Kufunda I was deeply moved by their selfless mission to empower some of the poorest communities in Zimbabwe. In this rat race called life it's so rare to find people who would rather dedicate their lives to serving others over themselves. To express concern is one thing, to serve is another. Kufunda are there to serve.
After joining Kufunda in early April 2007, I could'nt help but notice how most of their activities actually contribute toward realising the global Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Oddly enough the MDGs didn't even form part of KUFUNDA's action plan, yet they were fulfiling them nevertheless! I will attempt to explore the ways in which our humble village is making a difference - from an MDG perspective:
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| Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger |
| I would say that Kufunda's mission contributes to Goal 1 more than the others. There are many workshops made available to our rural communities (free of charge) to do with farming, i.e. Permaculture, oyster mushroom growing, dry-land farming, nutritional gardens etc... These methods are not only taught for self-sustainability reasons but also for income generating purposes. Other income generating projects (IGP's) that we teach include beekeeping, herbal remedy processing, construction of ecological stoves and toilets, building using rammed earth and more. Through the Art of Hosting workshop communities are taught specific tools for hosting group learning, conflict resolution & leadership skills, all contributing empowering the community as they support each other in eradicating poverty and hunger |
| Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education |
| A few years ago Kufunda set up their 'Education Fund' which is a fund used for sponsoring the primary and secondary education of orphans based in the 5 communities with whom we work. To date over 280 children are covered by the Education Fund. With more support from well-wishers this number could grow and grow! Apart from the Education Fund Kufunda also sponsor 5 orphanage pre-schools, supporting the further learning and development of the teachers, paying them stipends and providing food for one nutritional meal a day. In an attempt to support the older orphans, Kufunda hosts 'Youth Camps' whereby some of the orphans from our communities - in their early teens - come to Kufunda over the school holidays. During this experience the children learn to be with nature, to eat healthily and also to explore together what it means to grow up, learning life skills, the value of caring for one another and building self-confidence to face a tough reality - most of all they come to have fun! Learning at its best! |
| Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women |
| All of our community workshops build on the assumption that everyone has something of value to contribute to their community. It is our experience that many of the resources that we need are already here and we need to learn how to recognise and appreciate them. In this spirit many women are stepping into positions of community leadership. All of our courses are open to both men and women, and many more women are taking responsibility for driving community projects. It has come to the point where we rely heavily on women in our 5 communities to keep the Kufunda flame burning. |
| Goals 4,5 & 6: Reduce child mortality, improve maternal health and combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases |
| Health hazards such as child mortality and lack of maternal health are caused by lack of medical care, poverty & hunger (in most cases in Africa) and even just from the stresses of living in such a hyper-inflationary envirionment as we do. Our approach to community development happening from the inside out help empower people to take control of their lives as we work with them to build on the resources they have to do so, organic nutrition gardens, herbal processing, honey production, mushroom growing, and more all work with what is readily available and all contribute to overall community health.
Central to our work lies our healthy living programme, under which falls a bi-annual caregivers workshop which promotes HIV/AIDS awareness and also teaches participants to counsel and care for those with HIV&AIDS; nutritional eating and herbal remedy processing are more recent areas of work that are quickly spreading into our partner communities.
Workshops on meditaion and Aikido also contribute to wholeness of mind, body and spirit thus promoting a healthy body and stronger immune system.
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| Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability |
| One would have to actually come to Kufunda village to see a perfect example of a beautiful envirionment that is undisturbed, respected and nurtured in every way (our photo gallery will also do). Our community counterparts are taught to love and care for the environment in which they live. Workshops have been held to teach communities to build the Jengeti Huni stove which uses twigs rather than large tree branches, thus avoiding the cutting down of trees. Through our community projects over 200 compost toilets have been constructed, the decomposed compost of which is later used for permaculture and nutritional gardening. Kufunda do not advocate the use of fertilizers and pesticides and so alternative methods are taught. |
| Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for Development |
| Kufunda are involved with many partners globally who share in the same vision of community development. As a means of information sharing our local Kufundees are often invited to travel abroad to learn from our global counterparts. Many also come to Zimbabwe to share in our outreach experiences as well as to teach us new skills to pass on. Kufunda also host Learning Journeys whereby participants are invited from abroad to share in the beauty of Africa as they experience life for a few days in the rural communities. By interacting at a global level Kufunda are able to obtain support to keep their dream of creating sustainable communities in Zimbabwe alive. With each new partnership that Kufunda creates, the opportunity for further development becomes a practicallity!
I suppose as a newcommer I still have a lot to learn about Kufunda, so I in a way I feel as if I have'nt done enough justice in my analysis of Kufunda and the MDGs perhaps in time i'll be in a position to further impress our readers!
I'd really love to end off in quoting Jon Bonjovi on the Oprah Show:
'We have to help each other in order to keep community alive!'
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