Grassroots Developers

Tonderai Mushore is a teacher and Sports Administrator by profession, and have vast experience in Education and sporting circles. 

The project aim to eliminate unfair distribution of resources and facilities especially the marginalization of rural areas which leads to loss of talent which die unnoticed subsequently resulting in the underdevelopment of such communities. To close the gap it could be ideal to establish a fund which run the business of putting up sporting and recreational facilities as well as identifying, nurture and support idle talent in less privileged communities such as rural areas. This will work well if it be administered by a committee or board. The program will help many school going and unoccupied out of school youth realise their worthy, it will reduce redundancy, crime activities, promiscuity and generally the program will contribute to the community well being. 

Humanity has lost worthiness, hope and confidence.This is even worse for the 21st generation youth. Why? Simply because, the world we are living today is faced with many challenges of varying degrees from politics, socio_economic, health, disasters, unemployment, the list is endless. 90% of the youth in Zimbabwe are affected, 65% in the southern Sahara region and over 50% on the global scale. 

This is a social program which network with schools and social community based clubs especially soccer which happen to be a crowd puller and most common traditional sport. The project gives advice, technical knowledge, create linkages and engagement of influencial personnel or organs that may assist with the required resources in terms of kits, transport logistics and food in rare circumstances. The idea will be to promote socialisation, wellness and of key importance to identify talent for redirecting. In this category, we identify talented orphaned and vulnerable players as well as school drop outs. We help them realise their worthy, give them hope and confidence through sport. 

In a bid to understand the needs of the target group (talented in sport but orphaned and vulnerable youth in school and out of school, dropouts and unemployed) , there is a lot of interaction and creation of platforms to express themselves. The players are engaged in the ideology of self sustainability where some of the members contribute whatever they can before getting external assistance. The project is teaching them to solve problems, help each other, socialise, manage conflicts and living healthy lives with hope, confidence and self worthy. 

The program is aligned to the Elevate Prize because it seeks to elevate the victims by providing a platform for recovery and growth. 

The idea of running the project started between 2013 and 2014 when l was on attachment at Zimbabwe Football Association at the same time being the Secretary for Administration for Mashonaland Central Sports Development Committee. The entities have been preaching grassroots sports development but l realised that the ultimate goal was never achieved and l observed that this was mainly due to unclear, unsupported and poorly resourced implementing strategies. Since then, l became interested in grassroots sports as the basis for socio-economic development. 

The main thing that inspire me is to help someone who is talented but underprivileged. I am motivated by the energy and zeal shown by the youth in sport. Some of these youth show high levels of commitment and dedication in various activities but end up losing focus due to lack of improvement in self and undeveloped infrastructure, lack of competition and exposure. This l have realised it among youth out of school and unemployed youth who make part of the social clubs around Manhenga, Chiveso, Nyava, Wayerera and Trojan. 

My experience with the local soccer governing body and my involvement and interaction with various other institutions that aim to elevate livelihoods, gave me the insight that grassroots sport, if well managed through well laid structures can be the vehicle towards success, be it in an institution of learning or in the community. I think l am uniquely positioned to deliver the project and solve the problem using my academic skills as a teacher as well as an administrator. My experience with the Ministry of Education stretches to over a decade of serious involvement in sporting activities working closely with the underprivileged, orphaned and vulnerable children. Apart from that, l live with this reality everyday which makes me uniquely positioned for the solution. 

Despite the fact that resources are scarce, we keep on trying to keep the youth motivated and in the team spirit by sometimes intervening with the least help we can to keep members coming for training sessions and subsequently playing in matches over the weekend. Since, most of the youth are unemployed and vulnerable , they sometimes face adversities at home with their parents or guardians to the extent that these youth are denied the chance to socialise and play games since they will be regarded as a waste of time and risky for example if one picks an injury playing social soccer. So we go an extra mile of mediating and fight for these youth and guarantee their security as long they are part of a team. However, things always fall apart and the worst is experienced, injuries occur, tempers are lost, morale and unity of purpose as well as promises are broken down. It is in these circumstances we take responsibility to ensure negative attitudes and behaviors are addressed for the betterment of individuals, the team as a whole and community at large. And to this point we are still going. 

My leadership identity traces back to college where l served as the Pioneer Student President between 2005 and 2008. Two years after graduation, l became School Sports Director and subsequently the District Sports Director in camp for Bindura District under National Association of Primary School Heads. In 2016, was elevated to the post of Deputy Head and subsequently Head of School, the post l am currently holding under the Ministry of Education. In between, l served at provincial levels as ZIFA Provincial Administrator and as a volunteer under Sports and Recreation Commission as the Secretary for Administration in the provincial sports committee. Of particular reference is the innovativeness to turn around the fortunes of Maravanyika Primary school through engagement and management of income generating projects that saw us establishing a successful piggery project which was supported by a grinding meal project. The two projects helped the school to awaken in terms of sustainability in sporting activities. We managed to procure kits and transport as well as comfortably feed athletes from the proceeds. Some learners were exempted from paying levies and the balances settled down from the project fund. 

The program is innovative because it cuts across most themes of life. 

My understanding of the theory of change is simply the realization of the desired outcome. The behavior of many youths who are involved in these activities record a positive outcome as compared to those who are idle and unoccupied. Smokers, thugs and probamatic youth in society are usually those that do not take part in these sporting activities because they seem a lot of  unutilized energy and fresh minds. 

From community level we are currently serving an average of 150 members and we hope to grow ten times in a year thus targeting an average of 1000-2000 both direct and indirect beneficiaries. The number is expected to rise to over 5000 in  five years. 

Within a year, we hope to have established a registered community entity that carries on with the ideology of grassroots development. We target to produce individuals who will run as ambassadors and keep on helping others. 

The main challenge is lack financial resources for coordination, organization registration and operational costs. 

The one and only way we can overcome the challenge is through funding from partners. 

DAPP has been influencial in educating the youth on HIV and AIDS. They also use sport as a unifier and a mode of transferring information, hence, we organise our teams to come for their functions and in turn get information. 

For financial sustainability we hope to engage the youth in business projects were the organization will share the proceeds with beneficiaries and as well meet the cost of doing business in any location. 

Transport and logistics $2000

Food                                 $1000

Communications           $500

Emergency   fund          $500

Total (2020)                   $4000

We aim to to assist the talented and potential but underprivileged young sports person in remote areas through a well thought out implementation strategies of talent identification, nurturing and support. 

We hope to partner with established entities mainly to achieve good cooperate governance practices. 

Econet Zimbabwe is on the cards for its good record in business locally and internationally. The organization also have platforms that can enhance our existence and provide the best network for mobile marketing due to its market base.