Young people deplore lack of food and education

By Thandeka Matebesi

A Matabeleland based Non-Governmental Organisation, Rural Communities Empowerment Trust (RuCET) has said that young people in Menyezwa area, Ward 14 in Lupane are facing challenges in accessing their constitutional rights and much needed service delivery.

RuCET, in partnership with Lupane Youth for Development Trust, recently conducted a meeting with young people from areas such as Masenyane inorder to elicit their voices on issues affecting their livelihoods.

RuCET Senior Programmes and Information Officer, Nkosini Khuphe revealed that the major challenge that the youth are facing in the area is access to food.

Khupe said that this was a result of lack of income generating projects that could have economically empowered them.

“The major challenge that the youth in the area are facing is non-access to food. A lot of young people are complaining of hunger. They are struggling to survive because of the drought coupled with lack of access to water for agricultural projects. There are very few sources of water in their area.
Access to water for day to day activities is also a challenge as there are no boreholes in the vicinity. People have to walk very long distances to access water,” said Khupe.

Khupe added that: “The youth are requesting authorities to give priority to these issues and drill boreholes, because once there are boreholes the youth can then undertake irrigation schemes to improve their livelihoods without having to solely depend on handouts from NGOs”.

Khupe also stressed that the youth were in desperate need of a vocational training centre and a secondary school. He said that having to walk long distances to access education was contributing to reduced morale for learning.

“There is also the challenge of access to education especially secondary education. The only school that young people depend on in Masenyane is very far, it is about 12 to 13 km from the village. It becomes very difficult for them to actually focus on their studies and excel.

The youth are therefore appealing to the government to build more secondary schools that are close by so that students do not have to walk for long distances to access education because walking long distances affects their concentration levels and overall performance.

One youth specifically emphasized the need for a vocational training centre so that youth in the area can be trained and imparted with practical skills that would benefit them. There are some practical skills that can help them survive in the economy,” he said.