Women from Kwekwe promoting conservation and environmental sustainability - Zimbabwe

Women from Kwekwe promoting conservation and environmental sustainability

A group of nine women is playing an active role in promoting conservation and environmental sustainability and the same time contributing to the country’s economic development and this has been witnessed at the Kwekwe Recreational Centre which was formerly known as the Kwekwe Prince Park.

The group of women were given the former Kwekwe Prince Park to utilize as a Recreational Centre to cater for tourists, residents of Kwekwe and other stakeholders. For more than a decade the park was neglected and had become a dump site and a toilet for vagrants. The women then resuscitated the park for income generation through park rental services, provision of recreation facilities, weddings and birthday parties and a provision of traditional foods

Parks and Recreation centres generate money for the local income and at the same time they are places for health and well-being for everyone in the community said Pinky Sibanda the focal person.

Annual food fairs have been held since a group took over the Park in 2015. The food fairs draw women farmers from the Midlands Province to showcase their produce particularly in horticulture as this part of the government’s efforts to empower rural women from surrounding areas in the province.

To date the group has managed to make a facelift of the park which includes landscaping, planting lawn, flowers, fencing right round the park, paving, renovating a toilet, starting a car wash and cleaning a parking area. The achievements made are attributed to the contributions from members. They contributed immensely to reduction of HIV and AIDs through clearing area being used by commercial sex workers and vagrants during the night. During clearing and cleaning 2bins full of used condoms were collected implying how the area perpetuated issues of HIV and gender.

Other achievements are that the Members have contributed to household income and raised income to pay fees for their children and the group has created employment even for non-members of the group. However, it has not been a walk in the park, the group has faced 2 major challenges; Inadequate financial resources to drill a borehole to have adequate water supply and shortage of financial resources for infrastructural development of the park e.g. setting up shades. Their hope is to find a sponsor to assist with upgrading of the infrastructure as they are playing a critical role in promoting quality life with the recreational centre in the tourism sector.