Hands On! Equip Deaf youth to work in Zimbabwe

Tracy helps in the small sewing company we reported on in the last report, but she is still learning at Sanganai Project. The young people in the company are learning more about the work environment and about what is expected in a job. This will help them get employment in the future, as they can work to targets and produce quality products. They are getting used to using commercial machines- which is a big change, after using old hand Singer machines before!

I got in touch with Tracy during a lockdown period to ask how she was – she wrote to me explaining how she was struggling to communicate with her younger brother. She sat with him and tried to explain to him about the coronavirus, but he likes playing outside in the street with lots of friends. He refused to understand because he wanted to play outside! Tracy also tries to help other deaf girls, and she was trained as a mentor.

She enjoys helping other girls to understand information. “A lot of deaf girls are refusing to follow the lockdown. They leave home and go walking and enjoy telling stories in sign language with their friends. I think deaf girls don’t like staying at home because it’s boring or they don’t have friends near their homes. I know that’s very dangerous because of COVID 19 and we must be careful and keep safe.” Tracy recognises the problem many girls have of communication with their families. Most families cannot use sign language and just have very basic ways of communicating with their teenagers. This is often not enough and all sorts of problems occur at home.

Since the beginning of the Hands On project last year, 34 young people were reached at Sanganai. In 2021, six deaf girls moved into town so they could be involved in the training at Sanganai Project. Activities were slow to start this year due to a lockdown period, in January and now again in July, but small groups have continued to come. Some come to look after the vegetables in the field.

Nzeve’s vision is to see the Deaf community valued in an inclusive society. We believe employment practises must be more inclusive, and the sewing company is helping this. The deaf community are also being included in sport. It’s usually soccer, but one of our Board members started a new golf academy and he started training some of the youth!

We are so grateful to you - our generous supporters – for all your support to the youth at Nzeve.

Ushe is a young man who started at Sanganai Youth Project just before our first national lockdown a year ago now. Ushe started Primary school late and never got to Secondary school but he is very reliable and is doing well learning carpentry and farming skills at the youth project. He is also included in a fish project and walks long distances every day to take his turn feeding the fish. The first harvest is due in April and we are excited to see how big the fish will be!

We are also hopeful for a good harvest of maize this year. It rained every day since early December, so the crops have grown well. Ushe has been involved in the group of young people working in the field at the centre.

Deaf leaders taught about the need for lockdown and explained about COVID 19 to deaf youth and children. Now they can come to Sanganai Project at Nzeve every day again, since the lockdown regulations have been lifted a bit. Ushe said how happy he was to be back at the centre again. He complained about how lonely he was during lockdown since he cannot communicate well with his family.

Some good news- thanks to the training they received at Project Sanganai, four young deaf people, graduates of Sanganai Project have got jobs! They are employed by a local company to sew dust coats, overalls and work suits.

We are also seeing promising results of the mentor programme. The young people who are involved in the programme can present at meetings and tell their stories, they manage to understand other people’s situations, including parents of deaf children and they are reaching out to help younger deaf youth and children.

It's thanks to you - our generaous supporters that, now they are back, the youth are busy learning and practising their skills in building, carpentry, gardening and dressmaking skills.

We appreciate you all,

Libby Foster