55 village groups train in project management

Lazarus Sauti

FIFTY-FIVE community groups in Chikomba East constituency recently benefited from a project management training programme facilitated by Reaction of Orphans Support Association (Rosa).

And Rosa seemed to respond to J Phillips who said: “running a project without a work breakdown structure is like going to a strange land without a road map”.

Phillip’s quote inspires Forbes Chikobvu to help establish Rosa – a civic society organisation that is initiating various projects in Chikomba East constituency to help villagers with project management training as an effective way to fight poverty.

“We are helping villagers here in Chikomba East Constituency to start income-generating projects such as horticulture, soap-making, poultry rearing, dress making and goat as well as sheep rearing. Our goal is to empower and transform villagers,” said Chikobvu.

Rosa recently carried out a project management training programme at Mangoro Primary School.

The training workshop was facilitated by a Canadian delegation from the Zimbabwe Project Canada, an organisation that supports Rosa in its developmental projects.

“We trained 55 groups with eight to 10 members each as well as new villagers who are eager to join the life-changing projects. We taught them how to write project proposals, how to start and run sustainable projects, monitoring and evaluation as well as market research,” said Chikobvu, adding: “Our goal is to help villagers achieve their desired goals. Remember, running a project without a plan is like going to an alien land without a roadmap.”

He also said Rosa mooted the plan of project management training after realising that most business ventures in the area were failing to succeed simply because members lack a better understanding of the various aspects of project management, from financial information to human resources.

Netsai Mutengwa, 32, member of a horticulture (gardening) project, applauded Chikobvu and his team for imparting her with the valuable information on project management.

“I benefited a lot from the project management training workshop organised by Rosa and facilitated by members of the Zimbabwe Project Canada,” she said, adding, “I am now knowledgeable on how to run projects, especially developing the project plan as well as making decisions about how the project should be carried out.”

Ward 27 Pokoteke councillor Lawrence Watambwa said the training is coming at the right time as most projects were failing to succeed due to lack of knowledge.

“Most, if not all, people here struggle to prolong their various business projects due to lack of skills and knowledge. One team that is doing sheep and goat rearing, for instance, lost about 10 goats due to lack of information to save the animals,” he said.

Watambwa added: “I want to thank Rosa for carrying out this training as it helps villagers to understand the parameters and requirements of different types of projects.”

Chief Chitsunge said the workshop is a game-changer and it was hope that Rosa will target more villagers and transform the lives of many.

Muchivanhu chedu tinoti akupa damba ndewako. This project is good and we are 100 percent behind it as many villagers are benefiting,” he said. “Most importantly, school children are now going to school, thanks to this initiative.”

Headmaster at Mangoro Primary School, Manassah Watambwa, concurred saying various projects in the area uplifted villagers and decreased the number of school drop-outs.

“Families are realising money from various projects initiated by Rosa, meaning they can now afford to pay fees for their children,” he said.


(c) Weekendpost, April 14-20, 2017.

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