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Writes Marlvin Ngiza
Youths under the banner of Teen Rescue Mission (TRM) in Mutare on Friday turned up in huge numbers for a national clean-up day which they hosted under the theme “Our environment, our future”.
TRM Mutare youths demonstrated their commitment to cultivating a pristine environment and they exhibited unwavering dedication in ensuring the cleanliness of the city whilst advocating for the imperative messages of abstaining from crime, and drugs, and preventing early pregnancies.
The session which was hosted in partnership with the Gender Commission, the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, and the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) has given young people the possibility to be educated about their rights and the dangers of drug and substance abuse.
TRM representative for the Mutare cluster, Tawanda Moyana, encouraged young people across the country to give their energy to national initiatives saying that it grooms them to be patriotic leaders of tomorrow.
“We are so grateful to our organisation, TRM, that has stepped up to represent us as youth and teach us to be responsible with our lives and our surroundings. As an organisation that fights drugs and substance abuse, early pregnancy, and crime, we feel that it is our responsibility as the youth to clean our environment as we are the future generation,” said Moyana
Some of the youth who spoke to Spiked Online Media said their participation in the exercise equipped them with the knowledge to be responsible for their surroundings and to be environmental stewards.
Anesu Kelly Mutemera said” “As a youth in Mutare, I want to appreciate TRM for teaching us to be youth who stay away from drugs. Today as we are cleaning the environment we are demonstrating the aspect of us being clean from drugs. Spending the day cleaning our town, we have embraced the sense of stewardship and I urge other youth out there to preserve the environment that is our future. I challenge all the youths to shun drugs and crime,” said Mutemera.
Juliet Zindi spoke highly of the clean-up campaign saying “As a girl child, today I am so excited to have the privilege to participate in this clean-up campaign. I learned that as a youth, it’s my responsibility to keep my beloved city of Mutare clean,” she said.
Mufaro Chakonza appreciated the government of Zimbabwe for coming up with the clean-up initiative.
“We are grateful and proud as Mutare youths for cleaning our City. As you all know this year’s independence celebrations are going to be hosted by Manicaland and as a girl child and a youth, I feel grateful that we maintain the status of our city high in terms of cleanliness,” she said.
The National Clean Up Campaign is a monthly exercise that was introduced by President Emmerson Mnangagwa and is conducted every first Friday of every month.
