In a world turned upside down by a global pandemic, a sense of purpose -in all parts of life- is now more important than ever. At a time when many are dealing with angst, fear, chaos, and uncertainty, most young people are questioning the meaning of their lives. Many search for purpose in life, but most often do not have any sense of direction in this journey. Many youths have been finding it difficult to adapt to the new norm as disruptions to their education, career goals, and entrepreneurship journeys continue to take place. The coronavirus pandemic has also triggered an unprecedented socio-economic crisis that is draining resources for families all over the world and pushing more families into poverty as reported by the World Bank recently. Zimbabwe went under lockdown in March 2020 due to Covid-19, and the lockdown continued into 2021 due to a spike in cases and the emergence of a new and deadlier coronavirus strain. The 2020 and 2021 lockdowns affected the informal sector, with many people losing their source of incomes. Some children have dropped out of school to support their parents with income making activities. Schools were close for most of 2020 leaving most students uncertain about their education and future. Many families from poor communities depend on the informal sector, and with the covid-19 lockdown lost access to their customers and income. Some parents can no longer afford school fees and this led to even higher drop-out rate.
At times like these, platforms that provide a ray of hope to the young people are very critical and this is what IGNITE Youth Organization is offering. IGNITE Youth encourages young people to ask themselves central questions of life, being, and purpose and provides them with mentorship to guide them along in their lines of career and vocation. As difficult as these times may be, the young people are finding purpose in performing concrete gestures that express love and closeness towards each other and the people around them, and by being servant leaders in their communities.
“When you live your life with a purpose, you are much more in control of your long-term happiness. You won’t have the feeling like you’re just drifting, working towards some vague goal that doesn’t make you happy,” says the Founder of IGNITE Youth, Tadzi Madzima, who has chosen to a purposeful path, one that empowers and guides young minds on their journey in life to find their purpose, and live life with passion.
2019 photo of the Ignite Youth Founder Tadzie Madzima standing with some of the girls from Bulawayo who are benefitting from its girl empowerment and mentorship programs
IGNITE Youth is providing a purpose-centered approach to career guidance and coaching to help teenagers (aged between 13-19) and young adults (aged between 20-29) years to create meaningful careers and vocations for themselves. They help young people to think critically and innovatively about how they can contribute solutions to the problems their communities and country face. IGNITE’s mentorship strategy revolves around assisting the young people to lead purpose-driven lives which are both personally meaningful and at the same time motivated by a desire to make a difference in their communities, nation, and the world, beyond the self. Our aim is therefore to yield productive youths that are forward-looking and active in servant-leadership.
While purpose and productivity are by no means mutually exclusive, they are also not synonyms. Certainly, feeling a sense of purpose and having a direction that is meaningful to us has an impact beyond ourselves and motivates our actions. Often, it leads to productivity. We often underestimate how “productive” we can be during hard times. Ultimately, caring for the health and wellness of ourselves, our loved ones, and our community members gives us a very genuine sense of purpose and is also productive. Purpose often goes beyond serving oneself and IGNITE Youth has proven this through the many activities (mostly online) they have held during this pandemic. All of the organisation’s activities are aimed at raising purposeful, responsible, and skilled youth who will become the African leaders of tomorrow.
Since the beginning of the lockdown, the organization has held over 200 online discussions spread over WhatsApp and Zoom platforms, reaching over 20,000 youths. The discussions ran under its “Mentorship Program” where they roped in different people, young and old, to talk about purpose in the different facets of young people’s lives.
“The goal has been to give the youth a sense of purpose even in times wherein everything seems devoid of meaning and sense. Essentially, we are taking a deep dive into equipping young people with the necessary skills to customize their talent so that they can find a career and/or vocation that is befitting them and benefits the society as well; during and beyond the pandemic,” said Tadzie Madzima.
The Organization has also partnered with a number of Organizations during this time. They partnered with Dialogue on Shelter for the Homeless and Plan International Zimbabwe to facilitate leadership team-building trainings with the youth from Safe and Inclusive Cities in St. Peter’s, Bulawayo.
Since most cannot afford to buy face masks, in the bid to reduce the spread of COVID-19 we partnered with Fashion Designer, Chenesai Mangoma, owner of Chenesai Brands to do an online tutorial teaching our youth how to make their own non-surgical masks by repurposing material and fabric. Research shows that masks help to minimise the transmission of covid-19. The Ignite youth went and created masks for their families too.
In March, IGNITE Youth launched a nationwide “I Will Step Up” contest, calling for young people aged between 15-25 years to come up with progressive ideas to address the impact of the Covid-19 virus. The relevant fields that were of concern included the education sector, informal sector, mental health, and hygiene. Following a competitive series of rounds, 6 teams came out as winners of the competition and they were awarded start-up grants to enable them to bring their ideas to life. They were also awarded mentorship and training from the Ignite Youth Social Impact Incubator to help improve the impact of their work.
IGNITE Youth has also shown love to the community through its “Hope Program”; the charity arm of the organization.
“Every leader must live to serve because service to humanity should be everyone’s initial purpose of life. This is important as it benefits not only the leader but the followers to a larger extent and the community in which one serves,” said Ashley Maponga, the Head of the Ignite Hope Program.
“Servant leadership also encourages us to consider humanity first before ourselves and this promotes development in every sector of our lives through contributing and giving back to our communities. Ignite Hope fosters the spirit of servant leadership amongst the youth by providing a platform to which every youth gives back to the community through their different talents, gifts and purpose. Ignite Hope encourages the youth to be selfless and to develop their communities without expecting anything in return,” she added.
In May, the Hope Program ran a fundraising campaign to raise money for Kudakwashe Children’s Home, which is home to young children with disabilities, situated in Stoneridge. The young people were able to gather basic amenities for the children and these included groceries, warm clothing, and linen for the winter season. The young people saw this as an opportunity to put their minds and hearts together to take care of their little brother and sisters.
Teen moms face unique challenges one of them being stigmatized in society. It is particularly hard for them to reintegrate back into society because they are usually not accepted back by their schools, teachers, friends, community and even their parents. Their lives are drastically altered when they have to balance figuring out life for themselves while caring for the needs of their child. Ignite Youth supports teen moms so that they know that even as teen parents, they can still be successful, they can still thrive as independent adults taking care of themselves and their children.
IGNITE Youth also partnered with I AM ZIMBABWE Trust (a registered non-political, Non-Governmental Organization, founded with a vision of nurturing healthy, educated and empowered children and youth) to inspire purpose to the young mothers and teach them that their future is filled with hope, potential, and promise. In September, they held a training workshop with the young teenage moms in Mbare and donated some basic necessities for them. IGNITE Youth has held Teen Mom Workshops over the past few years themed “You can still thrive!” Through these workshops, the teen moms receive powerful personal stories of transformation and motivation from speakers and mentors. The girls not only learn strategies to bounce back but also create vision boards aimed at them resetting goals for their lives.
“What was more interesting to note from the project was the teen moms out cry for capacity development,” said Hazel Jojo, one of the Ignite Girls Leaders. “The teen moms project was mainly targeting the teenagers who have fallen pregnant and are looking for a way to still succeed in life despite the circumstances. The project started off with providing Covid-19 food packs. This gave us a clear foundation of starting the baseline needs assessment that gave us some direction on what exactly the teen moms want and how best we can come through. The needs assessment yield results that revealed that the teen moms has the capacity to solve their own problems and they just want enough support to do so,” she added.
The Ignite Medcial Program and the Ignite Hope Program also carried out more than 5 Blood Drives in partnership with the National Blood Services of Zimbabwe in Harare and Bulawayo during the lockdown. The need and demand for blood is always and there are emergencies that require blood transfusion on a daily basis for example maternal cases, road traffic accidents, blood disorders amongst others. In partnership with NBSZ, Ignite Youth held a Blood Drive in Bulawayo and Harare. Due to the covid-19 pandemic, transport was provided for blood donors to and from the venue. Lunch was also provided. Social distancing and also hand sanitizing was practiced at the venue.
In the picture: An Igniter giving blood at one of our Blood Drives carried out in partnership with the National Blood Services of Zimbabwe (NBSZ)
Since its launch in 2018, IGNITE Youth has reached over 8,000 youths through its programs and events across Harare and Bulawayo. We have also helped more than 70 leaders to learn leadership skills and gain both international and local mentors through online and offline meetings and events. More than 60% of our youth leaders are girls because we believe their voice matters and so we give them platforms, information and tools that help them to feel confident about their personal choices, bodies, their intelligence, and their worthiness.
“Joining Ignite Youth Organization was the best move I ever made in 2018, October. I yearned for a safe space for young people with a drive to serve their communities. As such, I became a young volunteer and was equipped with both soft and hard skills that would make me a productive member in my community. I later got to lead the Mentorship Program and it fell in sync with my passion and what I stand for. Through a number of workshops and seminars, my public speaking and leadership skills grew immensely.
“IGNITE provided a platform for me to bloom. End of 2019 I applied for a scholarship through my faculty at school. Among the required documents was proof of any civil engagement as a volunteer. It was really easy for me to provide such as I was an active member with Ignite Youth Organization. As such, the organization helped by giving me a Certificate of Membership as well as a recommendation letter that gave a detailed summary of my participation and contribution.
“Volunteer-work is one of the biggest assets a young person can have. It speaks responsibility, servant leadership and honour. In giving back to the community, I have received a thousand times greater and that just fuels me to take part in all activities and workshops Ignite Youth offers. Today, I am happy to say I am a proud benefactor of Konrad Adenauer Stiftung! Without any record of volunteer work and civil engagement, the opportunity could have missed me. I am happy it didn’t, and I am glad I had Ignite Youth Organization in my corner, making sure it didn’t.” – Samantha Kanoyangwa, IGNITE Youth Member and Mentorship Program Leader
The truth is, we are all trying to adapt to our new realities; relative as they may be. As we settle into our new routines, it is important to be mindful of meaning and purpose. IGNITE Youth Organization continues to prove that meaning is essential for maintaining hope and happiness in the face of adversity; more for others than for ourselves!
