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Project goal:

The aim of the project is to train grassroots youths in democracy and public participation, connecting issues of day-to-day survival (lack of refuse collection; water cuts; power cuts) with the national democratic deficit. Set up into organic community groups the identified youths will carry out small, confidence-building actions that increase community confidence in reclaiming power in their communities.

Through building a grassroots youth movement Uhuru aims to continue co-ordination with civil society partners in pushing a Social Service Delivery Campaign that links issues of economic justice in communities with the wider democratic struggle. By encouraging rates boycotts by community members the project aims to empower them to confront oppression through community-based initiatives while eroding the power of the city council and pushing for a democratic city council. Through co-ordinating decentralized, distributed action with civil society and social movement partners Uhuru aims to build capacity for more centralized and larger action by the democratic forces at large.

Major beneficiary group: Poor youth from the marginalized communities of Highfield, Glen View, Glen Norah and Budiriro

General background, problem statement/analysis:

Zimbabwe is currently in a political and economic quagmire. A kleptocratic regime is being offered feeble resistance by a divided opposition and a civil society often disconnected from the pulse of the grassroots. Effortsby many NGOs to democratize Zimbabwean society have not been effective in building democracy at the grassroots, notably because most NGOs are not membership based or driven, have relatively high overhead costs, and are hierarchically structured and bureaucratic. The discourse of much of civil society has become distanced from the language of economic justice of the late 1990’s that saw national stayaways, the Working People’s Convention and the formation of the MDC upsetting ZANU (PF)’s dominance.

At the same time the regime’s clamping down on democratic space through violence, threats and unjust laws has left people fearful of the word ‘politics’. Much of the hope and spontaneity of the late 1990’s and early part of this millennium has diminished. The high density youth have been especially affected, as politically they are often used for violent ends by political parties. Economically they are largely unemployed and thus vulnerable to exploitation. Most shy away from politics partly due to the necessity to survive on a day-to-day basis, partly because of fear of oppression, yet also partly because the somewhat alienating concepts of ‘mass action’ and ‘elections’ seem to bear no fruits.

What is sorely lacking is a new approach to the struggle for democracy, a new way of reaching out to the grassroots for the grassroots. What is needed is a popular democracy education programme that can reach out to youth in new ways: through art, discussions, community media. Just as the stayaways of the 1990’s gave way to the attempted mass action of the early 2000’s it is time for a programme that reaches out to communities on their own issues, education on social justice and public participation while building capacity in communities to take action through initiating small, confidence-building actions. Only by learning that ‘mouse action’ leads to mass action can the struggle move forward.

There is a need to circumvent oppressive laws such as POSA through being creative in how public gatherings are organised. Community festivals and street soccer games do not require permission under POSA yet can be used as spaces for advocacy, mobilisation and recruitment of youth who would normally not attend political meetings. Such community-based initiatives can be creative in how they deal with political issues, addressing the political non-participation of the community youths while incurring low overheads.   

Economic, financial and social justification of project (e.g. impact on poverty alleviation, environment etc.):

The project is not imbalanced in financial terms as it will have low overheads, channelling most funds into training, creative social advocacy and public participation as opposed to the funds being devoured by a huge wage bill. Socially the project has a lot to offer to marginalized youths through providing the Uhuru Social Centre in Highfield which houses a community library where members can browse through newspapers and educational literature. The Uhuru community action groups that Uhuru aims to establish in other communities will participate in the regular Ruzivo Circles (study circles) while the youths will also be exposed to permaculture gardening and community clean ups (all of which have been running for the past 10 months) leading to more integrated, self-reliant and socially aware youths. The project will be based on mobilisation through organic, local, social networks as opposed to the detached, incoherent mobilisation initiatives employed some NGOs.

Gender impact:

Uhuru has a policy that includes young women in decision-making and implementation in all projects. Currently Uhuru has nearly 20 young women members involved in different activities. The Popular Education and Community Action Project aims to expand the amount of young women involved in Uhuru through reaching out through different means ranging from permaculture to arts performances to community forums. Through such diverse, community-based initiatives that are neither traditionally political nor patriarchal more young women will become members of Uhuru on an equal footing to their male counterparts.

Approach, concept & methodology of project:

The project will use a community-based approach. Uhuru’s concept is to recruit youths into the network through creative social actions, ranging from community festivals to guerilla theatre, from clean up campaigns to street soccer games. When enough members are in a specific community they will combine to form an Uhuru community action group. Once in place these community-based groups will come to the Uhuru Social Centre for regular Ruzivo Circles, democracy workshops and training in public participation. The community action groups will also be trained in permaculture at the Uhuru community garden in order for them to have a ‘legitimate’ reason for being grouped together while at the same time building their self-reliance. They will also have the opportunity to join and learn skills from Uhuru’s arts collective, the Toyi Toyi Arts Collective, which trains and organizes pro-democracy arts events, while also having the opportunity to join and be trained by Uhuru’s media collective, the Community Media Collective, which publishes and distributes Township Voices,Uhuru’s regular social justice, community newsletter (3000 issues per month). This is a training process, combining democracy and grassroots self-reliance, that has proven successful with Uhuru community action groups in Highfield, leading to multi-skilled, rounded youths. These community action groups will then engage in co-ordinated, confidence building actions within their communities. Such actions will range from guerilla theatre to clean up campaigns, from distributing Township Voices to advocating for water rates boycotts.

Uhuru members will slowly empower themselves through small, confidence-building actions with attainable goals. Uhuru’s actions seek to link day to day community survival questions with the general struggle for democracy. Accordingly Uhuru’s current campaign is a Social Service Delivery Campaign that links issues of lack of refuse collection, water and electricity cut offs, dysfunctional health delivery systems, and the like, to the national democratic deficit. Uhuru aims to launch this campaign officially at a Social Service Delivery Campaign Launch with partner movements at the end of September 2006. Campaigns will be co-ordinated with partner organizations such as the Combined Harare Residents’ (CHRA) and Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA), appearing like distributed, unco-ordinated actions, yet building capacity amongst CSOs and social movements to co-ordinate larger actions in the future. This is because Zimbabwean democracy forces currently lack the ability and capacity to work together on a common platform coordinating peaceful resistance. Thus the beginning of this alliance building necessarily needs to start with a few movements coordinating different actions and campaigns at the same time which can stretch the resources of the state while not revealing the coordination between the movements. Once trust and real alliances are built then other movements can join and larger actions carried out.

The methodology for the year will use the ‘Recruit-Train-Act’ principle. Since Uhuru is already strong in Highfield the network aims to spread to other communities through an aggressive, grassroots Outreach Programme. The targeted high density communities are:

• Budiriro,
• Glen View,
• Glen Norah

The OutreachProgramme will entail a series of Community Festivals, a combination of pro-democracy arts performances and a community forum where high density youths and poor people in general will be educated on their basic socio-economic and human rights and will be encouraged to engage in participatory, consultative discussions in order to come up with solutions to the instances of day-to-day oppression that they face. The Outreach Programme will use the ‘festival’ format as it portrays itself as an apparently harmless arts event that does not require police permission. The festival format will provide cover for the political discussions that will take place while also being appealing to those youths who shy away from traditional politics.

With its experience of having organised Resistance Festivals at Zimbabwe Social Forum 2004, Southern Africa Social Forum 2005, various community performances in Highfield and ongoing monthly Toyi Toyi Slams (pro-democracy arts events) at Harare’s Book Cafe, Uhuru will take the caravan to the above-mentioned, identified communities. The Community Festivals will be a process where poetry, hip hop, music, theatre, film and dance will be used to educate and mobilise poor people around the issues of human rights and social service delivery. The Toyi Toyi Arts Collective will bring together its network of popular musicians who sing of people’s struggles, theatre groups that challenge the audience to overcome oppression and film that depicts the victories of other people struggling for freedom. The community forum aspect of the ‘festival’ will employ a public meeting format and will advocate the need for community members to initiate the Social Service Delivery Campaign in their community that can then be more generally co-ordintated with the Uhuru Network and partner organisations such as CHRA. These festivals will serve as spaces to recruit Uhuru members and will run from August 2006 until July 2007, giving time for the establishment and training of local Uhuru community action groups.

Organisationally Uhuru uses the three circles structure: an inner circle of facilitators, assistants and strategists who make the decisions, a second circle of Uhuru members involved in regular Uhuru activities, and finally an outer circle of community youth contacts who are called upon to attend specific, large community activities.

At the end of the year, Uhuru will hold an Uhuru Forum (Annual General Meeting) to review the activities of the past year and to come up with a strategic plan of action for the following year.

Risks/assumptions of project implementation:

Ø      There are risks of infiltration of Uhuru, but this is dealt with through the vetting process which requires prospective members to be recommended by 2 current Uhuru members in addition to the fact that vital information will only go to the point persons of community action groups. A further barrier against infiltration and information leakages is the aforementioned three circle structure whereby sensitive information rests in the inner circle, not circulating amongst the general membership.

Ø      There are possible risks of new members refusing to do specific actions, but this can be dealt with from the experience of having organised actions before where they are encouraged to do smaller, more symbolic actions where those with more experience can do more high risk action

Ø      A further possible threat is that of repression by the state.  However, Uhuru has been in existence since October 2005 and has successfully maintained the reputation of a community-based, youth empowerment organization involved in permaculture and clean up campaigns

Ø      POSA may be seen as a threat, but, to date, Uhuru has never been denied permission to hold public meetings or forums as members apply as residents and residents do not require police permission to meet

Organisational structure and capacity (incl. number of staff, professional background etc.):

The Popular Education and Community Action Project is spearheaded by the Ruzivo Collective, the Uhuru Network department that focuses on education and community-based action. It comprises of a Programmes Facilitator (BA Sussex University) and other members

Uhuru’s grant management and accounts are handled exclusively by FTS Consultants, a reputable accounting firm whose clients include Amani Trust`s Counselling Services Unit.

Cooperation/integration with/into national governmental programmes:

None

Cooperation/integration with/into non-governmental programmes:

Ø      Partner organization with CHRA in Social Service Delivery Campaign/Rates Boycott Campaign

Ø      Member of Zimbabwe Social Forum

Ø      Part of Social Justice Co-ordinating Committee alongside WOZA, GAPWUZ, Crisis Coalition

Cooperation/ involvement with local organizations and/or local authorities:

CHRA, WOZA, Crisis Coalition, Mutare Residents and Ratepayers Association, Zvigogodza Trust, Zimbabwe Integrated Youth Survival Alternative Project, Environment Africa

Own contribution to project by applicant organization:

The project is one that aims to build a spirit of voluntarism at the grassroots. Where many NGOs pay members for merely attending actions or fora the majority of Uhuru members are volunteers. It is through this spirit of consensus and genuine voluntarism and commitment that Uhuru believes it can build democracy at the grassroots.