On Saturday 12 October, the Haarlem-Mutare citylink was again present at the national meeting of Platform Zimbabwe. This annual meeting of private initiatives around Zimbabwe was held for the 16th time. This time in the Corderius College in Amersfoort. In excellent atmosphere, about 45 people from 20 organizations took part in an inspiring program. With presentations by, among others, Cornelius Hacking of the small NGO Jabulani Kids that supports a project for disabled children in Zimbabwe. Deputy Ambassador Harare Eva van Woersem talked about the role of the Dutch embassy for the region. Darlington Rukodza of Wilde Ganzen explained how they can support projects. Hugo Knoppert of Zimbabwe Europe Network has outlined the current political, social, economic and financial situation in Zimbabwe. Johan Huver of FNV Mondiaal gave a picture of the increasing repression of trade unionists and the way in which they continue to support the trade union struggle.
The Haarlem-Mutare twinning is working with other organizations to make rivers in both cities sustainable. She organises clean-up campaigns and develops a board game about surface water for education in 5 languages. This game, Aqua Heroes, which was developed as an Erasmus+ project, will also be usable in Zimbabwe. For those who were interested, this game was displayed on the presentation table. The twinning also collaborates with the drinking water project in sister city Mutare. With a short video, young professional Felix Armstronghall from Mutare of the VEI (collaboration of 7 Dutch drinking water companies), told in a personal story how the Dutch drinking water companies support the municipalities of Mutare, Bulawayo and Harare in making water management in Zimbabwe sustainable. The video can be seen via the link below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZemswN5ICu8
We look back on a great meeting of enthusiastic small private initiatives. Our support for the people of Zimbabwe remains necessary.
Dik Bol