Youths embark on clean-up exercise

Victoria Falls Reporter
A GROUP of volunteer youths drawn from different countries yesterday began a two-week clean-up campaign of the Victoria Falls Rainforest World Heritage Site as part of efforts to encourage youth participation in nation building. At least 25 youths from Youth2Youth volunteer groups in Zimbabwe, Zambia, France and the United States, who are part of the Unesco World Heritage Volunteer, have started sprucing up the resort town.

Their programme includes cultural exchange activities meant to promote different cultures and tourism.
The group coordinator, Catherine Masunda said their mission was to encourage youths to volunteer in nation building.

She said Victoria Falls was their first port of call and hoped the group would do three more programmes before the end of the year.
“We are here as volunteers from different organisations in different countries trying to encourage youths to volunteer and have an appreciation of world heritage sites especially Victoria Falls, which is one of the Seven Wonders of the World,” she said.

“We also had a culture night where youths are having an appreciation of different foods, cultural activities and traditions.”
The youths are picking litter within the rainforest and along the road towards Victoria Falls Bridge, which is usually littered by wild animals and truck drivers who camp for days waiting to be cleared.

They are also clearing paths and scrubs in the rainforest making it easy for tourists to walk and also destroying a plant parasite lantana camara, which has invaded the rainforest and threatening ecosystem as it causes extinction of some species.

Masunda said her crew would also visit other heritage sites and assist Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority preserve them for tourism purposes.

She said the idea to do voluntary work was mooted two years ago after they did some work camp in Korea.
However, Victoria Falls shunned the programme after being told it was done for free.

Nomatter Mapungwana from Conscious Youth Movement in Mutare said the work camp had been “an experience meeting peers from other countries.”

Alexis Moreno from France said being a volunteer for one’s country should be a dream for every youth.
Zambian Georgina Mabezere said they were already thinking about inviting Zimbabwe youths to partner in some of their national programmes.