testimonies
Danai (Didi to her friends and family) Gurira is now pursuing an extremely successful career in show business in the United States. A reviewer described her as ‘the red-hot Zimbabwean actress…who stars as butt-kicking, katana sword-wielding zombie, apocalypse survivor in The Walking Dead’. She has scooped an Obie Award and other awards for writing and acting. Yet, Danai could very easily have been an academic like her father or a librarian like her mother or any one of the many careers that graduates of the Dominican Convent in Harare choose. Instead, surprisingly and rather unfashionably, she decided to take up drama, earning herself an MFA (Master of Fine Arts) at New York University. The performing arts was not a popular choice among young girls of her age when she was a Harare teenager. So why and how drama? The answer is simply ‘CHIPAWO’. Danai admitted this herself when she addressed a group of Swedish parliamentarians at the CHIPAWO Media Centre while on a visit to Zimbabwe from the States somewhere around 2003. Movingly, she acknowledged her debt to CHIPAWO, saying that it was CHIPAWO that had launched her on her theatre career and provided her with grounding in the performing arts. She explained that her membership of and experience in the CHIPAWO Youth Group made her and the others in the group believe that they could do anything they set their minds to. The sky was the limit. And it seems that this is exactly what is happening for Danai right now in the United States. The CHIPAWO youth group that Danai was referring to and of which she was... read more
testimonies
Anesu Cheryl Chinembiri is my name. I’m a young lady aged 21. CHIPAWO as an organization that has been working with children and young people for the past 25 years has been involved in many International festivals as well as exchange programmes. I was fortunate enough to attend a carnival that was held in Zambia and I felt honored as I had the opportunity to share the same stage with Dendera Kings including Sulumani Chimbetu himself. Chipawo as an ARTS EDUCATION FOR DEVELOPMENT AND EMPLOYMENT TRUST has greatly contributed to what I am today in terms of good leadership skills, communicationskills, confidence as well as being focused. This has greatly impacted on my Insurance and Risk Management career which I’m currently studying at the Midlands State University. I have been in CHIPAWO for the past 9 years and I strongly encourage young people to join CHIPAWO especially the Girl Child so that they also get equipped and develop their desirable... read more
testimonies
Upon my arrival at the Harare International Airport on the 1st of November 2014 , I checked in at 1600 hour for my 1900 hour flight and anxiously awaited to embark on my long awaited journey to Delhi ,India. I stood with my head held high conscious of the fact that I was going to be representing my country, Zimbabwe as a cultural ambassador. Seated making myself comfortable, despite the little delay in terms of departure at Zimbabwe’s premiere International airport we safely took off and found ourselves in Lusaka in less than an hour and then later on proceeded to Dubai. Bustling my way through the congested UAE airport, I advanced to the next gate and a couple of hours later, I found myself on route to India’s capital, New Delhi. On arrival I went through customs as well as health officials testing for signs and symptoms of the Ebola virus on arriving passengers and left India Gandhi International airport on a verge of exploring the world’s second most populated country’s culture . From the airport the driver took me straight to Delhi railway station where I met up with two other interns Jihad Ali and Melinda Madarasz from Egypt and Hungary respectively and together embarked on another 6 hour train ride to the ancient city, Jaipur popularly known as “Pink City”, where we were going to be working. A couple of hours later we arrived in Jaipur and tucked in at Janpath Guest House, our home for the next three weeks. The next morning we all gathered downstairs in the dining room for our 1st official briefing... read more
testimonies
By Martha Maggie Saidi My visit to India (My Internship at Ryan School) from the 7th of August to the 25th of September 2014. I went to India to participate in the International Children’s Festival in Janah and Nangpu. India is a country exceedingly rich in culture, overflowing with the smells, sights and sounds of life. It is both a rewarding and a challenging place to travel. From my experience traversing this vast country , it lives up to its tagline of “incredible India” for a multitude of reasons ,warm people ,outgoing and open hearted in nature ,astoundingly varied landscapes that make each state seem like its own country ,historic architecture that exudes a palette of glorious colours at every turn ,authentic cuisine that turns many travelers into vegetarians and so much more . Nigeria, Morocco and Turkey were some of the countries that took part in the exchange festival. Schools that took part in the exchange program were Ryan School, St John’s School and St Xshevious School. Early morning, the next day we left for Ryan School Padmavati for the festival activities. When we got to the school we were introduced to the creative director who was in charge of the program for the exchange program. We introduced ourselves and familiarized with one another, after that we were given a short briefing on the concept of the festival and cultural exchange programs and workshops. I was given a platform to interact with children from Ryan School and teach them about my country through sharing various facts and statistics about Zimbabwe from my culture ,my beliefs ,my values ,the... read more
