Antonnate S. Mugodi and Pamela T. Munyoro.
Harare, Zimbabwe. (News of The South) – Minister of Youth, Sports, Arts and Recreation Kirsty Coventry today addressed the youth of Mufakose on covid-19 youth relief fund at Harare Metropolitan Province.
A relief fund for youths under the age of 35 has been put up and these funds are meant to help the youth, little as it is, to start up a small business so that they would be able to sustain themselves during this time of the covid-19 pandemic.
“We have heard the kind of situations that you are facing and we are here to see how we can be able to help.
“This money is not a loan and you do not have to pay it back, it is money that you apply for and we give it to you, to help you,” she said.
Basketball court at Mufakose youth centre
The youth went on to state the problems that they were facing.
“We are facing difficulties in finding places to do our art and showcase our talents. There are a few facilities and we would appreciate it if there would be recreation facilities opened in different provinces to ensure that every youth gets a chance to be noticed,” said one youth.
“Instead of giving out the funds how about projects be created and the youth be employed so that they keep on generating more money,” one man highlighted.
In response to some of the issues raised by the youth Dr Coventry said that come next week, more relief funds are going to be given out to ensure that they can create much bigger opportunities for themselves.
“We now have a database that makes us see how many youths we have and this will help us in the careful distribution of these funds,”
“There is a criteria for Artistes fund that you can now be able to apply for and a criteria for sports fund that you can also apply for probably next week Monday,” Minister Coventry said.
There have been some renovations done at the Mufakose Youth Interact Centre. There are new basketball courts, pavilion, new sewing machines, roofing renovations and also an IT centre for easy Wi-Fi.
“We also want to make sure that there are at least four recreation centres in each province,” Minister Coventry added.
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