Skills training for 200 learners in rural Zimbabwe

Introduction

The year 2020 was a challenging year for Emergination Africa just as it was for a lot of organisations facing the global pandemic. The resilience and dedication of our team and commitment to saving our communities encouraged us to continue delivering our programs despite the difficult environment. To close of the year Emergination Africa managed to successfully deliver National Business Case Provincial Competitions and a National Finals Evaluation.

NBCC 2020 Provincial Competitions

By adhering to strict COVID 19 regulations Emergination Africa successfully delivered provincial competitions across 8 provinces with a total of 20 Secondary High Schools meeting and presenting physically their solutions to panels of judges. Each school represented by 5 learners managed to present their business venture and prototype and judges provided direct feedback to the teams and ultimately came out with a provincial winner. 8 teams proceeded to the national finals evaluation.

NBCC 2020 National Finals Evaluation

The NBCC 2020 national finals with the COVID 19 situation in Zimbabwe had to be carried with a different approach, as learners and teachers could not meet up and present their final pitch before judges. We resorted to judges evaluating pre-recorded videos of learners presenting their solutions and judges deciding on a national winner competing for the first place was Queen Elizabeth High School, John Tallac, Mzingwane High School, Northlea High School, Mazowe Boys High School, St Dominic’s Chishawasha, Jameson High School and Hippo Valley. The solution by Queen Elizabeth High School of developing Biodegradable Diapers highly impressed the judges as they came out as first place national winners.

Virtual Master Class On Learning Difficulties

To kick off the year Emergination Africa in collaboration with Sonimind conducted a week-long virtual master class that worked with 5 teachers from our current programs. The purpose of the training was to provide awareness and accessibility of mental health related services in African schools. We conducted research on the need and impacts of ‘Upskilling African Secondary School Teachers’ and as evidenced by the data we collected; the teachers believe that they need upskilling in teaching learners with learning disabilities.

• GG Report (PDF)
  

In line with the National lock down restrictions by the government of Zimbabwe in response to the Covid 19 pandemic Emergination Africa had to come up with creative strategies that insured that learners continued to actively engage and prepare for the National Business Competitions. 50+ team captains adapted and demonstrated resilience during Covid 19 and continued to lead their teams. Some team captains fundraised and donated supplies (sanitary pads) to local communities, developed an appreciation video for all front line workers around the world and worked on activities related to the case. We have also managed to link one learner to a publishing house and a poetry  collection (Outside Voices) has come out of this relationship. The learners are changing the world one word and one activity at a time despite the challenges placed on them by COVID-19. Through your generous support the NBCC continues to inspire our learners towards making an impact in their societies. During the pandemic we managed to provide data and airtime to our  learners to enable them to fully engage in the NBCC activities. This has paid off and we are now ready to begin our NBCC 2020 Provincial Competition earmarked to start on the 29th of October 2020. 

• Report (PDF)