Tariro Youth Development Trust is implementing the Youth Empowerment through Sports Project in Machiva Rural Community in Zaka District. The project is targeting youths between the ages of 13-30 years. The sport for development concept is an approach that is being used as an entry point to mobilize and sensitize youths about SRHR, life skills and STIs including HIV/AIDS. Games such as netball, volleyball and soccer are organized to bring youths together and at the same time deliver life skills, SRHR, HIV and AIDS knowledge to them. The teams or youths not playing at a particular time are gathered together into groups by peer leaders who conduct the lessons which are combined with fun games. The project also involves and empowers parents to participate in our activities by setting up local driven sports committees and as advocates of SRHR to eradicate harmful social and cultural practices detrimental to SRHR prospects of young people.

The project has the following specific objectives:

1. To empower young people with life skills to help those who are not sexually active to delay sexual activity through the use of sports.
2. To increase knowledge and awareness of SRHR, HIV and AIDS and other STIs among young people through the use of sports.
3. To reduce the high incidence of HIV/AIDS, early or unwanted pregnancies, crime and drug and alcohol abuse among young people.
4. To work with parents and local leaders in order to eradicate harmful social and cultural practices that contributes to negative SRHR outcomes among young people.

Self-Help Groups(SHGs) for out of school youths project is being implemented by Tariro Youth Development Trust in Machiva Rural Community in Zaka District. The project is targeting out of school youths between the ages of 15-30 years; where they are organized and trained to form and manage SHGs, trained in entrepreneurship and Income Generation Activities (IGAs) based on their interests and viability of the IGA. The aim of the project is to instill among youths the culture of saving and investment into micro-enterprises and IGAs that will improve their livelihood base and reduce poverty which drives them to risky taking sexual behaviors to eke a living; associated with HIV infection. Apart from savings and micro-enterprises, SHGs are also used as a platform for generating awareness on HIV/AIDS, SRHR, gender based violence, women’s rights, drug and alcohol abuse, male-female relationships and family planning.

The project has the following specific objectives:

1. To form SHGs to organize and concertize youths in Machiva Rural Community.
2. To equip youths with financial discipline and teach them how to save and invest.
3. To empower youths in Machiva community through micro-enterprises and Income generation activities.
4. To generate awareness of life skills, SRHR, HIV and AIDS using SHGs as platforms.

TYDT is implementing the OVC programme in Machiva rural community in ward 32 of Zaka District under Masvingo Province; where the educational system is characterized by a chain of poverty in which children fail to finish school or fail to pass and ameliorate their lives. The programme is targeting the most underprivileged children and youths orphaned or affected by HIV/AIDS with emphasis on the girl child. The programme aims to promote access to primary and secondary education through provision of tuition fees, uniforms, and scholastic materials, sanitary products for girls and Income Generation Projects for OVC’s and their families to support their education. Young people, particularly girls who attend formal school tend to delay sexual initiation, marry and start childbearing at old ages and have lower rates of HIV and other reproductive morbidities. It is for this reason that as TYDT we seek to keep orphaned and underprivileged children and youths in schools. On its commencement, the programme will focus mainly on mobilizing and sensitizing the community about the need to contribute positively towards the education, care and support of OVCs.

The programme has the following specific objectives:

1. To mobilize the community to pull together their resources and capacities to provide care and support to the OCVs.
2. To prevent OVC’s from commercial sex work, early marriages, alcohol abuse, domestic labour and other immoral activities.
3. To promote income generation opportunities to the OVC’s and their families.
4. To increase school retention and educational achievement for orphaned and vulnerable children and youths.
5. To improve the health and well-being of orphaned and underprivileged children and youths.
6. To provide care and support services to these vulnerable children and youths.