Business Reporter
THE Jesuit Social Justice and Development Center, Silveira House is slowly transforming relations between villagers and miners through dissemination of faith based activism strategies.
The Catholic run institution, Silveira House is pursuing an uncommon but results yielding strategy working hand in hand with villagers in Buhera, Mutoko and Mberengwa.
The organization has over the years imparted training on Economic and Social Governance (ESG) skills, leadership and engagement rooted in the philosophy of Godly love and faith.
Silveira House programs officer, Zandile Mvududu said the successes recorded so far are a result of peaceful engagement rooted in faith and Christly love.
“Our approach is neither violent nor confrontational but rooted in the faith hinged on Christly love. Our operations are guided by Isaiah 41: 19 which states that I will plant in the wilderness the cedar and the acacia tree, the myrtle and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the cypress tree and the pine and the box tree together.
“If God can breathe such a kind of life where there is despair and hopelessness, then who are we to deny faith based engagement to resolve our problems,” she said.
The program’s beneficiaries testified that the strategies imparted were bearing fruits back home.
Environmental monitors from the three areas this week told a workshop hosted by Silveira House that the level of engagement they are operating in has transformed conflicts in their communities.
“Working hand in hand with Silveira House ideology of engagement rooted in faith , we were able to contact our councilors and join hands with the community and we filled up the pits,” she said anonymously.
Maybe Mushayavanhu, from ward 5 Mutoko over and above challenges such as roads damage and destruction of grazing lands.
“We however managed to engage the miners in our community and educated them on traditional days. To this end, they have ploughed back to the community by installing tanks and piped water. They have also erected solar powered boreholes and renovated our local clinic.
“I don’t mean to say that all is well back home but so far, engagement efforts are going a long way to transform previously thawed relations,” she said.
At ward 27 Mutoko based Petronella Kadange hailed the Silveira House for empowering villagers in her community.
