One of the things I have come to love about my months as an Ambassador is that it has made me to explore certain qualities I did not know I had and it has moved me away from my comfort zone. I have made some sacrifices in carrying out my duties: from finding the time to financing events. But I am proud to have made such sacrifices as I am beginnings to see the results and people shifting their mind-sets on how they view their environment. 

So last week (even though I had an upsetting head and stomach), myself and some die hard environmental lovers went out of our comfort zone and raised awareness on an environmental issue. Instead of going to just any other school in our town, we planned a trip to a remote village outside town. This is because of the very fact that remote areas are the most affected by climate change than urban areas (like in Bulawayo where I stay). So there is a need to make sure that such marginalized communities get the environmental education that they too need. And distance was not to be a hindrance to this quest.

Ntabazinduna is a small village in Umguza district south east of Zimbabwe. About 50 kilometers away from Bulawayo. Its one of the regions that is mostly affected by veld fires and random cutting down of trees (deforestation). These deliberate problems suffered by the environment of this village are due to the lack of knowledge. To them some of these acts are part of their culture e.g cutting down trees for firewood.

Hence our initiative to bring the education needed to take care of the environment, was to go back to this community and what better way to do it than through school children who are the future leaders of our society.

The first school we went to was Nhlambabaloyi primary school which has up to 700 students between the ages of 6 and 13. Accompanying me was Miss Environment 2014 1st runner up/Miss Climate 2014 of Zimbabwe, Sibusisiwe Falala and Trust. Since prior to the day, we came and made an assessment of what environmental challenges the school and the community were facing, we knew exactly what issues to talk about in our workshop with the students.

 Because it was exam time, we had to wait for the senior students to finish their exams. After gathering them up (grade six and seven students) our environmental talk was ready to begin. Our talk lasted for about two hours, and our education ranged from the basic definition of environment to tackling the environmental problems they faced in their marginalized community.

After the lesson we had an environmental activity, in and outside the school. We divided into two groups (boys and girls) and within two hours we picked litter and filled fire guards. There we also managed to launch an environmental club that will address all environmental issues affecting the area.