CNS STORY: Zimbabwean youths put faith into action in neglected suburb of capital

ZIMBABWE-YOUTH Sep-29-2009 (730 words) With photo posted Sept. 28. xxxi

Zimbabwean youths put faith into action in neglected suburb of capital

By Bronwen Dachs
Catholic News Service

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNS) -- Young Catholic parishioners in a neglected suburb of Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, have formed a "faith in action" group that sweeps the trash-filled streets and fills potholes in the roads, among other tasks that the city council rarely undertakes, their parish priest said.

There is "enormous gratitude" from Mbare residents for the work done by the approximately 70 young people who clean up the area, wearing T-shirts with "Catholic Youth in Action" on the front and "Community Service: A Priority" on the back, said Jesuit Father Konrad Landsberg, pastor of St. Peter's Church in Mbare.

In a Sept. 25 telephone interview with Catholic News Service, Father Landsberg said he started the group early in August with lessons on the church's social teaching.

The youths, ages 16-22, "learned that Christianity needs to show in actions. It's not OK to go to Mass on Sunday and then commit murder on Monday," he said.

Another priest at St. Peter's, Jesuit Father Oskar Wermter, said Mbare is "severely neglected" by the city council, which "does not provide sufficient refuse removal."

With trash only collected "occasionally" by the council, "there is a lot of dirt everywhere and sewage runs in the streets," with burst pipes left unfixed, Father Wermter said.

In late 2008 and early 2009 the high-density suburb was badly affected by the nationwide cholera outbreak that killed thousands of people and infected tens of thousands more.

As well as ridding the streets of trash and filling up potholes, the youth group has cleaned the infectious diseases hospital in the suburb, Father Landsberg said.

This work "is a way to show our commitment to serving the community and the church," Father Landsberg said, noting that it "has given the youngsters a sense of meaning."

They "have a new sense of belonging to the community and to the church," he said.

The group plans to start a soup kitchen in the parish center, which is next to Mbare's bus station, a hub that links Harare to other parts of Zimbabwe and neighboring countries, Father Landsberg said.

More than 3 million Zimbabweans are estimated to have left the country for neighboring states to escape political and economic turmoil at home.

Mbare's bus station "is a place of vulnerability," Father Landsberg said.

"People find themselves stranded there" and many are robbed, he said, noting that the church "is looking for ways to protect and help" the commuters.

Despite Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's calls for Zimbabweans who have left the country to return, "there is no sign of people coming back" and "anybody with the slightest hope of getting out of Zimbabwe is going," Father Landsberg said.

Tsvangirai's opposition Movement for Democratic Change formed a coalition government with President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party in February.

The new government has brought "no improvement" to the lives of his parishioners, Father Landsberg said.

While some of the members of the Catholic Youth in Action group are college students, many have not been able to find jobs after completing their studies and others abandoned their studies when their parents could no longer afford the fees, Father Landsberg said.

"They want to improve their own lives as well as their community and have plans to start income-generating projects," he said.

In another part of the city, students and teachers at a Catholic school are providing warm clothing for 1,200 prisoners in Harare Central Prison.

Earlier this year, when Father Landsberg and Theresa Wilson, a teacher from St. George's College, visited the prison to assess its needs, they found prisoners starving and almost naked.

"The conditions were appalling; it was horrifying," Father Landsberg said, noting that "prisoners were dying of starvation."

A Jesuit newsletter reported that corpses were often left among the prisoners for days until they were collected.

"For a few weeks," before the International Red Cross took over the feeding scheme in mid-May, St. George's College teachers and students took porridge and 2,400 peanut butter sandwiches, as well as eggs or oranges, to the prisoners every day, Father Landsberg said.

With the handing over of the feeding scheme, the church group turned its attention to the tattered clothing of the inmates and donated blankets, trousers and shoes. St. George's has organized locally made clothing for the prisoners, Father Landsberg said, noting that they aim to have enough to give some to each prisoner.

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