How Zacarias became a champion for peace
In our latest blog series “These are our champions for peace”, students share heir experiences as they go through training at our centers in Mozambique. These young people are trained as champions, within the project Youth Power for Peace and Prosperity, to bring change in their community. Meet our first champion: Zacarias, civil construction student, twenty-six and from rural Mozambique.
“I came from a humble yet poor family. Unfortunately, I lost my father in 2004. It was not easy for us to survive after his loss. We are family of seven and my mother works as a peasant farmer in the local farms making little money.
When I completed my secondary education, I had to start looking after my siblings. My dream was to get a degree, but my mother was not able to fend for all of us. I had to stop my studies. A little while later the whole country was hit by Cyclone Idai. It gravely affected my family, since we already had to survive with the little we had.
Fortunately, I had the opportunity to be enrolled under the YP3 project at Young Africa Mozambique. I really enjoyed it because the project, in addition to giving me training, gave me a new home. I stayed in the hostel at the centre in Beira. It was a safe space. We received shelter, food and the possibility to grow and meet new people.
And so today, I am a new person, and I am ready to work hard and change my future.
The YP3 project is a consortium between Young Africa International, Young Africa Mozambique and the Foundation for Community Development and is funded by The European Union. The project empowers youths with increased entrepreneurship and employability skills. That way youths have the ability to raise their voice and so they become agents of change in their community.
