Coordinator – CYNESA Zimbabwe
My name is Clive Pawakwenyewa, I was born in Harare Zimbabwe; educated at Courtney Selous for my primary school and the Jesuit run St Ignatius College for my high school. I finished Advanced levels in 2011.
In 2012, I was accepted into the Youth Peer Facilitator program of the Jesuit AIDS Project, a Jesuit social apostolate that focuses on behavior change in young people, advocacy and other areas of HIV/Aids response. In 2012, I also enrolled at the University of Zimbabwe for a BSc (Hons) in Sociology.
In November the same year, I was approached by Br. Ngonidzashe Edward S.J, to be the Founding Coordinator of Magis Zimbabwe (an Ignatian program for Young Adults), a role I held for three years until 2015. In between that period, I volunteered for the Jibilika Dance Trust and the Harare Young People’s AIDS Network in 2013. In 2014, I was the coordinator of the successful hosting of the Ignite Africa Experience that took place in Zimbabwe and Zambia bringing together over 300 young people to renew their commitment to bring moral, social and cultural transformation in the world.
Through the Magis program, particularly its concern and emphasis on creation, I got interested in environmental issues and CYNESA’s faith approach to this in particular. Laudato Si was another message that touched me even deeper and made me want to respond to the call of sustainability and the environment, an opportunity that being part of the CYNESA Network grants me every day.
After graduation in 2015, I became the Coordinator for the Zimbabwean Chapter of CYNESA. We have had successful events like Green Sunday, Cleanup Campaigns as well as hosting some members from the network.
This year-2016, our main goal is to grow the network by adding more young Catholics to our team of volunteers and to design more interactive programs that will boost the youths’ voice in the sustainability dialogue. We also aim to connect and collaborate more with the CYNESA networks so that together we continue to pursue a green sustainable Africa.