Plugging the Leaks in Mozambique

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They came in unmanageably large numbers; at one point we’d counted more than 90 young people who had made their way from their scattered houses around the village to the meeting place. The occasion was the launch of the first sessions of MICAIA’s Enterprising Youth project, which - as in the photo above - uses the Plugging the Leaks tool developed by nef. We’d chosen to hold the first sessions in a place we know well, Chimucono village, Darue Locality in Sussundenga District. The project is running in two Districts, Tambara in the north of the Province, and Sussundenga (closer to the capital, Chimoio) in the middle of the Province. The idea is to run the project in a selection of smaller rural communities, some small urban centres, the two District towns, and also Chimoio. In theory we’ll not only stimulate young people in each place, we’ll also learn about social and economic movement between rural and urban communities, and we’ll have a body of comparative data too.

Chimucono is the main village in the Locality. As a whole, Darue Locality has a population of fewer than 4,000 people, but this population is spread widely in and around the surrounding forest. As a rough estimate, some 80% of young people are unemployed or seriously under-employed. Of course, most young women in the area play multiple roles within the family structure and they also tend to marry young and start families. It was little surprise (though something we have to tackle) that less than 20% of the young people crowding into the centre were young women.

Chadreque Gurumane, MICAIA’s programme manager for work on active citizenship, also leads the Enterprising Youth project. He knew that we had too many people for the session to work so he negotiated and agreed to re-run the sessions at a later date so that everyone could participate. By the time we started we had 44 young people (18-25 yrs)

This first phase of the project involves three days of very active, participatory discussions in which a range of games, role-play and other tools are used. Day 1 is all about helping people understand more about their local economy – how it works, how it’s changing. People told us about the main economic activities in the area (agriculture, including bananas) and pointed to the community’s assets – good land, year-round water supply, a large forest with high value trees, and medicinal plants. Many of the young people were already aware of the potential that was being missed. For example, one young man told us (quite correctly) "In Chimoio you people buy apples from South Africa but we could grow them right here….and they’d taste better too!"

Agriculture is an obvious possibility in a fertile area like Darue, but we want to help people explore and then lead the development of a more diverse local economy. To help the discussion get going we used a bucket full of small holes. First we asked people to tell us about the things they buy and where those things come from. We wanted to know also what takes them to the District town of Sussundenga or to Chimoio. Once we had a few examples we poured water into the bucket and illustrated how the local economy works. Of the money that comes in from earnings, much of it flows out of the local economy because people have to go elsewhere to buy their goods and services or else they’re buying things locally that were produced in nearby towns, meaning that apart from the retailer’s margin, most of the profit is made elsewhere.

Of course, as water flowed around their feet there was great amusement, but the tool worked better than we could have hoped. Once stimulated, and with new insight, ideas flowed from our young participants about how to plug the leaks. "We should make soap," said one of the few girls. "There should be a proper pharmacy here because most of the time we have to go to Sussundenga [50km] for medicine," proposed another. Bakeries, car garages, hair salons, a photograph studio, carpentry and welding - one by one the holes were filled. By the end of an inspiring day we had together mapped out an entirely different local economy.

The second day moved from the community to the world - how it is changing and how young people feel (positively or negatively) about these changes. In future blogs on another community we’ll focus more on these discussions, but certainly in Chimucono it was clear that young people are broadly optimistic particulatly about the potential of technology. We use a ‘tug of war’ to test the level of optimism; as each new point about the future is proposed ("climate change will make it harder to grow food") the participant joins either the positive or negative end of the rope. When the ideas stop we play the game and see which side wins. In Chimucono, perhaps because they now have cellphone coverage and a new road is promised, the optimists won.

On the third and final day we returned to the ideas proposed for plugging the leaks and sought to ‘release the passion’. After all, it’s one thing for people to theoretically suggest ideas for creating local economic activity, but is anyone ready to take the plunge? This session was understandably more challenging. It’s easy for people only to see unsurmountable obstacles: no money, no knowledge, no energy or supplies. Our task is to try and clear away the assumptions in order to free people to dream and then, as the project continues, to help at least some of the young people take practical steps to making those dreams a reality.

Again, in future blogs we’ll return to this third session, but in Chimucono the young people seemed willing and able to say what interested them. There was enthusiasm for services – a cinema, hair salons etc – and recognition that small scale enterprises like retail outlets and salons were very feasible because they would require smaller amounts of capital and easily aquired skills. Other ideas proposed, such as a dairy, would be more difficult to start. From our perspective we were delighted with the range of ideas, the apparent willingness to get involved, and the level of creativity in the group. As we go forward, using coaching, business planning and mentoring, no idea will be ruled out; the key is to find the right place to start.

As the third and final session drew to a close we knew that something very powerful had started. Young people were challenging each other, seeing new possibilities emerging from one idea after another. The talking continued as people wandered off into the village and to their homes, and we’ll give the last word to one young man, who shouted out as he left,"I’d like to open a brewery…people drink a lot here!"