Midlands State University through its Generations for Peace (GFP) Club flew the country’s flag high at the Generations for Peace Samsung Advanced Training Awards Certification ceremony held in Amman, Jordan, on the 26th of October 2016.
Competing against teams from over 50 countries, the MSU Generations for Peace Club emerged as winners in the sustainability category. The competition was divided into four categories that is Quality, Impact, Innovation and Sustainability and adjudication is based on short video submissions by various GFP teams from across the globe. In their submissions, teams highlight activities and projects that their participants are undertaking throughout the year.
Under sustainability, teams had to highlight how long the positive impacts of their activities would last, show evidence of community ownership and engagement of key local stakeholders as well as the cost effectiveness. Through its video submission, the MSU GFP team was able to successfully capture and satisfy all the requirements, while also highlighting the different activities that it is undertaking both at the Zvishavane campus and the Gweru Main campus.
The MSU GFP’s submission was made possible thanks to the hard work of Everson Kudakwashe Chieza and Donald Chidamba, Thamusanqa Gumpo all second year students in the department of Film and Theatre Arts, who edited and produced the video. While Hazel Halima a second year student in the department of English and Communication and Talent Chitepo a fourth year student in the department of Marketing Management ensured that all Club activities were documented and marketed respectively with the help of their patrons Nkala D, a lecturer in the department of Entrepreneurship Studies and Mr Gwarinda, a lecturer in the department of Film and Theatre Arts, Mr J Chivivi, Director sports.
Speaking while receiving the award on behalf of MSU and Zimbabwe, Mrs M Mugwati, the Acting Deputy Dean in the University’s Faculty of Commerce and one of the GFP Pioneers, said the award came as a surprise and thanked the University, GFP and the event sponsors, Samsung for their support.
Other winners included teams from Macedonia (Quality category), Lebanon (Innovation category) and Tunisia (Impact category).
‘Generations For Peace is a leading global non-profit peace-building organisation founded by HRH Prince Feisal Al Hussein and Sarah Kabbani in 2007. It is dedicated to sustainable conflict transformation at the grassroots, Generations For Peace empowers volunteer leaders of youth to promote active tolerance and responsible citizenship in communities experiencing different forms of conflict and violence.’