Mr. Sibanda further said that the Ubuntu program, which was launched during May 22-28 Safeguarding Awareness Week, is guided by three pillars: Safety from Harm, Safety in Society, and Safety in Good Health.
“Safety addresses most issues that people face. Ubuntu comes in when people are safe from harm. Ubuntu comes in when people are safe in society. Ubuntu comes in when people have good health,” he explained.
Under the Safety in Society pillar, the need to care for the environment is emphasized, the Caritas Bulawayo official said, and added, “It is very important that people respect the environment, they conserve the environment and they live in harmony with nature so that they are also safe.”
“Ubuntu comes in when we respect nature. Nature is dangerous, nature will harm us when we don’t respect it. Let us protect nature, its sacredness,” he said, adding that there is need to embrace agroecology.
“Safety in Society comes when people are safe from the calamities,” the Development Coordinator of Caritas Bulawayo said.
He continued, “We have high incidences of gender violence and violence against children. We need to sort out those imbalances that lead to Gender-Based Violence (GBV) so that everyone can live in safety.”
The Caritas Bulawayo official said GBV is one of the issues that need to be dealt with to ensure all people are safe from harm.
“GBV is happening at household level, especially this being perpetrated mainly on women and children and even in some instances on men. This sometimes leads to the disintegration of families,” he said, adding, “We need to sort out these (power) imbalances.”
In addressing the pillar of Safety in Good Health, Mr. Sibanda said Caritas Bulawayo has collaborated with Zimbabwe Red Cross Society to train 32 Pontifical Missionary Childhood (PMC) animators across the Archdiocese of Bulawayo on first aid.
The training on first aid aimed to ensure that the PMC animators keep the children under their care, he said, adding that first responders to a health challenge will need skills to health emergencies that arise in society.
