More Resilience, Less Vulnerability in Chimanimani, Zimbabwe.
Restoring Hope Through Mangroves an inspiring story from the Philippines share similarity with the Transforming Fragilities (TF) project that was supported by VSO Zimbabwe in Chimanimani community post cyclone Idai during the recovery phase. The project was a resilience building initiatives meant to restore and lessen community vulnerability. Tropical cyclones are common in the area and after cyclone Idai three more affected the district. They affect livelihoods for example agriculture, livestock and trade because of broken telecommunications and road networks. They also affect access to health facilities and promote conflicts for remaining arable land in the communities. The elderly, child headed families, people living with disabilities and women bear the weight of this challenge especially during evacuations. This is because of their limited mobility, access to information and responsibilities. The TF project educated the communities on vulnerability ranking, awareness raising, disaster preparedness and communication. Further, they also collaborated with local stakeholder to establish youthful climate champions and community volunteers to help before and during emergencies. The community was also supported with a local radio station to help communicate and also disaster risk management committees in schools and communities were also established. They also address Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights, exploitation and abuse during emergencies as well as child protection issues.