Radio Miraya
2817: MBS. UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Visits South Sudan and Inspires Youth
UNICEF South Sudan has hosted Mr. Tendai Mutta Warira. I hope I pronounce him right, Mr. Tendai. Please do help me on that before we continue. I'll do pronounce that second name. It's a good morning. I think we're having me on the show. So, it's Tawarira. OK, Mutawarira. Thank you so much. Yes, Mr. Tawarira is a former rugby star and now UNICEF Regional Goodwill Ambassador for Eastern and Southern Africa. He is in South Sudan this week to advocate for education and set light on the pressing humanitarian issues facing our nation. We're happy to have Mr. Tendai here with us in the studio to talk more about his visit to the country. Also, we are joined by dynamic UNICEF young reporter Rhonda Wani, who will also share her perspective on the importance of youth advocacy. Officially, let me welcome you, Mr. Tendai, to the Miraya breakfast show. Good morning. Good morning. Thank you. It's great to be in South Sudan. Thank you. And yes, Rhonda, good morning. Good to have you here. Yeah, good morning. It's a pleasure to be here. Yes, Mr. Tendai, let's start from-- is this your first time in South Sudan? Yes, first time, yeah. And what is your first impression when you arrive to South Sudan? So far, what's your impression about the country? Yeah, and it's been amazing. It's been really great. Obviously, I haven't been here before, as I said earlier, and to come here and experience and see what's happening on the ground has been really inspirational. To me, it's been educational as well. So I really have some wonderful interactions. And yeah, this is probably the first of many visits. Yeah, welcome, welcome. And always good to have you. It's good to be having you here in South Sudan. Before we continue about your visit, particularly the reason and what you are doing here, let's get to know Mr. Tendai just very briefly. You are a former rugby star, obviously. But just a little more about you. Where did you play from? Or where you from? Just give us a little information about yourself. Yeah, sure thing. So I was born and raised in Arares in Babwe. And discovered the talent of rugby at a very young age. And by the time I got to the age of 16, everybody around. And Babwe knew about me. And obviously, in some, there's no professional rugby league. So I dreamt of going to South Africa and realizing my dream of being a pro. And I moved to Durban at the age of 18. I got a scholarship to study and play rugby. And it was a dream come true for me. And yeah, I had to up and leave my own country as a young man. And I went to, obviously, here, South Africa. And I lived in Durban played for a team called the Sharks. And yeah, then I've missed a lot of games. And eventually, I represented the country. And now I'm probably one of the most decorated rugby players of all time. I'm a world champion from 2019. And rugby has been pretty much the foundation of my success. The foundation of who I am has brought me to where I am. And been able to propel me forward and inspire, obviously, the next generation. So it's a big deal to me. Wow, sounds so, so impressive. Hopefully, you'll teach some of our young loves, some rugby. Someday, here in South Sudan. Because now, we're not really so famous about rugby. Probably nowhere good at basketball. Yes, I know. I've been following the team, so I know that you're good at basketball. Thank you. Now, let's talk about your visit. Of course, it's your first visit here. You're coming in the role of UNICEB Regional Goodwill Ambassador. Tell us, what does that mean, personally, to you? It means a lot to me to be a UNICEB Goodwill Ambassador. Because I've always wanted to be a humanitarian, to inspire the youth, to work with the youth, and solve some of the issues that they're facing in regarding to education, climate change. Yeah, and it's something that I really value and treasure. And to be here in South Sudan, it's been eye-opening to see some of the struggles on the ground. And what has inspired me is just seeing that the youth, like Ronda here, they're at the core of raising awareness and aiding their voices to try and being changed and being a positive approach. And that's-- yeah, so for me, it's a big deal to be able to speak on behalf of these young people. And on your visit here to South Sudan, what motivates you to visit South Sudan? And what are you going to do here, particularly, what's your role as you come here? Yes, also, what inspired me to come here? You know, is that there's not a lot of focus or sport lights in South Sudan. A lot of people don't really know much about this country and your struggles. And there's a lot of misconstrued information. So I obviously spoke to UNICEF. And there are so many options, so many countries to visit. But I chose South Sudan specifically because I truly believe that you need to have the support. You need to have the backing of organizations out there to resolve the issues that are on the ground. I read a mind-boggling stat that there is 75% of your population. There is a need of humanitarian aid. So I am here, specifically, to be on the ground. And obviously, assess what's going on. And then raise awareness and in turn that will obviously be able to bring funding and more resources to help. And, yeah, an alleviate, this gap that is there. So, yeah, that is the main reason why I'm here. And during your stay here, you visited Bohr. That's in Jungler state. And also, you spent some time here in Juba. What specific issues did you address during your visit to these places? And what have you seen? Yeah, so I've seen quite a lot of things. And then I visited a couple of schools when I was in Bohr, part of the Jungler state, and I saw firsthand that children are struggling to get to school because there's a lot of flooding to work in gun boots to get to the one school. And it's really sad when you get to see what children have to-- the conditions that they have to suffer for them to just get to a school and get learning. So, you know, there's a lack of infrastructure. And I saw firsthand, like, what are you at UNICEF is doing? You know, building climate-resistant classrooms to make sure that kids stay in the classroom, you know? And they're in a safe haven, they're in a safe space. So that was something that I witnessed there in Bohr. And then when I came back to Juba, I went to a youth center, a greater youth center. And I saw some of the amazing work that is happening with kids that have been previously engaged in gangs and also child soldiers and just been through traumatic experiences. And now they're being rehabilitated back into society. So that was quite amazing. And I saw that there's a soccer program run by a gentleman called Kuku and how he's inspiring, you know, young people to, you know, to exit their energy towards meaningful things like sports. And, yeah, and get away from gangs and all the bad stuff. So that was quite amazing and inspirational. So, yeah, those are some of the issues that I discovered on the ground. And I truly believe that, you know, if we have a joint effort and we have more people speaking about this issue and raising awareness then, it's gonna, yeah, it's gonna get salsa down to a much better place in the future. Great. Now, as we all know, education, of course, is a key forecast for UNICEF. Did you advocate for education during your visit? And what message do you want to convey to the local communities? Yes, also, yeah, I did go to a number of schools. And, yeah, you know, I was just, lived inspired by what I saw, what I witnessed, you know, and just these young people, they have so much belief and faith that, you know, the situation is gonna turn around. And, you know, I heard their stories, I heard their dreams where they wanna become, you know, one day, and I just, you know, encouraged them to keep on believing and never giving up, you know, on their hope because, you know, the dead seed of belief is so powerful. It will propel them past challenges, you know, and, you know, they'll rise above the circumstances and be able to be at the center, you know, to solve these issues that salsa down is facing. So, for me, my message to the communities, you know, is to really, you know, not stand in the way of this young people, you know, to encourage them to go to school, you know, and not confine them, you know, to being at home. And, obviously, doing daily chores in the field and, obviously, farming and agriculture is a big deal. I understand it's important to put food on the table. But, having a good education, a sound education, it just empowers young people, you know, to propel through life, you know, and be able to make good decisions. So, issues like gender-based violence, for instance, all those things can be eradicated by educating young people, you know, so I just think that the community to support, you know, the next generation, there needs to be less, you know, a less and less and, you know, child marriages, we shouldn't have young women committing to marriage, you know, at a young age. It's just unfair, you know, it starts them from achieving, you know, their fullest potential. So, things like child marriage should be eradicated, you know, we should support our young girls and young women and put them in a position to be successful because girls are going to play a key role, yeah, in solving some of the global issues. And, yeah, so for me, that is my strong message. And, you know, I want to do justice for these young people and speak on their behalf. - Strong message indeed, thank you so very much. And before we get to Rwanda, and talk to Rwanda briefly, your nickname is Debiz. Is that correct? - Yeah, it's great. - Tell us how it came about. - Oh, it's actually a funny story. So, when I was young in primary school, I was quite a big guy, you know, man child, and my best mate at the time was trying to come up with a suitable nickname because I was quite aggressive as well. So, at the time, we used to watch, you know, this cartoon called X-Men, and there was a character called The Beast. So, you know, he decided that I fitted the mode of this character and gave me the nickname, The Beast, and it stuck with me for the last, yeah. - All right, thank you. - That 30 years. - All right, now, random, once again, thank you so much for joining us. You've been really patient as we spoke with Debiz. Now, just tell us, how does it feel like to be part of this advocacy mission with such an influence of a figure like Debiz? - Yeah, it feels actually very good to be part of an advocacy with an influential person, 'cause usually in life, we learn a lot from people who have seen a lot. You know, they usually say that an elder sitting can see far away than a youth who is standing. Yeah, so, working with him gives me more experience and helps me to learn a lot, because we still have a lot going on in the country, and we have a long way to go. So, getting from the experience that he has helps me to, you know, identify some of the issues and how to tackle them in the right way. - Great, now, what do you believe is important? Why do you believe that it is important for young people in South Sudan to have their voices heard, especially in discussions about education and humanitarian issues? - Yes, it's important for the voices of young people to be heard, because these issues are facing us. So, therefore, if we don't speak by our own, then there is nobody to speak for us. Sometimes elders speak on our behalf, but they don't really tackle a lot of things that we go through. For example, that's, I think, one of the reasons is why the UNICEF has initiated the Young Reporters' Program. So yet, the young people will be able to speak their own issues, because, you know, at the level of a young person, there are some things that the elders are not aware. But when young people are being given the opportunity to speak, then they're able to air out all these things that are facing them, which is not known to the public. - Great, we'll get back to you, Rhonda, for your final remarks later on, message, but let's get back to Debiz. As you have been going around, what challenges have you observed in South Sudan that requires attention from both local and the international communities? - Yes, sir, yes, I said, you know, I have traveled wherever a country and have witnessed, you know, significant issues. I run obviously education, and I also saw some of the health care centers went to a primary health care center and board, and I saw that there's a big issue around malnutrition, you know, amongst children and infants, and it's so important to have aid, you know, to have proper medication and vaccinations so that young children can grow up healthy, you know, and they can become strong mature adults. So I saw that there is a big need when it comes to that. So I know that UNICEF is doing a big, you know, playing a big role in terms of bringing in, you know, health products, but they, you know, it's only a concern thing for 15% of what's actually needed out there. So we need to have more, you know, joint effort from the government, you know, from other organizations, other NGOs, private and public sector, to be able to, you know, to bring these resources to full capacity so they can go to source and, you know, and we can help, you know, young and old, you know, to be healthy, and I know that, yeah, as well, there's other issues as I spoke about around, you know, education, I truly believe that, you know, education is the most powerful weapon with which we can change our world, you know, great. And also Mandela spoke those words. So if we resolve, you know, the infrastructure, you should do more schools. I think there's about 2.8 million children that are out of school, you know. So those, you know, those children can be in school and, you know, and working on themselves and getting literacy and numeracy skills, you know, and be able to contribute one day to the job market of Salsa Dan, you know, and contribute towards economic growth. So, you know, there's a lot of work that needs to be done in that facet, and also getting teachers, you know, more teachers trained, more professionals in the schools to be good mentors and do justice for these kids. So there's just, yeah, there's all those issues that I kind of witnessed on the ground, and yeah, I'm hoping to highlight in a big way. - Thank you. Now, Rhonda, your final remarks or message out there in less than 30 seconds, let's say, what will you say? - All right, thank you so much. My final message to the people listening to this show is we really have a long way. I've stated earlier, and it requires a joint effort because one hand cannot club. So it requires a joint efforts from all the stakeholders, the parents, the community leaders, in order for us to see changes in our community or among us, the life of our children, because we have a lot of challenges, and if we are not united in solving them, then we will not reach anywhere. So let's take everything as our own. When we see a child joining gangs, let's try to speak to them. When you see a child not going to school, try to speak to them. Like, let's have that unity and try to solve those problems together, and I'm sure we'll reach to one level. - Thank you. Thank you so much, Mr. Tendai. What will be your final message? - Yeah, go ahead, please. - Yeah, my final message is to the people of South Sudan, to the young people, is to never ever give up, you know, that is important to keep that, you know, kind of fanning that flame, you know? And it'll get bigger and bigger, you know, to want to change certain things, you know, around the issues that are happening, you know, to just believe that the help is gonna come. And I think obviously there needs to be a change from a mindset, from a government point of view, you know, from a public, private sector point of view, just to, you know, people to come together, to really work together to resolve the issues on the ground. So for me, that is a big deal, you know? And yeah, and as I said earlier, I'm definitely going to come back to South Sudan 'cause I was inspired by what I saw, and I believe that you guys are gonna pro-forward, you know? So I can't wait to see the progress in a few years time when I'm back. - We're looking forward to receiving you. Thank you so much for joining us on the Memorial Breakfast Show, Randa. Thank you for coming to Memorial Studios.