Wetskills-Zimbabwe 2024 – Blog day 4 –
This Monday marked the official start of the inaugural Wetskills Challenge in Zimbabwe. The event was hosted by the National University of Science and Technology at the Council Chambers, signifying the importance of the event. The institution’s Pro-Vice Chancellor (PVC), Prof. Y Naik graced the occasion. The proceedings started with Mrs Sibusisiwe Ndlovu-Bhebhe giving the welcome remarks, followed by the National Anthem and Dr Makoni delivering a word of prayer. Dr Makoni started by quoting a Biblical scripture from Proverbs 5 verse 15 which says “Be faithful to your own wife, just as you drink water from your own well”, a verse which encourages self sufficiency and well managing of water resources against pollution and climate change. He further highlighted that humans are not the only users of water; however, they are the only custodians, thus this Wetskills challenge should come up with solutions that lay people can use.
During the Dean of Faculty of Engineering Executive Dean speech, Dr B Mtunzi heaped praises on Dr Craig Tanyanyiwa and Mr Mthokozisi Moyo for bringing the program home, highlighting the importance of university’s alumni and acknowledged the presence of international participants from Ghana and the Netherlands. He then introduced the PVC, Prof Y Naik who is an astute researcher with one of his areas of focus being toxicology on aquatic life. The PVC emphasised on the multidisciplinary approach in problem solving.
Dr Tanyanyiwa gave an overview of Wetskills and how it works. He highlighted that the implementation of the proposed solutions solely rested on the case owners. Mthokozisi Moyo led the introduction of the four cases of study with three from the City of Bulawayo and one from Green Hut. The session then broke into case groups for the remainder of the day where the participants interfaced with case owners and had speed dates with external experts. In the African culture, it would be incomplete to narrate an event without the mention of the food that was served, in summary, the food was tasty!
Blog by Tsopo and Chenai
