Programs overview
FairFight opened the Zimbabwe program site in January 2015, in partnership with Nagle House Girls’ School and the Kofukan Karate Association in Zimbabwe, and its second program site in January 2021, in partnership with Mbare Karate Club in Harare.
Number of Programs |
2 |
Coordinator |
Gerald Muusha Jenica Nechombo |
Locations |
Marondera Mbare, Harare |
Local Partners |
Kofukan Karate Nagle House Girls High Mbare Karate Club |
Martial Art |
Shorin Ryu Karate Shitoryu Karate |
Nagle House programme
The girls at Nagle House, Marondera, come from the local township of Dombo Tombo, which is an area of great economic deprivation, especially since the COVID-19 lockdowns. They train in a disused squash court at Nagle House, with karate-gis and tatamis donated by FairFight. With the support of FairFight, they are able to attend three local competitions per year, and once a year, the best girls are invited to an international tournament in the Southern African region. The girls currently hold belts ranging from white to brown belt. Over the years, the girls have brought home numerous gold, silver and bronze medals from these tournaments, and have developed a sisterhood around their karate practice. FairFight has been providing participatory workshops to the girls’ teachers and families to help break taboos on women in martial arts in the community. Five girls in this program currently hold Ambassador of Change Scholarships, and one former student of this program holds a Future Leaders Scholarship.
mbare programme
Mbare Dojo is located in the poorest, most densely populated township of Harare. The dojo has been in existence for 18 years, providing shelter for local youth, keeping them off the streets. FairFight provided finance for much-needed repairs on the dojo building, and material and strategic support for building up a women's group within the dojo, including donations of equipment, and offers of scholarships. FairFight regularly hosts special events at the dojo covering issues from women's self defence, women's health, to education and career options.
Success Stories: Tinashe Munemo
Tinashe Munemo is FairFight’s first Ambassador of Change. She joined the Nagle House Karate Club in February 2015 when she started studying at Nagle House. She had always wanted to do martial arts, initially because she wanted to be able to fight people, but she soon learned that this is not what karate is about. Not only did she quickly progress in her karate, but she also took on a coordinating and leading role, providing the karate girls at Nagle House with a lunch space, ensuring girls would attend the karate practises and being available for the girls to talk about their struggles and worries.
After graduating from Nagle House in December 2016, she went on to study Public Administration at the University of Zimbabwe in Harare. Unfortunately, she struggled to fund her studies, due to difficulties at home. After trying everything she could to solve these problems, she reached out to FairFight and asked for help. We decided to support her and helped her to use her creative talents to raise funds for her education. In June 2018, she started a women’s health programme by giving Women’s Health Seminars at different schools in Zimbabwe. In late 2019, she started working on a women’s health programme in women’s prisons in Harare. While still growing personally and developing into a strong, caring and passionate woman, she already serves as a role model for the younger girls in the FairFight community and does everything she can to guide, support and help them. In 2021, Tinashe graduated from the University of Zimbabwe with a 2.2 in public administration, and is now studying for a Masters degree in Human Rights at Tallinn University in Estonia on a Future Leaders FairFight scholarship
After graduating from Nagle House in December 2016, she went on to study Public Administration at the University of Zimbabwe in Harare. Unfortunately, she struggled to fund her studies, due to difficulties at home. After trying everything she could to solve these problems, she reached out to FairFight and asked for help. We decided to support her and helped her to use her creative talents to raise funds for her education. In June 2018, she started a women’s health programme by giving Women’s Health Seminars at different schools in Zimbabwe. In late 2019, she started working on a women’s health programme in women’s prisons in Harare. While still growing personally and developing into a strong, caring and passionate woman, she already serves as a role model for the younger girls in the FairFight community and does everything she can to guide, support and help them. In 2021, Tinashe graduated from the University of Zimbabwe with a 2.2 in public administration, and is now studying for a Masters degree in Human Rights at Tallinn University in Estonia on a Future Leaders FairFight scholarship
