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Chido Nyaruwata’s burning passion for climate change

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An unquenchable desire for more young people to understand the impacts of climate change on their lives became the foundation upon which Chido Nyaruwata established Flames and Lilies Climate Initiative (FLCI) in 2024.

A non-profit social impact enterprise, Chido’s initiative focuses on empowering young people to engage with climate challenges and is making significant headway in encouraging them to become changemakers in their own communities.

“The idea of starting my non-profit social impact enterprise didn’t occur to me while I was growing up. It came to me later in life, specifically after completing my master’s studies. My thesis focused on how international actors interacted with local and national government authorities during health disasters,” Chido reveals.

“Through this research, I drew connections between health and environmental challenges.
I identified a need for more young people to understand the impacts of climate change on different facets of life.

“It became clear that equipping them to prepare themselves and their communities for disasters was essential. However, I knew this information couldn’t be shared through traditional methods. It had to be shared in interactive and creative works that drew their attention and desire to act.”

Solid academic background
Born in Harare in 1993, Chido found herself in Johannesburg at just four years old after her family had decided to move to South Africa. She completed her primary education at Graystone School.

“Growing up, I was very talkative, loved literature and had a passion for human rights. My family later returned to Zimbabwe, where I completed my high school at Heritage High School. After completing my A levels, I pursued my Bachelor of Arts in Law at the University of Pretoria and graduated in 2015.

However, during her studies she discovered her interest in international relations and understanding how countries interact on a variety of political and diplomatic issues including the environment and climate change.

“After graduating, I studied for my honours in International Relations at the University of Johannesburg and completed with my MA in International at the University of Cape Town.”

Driving the climate change agenda
The determination to make a difference in the climate change space sparked Chido’s journey into creating a non-profit social impact enterprise, one that focuses on empowering young people to engage with climate challenges and become changemakers in their communities.

“The idea for Flames and Lilies Climate Initiative was sparked in 2020. However, it wasn’t until March 2024 that I began hosting climate and disaster preparedness workshops with adolescent girls and young women.

“We are now living in a world where extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and severe due to climate change. While this poses significant challenges, it also presents opportunities. Green jobs and innovative solutions are on the rise, and young people must be equipped to engage with these new possibilities.”

At Flames and Lilies, the mission is to ignite a fire within girls and young women and empowering them to lead change in their communities. This is underscored by the fact that women and girls are 14 times more likely to die in disasters and climate-induced crises, such as floods and droughts and this often leads families to adopt harmful coping strategies.

“These can include withdrawing girls from school or forcing them into early marriages. By providing girls and young women with the knowledge and skills they need, we aim to build their resilience and ensure they play a key role in creating sustainable, equitable futures.”

Leading from the front
As founder and director of Flame and Lillies Climate, Chido’s duties include designing projects, managing partnerships and stakeholder engagement, securing facilitators for co-learning sessions, conducting and reviewing research done by the organization and its participants as well as proposal writing and supervising volunteers.

“Recognising the link between environmental degradation and the rights of girls and women, FLCI champions an African eco-feminist approach to tackling the climate crisis in Zimbabwe and beyond. We envision a world where girls’ and young women’s voices are at the forefront of climate action, disaster reduction and policymaking.”

To achieve this vision Chido and her team focus their work around three main pillars:

Capacity Building – FLCI equips girls and young women with the knowledge, skills, and leadership qualities needed to create a more just and sustainable future.

Storytelling – By amplifying girls’ voices and experiences, FLCI fosters an understanding of the gendered dimensions of climate change.

Advocacy – FLCI influences policies and legislation to ensure they consider the needs and perspectives of girls and young women.

“Our approach begins with co-learning sessions in communities, creating inclusive spaces where knowledge flows both ways. We believe that everyone’s lived experience with climate change and climate-induced disasters is a valuable form of knowledge.

“These sessions allow us to learn from participants while sharing expertise on climate science, disaster risk management, gender dynamics, and feminist participatory action research. Through this holistic and collaborative model, FLCI provides education, fosters leadership, and drives systemic change, ensuring girls and young women are at the forefront of building resilient and equitable communities.”

Navigating past obstacles
One of the challenges FLCI faced during their pilot project was underestimating the level of interest in their co-learning sessions. When they opened online applications for sessions held in partnership with Girl Up Zimbabwe, there were overwhelmed by the response, receiving over 200 applications.

“For one of our cohorts, which included young women and girls from Mufakose, 90 people expressed a strong desire to attend. Unfortunately, we only could accommodate 25 participants due to limited resources.

“It was incredibly difficult to reduce the numbers, knowing how much interest and enthusiasm there was. However, we used this as a learning opportunity and a source of motivation. The high demand underscored the importance of the work we are doing and the need to expand our reach.

“While we could not meet everyone’s needs at that time, we are now actively exploring ways to rerun the sessions with additional cohorts of changemakers. This experience reinforced our commitment to building a supportive community and sharing valuable knowledge with these inspiring young leaders.”

The challenge they faced also highlighted the importance of scaling up their resources to meet growing demand in the future.

Achievements and looking ahead
During their first 10 months of operation, FLCI achieved several milestones that makes the look into the future with hope and optimism.

They managed to train and provided certificates of completion to 86 girls and young women from various communities, including Harare, Bindura, and Epworth. Through 11 convenings, they also facilitated 334 engagements with community members, facilitators, and key stakeholders, creating spaces for meaningful dialogue and action.

“Collaboration is a cornerstone of our work, and within 10 months, we successfully secured four partnerships. These partnerships have been instrumental in supporting two of our flagship projects

“These achievements also reflect our commitment to empowering young women, fostering community collaboration, and addressing climate challenges through innovative and impactful projects.”

“Over the next five years, we aim to expand our reach by implementing our projects in at least five provinces across Zimbabwe and establishing Flames and Lilies Chapters in these regions. We believe that localized action is essential to achieving both climate and gender equality goals, not only in Zimbabwe but globally as well.”

Apart from scaling up their operations, FLCI is also committed to contributing to local and international climate policies and disaster risk management strategies.

“Our goal is to ensure these frameworks are gender-mainstreamed and responsive to the diverse needs of women, girls, boys, and men. By doing so, we aim to create pathways for all individuals to adapt to and thrive in our evolving climate realities,” Chido concludes.

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