It was that exciting time of the year when we hold our annual convention. This time it was held from 10th to 13th of December 2019 at Rest Haven in Harare. In attendance were all Tariro children from Mutare, Shurugwi, Chipinge, Gweru as well as Harare and our theme was” STANDING OUT IN STEP WITH GOD, OUT OF STEP WITH HE WORLD”.
This turned out to be a remarkable and incredible event with many speakers coming to share their experiences in their careers and teaching us about life in general so
This report is a summary of the lessons learnt during this convention. The Convention ended our Christmas party together and each one of us received a Christmas present accompanied by melodious Christmas carols… it was indeed an awesome moment. Thank you to those who contributed and dedicated their efforts to the success of this Convention.
Our first lesson was about respect. What clearly came out is that in order to respect others one must first respect him/herself first. This comes through being mindful of the way one talks, walks and interacts with others. This then creates room to respect others. The reason of showing respect is that it is a way of showing people that we are civilized and that we have a refined personality. Respect is exhibited by listening and following instructions, politely correcting offenders and pardoning them, showing appreciation by saying thank you… In addition to that the results of showing respect are that one becomes a role model and a point of reference.
The second speaker started off by saying this –“each individual must ask him/her self this question; what talent(s) do l have in order to sustain myself and others, do a research on what exactly you want to do before you do it and start working on it and make an effort to find the areas you are interested in and don’t hide your ideas instead share your ideas with the right people so that you can get help”. She continued to talk about work ethics which are discipline, professionalism, honesty, punctuality, dressing appropriately and being a responsible individual who is trustworthy
The third speaker talked about friendships and heartbreaks in relationships and she started off by defining what a friend is?
A friend is someone who loves and stands with you in all circumstances, good or bad. Your friend must sacrifice for real issues in life. Therefore when choosing friends we must choose with wisdom.
Which fiend is impacting on us in a positive or negative way? We must therefore stay away from negative friends in addition to this we learnt about heartbreaks.
When you are heartbroken you blame yourself, you lose self-confidence and become full of regrets. Ways of avoiding heartbreaks is by looking for his / her imperfections, avoiding or cutting bad relationships, not making someone your first priority, instead improve yourself by educating yourself and becoming totally unstoppable
We also talked about our TYP vision which is REBUILDING BROKEN DREAMS, HOPES & LIVES and AVOIDING MULTIPLE REJECTION. It was said that we need to have focus and also stand on our values in order to achieve our plans and vision and never be intimidated by what society thinks. We need to be content and never be deterred by what everyone thinks instead we must stick to our norms and values.
We were also taught the traits of the Roman soldier that we should liken ourselves with the Roman Soldier who is dressed for war and has a helmet, breast plate, shield, belt and shoes. The presenter went on to explain that the helmet protects the head as the head is the chooser and thinker. There is need to control our thinking. The Breast plate protects the heart as it is the engine of the body, The shield stops arrows from evil attacks , The belt is a symbol of truth and finally shoes protect the feet as we march in peace at all times in all places. The final part of this story is THE TRAIN OF LIFE which is copied below
“At birth we boarded the train of life and met our parents
And we believed they will always travel by our side
As time goes by, other people will board the train and they will be significant i.e. our siblings, our friends, children and even the love of your life
However at some station, our parents will step down from the train, leaving us on this journey alone.
Others will step down too over time and leave a permanent vacuum
Some however will go so unnoticed that we don’t realize they vacated their seats.
This train ride will be full of joy, sorrow, fantasy, expectations, hellos, goodbyes and farewells.
Success consists of having a good relationships with all passengers requiring that we give the best of ourselves
The mystery to everyone is, we do not know at which station we ourselves will step down
So we must live in the best way, love, forgive, and offer the best of who we are.
It is important to do this because when the time comes for us to step down and leave our seat empty; we should leave behind beautiful memories for those who will continue to travel on this train of life.
Who has been the most important person with you in the train?
No matter how big their role, remember to thank those who were with you on your journey”
This convention gave us the opportunity to connect with each other and share experiences. We were all touched by the open testimonies which our elder brethren gave us to show that “it is possible to make a difference”.
Each day began with Eucharist service from baba at 0600 hrs. And ended with Compline .Afternoons were for sport and connecting with each other
Once again we give many thanks to the trustees, donors and supporters of Tariro Youth Project we love you so much and may the Almighty God continue to bless you in abundance for your endless support ad love you always .
Thank you
