Two young men who live worlds apart are working together to regenerate communities in Zimbabwe.

Bastian Mögele of ZimRelief and Joseph Rose from Shingirirai Trust head for the finish line during a charity run for Africa in June 2007.

Bastian Mögele, 28, lives in the small town of Kaufbeuren, deep in southern Germany and works in the family’s commercial property firm. ‘The family also owns a small brewery,’ says Bastian, ‘which is typically Bavarian!’

However, foreign travel is in the family’s blood, and Bastian has backpacked his way around Europe; more adventurously, he’s travelled and studied in Indonesia and Uruguay. ‘I think my travels connected me to the issues of the developing world in a very personal way,’ he says.

In 2007 Bastian was to learn about another of the world’s most challenged nations when he was introduced to Joseph Rose of the Shingirirai Trust. Joseph had been invited to Germany by the ASA Program’s South-North project, which partners with African countries for work and study exchange placements. The two men quickly became friends.

‘We presented at several public events together,’ says Bastian, ‘and found we got on well right from the start. I was really impressed by his courage as a human rights activist – he knew he could be in danger but that has never stopped him doing what he believes in.’

Invited to visit Zimbabwe in turn, Bastian met several grassroots organisations through Joseph. This first visit fired his enthusiasm for the country and its people. ‘What stood out for me, then and now, is the extraordinary friendliness of the people, and the dedication they feel for transforming their communities,’ he says. ‘You feel that a lot gets accomplished just by sheer passion, even with severely limited resources.’

These bikes, donated by ZimRelief, will help Trust workers get around the Mabvuku settlement more speedily.

Bastian points out that in just six years, the Shingirirai Trust has set up six centres around the capital, Harare, and is caring for and educating more than 240 children in them through its ECLD (Early Learning Child Development) and SD (Skills Development) programs. ‘Best of all, the members come up with their own ideas,’ he says. ‘They tell us what is needed, not the other way around.’

Bastian returned to Germany inspired to set up his own NGO (non-governmental organisation) to support the work of the Shingirirai Trust and other initiatives in the region. Today, the ZimRelief team numbers 15 volunteers led by Bastian and his girlfriend Géraldine Quelle.

In less than two years, ZimRelief has raised more than €20,000 (almost $28,000) from membership fees, plus a busy schedule of music concerts, parties, lectures, school presentations and sponsored runs. Their latest charity concert, featuring Zimbabwean dance band Pamuzinda, has just raised another €1000. ‘Pamuzinda and two local bands played for free. It was a great night out,’ says Bastian. An upcoming photo exhibition will focus on education in Zimbabwe.

Bastian visited Zimbabwe again in June 2008, during the election re-run and found a tough situation. ‘There was a lot of fear, and even some members of the Trust had to go into hiding for their personal safety,’ he says. Yet he believes that the situation is more stable now than for some years. Independent local initiatives are blossoming, and local people are becoming their own ‘changemakers’.

Working with the Shingirirai Trust, ZimRelief’s first goal is to help them fund a permanent headquarters. A small house where they can install a vital Internet connection, plus a small amount of land for growing vegetables, is the ideal.

Bastian, girlfriend Geraldine, Steffi, Matthias and little Emma people the ZimRelief stall of an art market in southern Germany, where ZimRelief is based.

Future plans include expanding the preschool ECLD program so that kids aged three to six years can learn more – and get two nutritious meals a day. The Trust is also keen to set up a mini ‘scholarship fund’ to pay school, uniform and textbook fees so that all these children can move on to primary school – currently around 10 per cent are unable to continue their education.

Bastian will return to Harare in April 2010, to hear from Trust managers on new needs and initiatives. ‘At ZimRelief, we are convinced that sustainable development cannot work from the outside,’ he says. ‘It has to grow from the centre of the community, and be adapted to local society and local realities.’

Mel O’Gorman, director of the Shingirirai Trust, acknowledges the wonderful work being done by ZimRelief. She identifies their fundraising activity as a great example of the interconnected ‘starburst’ approach she advocates as the future for supporting causes. ‘It’s based on the idea that we are all interconnected, and that many of us want to reach out of our Western lives to work with those born into more challenged lives,’ she says. ‘In partnering with family and community groups to raise funds for developing communities, we can satisfy our own deeper altruistic needs.’

You can read more about the inspiring work of Bastian and his friends on their website at ZimRelief.  Simply click on the ‘Information in English’ in the sidebar.