Ron Jere – Contact Trust Youth Association

We have had occasion in the past to feature Contact Trust Youth Association (CTYA) on the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Kaufela, our weekly Sunday night radio show on
Zambezi 107.7fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. We were, however, delighted to welcome Ronny Jere (pictured above), one of the Association’s pioneers and currently director and programme manager, on to our most recent edition. Ronny explained to listeners that the Association is a non-profit concerned with the good sexual health of young people in Livingstone, especially in connection with freedom from HIV Aids. It aims to encourage youth aged between ten and twenty four years to vote (if eligible) and to participate in government, as well as teaching young people job skills, economic empowerment and entrepreneurship.

Ronny said that the CTYA was formed some ten years’ ago out of the Cross Border Initiative now know as Corridors of Hope. Ronny had been inspired to start a youth group and hence CTYA was born.The Association’s offices are donated by Livingstone City Council in that they occupy council property rent free. There are eight full time employees. Ronny’s main job is to raise money for the programmes to be undertaken and to ensure that those resources are spent properly. He is also responsible for human resources management within the Association, including skills training. Some of the Association’s sponsors include or have included the South African Aids Trust and the German government.

The music on this particular show featured The Wanted, Rudimental ft Emile Sande, as well as Zambian artists Salma and Urban Hype. Milli Jam chose tracks from Lady Antebellum and Chris Brown. Our oldie of the week was Kriss Kross’s ‘Jump’ topical due to the untimely passing of Chris Kelly, one of the band. We were surprised that no-one won the prize we give each week to the first person to text us telling us the name of the artist on the track. We closed with Mafikizolo’s ‘Khona’ (Uhuru Mix) a very hot South African track.

Ronny told listeners that he is married and has three children including twins who have just turned three. “Naughty?” We wondered. “Very!” The reply. He owned up to supporting Man U, which we ignored but did say that his ‘real football team’ was the Zambian national team. That was ok! Ronny loves gospel, oldies, r&b and local music. He thanked Chanters Lodge for their sponsorship of the Association in the past and in thanking him we expressed our willingness to help again in the future if we could.

Asked where he would like to be and what he would like to be doing in ten years’ time Ronny said that as he would be moving out of the youth bracket during those years, he hoped to be serving the Zambian population at another level. Sounded like politics to us and we wished him all the best, thanking him for the great job his Association was doing for Livingstone’s youngsters!

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