Global Youth Coalition Member Feature: Tendekayi Marapara
Meet Global Youth Coalition member Tendekayi Marapara! Tendekayi is from Harare in Zimbabwe, Africa. He got involved in road safety when he worked as an intern maintaining some it the regional link roads in Zimbabwe.
He got interested because his supervisor would ask him engaging questions related with road safety. He would ask things like why road signs made out of steel poles were abandoned in favor of flexible wooden poles and other questions that really got the mental gears turning.
Because of this, Tendekayi focused his final thesis on the analysis of road safety attributes using the International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP) methodology and smartphone application Roadroid to assess a 92km section between Bulawayo and Shangani Highway.
“One of the first and most important projects that I have done was my final year thesis. This project opened my eyes [to the importance of road safety]. More projects have been derived from this initial stint and are presently in progress at what we call the pipeline’”
Presently, Tendekayo works as an engineer and is working to specialize in transportation engineering. He advocates for 3-star roads per iRAP standard and for the achievement of the 50by30 target.
Tendekayi joined the Coalition to acquire more knowledge on road safety that goes beyond the engineering perspective so that he can help his community achieve 50by30.
“We cannot continue losing lives, losing money on our roads yet we know the solutions. It is also a great platform to learn new ideas from others, to work with other youths, to share ideas, and to help decision-makers and to solve road safety issues.
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