ICS blog

One night this week, whilst trying to get to sleep, which, by the way, is no easy task in El Carrizal when the chickens living in your garden wake up before you’ve even settled under the covers and the dogs of the town compete every night for who can be the loudest, I started to think about the new world I’d been thrown into. When visions of a toilet that requires a bucket to flush and a shower that only feels warm after standing in a blizzard for three hours began to invade my head, beauty wasn’t the first word that came to mind. 

What are we doing here?

We, in the Rowa Runners, are incredibly lucky. While in the UK most of us spent our days locked away in cushy, air-conditioned offices, Zimbabwe offers us a chance to step outside and work in the Great Outdoors. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday each week, we all cram in our (occasionally) trusty Combi, Ebenezer, and leave the office and the city behind. 

On Monday we were scheduled to receive training from ASOMUPRO (the partner organisation we are working with) on the use of management of water in our community, however this was postponed until Tuesday, leaving us with a free day and a chance to explore our surroundings. Mixis, the team leader for the national volunteers, suggested we visit a nearby tobacco plantation and, having only a lengthy date with our hammocks as the next best alternative, we decided to strap on our boots, lather ourselves in DEET and factor 50 sun cream and embark on the day’s adventure.

Mornings in El Bramadero are quite something to behold - lurching to and fro between a cacophonous nightmare and an awe-inspiring collection of new and interesting sounds. If anyone could survive unroused between the hours of five and seven, then I´d fear there is a corner of some Bramadero house that is forever England.

At his earliest convenience, the first cockerel offers a cock-a-doodle-do to his colleagues in the neighbourhood, who - reckoning that this was a point thoroughly well made - spend the rest of the morning voicing their unanimous agreement.

Founded in 1991 in response to the HIV and AIDS epidemic, the Midlands AIDS Service Organisation (MASO) celebrates its 25th birthday this year. So MASO and I are the same age, which really puts into perspective just how well established the organisation has become in such a short space of time. The ultimate goal is to eradicate HIV and AIDS by 2030, through education and prevention initiatives because Zimbabweans are well educated around the matter, but there are still some social myths surrounding HIV, which need to be eliminated.

El día lunes hicimos un recorrido por la comunidad de La Grecia, comunidad de Limay, todas y todos los y las voluntarios/as del ciclo 14. Hicimos un tour por la tabacalera que se encuentra a 2km de la comunidad de Parcila, en donde se les enseñó cómo se clasifica el tabaco (tipo de hoja). No tuvimos la oportunidad de conocer el plantillo porque no estaba el encargado de la tabacalera.

Three numbers:

- 22 bucket showers

- 5 hours teaching with the community

- Six kitchen appliances transported, washed and installed in the cafe 

Three things we’ve learned:

1) How to remove tree trunks from the ground relatively quickly (for us UK volunteers that’s relative to something reasonably slow.)

Team Simukai has changed. Where once there were two teams, now there is one. After almost three years, the urban team’s work in Mutare has sadly come to a close – we’re sure their legacy will continue for many years to come. The work in rural Rowa has fallen to a new group to build on the fantastic progress of Cycles 1 and 2. So welcome to the Rowa Runners Cycle 3! 

“At some point during your placement you will end up needing to go to the doctor’s…” We were told during one talk at our in-country orientation. I scoffed at the idea – it had been years since I had needed to go to the doctor’s, and I had no intention of going during my three months in Honduras. Later that day Murphy’s Law took effect as I hurtled down a hill at full speed to land ungracefully on the concrete path below, resulting in a badly grazed arm and a very badly bruised pride.