Having been in Regina for two weeks, everything seems to be finally slipping into place. We have mostly spent the last two weeks organising our activities and meeting with the different groups of people that we will be working with throughout the placement, however we have also managed to start a few of our sessions and have completed our first set of home visits.
The belated 2012 Binga District WORLD AIDS DAY, Lubimbi, February 28th 2013. Ntengwe, the organisation that we work with here in Binga, Zimbabwe, had a 5 minute slot in the day’s timetable, and it was up to us to fill it. The tent was full of stakeholders and was set up on the edge of the sports field, looking across the running track, where perhaps 1000 people sat, knelt and stood in the trees watching the events.
Every Wednesday, from 11am to 1pm, the Ntengwe volunteers meet with students from Zambezi Technical College here in Binga. Students here range in age from 18-25, following various disciplines and number 11 at present; soon to expand to over 30. We have divided our 8 person team into 4 groups, each of which take a different subject.
Zimbabwe, 30 years ago
HIV/AIDS started here, as in many African countries, in the 1980s as a viscous animal that nobody knew what to do with, taking hold of the nation. It scared people, and in turn they panicked. All sorts of practices came into being, rooting from the traditional witch-doctor methods, that are common in this part of rural Africa. In some rural areas it was rumoured that a HIV positive man could cure himself by raping a child - what could be farther from the truth than that?
‘Volunteering’ What is it about?
Every person will have their own perception of what it means. Running workshops, stakeholder management, conversing with local authorities… this is the first step on a very serious career as a Development Worker for some. For all the meetings and authorizations, report writing and deadlines, the easiest role to forget and the most important duty we hold here is to be a servant to the community, in whatever capacity it may be.
As we come to the end of our second week we have finally started to find our feet, beginning our sessions at the schools and having our first lot of home visits.
Our two day cultural exchange experience took place in Kariyangwe, a small town 50km outside of Binga central. The lush green covered mountains supported the reality that we are immersed in Zimbabwe as we travelled over bouncy, degraded dirt roads.
Warm smiles and an open hand awaited us as we arrived in the early hours to our home for the next two days. Our host family proudly own a rather modern homestead, with a concrete house, electricity, a tap and also two mud huts.
"Does anybody know what HIV stands for?” is the first question raised in front of 130 high school students. After a short moment hands are raised and a young girl at the front of the room answers “Human Immunodeficiency Virus” correctly, followed by a warm clap from the rest of the crowd.
The organisation we volunteer with, Ntengwe for Community Development, operate and run a drop-in centre in Manjolo, a town about 25km from Binga. The drop-in centre acts as a community hub for the town; consisting of 3 concrete buildings, borehole water pump and a traditional grass-thatched hut; all set in a large fenced compound. Plenty of trees provide lots of shade and out to the edge there is a garden with some crops growing.
We are at the end of our first week in Regina and already we have been facing a number of challenges. On the same note we are already starting to see some small successes. We arrived on Saturday after an amazing journey. Regina is nestled in a valley, the houses and buildings are dotted about and animals, like goats and chickens, roam freely.
