The week before I left the UK was a little manic to say the least. Saying goodbye to friends and family clashed with collecting 40 boxes of doxycycline and watching my travel nurse let half of my final rabies vaccination leak onto her hand. At this point it felt like I was simply going through the motions, it had not sunk it at all that I would be living in Zimbabwe for the next 6 months. That was soon to change.
After an 18 hour journey from London Heathrow Dan and I were met at the airport by Pati and Mark the Progressio Zimbabwe staff. As Dan and I are the group leaders for 2 cohorts of volunteers, we arrived in Zimbabwe 5 days before the rest for an orientation to get us ahead of the game.
Until this point, all I knew was that we would be working with a local organisation called the Diocese of Mutare Community Care Programme (DOMCCP) at the Regina Coeli Mission in the Nyanga district of Manicaland. However searching this on the internet in the UK proved pretty useless so aside from the names and the fact we will be working in the community to address issues surrounding HIV and AIDS, I was still relatively clueless.
From the airport we travelled to the Progressio offices in the leafy suburbs of Harare, the capital city. We were told this is one of the safest places to have property, being situated directly next to the Presidential estate means the roads are blocked by 6pm and there are enough armed guards around to deter any burglar.
The next few days became a bit of a blur of different offices and faces; we were introduced to every possible stakeholder as part of a sensitisation starting at national level in Mutare. This is essential to ensure that all people of importance are aware there will be a group of ‘murungu’ (white people) working in their community. Dan, Mark, Eddy and I travelled to Mutare where the DOMCCP and CAAF (Churches Against AIDS Forum, the partner organisation Dan is working with) were based. As we travelled by 4x4 to, the scenery became progressively more mountainous and scenic, if I wasn’t excited before, I was now.
In Mutare we were taken for our orientation with our different organisations, I was handed over to My Nyamande and Sister Evelyn to learn more about DOMCCP and continue with more meetings with various stakeholders. DOMCCP as an organisation is very impressive, they work across the whole of Manicaland, aiming to support and treat those living with a positive status. The head offices surprised me too; they have the laboratory facilities to test for and monitor CD4 counts in people living with HIV. The have an herb garden which is used to synthesise immune boosters for those people living with HIV. For the first time I knowingly met a group of people living with HIV, a support group that met every morning to make fruit juices for their children and give each other emotional support. It was inspiring to meet such an upbeat and optimist group. “We are all women living positively with HIV. We are all widows to the virus.” However you would never know this was the case, as they were undergoing the anti-retroviral treatment; they were a picture of health.
Mr. Nyamande and I started the meetings at provincial level and in one day we managed to meet with the provincial AIDS co-ordinator, the provincial social welfare officer, the senior assistant commissioner at ZRP, so a real combination of government officials, NGO employees and civil service workers. Following this we met His Lordship Rt Rev Bishop Muchabiawa as DOMCCP is a Catholic organisation and we needed his blessing to continue with the programme.
We took a slight detour out to the Osbourne Dam for Mr Nyamande to show me the sight for their proposed fisheries project. Around 15km out of Mutare along some horrendous roads was a huge expanse of water stretching 16km into the mountains, it was quite breathtaking. After speaking with the national park warden, we were shown one of the boats that the previous fishing co-operative had used. It was made from tin roofing and was no more than 4ft long, 1.5ft wide, and apparently 2 people used to go out on this with nets. Let’s hope they could swim!
Dan and I then visited our placement locations, his in the Honde Valley, mine at Regina Coeli. We had a very early start, so much so that when we arrived at the first meeting of the day in the mountains, there was actually frost on the ground. Chief Saunyama’s was not what I expected, very young (30 odd), wearing a flash suit, sunglasses, with a cane. Like someone straight out of a music video. This proved to be a huge contrast compared to the chief we met the next day living in a very rural, circular traditional house, with chickens and goats roaming around on the dusty mud.
We passed from the provincial Presidential office known as ‘the black gates’, which was a little daunting. Mr Nyamande went in to the office for a good 15 minutes before I was allowed in, however aside from a few controversial statements; everyone was in high spirits, very funny and quite charming.
We arrived at Nyanga and headed straight for the DOMCCP offices in the centre of the mission. The place was a hive of activity, lots of people, houses, animals, everything. I was expecting something a little more basic but the hospital has its own operating theatre, the primary and secondary school have boarding facilities. And most importantly there is running water and electricity, most of the time. After meeting Mr Richard, the programme office for DOMCCP at Regina Coeli and the man we would be working closely with during our placement. We headed out with him and Kenny, one of the national volunteers. A surprise part of the programme is that we are placed and living with 5 national volunteers, I think it is going to enhance our experience no-end.
So after meeting and greeting what seemed like everyone in Manicaland, it was time to travel back to Harare to meet the volunteers. This is where Dan and I are now, in Mutare, waiting for the bus to go and meet them. We are finally with all the 10 national volunteers and the group is buzzing with anticipation. Let’s hope all goes well!
ICS group leader Charlee Bennett describes her first week in Zimbabwe
