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Fungai Lupande
Mash Central Bureau
Once each week, Precious Mushayamombe (36) walks for more than 6km between villages in Ward 22, Shamva North to investigate cases of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and stir dialogue among villagers around the subject.
She is among 23 other community volunteers in Ward 16, 22 and 28 who have dedicated their lives to changing the status quo of Shamva district, which has become a hotspot in cases of violence against women.
These community volunteers are part of a strategy by a consortium of four non-governmental organisations (Forum for African Women Educationalis Zimbabwe (FAWEZI), ActionAid, Family AIDS Caring Trust (FACT) and Leonard Cheshire) who have joined hands with a common goal of creating communities that are free from violence against women and people with disabilities.
Last Thursday, the volunteers who consist of councillors and community leaders received bicycles to enhance their mobility and assist them in reaching the remote and hard-to-reach areas.
“What motivates me to voluntarily work for my community is my desire to see change. Shamva has been riddled with cases of SGBV due to high activities of gold mining. My role as a community volunteer is to stimulate dialogue on GBV and its impact on the development of our society,” said Mushayamombe.
“Travelling on foot, I visited villages to start conversations (nhaurirano) on how we can reduce GBV and child marriages. During these meetings with men and women we talk about harmful practices which perpetuate violence against women.
“Sometimes we receive tip-offs on cases of abuse and we report these to the Social Development Department or the police. These bicycles will enhance our mobility.”
Ward 24 Councillor Navison Zvizhinji who is part of community volunteers said his role as a community leader is to mobilise people in the community, schools and create a conducive environment where issues of GBV can be discussed.
“The engagement of the community and traditional leaders has proved effective and this resulted in a decrease in cases of GBV which were high due mining activities.”
Shamva North MP Bramwell Bushu said efforts by developmental NGOs are changing people’s lives in Shamva.
“We thank the Government for creating an enabling environment for NGOs and we need to understand what they are doing to improve people’s lives in line with the country’s policies,” he said.
“When I was the acting chief I championed anti-child marriages and violence against women. It is heart breaking that we are still far from reaching the desired target but we are happy that these NGOs have not given up on us,” he said.
“We are impressed by Leonard Cheshire for making sure that no one is left behind including people with disabilities. These community champions are being trained to become wise community leaders.”
Giving an insight on their projects in Shamva, FAWEZI board chair, Mrs Irene Mkondo, said they started adolescent dialogue with girls at four schools in Shamva (Madziwa Mine Primary and Secondary, Wadzanai Primary and Secondary and Ming Chang Primary School).
“Our main objective was to keep girls in school and we also address issues that hindered them from attending school, which include menstrual hygiene, access to safe water and proper infrastructure for learners with disabilities,” she said.
“We acquired bicycles for community volunteers because they drive the agenda on reducing SGBV.
“They also identify the needs of learners with disabilities and this has become effective in making the community understand what we are doing. This guarantees sustainability of the project after donors pull out.”
FAWEZI national coordinator Mrs Lydia Madyirapanze said they are implementing the Start Awareness Support Action (SASA) model to amplify girl’s voices in Shamva, Chitungwiza and Nyanga.
In schools they are using the Tuseme (speak out/taura unzwike) to build confidence in girls and enhance decision making.
“Tuseme is a participatory theatre-based approach in schools to create safe space for girls and boys. We discovered that the most important part of addressing issues that affect learners is working with the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education structures,” she said.
“We revamped the guidance and counselling rooms by donating television sets, hygiene packs, first aid kits, mattresses among other necessities. We empowered teachers on how to address issues of gender based violence.
“In doing this we were creating a space where learners identify their challenges and come up with solutions. We moved on to, ‘towards resilient communities with health equity and safety for all in Zimbabwe’ to merge the schools and the community”
The funding partner, People’s postcode lottery ActionAid project manager, Mrs Betty Sithole, said they work on two thematic areas, systems change for economic and systems change for climate justice.
“Our priority is empowering women and young girls to challenge the structural causes of violence. We also advocate for civil participation and State accountability in delivery of gender responsive public services,” she said.
“We also strengthen livelihood and secure climate justice in support of programs like Pfumvudza/Intwasa. We look for partners with similar vision with us because women and youth were left behind in developmental projects.
“We are trying to address gender equality and we started working with FAWEZI to empower adolescent girls and improve their quality of life. After receiving feedback, we saw it necessary to include the community to create a safe environment for girls and those with disabilities.”
In Ward 16, they drilled a borehole in Mudzinge village. The new borehole will ease water challenges at Madziwa Teachers college, Madziwa Secondary School and the community following the closure of Madziwa Mine in 2001.
After closure of the mine, ward 16 councillor Coswell Kagogoda said they were failing to maintain water pipes at the mine water station.
“We were facing a critical shortage of water and women who bear the burden of household chores travelled for more than 6km searching for water. Madziwa Secondary School had a dry borehole, which only yielded water enough to fill three buckets per day,” he said.
“We received a water tank from FAWEZI so that we can store the water. The teacher’s college and the community are benefiting from this borehole and we are grateful to the partners.”
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