RESPONDING TO HIV & AIDS

AND GENDER BASED VIOLENCE

Late Mbuya Rozaria Dizha and RMT Board Chair N. Gumbonzvanda, 1999

ANNUAL REPORT, 2008

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SECTION 1: MESSAGE FROM THE COORDINATOR & BOARD CHAIR

SECTION 2: INTRODUCTION

SECTION 3: STRENGTHENING COMMUNITIES RESPONSE TO HIV

AND AIDS AND VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
 Annual Report, 2008

SECTION 4: BUILDING INSTITUTIONAL PARTNERSHIPS LOCALLY,

NATIONALLY AND INTERNATIONALLY IN
ADRESSING VIOLENCE AGAINST RURAL WOMEN
AND PEOPLE AFFECTED BY HIV AND AIDS

SECTION 5: PLANNING AND GOVERNANCE

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CONTACT DETAILS

ROZARIA MEMORIAL TRUST

P.O BOX II4
MUREWA
ZIMBABWE

PH: 263-O78 22835

FAX: 263-078 22835
EMAIL: [email protected]

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 Annual Report, 2008

A MESSAGE FROM RMT MANAGEMENT AND BOARD

Rozaria Memorial Trust comes to the end of its first anniversary at a time when
there is now a greater acceptance in the rural communities that both HIV & AIDS
and Gender Based Violence are a reality. During the first year of operating, RMT
has done much to contribute to these positive developments by establishing
support groups for People Living With HIV and AIDS [PLWHA] and being involved in
campaigns against gender based violence in Murewa District.

Our achievements in 2008 have helped us advance our goal of creating

knowledgeable rural communities on issues of HIV and AIDS and violence against
women and girls. In the coming year, we will provide the much-needed support
and care for People Living with HIV and AIDS. In addition, we will promote
effective programmes that reduces Gender Based Violence especially violence
against women and girls as they are the most vulnerable groups within the
community. We will continue to do these by building and strengthening on existing
partnerships and possibly creating new ones.

As with most, if not all, of the organizations in Zimbabwe we have to

acknowledge that there are areas where we found the going tough and at other
times even stuck.

Most of the challenges evolve around lack of funding to be able to effectively

undertake the planned activities. In addition, challenges remain on how to
manage more effectively and to operate within the framework of sound
governance principles. These remain as on- going challenges and both the Board
of Trustees and coordinating staff have begun efforts to address them.

In broad, most of our challenges remain in ensuring sustainability in terms of

both financial, human resources, and effective partnerships. Generally, these
challenges are not for RMT only but for most of the Community Based
Organizations.

To the staff of Rozaria Memorial Trust; the real work has just begun. Let us put our
efforts towards a common goal of creating violence free rural communities and
builds hope in HIV positive people; there is life in HIV and AIDS.

Lastly, we would like to thank our funders, partners, and coordinating group
members for providing their insightful inputs and involvement with RMT activities.
Big thanks to you all.

Mr.Kudakwashe Dizha Mrs. Nyaradzai

Gumbonzvanda
National Coordinator Board of Trustees Chair

SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION
RMT was established in 2007 to advance the rights of women and young
people in poor communities in Zimbabwe. RMT was founded in memory of
the late Mbuya Rozaria Dizha, who passed away in 2006 and embodied
the principles of hard work, caring, sharing and innovation. RMT focuses
on promoting youth and women’s leadership, fostering entrepreneurial
development and advocating for women's access to education and health
care services.
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Rozaria Memorial Trust undertakes various programmes on HIV and AIDS

and Gender Based Violence.

Currently we are strengthening our support to people living with HIV and
AIDS and as a member of the National Gender Forum and Gender Based
Violence Prevention Network. We continue to invest in addressing many
dimensions of Gender Based Violence especially in the rural communities.

Our main aim is to reduce both HIV & AIDS and Gender Based Violence in
the marginalized communities. The main objectives of the Trust will be to
continue performing the following activities;

1. HIV and AIDS

• Public awareness on HIV and AIDS.

• Support to people living with HIV and AIDS through provision of such
things like agricultural inputs
• Facilitate the hosting of information forums by community support
groups so that they share information and address challenges faced
by members.
• Advocacy and information on access to treatment

2. VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS

• Information forums on violence prevention

• Advocacy campaign for protection of women and young people
• Social support to survivors of gender based violence.

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SECTION 2: STRENGTHENING COMMUNITIES

RESPONSE

The Trust continues to undertake various activities on HIV and AIDS and
Violence against women. With a good number of HIV positive people
disclosing their status and current economic problems Zimbabwe as a
country is going through, Rozaria Memorial Trust therefore has spread its
wings from awareness only to the provision of various support to PLWHA.
The following are some of the notable activities and achievements for
2008

1. Community sensitization workshops on Gender-Based Violence

and HIV and AIDS.

• Promoting HIV and AIDS prevention and care in different

churches.

Over 100 people converged at Magaya Primary School on January 25,

2008 for a Christianity dialogue entitled ‘Working together with churches
to reduce stigma on HIV and AIDS’. The event brought together leaders of
different churches that include Roman Catholic, Salvation Army, and the
Methodist Church. Also in attendance were the general populace attached
to these church denominations.

The dialogue was held as part of efforts to involve churches in the fight
against HIV and AIDS epidemic. The dialogue noted that whilst churches
continue to grow in Zimbabwe, it is of importance to note that HIV and
AIDS issues are not fully given the attention they deserve. The lack of
sensitization programmes in churches encourages stigmatization of HIV
positive people in the holy institutions and in the community in general.
Leaders of churches were encouraged to initiate different programmes on
HIV and AIDS within their structures and to be in the forefront of preaching
such issues like the use of condoms for HIV prevention that are perceived
to be taboos in churches. Their words always have a strong impact on how
most of their followers behave.

The dialogue provided a chance for different churches to co-exist in the

fight against HIV and AIDS and express their views on how HIV and AIDS
be tackled in churches. At the end of it, it was so touching as the
deliberations of the workshop made it possible for more than (20) twenty
people who are living with HIV and AIDS to disclose their positive status to
the gathering.

• HIV and AIDS counselling: Living A Positive Life With HIV

and AIDS.

Rozaria Memorial Trust organized a workshop on psychosocial counselling

for people living with HIV and AIDS. On March 1, 2008 a counselling
session was contacted and was facilitated by trained counsellors; Mrs
Cynthia Chipwere - Dizha a counselor with Kwekwe General Hospital and
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 Annual Report, 2008

Ms Chipo Chitongo of Zimbabwe Community Health Interventions

Research Project (ZICHIRE), who is also positively living with HIV and
AIDS.

From their presentations, they all concurred on the fact that HIV positive
people should move from the self-denial stage and accept their status; a
peaceful mind is an important health aspect for HIV positive people. In
addition, they emphasized the need to share problems and experiences
with colleagues and family members.

The participating HIV positive people said that disclosure of their status
mean that they have accepted what they are but echoed that the problem
remains with the community where the general understanding of HIV and
AIDS is still limited thereby promoting stigma that makes disclosure very
difficult. In response, the counselors emphasized the need for the
formation of support groups of people living with HIV and AIDS. These
groups provides a platform where HIV positive people provide social
support to each other and various programmes done within the groups
helps in creating a knowledgeable community on HIV and AIDS related
issues.

• Our Strength Is The Solution: Communities Can Prevent

Sexual Violence.

In general, the global understanding of the prevalence and nature of

gender-based violence has increased substantially but most of the rural
communities are not part of this positive development. Most of the
programmes target the urban population where accessibility to
information is better whilst leaving the most vulnerable rural women and
girls where various negative cultural beliefs are still deeply entrenched
there.

As part of commemorating 16 days of activism against Gender Based

Violence, Rozaria Memorial Trust held a community sensitization workshop
on gender based violence looking at a regional theme entitled ‘our
strength is the solution; Communities can prevent sexual violence’. Over
50 young people aged between 15—30 years converged at Muhume
Business Centre to share on how sexual violence be eliminated within the
rural communities where some cultural beliefs that exacerbate sexual
violence whether coerced or forced are still much in existence. Most of the
participants had a believe that sexual violence is only about physical rape
so the workshop enlightened them on different forms of sexual violence
emphasizing much on coerced, which is a type of sexual violence often
happening in rural communities but with the perpetrators going
unpunished as the victims have a limited knowledge on the subject. Young
women argued that even if they maybe aware of some legal routes that
should be taken after incidence of sexual violence, they strongly believed
that the community does not take their concerns seriously and even at
other times the victim is ended up being labelled a prostitution.

Among the types of sexual violence discussed, those found within

marriages were common like forced sex and the women said they had no
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option but to follow to the instincts of their husbands even against their
will as they have to protect their marriages. Culturally women should bow
down to whatever the demands maybe to their husbands when it comes to
sexual issues. They said that to be able to tackle critically these issues,
men should be a target in the future for education on the subject of sexual
violence. Nevertheless, the member of the Zimbabwe Republic Police
Victim Friendly Unit present stressed that any form of sexual violence
should be reported to their offices so that cases of sexual violence are
stamped out in the community. In addition, he pointed out that if we do
not join hands in dealing with sexual violence, the fight against the spread
of HIV and AIDS will be a mammoth task.

2. Strengthening Community Support Groups For People Living

With HIV and
AIDS.

Globally, great strides have been made in increasing awareness and

prevention of HIV and AIDS but little is being done to incorporate
progammes specifically for HIV positive people. Recognizing the increasing
number of HIV positive people in the rural communities and numerous
challenges they face, Rozaria Memorial Trust consolidated support groups
for people living with HIV and AIDS in Murewa District ward 8 and
established five support groups with each group having an average of 10
people comprising men, women and children.

The establishment of the support has seen an increase in the number of

people disclosing their HIV positive status, an average of two to three
people are joining the various groups every month. The support groups
proved to be an effective platform for HIV positive people to share various
issues to do with their well-being that include accessibility to treatment,
nutrition and the provision of social support to each other. Each support
group has a well-coordinated secretariat comprising the chairperson,
secretary and treasurer. Networking of the Trust activities targeting HIV
positive people has become easy to implement after the establishment of
the support groups.

Most of the individuals in the support groups lives in poverty surviving on

less than US$I per day. Subsistence farming is their main source of living;
with poor soils and lack of agricultural inputs; the yields they obtain do not
sustain their demanding health, above all, their big families. RMT has
chipped in by providing basic agricultural inputs, concentrating much on
the nutritional crops such as sugar beans, which is reach in proteins. In
addition, the Trust held various information forums along the course of the
year in order to provide social support to the HIV positive people in areas
of nutritional guide, basic mental counseling and education of family
members to enable them to provide positive support to the infected family
members.

Collapsed health system in the country has made it difficult for the
accessibility of Antiretroviral Drugs. Check-ups for CD4 count are being
done after a longer period and others do not even receive this vital
service. Infected children find it difficult to obtain the specified medication
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that suite them as most of the government hospitals are dry, the cost of
getting the medication in private hospitals is beyond the reach of many.
The drugs need to be produced in different size doses than adults; and in
syrup form for babies and infants.

Current statistics show that more women are disclosing their HIV positive
status as compared to men. Out of the fifty (50) members in the
established groups, men are only thirteen (13) and the rest are women
and children. The following names are the profiles of people living with HIV
and AIDS who are in the support groups. The tables below provide the
statistics related to this project:

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PROFILES OF PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS IN MUREWA DISTRICT’S WARD

8.

Ward 8 has a total of 29 villages. In 2008, RMT intensified activities in six

(6) villages, namely Magaya, Dizha, Madyamhuru, Jakopo, Dzotizei,
Chimusoro and Gumira.

Village Wome Men Childre Total On Treatment No of

n n child
ren
affect
ed*
Madyamhuru 3 0 3 6 100% 11
Dizha 2 1 0 3 100% 10
Jakopo 6 1 4 11 90% 24
Magaya 5 2 3 10 100% 27
Dzotizei 4 1 0 5 100% 14
Gumira 4 6 1 11 100% 56
Chimusoro 1 1 0 2 100% 6
Totals 25 12 12 49 100% 147

* includes the total number of children infected and children dependant on

infected parent/care-giver.

From the above data, we observe that:

• 50% of the people living with HIV are women
• Almost 25 % the total are children living with HIV
• Number of vulnerable children affected is 3 times the number of
positive persons.
• 100% of the PLWHA are on treatment, but this does not mean they
have regular access to medicine
• 100% of the community covered in programme are rural and rely on
subsistence farming.

In 2009, RMT will be expanding to other villages especially for the Care
and support programme.

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SECTION 3: BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS

As strength is derived from working in conjunction with other like-minded

organizations, Rozaria Memorial Trust is continuing to build partnerships
both locally, nationally and internationally especially with organizations
which work towards the advancement of women and young people’s
rights.

⇒ Local level, within Murewa District: RMT created a strong bond with
the District AIDS Coordinating Committee (DACC). The DACC office
is the referral point for the various programmes the organization
undertakes in the field of HIV and AIDS. DACC is an important organ
of the local government. It provides different statistics on HIV and
AIDS issues at district level. In addition, RMT work in hand with
other non-governmental in the district which include Zimbabwe
Community Health Interventions Research Project (ZICHIRE),
Zimbabwe Women Against HIV/AIDS, Poverty and Violence
(ZWAAPV) and the organization takes the comfort of operating in
the same complex with (CRS) Catholic Relief Service, it’s experience
in humanitarian aid always inspires the Trust.

⇒ National Level-Zimbabwe: The Trust is part of the National Gender

Forum facilitated by the United Nations Development Fund for
Women (UNIFEM). The Forum provides a platform to meet other
organizations, sharing information and help in identification of
operational entry points. RMT ensures that staff members attend
the National Gender Forum as this presence the stage for the staff
members to meet gender advocates who provide information
critical for both personnel and organizational development. In
addition, Rozaria Memorial Trust always sends representatives for
various national civil society meetings. RMT continue to engage
other key organizations to its operations that include Girl Child
Network, Zimbabwe Women’s Coalition and Musasa Project.

⇒ Regional Level—Africa: Rozaria Memorial Trust is a member of the

Gender Based Violence Prevention Network of the Horn of East and
Southern Africa. The Trust receives campaigning material and
guidance for the 16 days of activism against Gender Based
Violence. Also as a direct result of this positive development, a good
number of the organization’s members managed to attend different
international forums well to do with issues of violence against
women and HIV and AIDS. Raising Voices of Uganda a member of
the GBV Prevention Network facilitated the attendance of one of the
members of the trust for a training workshop on capacity building in
developing effective communication materials for GBV prevention.
Rozaria Memorial Trust also had representatives during the GBV
prevention network satellite meeting at AWID, Cape Town in
November 2008. The operations of the Trust have benefited
immensely from the partnership with African Women and Child
Feature Service, Isis WICCE and Urgent Action Fund.

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⇒ International Level: The Trust continues to strengthen its global

partnerships. These include the funders; American Jewish Word
Service and the Global Fund for Women. Some of the key partners
include UN-Habitat, Groots International, Realizing Rights and Peace
Building Caucus of the Commission on the Status of Women. As a
result, RMT managed to participate in the International Women
Summit on Leadership on HIV and AIDS.

SECTION 4: GORVENANCE AND PLANNING.

The coordinating staff that comprises the Programmes Coordinator, HIV

and Violence Coordinator and Programmes Assistant manages the day-to-
day activities of Rozaria Memorial Trust. A network of volunteers
compliments the work of the office staff whenever the need arises.

The Board of Trustees comprising seven (7) members led by the

Chairperson Mrs Nyaradzai Gumbonzvanda guide the work of the office
staff. They provide overall guidance and oversee the functioning of the
office staff. They meet quarterly to receive reports on the progress of the
penciled activities and to review progress on the work of RMT.

List of Board Members

Mr. Emmanuel Dizha Patron
Mrs. Nyaradzai Gumbonzvanda Chairperson
Mr. Patrick Mugaragumbo Vice Chairperson
Mrs. Gladys Yona Secretary
Mrs. Hilda Chitsanzara Vice-Secretary
Mrs. Modester Chengahomwe Treasurer
Mrs. Elizabeth Taonezvi Vice Treasurer
Representative of Elizabeth Muzambi Committee Member
Representative of Johanes Matuku Committee Member
Representative of Alphonse Dizha Committee Member
Representative of Margaret Berejena Committee Member
Mr. Thomas Dheka Committee Member
Representative of St Martins Magaya Committee Member

List of Staff Member

Mr. Kudakwashe Muzhanje – Dizha National Coordinator
Ms. Colleta Zinyama Programme Officer, HIV and
VAW
Ms. Hilda Mugaragumbo Programme Assistant /Admin
Mr. Madzivadondo Emergency Officer

Partners and Supporters

American Jewish World Service
Urgent Action Fund – Africa
Global Fund for Women
United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)
UN- Habitat
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African Women and Child features

Isis-WICCE
Women’s Intercultural Leadership Forum (WILF)
Watershed Motors P/L
ZICHIRE – Murewa
Zimbabwe Women Against AIDS, Poverty and Violence (ZWAAPV)
St Martins Magaya Catholic Community
SAFAIDS

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