Mogale, 37, is open about her status: she has been HIV positive for two years, and she is living with it. After all, she is doing better now and hopes the worst is behind her. "Now I am really fit compared to when I was sick—I can go a long distance walking now," she says. She regularly walks about one and a half miles to the headquarters of Pholo Modi Wa Sechaba, a community organization where she is part of a support group for people living with HIV/AIDS in her village of Welgavel.
Pholo Modi Wa Sechaba helped get Mogale out of bed and back on her feet. The organization sent a home-based care worker to nurse her, help her get to the hospital for treatment, teach her how to take her antiretroviral medication and manage her diet, and file for a government support grant—a source of money for disabled people.
Pholo Modi Wa Sechaba—meaning "health is the root of the nation" in Setswana, the local language—has about 21 caregivers serving 240 patients in four villages. They ensure that patients are taking their medication; they cook and clean, and disinfect and dress wounds from the many infections that bedevil those with an immune system compromised by HIV. In some cases they deliver food parcels to help families survive.
Pholo Modi Wa Sechaba is just one of thousands of local community based organizations helping the roughly 5.5 million people living with HIV/AIDS in South Africa. They are on the front line of the struggle, and play an essential role in providing services. "Community-based organizations are key in the fight against HIV/AIDS," says Gerard Payne the affiliate coordinator at the AIDS Consortium, an umbrella organization for the thousands of such community groups around South Africa. "Without them the fight against HIV and AIDS is a mere media campaign. They provide essential services in the community, they speak the language, and they understand the cultural issues in the communities."
Oxfam America is working with the AIDS Consortium to provide training and other support to community based organizations like Pholo Modi Wa Sechaba in South Africa's North West Province, one of the poorest areas of the country, with a high incidence of HIV/AIDS. The AIDS Consortium is working with 47 local community based organizations in the North West, and with funding from Oxfam it can expand its efforts to some of the 150 others struggling against HIV/AIDS in the province.
Pholo Mode Wa Sechaba helps patients get tested for HIV and, when patients test positive, counsels them on their treatment options and on how to "live positively." In addition to its home-based care program, it has a daycare for young children and an after-school program for orphans and others who need a place to do their homework and learn valuable life skills including how to prevent HIV.
Learning that you are HIV positive forces you to think about everything differently. Just having to share your status with your family is enough of a crisis for many newly diagnosed people. They then must struggle with how to live with what may at first seem a death sentence, how to make ends meet if they are too ill to work, how to endure the side effects of the medication, and how to manage the stigma of being HIV positive.
South Africa's health care system, while free, is overburdened and does not provide adequate social support for people living with HIV/AIDS. They can be tested, learn the result, and get a CD4 count (a measure of the blood cells that support their immune system). Many get free antiretroviral medication. But then they are really on their own—and if they lack a support system of family and friends, as many do in communities already ravaged by the disease, these patients are in crisis.
Pholo Modi Wa Sechaba helped Maria Mogale with these struggles, and helped her understand her treatment options. These are the most important lessons the organization teaches people in the community, particularly valuable to women who are sometimes excluded from health care options owing to poverty and discrimination—a violation of their right to health care. Family members may insist on traditional medicine, which frequently delays treatment, and can often hasten death.
Mogale learned this from Pholo Modi Wa Sechaba: "If people are sick, they need to go to the hospital, and not just stay at home and say they are bewitched," she says at her home, a three-room house made of metal sheets outside Welgavel. "I tell people, 'AIDS is there, but you can get better.'" She smiles as she speaks.
Mogale is a strong, positive example for members of her community—and this strength, tragically, is also a good example within her own family. Her daughter Portia, 18, learned she was HIV positive two months ago, and her 60-year-old mother Priscilla, who lives nearby, is also in treatment. Both are now thinking about their lives differently as well, and look to Mogale for advice on how to live and think about their future. Portia is in her second to last year of high school and is considering higher education, even as she is still learning what it means to be HIV positive.
For Maria Mogale, her future may involve helping others on a more formal basis: she wants to work with Pholo Modi Wa Sechaba. "I want to become a caregiver, and teach others what I have learned."
]]>— Maria Paulo, Chueza Temporary Camp resident
It is very hard to forget the trauma of the past but easy to rebuild hope for a better future. This is probably the most appropriate description of the emotions flowing in the hearts of thousands of people directly affected by the floods in January 2008 in Mozambique. The cyclical floods that have begun to occur are pushing people affected by them to look at climate change and their own vulnerability in a different way—and to change their approach for the future.
The government has announced the end of the emergency period, which means that efforts are now being focused on creating long-term sustainable services to help people living in the resettlement centers recover from the flooding.
It's time to build the future, say some in the temporary camps based in Marromeu, in Sofala Province, one of the most affected by the floods. It's time to reflect on the capacity local communities have to withstand the effects of drought and flood. In themselves, extreme weather events don't necessarily result in disasters. Disasters are often a consequence of human vulnerabilities—of people who have no choice but to live in dangerous locations, such as on flood plains or steep slopes prone to landslides.
According to official figures, the January flood displaced 115,000 people. In the provinces of Sofala, Zambezia, Tete, and Inhambane, many displaced people lost all their belongings, including houses, goods, and crops.
Oxfam is helping more than 48,000 people in the resettlement centers recover by providing things such as clean water, hygiene facilities, household utensils, plastic sheeting for shelter, and other materials for construction.
"We understand that the process of resettling people should be as flexible as possible, to provide motivation and the environment for the affected people not to return to their places of origins," said Michael Tizora, former head of Oxfam's humanitarian action program in Mozambique.
Oxfam has an operational base in Marromeu District, where a field team is assisting displaced people in the temporary camps of Chueza 1 and 2, Nhapirundo, Chapa 30, and Zona C, downstream of the Zambezi River and in the resettlement sites of Chupanga, Chiburiburi , and Amambos.
"Our need now is to get seeds to produce enough food in enough quantity to feed our families," said Paulino Chueza, the traditional head of Chueza center. "We promise the government not to go back to our houses, but we still need a lot of help and assistance to forget what happened and look forward."
In the district of Mutarara, Tete Province, where Oxfam has been operating, the program is helping farmers to recover their livelihoods in addition to providing a water and sanitation program that has targeted 30,000 people. In Tambara, in Manica Province, Oxfam has been working with Magariro, a local organization that is assisting 13,500 people with water and sanitation and supporting them in restarting their agricultural activities after the floods.
In almost all camps, people have basic necessities such as latrines, drinking water, health facilities, and schools for children. Oxfam recruited and trained local health promotion activists to assist beneficiaries in the proper use of these facilities and to promote good hygiene to avoid an outbreak of diseases like diarrhea. However, the future is still quite uncertain for most of the people. There are lessons to be learned from the floods of 2001, 2007, and 2008. The challenge now is to build local capacity to avoid the troubles caused by weather-related events and climate change.
Many people have lost everything, but not the sense of hope in changing the present and building the future. Positive change demands confidence, hope, and a lot of work.
]]>Once rich and fertile and capable of producing bountiful crops, the soil is now bone dry. Without water, the community's crops and gardens won't grow. Without these vital fruits, vegetables and grains, people aren't able to get the nutritious foods they need to stay healthy. And in a community affected by HIV and AIDS, this has devastating consequences.
"The ground used to be soft and easy to dig by hand; water was freely available just under the surface and food was plentiful; there was a lake nearby that provided fish for us to eat," Thandi says. "But now the land is dry and hard and there is no water under the surface; even the lake has dried up."
Thandi says rainfall has become more erratic over the last few decades, occurring less frequently and for shorter periods. Other members of the community concur. The seasons are not the same as they used to be; winter is not as cold now and summer rains are more erratic. People here have experienced droughts and floods for as long as they can remember, but since the mid-1990s they have noticed a gradual drying of the land. Even the rainwater tanks that were installed as a solution to the problem now stand dry.
Although Hluhluwe's people know the climate is changing, they have not heard about global warming, nor do they have any knowledge about the current global debates on these issues.
For the men and women of Hluhluwe, one thing is clear?they desperately want to learn how to adapt to the changes in climate in the longer term. At the moment they are simply trying deal with the prolonged drought conditions as best they can, by doing what they have always done but on a reduced scale. They make their gardens smaller, grow different types of crops and walk further to collect water?but these are short-term coping mechanisms, not long-term solutions.
If current trends continue, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says, sub-Saharan Africa will be 2-4 degrees warmer by 2050, and have 10 percent less rainfall. There will be more extreme events such as drought and floods and the length of the growing season will shorten even further.
"We need water pipes," Thandi says. "We need to learn how to look after the land and adapt to the drier conditions; we need to grow more drought-tolerant crops and vegetables. We need to learn more about climate change, and we need training in how we can speak up on these issues."
]]>Like many elderly and retired people, 70-year-old Mapatsi Tsuro spends his days in the garden tending to his crop of vegetables. But for Tsuro this is no leisurely pastime, rather it is a matter of survival. When he should be enjoying his golden years with the support of the family he raised, he now has to feed and care for eight grandchildren, following the untimely deaths of his three children.
Tsuro lives in Chicomba in eastern Zimbabwe, but his plight is common to millions of rural families in the region with the world's highest HIV infection rate and the greatest number of AIDS-related deaths. In Zimbabwe 1.7 million of the population of 13-million are infected with HIV/AIDS and Almost 900,000 of those infected are women.
Behind the alarming statistics lies human tragedy. The hardship for those infected and their families begins long before they die. Stigma, fear and despair often follow a HIV-positive diagnosis. The loss of income and support when a breadwinner or caregiver becomes ill, and the diversion of household resources to provide care increases the burden on family members, particularly children caring for terminally ill parents. Many only leave behind the trauma of bereavement and orphans.
Almost one in four children in Zimbabwe, 1.1 million, are now orphaned by AIDS. This number continues to grow as HIV and AIDS dramatically increases the vulnerability of children. The majority of the country's orphans are absorbed by the elderly in rural Zimbabwean households, a group which is barely coping with the extreme economic and social conditions in the country.
Oxfam America is supporting the Single Parents Widows Support Network (SPWSN) to improve the security of vulnerable groups by providing for their immediate nutritional needs, building sustainable livelihoods and enhancing the resilience of communities. Since 2002 Oxfam has been responding to the ongoing food security crisis in Zimbabwe through a livelihoods support program in the Seke, Mudzi, and Chikomba districts of Mashonaland East Province. The program provides seeds, fertilizers, primary health kits and on-going support to some 10,000 vulnerable households.
The supply of summer grain and legume seeds ensures that communities are able to sustain food production and build seed reserves. Over 60 community and individual nutritional gardens have also been established to grow vegetable during the winter months. The gardens ensure sufficient household food and the nutrition vital for maintaining health. Surplus crops provide some income for immediate needs such as health and education. The vulnerable groups receiving support include women-headed households, child-headed households, and households caring for orphans and the chronically ill, especially those affected by HIV/AIDS.
Neighboring South Africa is the site of the world's highest HIV infections, but also the country with the most people on ARV treatment. The National Strategic Plan aims to extend treatment to 80% of those with Aids by 2011. The plan also recognizes that Community Based Organizations (CBOs) and Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) form an essential part of the integrated approach needed to address HIV/AIDS issues at community level.
Oxfam America's partner, The AIDS Consortium (AC) is one of the largest umbrella organizations in South Africa with a network of over 1000 affiliates. Members include CBOs and individuals motivated to meet the needs of the communities they live in. They offer a wide variety of services ranging from support groups for people living with aids (PLWA), job creation projects, home-based care (HBC), feeding schemes and orphan support, to national advocacy campaigns and large-scale treatment services.
"Community-based care workers are the unsung hero's of our country in the fight against AIDS and for community development," says AC executive director Denise Hunt, "with very limited resources they are forging ahead and making a huge contribution on the ground."
The AIDS Consortium represents the NGO sector on the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC). Here it is working with government and the private sector to formalize and increase the role of civil society. Hunt believes, "The only way we are going to meet the access to treatment targets are through dramatic shifts in how health care is delivered. Community care workers are in a position to play an expanded role and we are pressing SANAC to secure the finances, training and resources which will enable them enhance to their skills and contribution to service delivery."
Dr Liz Floyd, the head of Gauteng Multisectoral AIDS Unit, agrees that a more significant role for organizations is needed to meet the increasing demand for HBC and other support services.
"Government is developing a decentralized strategy for health care. It is very important to spread the resources to a network of mass-based care workers on the ground in communities in order to build community capacity to respond to and reach the people who need it," says Dr Floyd.
AC founder and Patron, Supreme Court Judge Edwin Cameron, is one of the few public figures to have openly declared his sexual orientation and positive HIV status. He points out that the epidemic is likely to be around for a long time and that community groups are vital to ensure an adequate response for PLWA. "We don't have a cure, but we do have manageable treatment," says Judge Cameron. "The public sector program is good but it is not reaching enough people. Community-based workers can bridge the gap between where we are now and where we need to be."
]]>Today he is an independent cotton producer and the President of FONPA, the National Cotton Producers Forum, which has organized small cotton farmers to become an equal partner with government and industry in improving the lives of small scale cotton farmers of Mozambique.
"The formation of a national forum is important because for the first time cotton farmers are represented at a national level and taken seriously by government and the cotton companies. We are now able to put pressure on government, raise the concerns of the small cotton farmers, and begin to address the imbalance of power relations between the concessions and the cotton growers," said Malico. "By joining together in associations we have found it easier to negotiate a better price for our cotton and to help each other by working together to improve our production and harvesting."
On a warm winter July afternoon in his home area of Naicole, in the largest cotton producing province of Nampula, Mr. Malico is meeting with local farmers to discuss the latest harvest and their concerns and needs. Two representatives of Oxfam America's partner, ABIODES (the Organic Agriculture, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development Association) which steered the formation of FONPA, are attending to discuss a local pilot project introduced during the last season.
The pilot project provided seed, spraying equipment, training, and draft animals for plowing to 50 members of three local farmers associations. The aim was to increase the area of production and productivity, boost cotton quality and yield per hectare, and introduce sustainable agriculture.
ABIODES Field Coordinator, Isabel Mazive says the project has had a significant impact, "Fifty smallholder farmers were selected by their associations to cultivate one hectare (2.45 acres) for each producer, with a total area of 50 hectares. We estimate that the average yield per hectare will be 900 to 1200 kilos, in contrast to previous average yields of 300 to 600 kilos per hectare. Other farmers not directly participating in the initiative have also been able to hire the animal traction services at a reasonable cost determined by the associations. This income has been used to support the growth of the local associations."
Isora Jamal is one of the cotton farmers to have benefited from the pilot project. Standing in the family field surrounded by head-high cotton plants she is satisfied with this year's crop. "The animal traction has been a big help in preparing the land in time for planting and allowed me increase my area of cultivation. The training and services have definitely improved the amount and quality of my cotton. It also saved us women a lot of time and manual labor in the fields, which means we have been able to spend more time on the other food crops. The animals have also assisted with transportation and water collection," says Jamal.
The success of the project has also attracted the attention of the National Cotton Institute which now intends to extend the use of animal traction nationally. The Director of the Institute, Norberto Mahalambe, notes that the organization of the small-scale cotton farmers is vital for growth and stability in the industry. "Cotton has been one of the most stable cash crops in Mozambique for the last 100 years," he said. "There are over 350,000 cotton farmers supporting some 1.5 million dependents on this crop. Income from cotton pays school fees, medical bills and many other essential expenses."
Most of the small-scale cotton farmers in Mozambique are tied to contracts with the privatized cotton concession companies. Under this arrangement the companies provide seed in return for the cotton crop. However, the farmers complain that the inputs and services are of poor quality and many farmers end up owing the companies more than they receive in payment for their crops. This cycle of debt deepens every year. In response, FONPA is lobbying government for an agrarian policy that protects and improves the lives of cotton producers. They also want agriculture banks to finance cotton production and processing in order to improve the quality of cotton and the small farmers' income.
Oxfam America helped establish FONPA in 2005. Mahalambe, the director of the National Cotton Institute, said that Oxfam's support for FONPA "has been fundamental in assisting farmers to get organized into a national forum, able to negotiate with companies and the government. The farmers no longer stand alone and they are much more informed and capable."
Davie Malungisa, Oxfam America's trade and livelihoods expert said that FONPA is helping the farmers gain more power in determining how cotton is produced in Mozambique, but that they are looking to other activities as well. "In the coming months FONPA will focus on offering services such as access to finance, improved inputs, value addition and crop diversification," he said. The overall goal of this work: "To increased the income and food security of small cotton farmers."
]]>Kristin, an Oxfam Global Ambassador, shared a platform with the President of Oxfam America, Raymond C. Offenheiser, and South African activists, to raise up the voices of the communities she has met, and to help ensure that they are given the dignity of effective HIV treatment and care.
This is Kristin’s second trip to South Africa, and she used her time to revisit the strong women and community groups that touched her in Soweto, as well as learning more about how HIV is tackled in South Africa from new groups in rural areas and informal settlements.
The trip helped Kristin appreciate the power and importance of community workers in South Africa’s response to the HIV and AIDS epidemic, as well as the obstacles that are preventing millions of people living with HIV from getting the treatment they need, such as the shortage of doctors, nurses and treatment clinics, particularly in rural areas.
Kristin Davis, Oxfam Global Ambassador, said:
“I have been amazed by the incredible strength and energy of South Africa’s community groups in tackling the AIDS epidemic in this country. People like Mama Grace, who runs a soup kitchen in Soweto for orphans and other vulnerable children, are an incredible tower of strength in South Africa’s uphill response to AIDS. These unsung heroes are pulling together what little food and money they have to provide care to those living with HIV. Oxfam helps support them in this effort. These people are inspirational, but can’t win the battle on their own. These communities need nurses and doctors. These wonderful people are holding up their communities and need our support.”
The AIDS epidemic is the leading cause of death in South Africa, with an estimated 400,000 people dying of HIV-related causes each year. To respond, the country has mounted the biggest rollout of HIV treatment in the world, which has seen over 300,000 people receiving anti-retrovirals on the public health system. However, many barriers to good health for people living with HIV remain. A shortage of doctors, nurses and clinics prevent people from getting the treatment they need – in one community Kristin visited the nearest clinic was over 80km away, which meant people had to take a day off work and pay R100 or more for a round trip on public transport to get the treatment they so desperately required.
Oxfam’s South African partners, the Treatment Action Campaign and the AIDS consortium both spoke at the press conference.
Denise Hunt from the AIDS Consortium called on the South African government to empower and harness the skills of community health care workers to help extend access to treatment to more people, more rapidly. She called for extra training for the community groups already providing care. With training, those providing home-based care for men, women and children living with HIV could play a larger role in rolling out treatment.
Community care worker, Sibongile Mazibuko-Mkwanazi, raised the importance of tackling stigma as a part of the HIV response saying that stigma prevents people, particularly women, from coming forward for testing. “We should never allow HIV to come between us as families and communities’” she said. “All of us, one on one, need to be united in the fight against AIDS”.
Oxfam recognises the important role of community organizations and continues to support innovative approaches to expanding access to treatment and care for people living with HIV in South Africa, as well as campaigning on the global level for more doctors, nurses, and community healthcare workers to boost the level of care and treatment received by millions of people living with HIV.
Raymond C. Offenheiser, President, Oxfam America, says:
"The AIDS epidemic does not respect race, class, gender or ethnicity. But lives can be saved through unique partnerships that support access to medicines, quality health services and empowered community leadership. Behind the statistics lies a preventable human tragedy that can and must be confronted."
Kristin Davis was on a four-day visit to South Africa from January 29 – February 2, 2008. Kristin’s visit continued her efforts to gain a better understanding of the HIV/AIDS situation in the country. Organizations she met include Let Us Grow in Orange Farm, Circle of Promise in Soweto and HIV and AIDS projects in the North West province.
]]>"Our ancestors can become angry because we don't respect them," said Hilario Muthembe, a local activist working with Oxfam America's partner MULEIDE in the bustling suburb of Jorge Dimitrov outside Maputo, Mozambique. The solution? Consult a traditional healer, who can help. "A small ceremony can show we respect them," Muthembe said, "and can cure the problem."
"Traditional healers play a number of very important roles in traditional society," said anthropoligist Gordon Chavanduka, president of the Zimbabwe Traditional Healer Association. "Firstly, they are the medical experts. Secondly, they are the cultural experts, and regard themselves as the guardians of their culture.
"They are also counselors, in all issues. Even the chiefs and headmen, who are the political leaders, almost all of them have a traditional healer as an advisor, to assist them in their governing."
Susan LeClerb Madlala, an anthropologist at the University of KwaZulu Natal, says that people find a certain satisfaction in consulting a traditional healer, who can not only treat the immediate illness or problem, but provide an explanation of the ultimate source of the problem itself, something a medical doctor can't do.
"Let's say you are hanging your wash on the line behind your house, and a snake bites you. Well, a medical doctor will treat the snake bite, but he can't answer a lot of important questions: Why did the snake bite you? Why was it at your house? Who sent that snake?"
Given the prominence of the spirit world in many areas, it is essential for rights organizations like MULEIDE to acknowledge the role of traditional healers in communities where they seek to intervene. Showing them respect and working with them, instead of dismissing them as "witch doctors," will help make the gradual changes in society that can lead to better respect for women, and recognition of their rights as full citizens, protected in Mozambique's Family Law.
]]>But first, they sing and dance, accompanied by whistles and drums. The entire neighborhood arrives to see what is happening. They sing songs of solidarity, and the power of women to overcome poverty and illiteracy, and about a new law in Mozambique they are using to redefine their entire society, one family at a time.
The Mozambique Family Law, promulgated in 2004 is designed to bring women's rights under law in line with international standards. Thanks to this new law, women now have a chance to inherit and own financial assets such as cash and property, and have a job that earns wages—without the permission of a husband or male family member.
And the Family Law recognizes customary marriages registered with local government—an important distinction in places like Jorge Dimitrov where couples can't always afford formal marriage ceremonies. Now, women living with a husband for more than a year have the right to a share of family assets if the marriage breaks up.
However, some people in Hulene and the greater Jorge Dimitrov area are basically unaware of the new law, and live by customs and traditions that are at odds with it. The problems this creates are most obvious in cases of domestic violence and other family conflicts.
"We see a lot of problems with couples," said Hilario Muthembe, an activist in Hulene. "Maybe the husband has an illness, and says his wife is a witch and wishes him to be dead."
And when families consult local traditional leaders or healers, the matter can be resolved based on traditions and local customs that favor those with the most power: men. The activists in Hulene said this opens up the possibility of domestic violence, and an abrupt "divorce" leaving a woman and her children on the street with no means of support.
Encouraging local leaders to respect women's rights under the Family Law is the mission of MULEIDE, Oxfam America's partner in Mozambique. The organization has trained more than 400 legal advisors in three provinces who work with traditional healers, the main custodians of local culture in neighborhoods like Bario Hulene.
Their mission is to make sure that women understand their new rights, and that traditional healers help protect them. "We want the illiterate grassroots women of Mozambique to know that there is a legal instrument that can help overcome decades of suffering," said Rafa Machava, executive director of MULEIDE. "So we need to engage everyone to balance their customs with the new law."
Traditional healers are the key to the strategy, as they advise local elites and families, and can be the ones to help create the long-term shift in culture that will promote respect for women's rights. Noemia Fernando, one of MULEIDE's trained legal advisors in Bario Hulene, said it is essential for her and the other activists in the community to enlist traditional healers to help women. "Traditional healers have the power to treat them, get the problem resolved, and unify the family," she said. "That is why we need them with us, they can help us do our work." Fernando and her MULEIDE colleagues explained the new law to the traditional healers in Hulene, and some healers are now helping them explain the new law to their clients, and develop non-violent solutions to conflicts.
Fatima Coelho, a traditional healer for three years, got her training on the new Family Law in 2005. And she is using her training to help ensure that women's rights are respected in her work. Coelho said it is a real challenge to help couples avoid violence. "I'm trying to teach that it is better to sit down and talk instead of beating each other—this is not the way to build up a family. This is the strongest value I gained from my training with MULEIDE in 2005, it is the best way to address these family issues."
Cecilia Reis, an elderly woman active as a healer since 1962, has been an ardent promoter of women's rights and has been working with MULEIDE since 1994. She is at the leading edge of creating a new culture of respect for women in Mozambique. Her comments show her commitment, her realistic outlook, and her aspirations. And at the root of her dedication are her own personal commitment and the training she got from MULEIDE, which is critical to her work as a spiritual advisor.
"Women and men should be equal. Women have to open their eyes and claim their rights. These issues will not change overnight—we have to fight, and get our men to [understand], because they are very difficult and don't want to change. But we still have to stand up, look them in the eye and say to them, "we have to share, because the Family Law says we have equal rights."
"There is no one who will chase me away from my house, not even my husband, he knows that I have my own rights. This is what we are trying to teach our women. But some are not open minded, and they are dependent on their husbands, sometimes they accept being beaten all the time, and sometimes they die of domestic violence, because they have nowhere to go.
"And they don't even know that there are lawyers at MULEIDE, and at the courts, who can defend them. We have lost many members of our community to domestic violence.
"But what can we do? We are a poor country, so we have to work hard. The few of us who are able to do this work, we have to stand up and work strongly."
]]>It is a stark example of the impact of HIV and AIDS on rural Zimbabwe. In addition to her own 10 children, Mrs. Nyuwani, 48, and her recently disable husband took in another dozen children. "The 12 came here because their parents passed away and they were living as street children. So my husband I brought them here," she said. "Six are of my late sister, others are my brother-and sister-in-law's kids, and the grandchildren of my sister."
This would be a tremendous challenge for anyone. But Nyuwani has a thoughtful, peaceful air about her as she takes a deep breath and describes how the family copes: "At first it was disturbing, because I thought about where to get food for all these children," she said. "But now I am used to looking after them? I treat them all the same, and share the food equally."
Survival comes down to just that: food. Nyuwani has seven hectares (about 17 acres) of farmland at her disposal, and is an experienced farmer. "I manage all this by farming, and the older kids help in the fields," she said. "During the rainy season there is a lot of work to be done, because I have to tend to the crops and the children as well."
Lack of cash and time to look for farming supplies like seeds and fertilizer make it extremely difficult for Nyuwani to plant and harvest enough to sustain the family. These constraints and the number of AIDS orphans on the Nyuwani homestead made her a candidate for the seed distribution project implemented by the Single Parents and Widows Support Network, in partnership with Oxfam America. Single Parents gave Nyuwani some seeds in November 2005, and by the end of May 2006 she had a decent harvest: she estimated growing about 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds) of groundnuts, 100 kilograms (440 pounds) of corn, and 250 kilograms (550 pounds) of sorghum.
This was an improvement over previous years when lack of seeds as well as rain diminished the agricultural yield for the Nyumanis. But the food won't last forever. "I got a better harvest this year, but it won't last until the next season since I have such a big family," Nyuwani said. "For us to survive, to the next [growing] season, two of my daughters will pan for gold in river beds near here. We will also cut back on our meals to one or two a day. We will eat sadza [corn meal] and okra—that's what we have here—no tea, no sugar, no bread. During this [rainy] season we also have some pumpkins and cow peas, but we don't usually eat them apart from the rainy season."
Oxfam America and the Single Parents and Widow Support Network are exploring possibilities for a winter garden project that would help families grow vegetables over the winter. This would help bridge the food deficit many families will be experiencing before the end of the next growing season, and improve nutrition for families taking care of chronically ill people.
For now, the food is sustaining the homestead. "I appreciate the seeds I got from Single Parents," Nyuwani said. "I was very happy with the sorghum and maize seeds I received. I am also happy with the groundnuts."
In addition to improving their diet, groundnuts are also an economic opportunity for a family low on cash with a lot of kids who need to go to school. "If you can grow more of these to sell some, you can get some money," Nyuwani said. "Some of the children were chased away from school due to lack of school fees, but I sold some groundnuts and paid for six who are now at school."
]]>His words were spoken at a gathering to mark the beginning of a new collaboration to expand efforts to improve the situation of women's rights as a precondition to overcome the deadly HIV/AIDS epidemic ravaging the sub-region. Oxfam America's Southern Africa program kicked off the new program area with a convening of key organizations in the region culminating in the press event on Constitution Hill.
The HIV/AIDS crisis is the most significant obstacle to development in southern Africa. Recent studies by UNAIDS and a special task force appointed by the UN Secretary General studying women, girls, and HIV/AIDS in southern Africa show some staggering statistics: 30 percent of the world's people living with HIV/AIDS (about 11.4 million) are in nine countries that contain only two percent of the entire earth's population. Women and girls are sharing a disproportionate burden of infection and death from the insidious disease. The task force study estimates that three quarters of the young people 15 to 24 years old in Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Zambia that are currently living with HIV/AIDS are young girls and women.
These reports acknowledge one key reason women and girls are so vulnerable: their legal rights are not respected. Unequal laws on divorce and inheritance, as well as weak domestic violence legislation are leaving women vulnerable to abuse and poverty in an insecure environment. In some cases, women are considered legal minors, and are not allowed to make important decisions about their own lives, even if their husbands die.
Infected women, and those simply affected by the crisis, are missing out on employment and education opportunities as they fall ill or have to care for sick family members. Societal tolerance of sexual violence and harmful traditions frequently prevent women from controlling their sexual activity and discourage legal recourse in abuse cases.
Beyond wasting the potential of women in southern Africa, the resulting social dislocation, heavy health care and burial costs, and shortened life spans from the HIV/AIDS epidemic threaten the future for an entire generation. "We have crossed the threshold between the potential impact on women's development," said Mark Heywood, Director of the Aids Law Project of South Africa, speaking at a two-day conference sponsored by Oxfam America. "We are clearly experiencing the epidemic's impact on women's rights, which is a crucial aspect of what HIV/AIDS is doing to society."
Oxfam America has concentrated resources in the area of legal reform in Zimbabwe and Mozambique over the last eight years. Grant funds have supported research, advocacy, and popular campaigns designed to improve the legal framework to support women's rights in family laws, land ownership, domestic violence, and other key areas that directly affect women's welfare and livelihoods.
The new program area titled "HIV/AIDS Policy, Law and Women's Rights Partnership Program" builds off of the legal reform work in ways designed to help reduce the vulnerability of women to the disease, and eventually eradicate it. "Oxfam America must have a strong HIV/AIDS program in southern Africa,"" explained Regional Director Julio de Sousa. "In concentrating on these essential human rights issues, we will further women's rights and contribute to the fight against the epidemic."
Staff in Oxfam America's office in southern Africa consulted with a wide range of organizations with expertise in the areas of women's rights and the HIV/AIDS crisis. Together they developed a program that will include grants to organizations working on strengthening laws and policies designed to promote respect for women's rights, and challenging the social norms and values that condone violence against women and girls and contribute to their lower social status. Of equal importance will be looking at ways to improve the social support services essential for assisting women, including law enforcement, access to health care, and counseling.
The expanded program focus is building on fruitful collaborations with women's rights coalitions in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and constructing similar partnerships in South Africa and Namibia.
At the press event in Johannesburg, Justice Van Westhuizen challenged Oxfam America and its partners in this new program area to think big, to even dream. "We must be able to dream—because without dreams we will not exist." As one of the framers of South Africa's constitution, considered one of the world's most progressive, he was well aware of the power of a dream, as South Africa enters its 10th year under majority rule.
Equality for women and a stronger southern African society free of HIV/AIDS is still in the future, but the ideas are coming into place to make it a reality. As South Africa has shown, a dream is just the start of big things.
]]>The new Family Law that took effect in 2005 addresses a common injustice: when a husband dies, tradition says his house and fields go to his brother or parents, which can leave his wife and children without a home or an income.
But passing a law in a distant capital won?t change traditional practices like this--Mozambique is a vast country of 19.5 million in 10 provinces, speaking six languages. Teaching all citizens about the new law, and building respect for it in places governed primarily by local cultures and traditions, is a serious challenge.
After funding a coalition of five organizations to get the law passed, Oxfam is now supporting a grassroots campaign to make the Family Law a reality. The coalition is using workshops, radio programs, and outreach to local leaders to get the message about the law out to all sectors of society. Last year their training sessions included 50 judges, 180 grassroots activists, and 45 radio journalists from every province.
Traditions don't change overnight, but the effort is making progress. As one local activist in Mukudo put it, "People now know that women have rights to their land. It is one of the ways new laws are changing the community," said Jonah Dzanza, a 26-year-old farmer.
]]>But then the Family Law coalition, five groups funded by Oxfam America that helped create and promote the new law, turned to the next phase of their mission: To ensure the new law is understood by a diverse population in a vast country of 19.5 million in 10 provinces, speaking six languages (with 16 dialects).
The new Family Law contains a number of revolutionary concepts for a country like Mozambique, which is struggling to emerge from poverty, conflict, colonization, and illiteracy.
A complete overhaul of marriage laws: The new law recognizes customary or non-formal traditional marriages, and allows widows to inherit land and other property. It also raises the minimum age of marriage for girls to 18, which will help encourage the next generation of females to gain secondary education. Women now have the right to seek divorce in the case of domestic violence or infidelity, and to create and enforce prenuptial agreements.
Redefining the status of women in society: Putting women on an even footing with men is essential for fighting poverty, in any country. "The old law increased poverty for women," said Maria Orlanda, secretary general of the Mozambique Women Lawyers' Association in Maputo. "They depended on husbands for assets and there was no way for them to accumulate wealth of any kind." Under the new Family Law, men are no longer the de facto head of a household. This authority is now shared with women, who also have the right to work outside the home without the permission of a husband or male relative, and to buy, own, and manage property or other financial assets.
"You have to understand the problems of grassroots people to really help them," says Rafa Machava, executive direct or Muleide, a women's rights and development organization that is part of the Family Law coalition in Mozambique. With funding from Oxfam America, Muleide is reaching out to people—particularly traditional leaders—in small communities, training them and promoting the new law in ways that do not create conflict with their concepts of family life, and the role of women in society.
Muleide targets traditional leaders as the key for real change in communities. "They are the voice that is trusted," Machava says, "and they open doors for you, as respected people in the community."
One of Muleide's central missions is to provide assistance to women who are in danger of domestic violence. "Many perpetrators of violence claim that there is a traditional basis for the conflict in their household, based on their beliefs," Machava said. "A man may say his wife is a witch, or has been cursed by ancestors, because she can't have children. Or the wife may say that the husband did not pay enough lobola, a dowry or bride price, and this makes her unable to have children. And if for any reason a child dies, you can have these sorts of conflicts. A wife can be sent back to her family, and they will consult a traditional healer for a solution."
Muleide's activists work with the traditional healers. "Our activists ask the healer to tell the couple about the new Family Law," Machava said. "We teach them in their local language, because they don't speak Portuguese, so that there will be no conflict between the advice from a traditional healer and the law. This is a way of showing that domestic problems can be resolved without violence, and people can learn that they can seek legal help from Muleide and other organizations." The organization trained 250 traditional healers in Maputo province in 2005.
Working with a traditional healer trained in the new Family Law helps people resolve problems based on traditions with which they are comfortable, while at the same time learning to respect the new law and avoid solutions that violate women's rights. This added expertise in the new law is of great interest to traditional healers, says Machava. "They openly say they work with Muleide because it brings them more customers," she said.
]]>The domestic violence bill is an attempt to thrust domestic violence out from behind closed doors and into the public realm, a difficult task in Zimbabwe and other African countries where many people do not consider women equal to men, and view abuse of women in the household to be a private matter. According to the Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association (ZWLA), one of every four women in the country suffers some form of abuse in her lifetime, and sixty percent of murder cases are related to domestic violence.
Some notable and progressive features of the proposed domestic violence bill:
The Women's Coalition includes three Oxfam America partners: the Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association, the Women in Politics Support Unit (WiPSU), and the Musasa Project. In previous years Oxfam America also funded the work of three other coalition members, the Association of Women's Clubs, Zimbabwe Adult Learners Association, and the Federation of African Media Women's Association.
If the bill is signed as expected it will conclude nearly six years of work. The Coalition's first efforts in 1999 were to educate women about a proposed constitution to replace one negotiated at the end of the liberation war in 1982. Critics of the draft constitution said it discriminated against women based on customary law. The Women's Coalition led a public education campaign that contributed to a defeat of the proposed constitution in a referendum in 2000.
The Women's Coalition then turned its attention to legislation to help improve the situation of women in Zimbabwe, and began researching and actually drafting a new domestic violence bill. It was first proposed to the Minister of Justice in 2001. In 2004 the Women's Coalition submitted a petition to the Minister with 10,000 signatures. In 2005 the effort gained momentum as Joyce Mujuru was named vice president, and the government established a new Ministry of Women's Affairs, and appointed another woman, Oppha Muchinguri, to this highly placed position. Both were supporters of the domestic violence bill.
The Women's Coalition did encounter some political resistance. First, it had to get approval from a special committee for legislature in the president's cabinet before the bill could be introduced to Parliament.
Emilia Muchawa, director of ZWLA, attended the cabinet committee meeting, and said that there were concerns about the articles that outlaw some traditional practices. "There were seven ministers, only one was a woman," she said. "They talked it over and one said, 'if this goes through, I would be arrested.' They could not look at it objectively. We asked them to separate their public role from their private life." Although the cabinet committee was not enthusiastic, Muchawa said they did feel a sense of responsibility. "They knew that they would have to step out of their personal life and answer for their constituency," she said.
After the cabinet approved the legislation in May of 2006, the Women's Coalition then had to find a way to promote the bill in Parliament, where only 24 of the 150 seats are held by women. The bill successfully passed in the House of Assembly in July. However in debates in the Senate in October, more resistance emerged as one member of Parliament, Timothy Mubhawu, said the bill would degrade the status of men and stated flatly, "Women are not equal to men."
Women's Coalition members protested the next day outside Parliament, and officials of Mubhawu's party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), disavowed his statements and suspended him from party membership. The bill passed the Senate and is now awaiting the president's signature. "I am sure he has a positive interest in signing the bill," Muchawa said.
When it becomes law, Zimbabwe's domestic violence bill will be the latest in a series of important legislative reforms that are helping women claim and defend their rights in southern Africa. It follows two important laws in neighboring Mozambique: the 1997 Land Law, and the 2004 Family Law, both of which help women gain legal title to and inherit land, an essential asset for a secure livelihood in a country dependent on agriculture. The Family Law also established clear laws for divorce, rights for women to hold jobs, and a minimum age for marriage. Oxfam America funded leading members of a coalition of women's organizations in Mozambique that researched, proposed, and promoted these laws.
As in Mozambique, Oxfam America's partners working together in Zimbabwe played important roles in the development, drafting, and lobbying of the domestic violence bill. "Oxfam America was the first organization to invest in the Women's Coalition," Muchawa said, noting that having the Coalition in place helped the work on the domestic violence bill get started. "We had a structure around which we could coalesce on this issue," she said.
Having a variety of groups in the Coalition helped it in three important areas. The first was ensuring the legitimacy of the bill they proposed. "They took the bill out to the public, and made sure there was adequate consultation," said Margaret Samuriwo, Oxfam America's senior program officer in southern Africa. "They also educated women in Parliament, so they understood the bill and could support it. Women in both the ZANU-PF and MDC parties in Parliament worked together to garner enough support." Lastly, Oxfam support for research, which documented the extent of domestic violence in the country and its toll on women, also proved crucial in this advocacy campaign. Having the facts and figures at hand helped members of the Women's Coalition make their case in Parliament and in the media.
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