There hasn’t been any water at our office block since Wednesday last week, and the toilets are beyond disgusting.

On Friday, the building manager organised for a bowser of water to come, and everyone filled up as many tanks, drums, bins and buckets as we could find.

For a few days, things were clean and hygienic again, but now that water has run out and the situation is worse than before.

Now, we’re being asked to bring in water from home – not just for office use, but to donate for the toilets which are shared across all tenants. This is because the bowser contacts the building manager has been phoning are too busy to come and deliver.

In other words, all over Harare, water is so scarce that so many companies are placing so many orders for water deliveries that the water companies can’t keep up. This is without even getting into the bigger question of where these water companies get their water from (sometimes residential boreholes and by pumping directly out of city rivers and streams). In the rural areas, the problem is even worse.

September has only just begun, and it’s another two months until the rains start to recharge the city boreholes and water table.

If water is already scarce, how will offices and high density areas in particular weather the water crisis that will only worsen?

Aloes at Hillside Dams

There is something human about aloes.
They smell  -  and feel, if you probe the slimy
parts – like sex.  They have cuticular roots
and they object to being planted in rows.
Their welcome is arm-like, sometimes grimy
with white scale, sometimes polished absolutes.
Their process of dying is shameless: top
down (or bottom up).  In their multitudes
they elaborate these Dams, not, somehow,
as genus, or variety, or crop,
but as comrades, citizens, darlings, dudes.
Their spaced teeth are not vicious.  Then and now,
past and present, something human. The name
invites a greeting… all winter… aflame.

John Eppel

Women are considered to win every argument especially in relationships because they raise their voice the loudest. Personally, at the back of mind right now I can hear the echoes of my voice of my last argument. This is one characteristic that I associate WOZA with. To me they strike me as women who will surely raise their voice. The kind of Zimbabwe that we now live in leaves no room for smooth talk, one has got to be aggressive and speak loud to be heard. I remember last year when WOZA took to the streets in a demonstration against ZESA. The women were chanting “Tinoda magetsi” (We need electricity). Everyone was so fed up with ZESA and we still are but it took the guts and bravery of WOZA to march outside ZESA’s office along Samora Machel Avenue in Harare. There has been a lot of other strikes and demonstrations by WOZA but yesterday’s demonstration is among one of the major highlights in the constitution making process in Zimbabwe.

As we are aware, COPAC produced a second draft constitution, which had been approved by all parties. Soon after its release Zanu PF’s politburo made a u-turn and made amendments to the draft constitution. The MDC stood by the second draft constitution and the party launched a ‘Yes’ campaign for the draft constitution. But back to WOZA, the brave women demonstrated yesterday outside the Parliament of Zimbabwe, to remind Zanu PF and MDC that they have gone several steps ahead of the COPAC constitution making process itself. This is so in the sense that Zanu PF has made amendments to the second draft released by COPAC and MDC is close to launching a Yes Campaign. Initially, COPAC had planned that when a second draft constitution was released, an All Stakeholders Conference was to be held to discuss the draft constitution and the way forward would be mapped from the outcome of the conference. Meaning if Zanu PF had amendments to make they had to table them during the conference and the MDC voting for or against the constitution should be made after the conference.

During this demonstration WOZA reminded the political parties that neither of them owns the constitution. The constitution is made by the people and it’s for the people. It should not in any way favour a political party but should always be found abiding by the interests of the citizens.

Work in and for Zimbabwe. Help grow our nation. Check out the vacancies below. If you’d like to receive this sort of information, as well as civic and human rights updates, by email each week drop us a note saying “subscribe” to info [at] kubatana [dot] net

Please note that the job vacancies we carry are related to the NGO and civil society sectors only.

Assistant Coordinator: Disabled Women in Africa (DIWA)
Deadline: 17 September 2012

DIWA is an independent women’s wing of the Pan-African Federation of the Disabled (PAFOD), which is the umbrella body of Disabled People’s Organisations in Africa. The mission of DIWA is to give women with disabilities in Africa a voice and empower them to claim their human rights wherever they are violated.

Duties and Responsibilities
-Strengthening the institutional and programmatic structures of DIWA
-Enhancing the institutional building of organizations of Women with Disabilities
-Conceptualizing, designing, planning and implementing activities for women with disabilities
-Designing and implementing an information and communication strategy
-Facilitating the implementation of gender policies on all levels in the disability movement of Africa
-Co-operating and networking with Disabled People’s Organizations on regional and continental level and beyond
-Lobbying and advocating for the human rights of disabled women
-Raising awareness and do public relations work on disabled women’s demands
-Fund-raising and writing proposals, including budgeting, for DIWA
-Reporting to donors about DIWA projects

Qualifications
The applicant must have exceptional talents in conceptual, logical and creative thinking and be able to work with minimum supervision. Experiences in outcome oriented programming and financial and narrative report writing are highly appreciated. Knowledge of the Pan-African Disability Movement would be favourable. The capacity to work on an international level is required. Excellent communication skills in English are imperative. French or Portuguese skills would be of advantage.

Period: Oct 2012 – June 2013. The contract will be prolonged if the collaboration has been successful and funding secured.
Location: 19 Lobengula Street in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

Please send in your applications with detailed CVs to DIWA Chairperson: rachel.kachaje [at] diwa [dot] ws

Persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

Fundraising and Partnerships Coordinator: Restless Development
Deadline: 21 September 2012 (1630hrs)

Restless Development is the global leader in youth-led development – demonstrating at the grassroots and policy levels that young people can and must play a lead role. Go to www.restlessdevelopment.org for more information.

Restless Development Zimbabwe is seeking a talented and dynamic leader to take up the role of Fundraising and Partnerships Coordinator in our growing Country Programme.

The successful candidate will be part of the Restless Development Zimbabwe Management Committee, taking responsibility for leading on proposal writing, work closely with the Country Director on donor management, and support the Country Director on networking. This position will also lead on developing and implementing the country strategy for Fundraising and Partnerships. This is an exciting opportunity for a young leader with an interest and commitment to international development; excellent inter-personal skills; self-motivation; desire to improve skills in resource mobilisation in the context of international development.

Annual Net Salary: $ 11,361 (Approximate Gross Salary: $14,278)

Full job description and application form (No CVs accepted) can be downloaded from www.restlessdevelopment.org/work-with-us and sent to: infozimbabwe [at] restlessdevelopment [dot] org

M & E Assistant: Childline
Deadline: 25 September 2012 (4pm)

Program: Specialised services for abused and neglected children
Reporting relationship: M&E officer
Place of Posting: Harare

Purpose of the Job
Childline’s continued success depends upon an effective Monitoring and Evaluation system for accountability and strategic decision-making. As such a well-managed M&E system is essential to the running of the organisation. The M&E assistant’s role is to support the M&E officer in designing, implementing and managing an effective Monitoring, Evaluation and Research system.

Roles and responsibility M&E Assistant
-Ensure accurate and timely data collation from drop-in centers
-Design tools and processes to collect data which may inform policies and procedures
-Spearhead training to project staff in data quality processes and procedures to gather required data
-Ensure the reliability and accuracy of data collected
-Regular data entry to produce primary reports
-Prepare M&E reports on request by management
-Initiate and spearhead operation research
-Maintain database of beneficiaries
-Support analysis of reports and providing feedback on reports from drop-in centers
-Assist in compiling donor reports

Qualifications and competencies
-A first degree in Statistics, Social Sciences or its equivalent
-Demonstrated experience of M&E
-Research experience in both quantitative and qualitative research methods
-Sound understanding of OVC, child protection and community development
-Experience in the use of statistical analysis packages – STATA; SPSS, Epi info an added advantage
-Excellent communication skills (both written and oral) and a team player
-A valid class four drivers licence with at least 3 years driving experience

Interested candidates who meet the above criteria should submit applications and updated curriculum Vitae to: Tamlyn [at] recruitmentmatters [dot] co [dot] zw or register at www.recruitmentmatters.co.zw

A piggy bank sits on a bedside table in one of the houses at Musha Wevana. Beside the piggy bank is an empty yoghurt container with Zimbabwe dollars that had been saved and are now worthless.

More photos here