The Shoko Festival came to life in a session dubbed “Hub Unconference” which ignited some positive debate on the challenges and opportunities brought by new media and citizen journalism. The online space has brought an alternative space for people to freely express themselves through engaging in positive debate and also to do business. An industry, which needs to adapt fast and digitalise, is the media industry in Zimbabwe. The online space creates huge opportunities for the Zimbabwe media in terms of market and cost reduction. For example international media houses have reported a drop in sales of physical or hard copies of newspapers and magazines in recent years as people now prefer to read news on online.

A record increase in mobile penetration in Zimbabwe with a considerable uptake of mobile applications presents huge business and networking opportunities. Social media platforms like Twitter have also helped start discussions on issues which people would sometimes sweep under the carpet. Nowadays almost everyone armed with a smartphone and Internet connectivity is a storyteller and a newsmaker. Every day people are getting more involved in citizen journalism and this is changing the manner in which news is now being consumed.

People are looking for alternative sources and space online through setting up blogs, chat groups and facebook pages.

There is always is the challenge of separation of roles in the technology industry and the biggest challenge is that of coming up with solutions for everything. App developers and business people should engage a collaboration of the minds and put themselves in the shoes of the customer in order to come up with a simplified product which suits the needs of the user.

Living in a society where government is failing to provide basic essentials like water and electricity to its people, the digital space comes with its own challenges as not everyone will be able to go online. The digital divide in Zimbabwe is increasing due to market segment as most technology companies target markets perceived to be for the elite, leaving out those with little disposable income.

In this place where the mountains meet the sea
time is measured in millennium
the slow sculpturing of billions of tides
rounding, shifting, and emptying the rocks
leaving caves and towering giants
standing watchers
who have seen the rise and fall of oceans over millions of years

time measured in a dry river bed – raising and dropping its floor
in the changing fortunes of the rainy season

time measured by towering trees
still standing watch
in the centre of cities
where buildings rise and fall
and people hurry from meeting, to office, to shop, to pick up the kids, to home, to evening jaunt

the time it takes grow a tree
to get hold of the plumber
to microwave the meal

time measured in the seconds  required to start the computer

the instant conversation across the planet
weaving a new web in a new space

this is the time my grandchildren chose to come into this world
closing their eyes under a tree in the garden
beneath the mountain
and waking in a shopping mall
bright lights, loud music, bustling people, trollies, flashing colours
and they are there with un-judging enthusiasm
for this is part of their world

my time is of two generations before they were born
I have  watched my children become parents
trees grow
river beds rise and fall
cliffs move
trees fall
buildings rise
and sand dunes stretch out to the sea

and now I watch these new children
born into a world holding seemingly limitless visions and concepts and possibilities
and the emergent recognition of the damage we inflict
on our evolving system

how hard will it be to hold in their hearts
the mountains that watch over them
the trees that embrace them between root and topmost twig
to stay rooted in the millennium it takes
to round a rock by the sea?

Half way up Orange Grove Drive in Harare yesterday, mid lunchtime run, I found a man lying unconscious on the side of the road. I stopped and wondered, what do I do now? My running partner caught up and we decided that diabetes had felled him. Under a hot Zimbabwean sky we tried to flag down some cars to see if we could get something sweet to feed him. A guy driving two foreign visitors stopped and one of the passengers found a ‘seen much better times’ chocolate. The other drivers who stopped didn’t have anything to eat on them but a couple of old ladies gave us $2. A nearby security guard helped us move him into the shade where we patiently dripped water into his mouth whilst slowly getting him to suck on the chocolate. In the meantime the security guard headed off with the $2 in search of some Cascade (orange juice). Our calls for assistance at a house nearby reaped two peanut butter sandwiches and a bottle of cold Mazoe. The man who had collapsed looked like a rubbish picker. He was thin and at first his gender wasn’t clear. The security guard looked down at him and said, ah this guy, he’s hungry. The experience was a reminder about the beauty of collaboration. Two runners, some motorists, a security guard and a domestic worker (the goddess of peanut butter sandwiches) all came together to help a stranger. We’re not in this world alone.

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Finance and Administration Officer: Local NGO
Deadline: 30 September 2013

Functional Unit: Finance and Administration
Reporting to: Programme Manager

Responsibilities
-Preparation of financial reports
-Administering and maintaining of all financial records
-Preparation of bank reconciliations monthly
-Liaising with auditors and timely audit preparations
-Check advance and payments requests
-Preparation of organizational quarterly budgets
-Preparation and controlling project budgets
-Asset management and control
-Ensuring the implementation of the organization’s financial, human resources, and administrative policies and procedures
-Ensure that all administrative functions are completed as per specified reporting and control procedures
-Any other financial and administrative functions ancillary or incidental to any of the above duties that may, from time to time, be allocated by the Programme manager.

Qualifications and experience
-At least a College Diploma in Accounts
-Part ACCA or CIS (A distinct advantage)
-5 ‘O’ Levels including Mathematics and English
-Clean Class 4 driver’s license
-Minimum 2 years experience of which 1 should have been in an NGO or civil society sector
-Knowledge of software packages such as Pastel, MS Excel, MS Project and MS PowerPoint Personal attributes
-Excellent command of the English language – both written and verbal
-Assertive personality but team player
-Analytical approach
-Solution focused
-Attention to detail
-In control of deliverables
-Proactive

To apply
Applications with full contact details, accompanied by comprehensive curriculum vitae, should be sent by email to: coordinator [at] zeipnet [dot] co [dot] zw and copy zeipnetwork [at] gmail [dot] com

Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.