In pursuit of Robert F. Kennedy’s dream of a more just and peaceful world, Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights Europe officially launched the RFK International House of Human Rights based in Florence, Italy.  The training center is housed in the Le Murate, which used to be a former prison but recently went through some renovations. It also hosts offices for RFK Center for Justice and Human Rights’ European branch. After going through a major facelift the building still maintains its prison features as a reminder of its past history of torture and other human rights abuses. In an official opening speech by Kerry Kennedy, daughter of Robert F. Kennedy, she said that in pursuit of her father’s dream the Center will be a place where digital dissidents will get training from technology experts on how to use technology in promoting human rights.

Specialists from Tactical Technology Collective (TTC), Global Voices Online, OneWorld Digital Security Exchange, Witness.org, Electronic Freedom Frontier and Human Rights Watch shared their knowledge with the first group of digital activists who were selected from various countries including Zimbabwe, Mexico, Pakistan, Myanmar, Philippines and Sri Lanka. The one week training programme focused on adopting the latest technology tools in digital activism, use of social media to promote human rights and also provided a platform to share experiences with other human rights defenders. Coming from different backgrounds human rights defenders at this year’s training session were exposed to the best practices in implementing human rights work and the latest technology tools, which will help transform and overcome the day-to-day challenges of promoting human rights.

As the world starts to open up its doors to you that is when you realise the importance of learning as many foreign languages as you can. My father spoke three languages and I used to think he was trying to show off, not realising that because of his quest for greener pastures he had to adapt to new environments fast, and being comfortable speaking many languages was essential to job hunting. After learning English in school my belief was I that I could conquer the world not realising that the world doesn’t work like that!

When I was in Firenze recently I went to a restaurant and ate something that I didn’t order. Amongst our group nobody knew how to speak Italian. On the menu there were some English translations but we decided not to order the obvious and went for something different and Italian. I was the first to place my order and the waiter who was serving us also had language challenges. All I could hear from her was “Signo, Poi and Prego”.

Every meal you take in Italy you have to complement it with wine. So whilst I was waiting for my meal I was sitting in front of two bottles, one of red wine and the other of olive oil. I was in Italy to learn not to get knocked in the middle of the day so two glasses were enough for the occasion. By the time the main meal came I thought there was going to be some more coming not realising that I was eating the main course! To me it looked like a starter or something. The order I had placed was in Italian so I got grilled meat in tomato paste. It tasted good but sounded strange to me to eat meat with tomato paste. That’s when I realised that the world works well for you if you master the local language – red meat in tomato sauce could have been avoided if I had managed to read the menu well in Italian! The next time we went to the same restaurant I could see waiters switching so that we got served by the English speaking waiters.

So here I was in the middle of this Italian town that English speaking people prefer to call Florence but actually it should be pronounced Firenze.  One thing I noticed from the day I set foot in this town was the church buildings. If you studied the Roman Empire in school you would know what I am talking about.

This a town where people just love art, art is everywhere. From buildings to the streets and even on the toilet paper I got in my room, art is just part of the day-to-day life in Firenze.

When I was walking around I saw this couple on honeymoon sitting in front of this artist having their picture drawn. They call it caricature.

Its summer in Italy right now so day light time stretches up to 11pm and this kinda affected me so much that I could find myself in the middle of the city after midnight, something I wouldn’t do in Zimbabwe. I would get back to my room around 2 am!

During my stay in Firenze I was living with about 8 friends from different parts of the world. The fear of getting lost was almost to none as the people there were helpful in giving directions and the motorists respect pedestrians so much unlike some places I know – Zimbabwe!

Zimbabwe’s sole power utility hopes to save electricity by influencing behavior change in electricity consumption through pre-paid meters. Pre-paid meters could be a solution to the billing shambles consumers had to face from ZESA but in the long run demand is already surpassing supply – something which is not going to be solved with energy saver bulbs and pre-paid meters. Giving energy saver bulbs to consumers will work only if there is electricity to save otherwise it’s a waste of resources. The nation needs to work on alternative sources of energy and allow the private sector to venture into power generation and stop relying on imports. The recent passing of a statutory instrument allowing high-end electricity consumers to purchase their own prepaid meters will ease the burden of procuring pre-paid meters by the nation’s struggling sole power utility, ZESA. The company has been enjoying a huge monopoly over electricity distribution in the country and it is failing to meet the increasing electricity demands, which has resulted in massive blackouts nationwide.

The Workers’ Day theme at Gwanzura stadium was “Workers under siege, organize unite and fight on” – indeed workers in Zimbabwe are under siege from politicians who have hijacked the event to further their interests. If workers have nothing to lose but their chains like what Karl Max said in his literature, maybe its high time Workers Day in Zimbabwe is left to workers and free from politics. Sloganeering and empty promises from civic society activists who are trying to transform into political parties were the only major highlights of the day for those who braved yesterday’s chilly morning weather. Instead of addressing bread and butter issues for the workers most labor organizations have aligned themselves to various political parties and workers have been left wondering if the occasion had been turned into a political gathering. To lead a labor organization is now a one-way ticket to political stardom and this has lead to massive splits in the labor movement in the country as noted by the contestations for donor funds yet the marginalized worker continues to rely on empty promises of decent wages and better working conditions. The government has also taken advantage of these disorganized labor movements by refusing to come to the negotiating table hiding under the disguise of demanding legitimate workers representatives from labor unions. The same politicians who were propelled into power through a labor backed party now seem to be enjoying the sweet benefits of power and have turned out to be the oppressors. One aspiring politician reminded workers who assembled at Raylton Sports Club yesterday to never trust politicians and later used the same platform to announce intentions of launching a political party!

We believe in God
We believe that sex is sacred
We believe in caring for each other
We believe in using condoms

Devoted Catholics may call this campaign message immoral and going against the Church and the teachings of the Bible, but to a group like Catholics for Choice they believe its time the Church endorses condom use. A very controversial subject to talk about and indeed an issue, which can make one, lose strength to lead such a huge following. The fact that sex is sacred has not done enough to spare the youth from indulging and this has resulted in high pregnancy rates and a surge in sexually transmitted infections. In trying to deal with all these sex challenges Catholics for Choice thinks good Catholics should condomize to show a sign of caring for one another. The campaign is aimed at the Vatican to change its policy on condom use and it is targeting countries at risk of high sexual infections like Kenya, South Africa and Zimbabwe.