The Gender Forum organised a GBV/HIV & AIDS Fair at the National Gallery as part of their programming for the 16-365 days of activism against gender based violence.

It was happy to stumble upon two very interesting social enterprises.

Integrated Sustainable Livelihoods (ISL) is a trust that works towards the empowerment of women, and tries to address issues that are specific to women. One of their projects addresses the issues surrounding feminine hygiene. Despite this being the information age, and with great advances in medicine, menstruation is still shrouded in mystery and myth, even among women. Societal attitudes towards menstruation have coloured women’s perceptions of their own cycles, and their bodies. Menstruation is seen as something that is shameful and dirty. Given these perceptions, it is not surprising that buying sanitary ware is very low on any list of household priorities, particularly for vulnerable and poor people. Integrated Sustainable Livelihoods conducted a study and found that:

Lack of resources forces young girls to use pieces of cloths, newspapers, cow dung and tissues to try and contain the flowing of blood. During this period they not only experience the characteristic abdominal pains and mood alterations, but also have to be absent from school for fear of odours emanating from newspapers and rags they use to contain their menstrual flow.

More than just pointing out what the problem is, ISL is working in collaboration with the United Nations Development Fund for Women  (UNIFEM) and the Ministry Of Women’s Affairs, Gender and Community Development to improve the reproductive health of marginalized women through provision of a safe alternative to disposable sanitary ware.

The reusable pads are made from cotton fabric and come in various colours. ISL teaches women and women’s groups to not only make these for personal use, but for sale as well; they are also working with several NGOs to supply women in prison with this essential product.

Another trust working to create sustainable livelihoods for women is the Zimbabwe Women Rural Development Trust based in Chivhu. They work to teach rural women skills in entrepreneurship, and to promote knowledge of primary healthcare, reduce infant mortality and increase access to education. While they are currently looking for funding, they also assist women in establishing projects in agriculture, mining and arts and curios.

The campaign by the HIV/AIDS community promoting abstinence and correct and consistent condom use has seen some success, in encouraging condom usage at least, but not so much with abstinence.

In a report published by the Southern African Journal of HIV Medicine, Alan Whiteside of the Health Economics and HIV/AIDS Research Division of the University of Kwazulu Natal is trying to get HIV/AIDS advocacy groups to start talking about this and other innovative strategies. Whiteside argues

that a national “safe sex/no sex month” could help reduce the spread of HIV by skipping the period immediately after an individual acquires the virus when they are most infectious.

But given the successes and failures of present campaigns, how effective would this be? We already know that negotiating condom usage is already difficult for women in heterosexual relationships. And with the acknowledged phenomenon of multiple concurrent sexual partnerships, it may be that if one partner is not sexually available there will be another who is. It is difficult to imagine a man with a mistress, a wife and a girlfriend abstaining from sex. But what about the practicalities for sex workers whose incomes depend on how often they have sex?

In the report Whiteside referred to religious communities such as Muslims and the Marange Apostolic Sect who were found to refrain from sex during Ramadan and Passover respectively. He acknowledges that converting to a religion is not a reasonable public health strategy, but argues that these insights raise the possibility of a campaign.

The problem with any campaign and particularly this one is community buy-in. For Southern Africans, avoiding the risk of HIV infection, as evidenced by some of the highest incidence and prevalence rates in the world, is not inducement enough. With advances in medicine, and increased availability of cheap generic drugs, HIV is no longer a death sentence. More than that, the issue of HIV incidence is compounded by social issues, which won’t go away for a month.

Given all these issues, is it even practical to spend time and money campaigning for a safe sex/no sex month?

I was shocked that The Herald, that non-partisan, balanced missive, would report in such detail the extent of Minister Chombo’s wealth. Interesting that the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and Rural Development would own (according to The Herald):

2 Glen View houses
2 flats in Queensdale, A property in Katanga Township, Stand Number 1037 Mount Pleasant Heights
4 Norton business stands
3 Chinhoyi business stands,
4 Banket business stands,
1 commercial stand in Epworth,
2 residential stands in Chirundu
4 commercial stands in Kariba
1 stand in Ruwa
1 stand in Chinhoyi,
2 stands in Mutare
2 stands in Binga.
4 stands in Victoria Falls
1 stand in Zvimba Rural Chitungwiza (two residential and two commercial stands) Beitbridge (four stands),
20 stands in Crow Hill, Borrowdale
10 stands in Glen Lorne,
2 flats at Eastview Gardens (B319 and B320)
1 flat at San Sebastian Flats in the Avenues, Harare Number 79 West Road, Avondale. Greendale house Number 36 Cleveland Road, Milton Park Number 135 Port Road, Norton,
2 Bulawayo houses. Number 18 Cuba Rd, Mount Pleasant Number 45 Basset Crescent, Alexandra Park,
2 Chegutu houses
1 Glen Lorne house (Harare)
2 houses (Victoria Falls). Stand along Simon Mazorodze Road, Norton (one stand) Avondale (two stands)
365 Beverly House (one stand) Bulawayo (three stands), Mica Point Kariba (one stand)

Clearly this is a man who has taken the President’s third Chimurenga seriously. You have to admire such industriousness: Chombo has been a full time Minister for fifteen years and a civil servant his entire career. This surely is an example to all those civil servants who have been protesting their paltry salaries for decades that ‘yes they too can’.

To add to his assets the minister has a Facebook page. It’s a shame Facebook doesn’t have a dislike button.

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
(abridged, with apologies to Gil Scott Heron)

The revolution will not be televised.
The revolution will not be brought to you by the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation  news
without commercial interruptions.
The revolution will not show you pictures of Tsvangirai
blowing an antelope horn and leading a charge by Tendai Biti and Thokozani Khupe to move into the PMs official residence and eat
sadza nehuku confiscated from a ZANU PF rally.
The revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be brought to you by
Econet Wireless, uninspired to change your world
and will not star Chipo Bizura and Denzel Burutsa or Joe Pike and Munya.
Studio 263, Generations, and ‘just in cinemas’ Lobola
will no longer be so damned relevant,
men will not care if women strip in the street
because our people
will be in the street looking for a brighter day.
The revolution will not be televised.