WHEN opportunities knock at our
door step, we open the door and welcome them! A team of nurses from Northend clinic
in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe offered free HIV/AIDS testing and counseling services at Montgomery
Hall, where our offices are located. Our programme team integrated this activity
into our 16 Days of Activism campaign. We talked to 41 women and 12 men about
the need to end violence against women and girls. Our volunteers, led by Senzeni
Bhila, took 100 purple ribbons and distributed them at a local sports bar and a
shopping centre in Kingsdale. The ribbons had the message “Prevent Violence Against Women”. This exciting activity took place
on November 24, 2012. As we continue to work with women and
girls we want to promote community dialogue so that Communication Rights issues
affecting women and girls can immerge so that we can respond to them. These may
include addressing questions of inclusion and exclusion, of quality and
accessibility.
This is the second time an opportunity
has knocked at our door step following the establishment of our offices in
Kingsdale, Zimbabwe. Earlier in October 2012 we were invited to exhibit at the Bulawayo
Ideas Festival. We distributed purple ribbons and posters that we had received
from the Gender based violence network. We reached 120 women, men and children.
Thanks to the GBV Network for providing the 16 Days of Activism materials and
to AWDF for enabling us to retain our human resources and allowing us to scale
up our activities and reach out to more people.
