The Zest in Zimbabwe
BEN RAMSDEN, the Projects and Fund-Raising Manager at Jesuit Missions, recently spent two lively weeks in Zimbabwe developing school links and sampling the wonderful hospitality
of the people of this suffering country
I have just had the great privilege of spending two action-packed, enormously educational, inspiring and trouble-free weeks with the Jesuits and their friends in Zimbabwe. During my time there I managed to see a total of 15 missions, projects and schools supported by the Jesuits, met literally thousands of people living in many dramatically different situations and managed to get a taste of Shona culture through their wonderful zest for life, their artwork, their music and the food (although some delicacies, such as eating Madora - black rehydrated caterpillars - might not be so wonderful).
Zimbabwe is lavishly beautiful - the piles of rocks scattered across the countryside like toys in a baby’s playroom, the kind and predominantly gentle people, the rich natural resources, the magnificent ruins of Great Zimbabwe, the wildlife, and, of course, the humbling and thundering waters of the Victoria Falls (or Mosi-oa Tunya), to name but a few! From one side to the other, Zimbabwe is a true Garden of Eden, but it is impossible to hide from the reality of today’s tragedy. For many, the very mention of Zimbabwe sends a shiver down their spine, and before I left London, most people to whom I told of my plans responded with, ‘You must be mad’ or, ‘Can you leave me your stereo in your will?’ Well, I am happy to say that I made it back in one piece and at no point did I feel under threat. Yes, all the bars were empty, all of the hotels echoing with the voices of bored staff, but the genuine goodness of the people was undeniable. Zimbabwe is a country living through a very sad time: a sadness which is etched into the faces of all you meet, regardless of the size of their bank account or, finally, the colour of their skin.
Zimbabwe has very quickly descended into a land of despair and violence - where over a third of the adult population is HIV+ and the growing number of AIDS orphans is now more than a million.
The main purpose of my trip was to explore the various opportunities which arise through the global Jesuit network. Amidst the many different groups, the British Jesuit Missions Office works with is a variety Jesuit schools - both in the developed and the developing world - who are ‘educating for justice’. The nine Jesuit schools in Britain are attempting to twin with similar establishments in the less fortunate parts of the globe. In Zimbabwe the main opportunities lie with the Jesuit run schools in Musami and Makumbi (both about 1 hour’s drive from the capital of Harare), St Rupert’s, near Chinoyi (3 hours from Harare) and St Peter’s Kubatana in the high density area of Highfields in Harare. I visited all of these places and was welcomed like family; lucky to experience many performances - musical, sporting, intellectual and some, just plain funny!
Three of the secondary schools that I visited had recently received awards for excellence, despite the gross shortages they daily experience. Last year, for example, at St Peter’s Kubatana the teachers had to carry scraps of blackboards around the looted classrooms in order to teach classes of 40+ children, who had one text book between six and who had to sit on the floor for lack of chairs. Yet they managed to achieve the highest A-level results in Harare with a 100% pass rate! In St Rupert’s, despite losing staff to HIV/AIDS - as quickly as the local hospitals lose doctors and nurses who migrate to similar institutions in Britain - they managed to maintain hope, and to give the students a powerful education.
The first phase of our fundraising for Zimbabwe in 2005 will focus on two main areas: HIV/AIDS and the provision of text books for the schools.
The former deserves a great deal more space that I have given it in this short article - the work of Fr Ted Rogers and his team at the Jesuit Aids Project and the AIDS Hospice at Mashambanzou are both shining lights for the future of the country. They encourage young people to develop their own groups, which help to break down the stigma of the virus and ensure that people have access to the support they need. Coupled with this is the wonderful work done by our friends at Zambuko House, a home for street children. More details of this will be given in future editions of Jesuits and Friends, as will the campaign for text books.
We intend to establish a centralised approach to the supply of text books, which will ensure that the right books will get to the right people as quickly as possible. The students of Zimbabwe are hungry for knowledge. We can help.
Jesuit Missions has joined an enormous world-wide coalition of organisations that are calling for the G8 group of countries to live up to their promises to:
MAKE POVERTY HISTORY
Our website (www.jesuitmissions.org)
is teeming with information, ideas, events and the opportunity for you to join a, once-in-a-lifetime campaign.
After visiting many countries in the developing world, I always feel that I am lucky to have been born where I was. I am now 27 and, if I was born in Zimbabwe, I would only have another 11 years to live. That’s the reality of life in many parts of the world.
I have just had the great privilege of spending two action-packed, enormously educational, inspiring and trouble-free weeks with the Jesuits and their friends in Zimbabwe. During my time there I managed to see a total of 15 missions, projects and schools supported by the Jesuits, met literally thousands of people living in many dramatically different situations and managed to get a taste of Shona culture through their wonderful zest for life, their artwork, their music and the food (although some delicacies, such as eating Madora - black rehydrated caterpillars - might not be so wonderful).
Zimbabwe is lavishly beautiful - the piles of rocks scattered across the countryside like toys in a baby’s playroom, the kind and predominantly gentle people, the rich natural resources, the magnificent ruins of Great Zimbabwe, the wildlife, and, of course, the humbling and thundering waters of the Victoria Falls (or Mosi-oa Tunya), to name but a few! From one side to the other, Zimbabwe is a true Garden of Eden, but it is impossible to hide from the reality of today’s tragedy. For many, the very mention of Zimbabwe sends a shiver down their spine, and before I left London, most people to whom I told of my plans responded with, ‘You must be mad’ or, ‘Can you leave me your stereo in your will?’ Well, I am happy to say that I made it back in one piece and at no point did I feel under threat. Yes, all the bars were empty, all of the hotels echoing with the voices of bored staff, but the genuine goodness of the people was undeniable. Zimbabwe is a country living through a very sad time: a sadness which is etched into the faces of all you meet, regardless of the size of their bank account or, finally, the colour of their skin.
Zimbabwe has very quickly descended into a land of despair and violence - where over a third of the adult population is HIV+ and the growing number of AIDS orphans is now more than a million.
The main purpose of my trip was to explore the various opportunities which arise through the global Jesuit network. Amidst the many different groups, the British Jesuit Missions Office works with is a variety Jesuit schools - both in the developed and the developing world - who are ‘educating for justice’. The nine Jesuit schools in Britain are attempting to twin with similar establishments in the less fortunate parts of the globe. In Zimbabwe the main opportunities lie with the Jesuit run schools in Musami and Makumbi (both about 1 hour’s drive from the capital of Harare), St Rupert’s, near Chinoyi (3 hours from Harare) and St Peter’s Kubatana in the high density area of Highfields in Harare. I visited all of these places and was welcomed like family; lucky to experience many performances - musical, sporting, intellectual and some, just plain funny!
Three of the secondary schools that I visited had recently received awards for excellence, despite the gross shortages they daily experience. Last year, for example, at St Peter’s Kubatana the teachers had to carry scraps of blackboards around the looted classrooms in order to teach classes of 40+ children, who had one text book between six and who had to sit on the floor for lack of chairs. Yet they managed to achieve the highest A-level results in Harare with a 100% pass rate! In St Rupert’s, despite losing staff to HIV/AIDS - as quickly as the local hospitals lose doctors and nurses who migrate to similar institutions in Britain - they managed to maintain hope, and to give the students a powerful education.
The first phase of our fundraising for Zimbabwe in 2005 will focus on two main areas: HIV/AIDS and the provision of text books for the schools.
The former deserves a great deal more space that I have given it in this short article - the work of Fr Ted Rogers and his team at the Jesuit Aids Project and the AIDS Hospice at Mashambanzou are both shining lights for the future of the country. They encourage young people to develop their own groups, which help to break down the stigma of the virus and ensure that people have access to the support they need. Coupled with this is the wonderful work done by our friends at Zambuko House, a home for street children. More details of this will be given in future editions of Jesuits and Friends, as will the campaign for text books.
We intend to establish a centralised approach to the supply of text books, which will ensure that the right books will get to the right people as quickly as possible. The students of Zimbabwe are hungry for knowledge. We can help.
Jesuit Missions has joined an enormous world-wide coalition of organisations that are calling for the G8 group of countries to live up to their promises to:
MAKE POVERTY HISTORY
Our website (www.jesuitmissions.org)
is teeming with information, ideas, events and the opportunity for you to join a, once-in-a-lifetime campaign.
After visiting many countries in the developing world, I always feel that I am lucky to have been born where I was. I am now 27 and, if I was born in Zimbabwe, I would only have another 11 years to live. That’s the reality of life in many parts of the world.