Photo workshop with kids from Youth Zone during HIFA

I was asked to facilitate a workshop on photography for kids in the Youth Zone of HIFA this year. At first I didn’t feel particularly qualified for the job, but since it was only a one hour workshop (of which at least 30 minutes the kids would be sent out to take pictures), I thought I’d give it a go.

Instead of the planned 16 kids (since I had 8 still cameras so they’d have to share by two), 33 children of all ages showed up, and then the projector failed to work so things were a bit hectic at first. It was still fun though, teaching some basic concepts and techniques and seeing what the kids made of it. The 3min clip below is a compilation made of selected pictures.

Chiedza Child Care Centre

One of our partners, the Chiedza Child Care Centre who work in the south of Harare, Waterfalls, Sunnydale and Mbare, had a video guy come in to train 10 chidlren how to use a camera and film. They made this little presentation video, interviewing teachers, staff members, counsellors, the clinic, the director etc.

Drama as a counselling tool: Theatre of the Oppressed

Volens is also promoting existing tools that, through creative arts, can allow for children to open up and raise certain issues. One of these is done through a close friend of ours, Chiyedza (Shona name which means, as she poetically puts it:'the light that melts away the shadows', or in other words, the dawn), who is currently living with us as well. She used theatre with the kids from some of our partner organisations, of which hereby some pictures: 

How capoeira can be used to counsel on successful interaction

Here is a little video I made with the capoeiristas of our Academy that worked with children from Mavambo, one of our partners.  This module details how capoeira classes may be combined with group counselling on successfully interacting with people in life within the realms of social work.

It provides guidelines for those in charge of capoeira and counselling classes.  

The methodology is meant to be used with a specific group of participants over a number of capoeira classes – ideally over a period of at least a few months, involving at least 10 classes organised at regular intervals.  Capoeira classes will help build confidence and self esteem of participants.  The counselling methodology is designed to capitalise on learning points capoeira classes provide concerning successfully interacting with people, i.e. to the advantage of individuals and their environments. The capoeira instructor teaches participants on how to interact in a positive way during capoeira classes.  He/she continues to coach participants on putting positive interaction behaviour into capoeira practice. The central counselling tool consists of a chart on which positive behaviour of individual participants as practised in the classes is recorded - as defined by the participants themselves. Progressive filling of the chart over a series of classes measures, visualises and reinforces progress on positive behaviour put into practice.  A number of strategic questions asked when filling out the chart provides learning points on the advantages of positive interacting. These learning points are capitalised on by a counsellor in group discussions on how to positively interact in life and its advantages.

High quality:



Low quality:

Little presentation about our work and programme

Currently we have been illustrating and explaining a lot of our programme and the tools we have been developing. To this purposes, we made a powerpoint presentation which shows the trainings we have facilitated, some of the tools we have developed or are promoting, the feedback we have received through evaluations etc.

We got a lot of nice comments on the presentation, so we hung it on the walls of our offices (which were in need of some cheering up). It really helps to explain our programme to visitors...

So, if you want to watch it:

HipHop as a counseling tool - tried out at Chiedza

Volens, the Belgian organisation that sends me out, builds capacities of local Zimbabwe partner organisations to enhance and diversify their counselling of orphans and vulnerable children, using amongst others creative arts. 

Here, at Chiedza Child Care Centre, based in Waterfalls, Harare (Zimbabwe), they tried out urban dance and hiphop as a tool to have children express themselves and discuss issues like confidence, appearing sexy, trust etc. Enjoy!

Waterviews...

Volens has crosscutting issues, themes that should run throughout all the programmes worldwide:
1. Gender
2. People with disabilities
3. Ecology/environment

In Southern Africa, we also added HIV/AIDS as an important issue that should be included in our approach, as well as child participation specifically for the programme I'm facilitating. 

Crosscutting means that though we have different activities, we always try to keep these themes in the back of our head and be sensitive about it. For example, if you organise 5 day workshops in Harare around food processing, it will be difficult to have women participate because they can hardly stay away from home so long. When you know that women are primarily involved with food processing, you have to adjust your programme to have more trainings closer to their homes and for less time. This is an example of how you can gender sensitive.

Sometimes it does mean sensitising our partners or their beneficiaries regarding these themes, which can be quite a task. Our programmes already ask a lot of time and effort, but sometimes you can work around these issues by simply building on other initiatives and benefit from those.  

Like here, when several embassies were organising a photo competition for children 10-14 year to illustrate the importance of water for 5th of June World Environment Day. 

Any tool such as photography or video can be used as an artistic self expression tool, and when we can have it focus on ecology, it's like killing two birds with one stone (hum, that doesn't sound very environment-friendly ;-).

In total, over 32 children from our Harare partners participated, sending in disposable camerasof each 15 pictures they had been given. The above picture, my personal favourite, was made by 14 year old Tinotenda from Chiedza Child Care Centre. 

He didn't win though, coming in a deserved fourth from over 600 pictures.

The winner was this picture:

A week in Bulawayo to develop artistic self expression tools there

Now, in our Volens programme, several tools have been developed to work with children and have them open up, or talk about certain issues. For that, we've used arts like puppetry, poetry, capoeira, theatre or hip hop. Now, most of this has benefitted the partners from Harare, but not the partners in Bulawayo. 

So, last week I went down to Bulawayo together with two of the artists we have been working with to develop some of the artistic self expression tools, Rahim and Chiyedza. It was, as always when I go to Bulawayo, intense and busy, but also very rewarding. On the Monday, we had a meeting with counsellors and artists that were interested in our approach of using arts as a tool to counsel, and the following three days, both artists rolled out their tools at one partner. At HOCIC, Chiyedza did Theatre vs. Oppression, and at Thuthuka 

Rahim did puppetry and hip hop with some of their street kids. It's hard though to sh

ow a tool in three days, the time children are getting used to it and starting to open up, it's already finished.  The Friday, we had another meeting with the 

same people, and wanted to see if, after what they witnessed during the past three years.  

Besides that, we also networked the entire week, meeting up with artists or interesting institutions, such as a theatre group that is already using theatre forum to work with youngsters. Also, and which I personnally felt was a great success, we met with some organisations for and of people with disabilities. Now, disabilities is a cross cutting issue for Volens and the Belgian government, so we are supposed to work on that theme, but so far we haven't had many ideas on how to go about it. 

Now, we started thinking that since we involve so many artists, why not get one that has a disability and have him/her teach the artist skill, thus exposing the children to a person with a disability but that has still managed to do something successful and inspiring with their lives. Might be a good starting point. 

So, it came as quite a shock for some I think when three people in a wheelchair also came to participate to the Friday workshop, which might indicate it is a necessary step... 

Anyway, we identified some artists, including one guy in a wheelchair who wants to do comics with the kids, three guys that do hiphop, one acrobat, slam poetry, and now we just have to be able to get it off the ground.

SPECIAL SPECIAL, READ ALL ABOUT IT: The Zims n°5 are out

Yep, our little Easter Egg, The Zims Issue 5, hatched especially for you.

Download the latest news on our lives as development workers in Zimbabwe and Zambia here.

Issue 5 - April 2009: EN - FR - NL

Some of our ZimZam people

Since People make Places special, here are some of our special ones:

Our Zambian team: me - Kristien - Veerle - Thomas - Brian.

The family: me - Thomas - Brian - Lena - Veerle - Rutger - Luk - Kristien,
going out to eat at the local ethiopian buffet....
And paying millions to do so....

The scarf experiment....

Veerle in one of her less aware moments....

And the kids:Rutger (14y) ________________ Lena (13y) _____________ Jan (10y)

Zimbabwe: something about the country and Mugabe, its President

Let me give you some stats on the country we have just visited, compliments of Wikipedia...

Zimbabwe is a country of 13M people in Southern Africa, bordering on South Africa, Mozambique, Malawi, Botswana and Zambia.

It is independent since 1980, but situation has deteriorated greatly since then.

As for records, it is now the country with :
- The highest inflation rates in the world. Inflation rose from an annual rate of 32% in 1998 to an official estimated high of 7,634.8% in August 2007,[46] a state of hyperinflation, and an unofficial 15,000% on the black market.

- The country with the lowest life expectancy in the world: for men = 37 years and for women 34 years.[54]
- Zimbabwe has a very high HIV infection rate. In 2001 it was measured at its highest level ever of 33.7% for people aged 15–49. An association of doctors in Zimbabwe have made calls for President Mugabe to make moves to assist the ailing health service.[55]

- It has over 1 million of orphans (or what is called OVC = Orphans and Vulnerable Children), due to migrating parents or parents that passed away from the HIV epidemic.
- A third of the population depends on food supplies from the World Food Programme to avoid starvation.[43] Agricultural production has plummeted and the economy is crippled. Once the "bread basket" of southern Africa and a major agricultural exporter, Zimbabwe now depends on food programs and support from outside to feed its population.
- 80% formal unemployment rate.
- The economic meltdown and repressive political measures in Zimbabwe has led to a flood of refugees into neighboring countries. An estimated 3,4 million Zimbabweans, a quarter of the population, had fled abroad by mid 2007. Some 3 million of these have gone to South Africa. An estimated 570,000 people are displaced within the borders of the country, many of whom remain in transit camps and have limited access to assistance.

- Number of people living with HIV: 1.700 000 and adults aged 15 to 49 with HIV: 20,1% (men 13,3 – women 27,6) = 1 500 000.

- Deaths due to Aids: 180 000
- Children aged 0 to 14 living with HIV: 160 000

Mugabe has waged a violent campaign against homosexuals, arguing that prior to colonisation Zimbabweans did not engage in homosexual acts. A little quote from him during the 1995 Zimbabwe International Book Fair regarding homosexuality:
"degrades human dignity. It's unnatural and there is no question ever of allowing these people to behave worse than dogs and pigs. If dogs and pigs do not do it, why must human beings? We have our own culture, and we must re-dedicate ourselves to our traditional values that make us human beings... What we are being persuaded to accept is sub-animal behaviour and we will never allow it here. If you see people parading themselves as lesbians and gays, arrest them and hand them over to the police!"[32]

In September 1995, Zimbabwe's parliament officially approved persecution of homosexuals.[31] In 1997 a court found Canaan Banana, Mugabe's predecessor and the first President of Zimbabwe, guilty of 11 counts of sodomy and indecent assault.[33]

Mugabe was criticised for comparing himself to Hitler. Mugabe was quoted as saying "This Hitler has only one objective: justice for his people, sovereignty for his people, recognition of the independence of his people and their rights over their resources. If that is Hitler, then let me be a Hitler tenfold." [1]

the long busride to Zambia....

This two week trip to Zambia and Zimbabwe meant quite the busrides. From our city in the south of South Africa, Plett, it is about 8.000km back and forth to Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, which to compare it is as if you would cross Canada completely, from one coast to the other. And, broke and adventurous as we are, Thomas and me decided to do it all with the bus (as opposed to Kristien, who flew it all, taking about 5h per trip). Us, we spent a total of 119 hours traveling, 56 hours going up, and 63 going back down.

And we know and knew it, T.I.A. (cfr. Blood Diamond: This Is Africa) so why should we rely on timetables and ETA's? But somehow, living in South Africa and reserving tickets online at respectable buscompanies such as Greyhound, you tend to forget TIA...

So, a short list of what went wrong:

- our first bus (Plett-George, 2h) was swapped for a small mini van that nearly left us behind (after all, we were looking for a big bus no?)....

- our bus n°2 (George-Jo'burg, 12h) turned out to be the bus that was supposed to pick us up, and not the confy sleepliner we were expecting;

- our bus n° 3 (Jo'burg-Harare, 21h) started breaking down around 3h in the morning, being repared (with my borrowed pocket knife!) and then driven forward for another 10km, until fumes started coming out, and after three such make-shift repairs, it finally exploded and was put down to rest. We managed to hitch a ride to Harare but arived to late to be going with Veerle and Kristien in the car to Zambia - which meant bus n° 4....


- bus n°4 (Harare, Zimbabwe-Lusaka, Zambia, 9h): well, not much went wrong except that it left about four hours late, and then couldn't find any petrol, so we had to scout around till it was discretely refilled at some hidden away compound.... The picture to the right I found on the net, a petrol queue, saying it all about the situation in Zimbabwe. You can tell the regime was Soviet-inspired huh?

But after bus n°4 and a hitched ride, we finally managed to meet up with Kristien and Veerle, and from then on it was a confortable 4x4 drive around Zambia and back to Harare. All nice things coming to an end though, the bus rides back to South Africa still had some bad karma to send our way:

- bus n°5 (Harare, Zimbabwe-Jo'burg, 26h instead of the scheduled 16h) at the stop at a gas station in Zimbabwe, the scheduled 10 to 15 minutes turned into 9h cause some turning element in the engine had severed some wire (I know, this might be too technical for non-mechanics, but I wanted to be as precise as possible;-). In the morning, another bus showed up and we changed, and then another bus came and we changed again, and then still once more.... General gruntling was common among the passengers and a revolution was upcoming till Greyhound gave us breakfast and accomodation in Jo'burg for the once who had missed a connecting bus (such as poor us). It did mean however that we were going to have to spend an entire day in Jo'burg and miss out on our planned three day hiking of the world famous Otter Trail with our roommates.

But while we were in Jo'bug we got to visit the ApartheidMuseum (5 minutes walking away from the hotel where Greyhound had put us). Quite an interesting place to visit, and there was also a very good exhibition of pictures of Ernest Cole, a black photographer from the sixties that made it out of South Africa and published House of Bondage, which depicted apartheidrealities...

For more details about the trip in itself, check out Thomas' post.

BruTho go ZimZam for the next ten days

Thomas and me will be gone for ten days, heading towards the North, inside Zimbabwe and Zambia. Though I am announcing it a bit late, this is not a spur of the moment kind of decision. Kristien, responsible for dREAMCATCHER here where Thomas works, is going to visit the volens projects there and the partnerorganisations. Since Thomas and me are interested in some of the jobs that Volens is looking for development workers in that region, we kindly requested and were invited to come along. This will allow us to see the country through privilidged eyes, the ones of people trying to improve situations there, and to meet some of potential partnerorganisations where we might apply to. It'd be for three years, so it never hurts for us to have a better idea of the country and the organisations, and it won't hurt them either to have a better idea of what Thomas and me are like. It sounds fascinating, though the fact that the volens couple that will be accompanying us asked to bring 10 kilo's of baking powder, so that they'd be able to make bread is a bit scary... If it's that hard to get things that basic... We read articles of endless queues just to buy eggs, and estimates of one out of every three people in Harare (capital of Zimbabwe) being mentally sick. Guess we'll see.

But so, all this also to warn you that there might very well be some radio silence for the next ten days, till we get back in Plettenberg Bay and civilisation on the 1st of November.

Cheers!