Zimbabweans in the diaspora fight HIV/AIDS back home

December 1, 2007

A World AIDS Day – 2007 Press Release

We are glad to announce today (December 1st, World AIDS Day 2007) that we are stepping up our efforts in the fight against HIV/AIDS as we startup and support five new projects in Zimbabwe. The projects will be located in Bulawayo, Chitungwiza and Nyanga. HAZ, as a global non-profit organization comprised exclusively of Zimbabwean professionals, has focused its efforts over the past two years on engaging Zimbabweans at the global level, to be directly involved in lessening the catastrophic impact of HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe. The projects we are officially launching today are:

• THE ILANGA SELF EMPOWERMENT NETWORK PROJECT (ISEN)
This project will build upon the ongoing efforts of a home-based care project started by a woman offering support and training to single HIV positive mothers in Bulawayo
• A NEW HIV/AIDS CLINIC: The clinic marks the official adoption of a new HAZ Clinical Services program, and expands on our ongoing support of two HIV/AIDS clinics administered by our partners, the Zimbabwe AIDS Relief in Harare and Mutoko. The new clinic is a joint venture betwen HAZ and the Friends of Picardy Drive (FOPD) and will be based in Bulawayo. The new clinic will seek to offer free clinical support to HIV/AIDS patients who currently have no access to clinical services.
• THE CHITUNGWIZA OPHANS AND VULNERABLE CHILDREN PROJECT (COVCP): This project will build upon the ongoing efforts of the Chitungwiza Unit K Seke Baptist Church to offer community based support to children infected or affected by HIV/AIDS, within the Chitungwiza Unit K community.
• THE HOME OF HOPE CHILDREN’S HOME (HOH): HAZ will support on-going efforts to develop a Catholic-run orphanage in Nyanga.
• THE WORLD AIDS DAY STUDENT ESSAY CONTEST PROJECT (WADEC): This year’s implementation of this project has been ongoing for the past three weeks. The winning essays have been published along with a post contest review by HAZ, under the “WADEC” category of the HAZ Exclusive Publications. We guarantee you that the essays will challenge your views about the perceptions of Zimbabwe’s youths on HIV and AIDS.

In addition to initiating the above listed projects, HAZ will also continue supporting two clinics run by an American church-based organization in Harare and Mutoko, where 600 HIV/AIDS patients are now being treated at no charge. In addition, HAZ provides an online library of HIV/AIDS resources (The Zimbabwe Online Library of HIV and AIDS References –ZOLAR), consultancy services, online streaming HIV/AIDS information and exclusive HIV/AIDS publications.

Recently, a Rhodesian raised author (Ms. Doris Lessing) won the 2007 Nobel Prize in Literature. There was much heated debate on one of the Zimbabwean online forums, about whether Zimbabweans can now claim to have won the 2007 Nobel Prize in Literature – by virtue of their historical association with Ms. Lessing. Sharing the Nobel Prize with Ms. Lessing in this context would bring, and in some cases has brought much pride to Zimbabweans worldwide. Zimbabweans also walk with pride today, at reports that our country’s HIV prevalence rates continue on a steep decline. We feel like we have collectively done something positive as a country. HAZ aims to tap into that Zimbabwean collective potential, by engaging Zimbabweans on a global scale, to be directly involved and to work more collaboratively, in mitigating the impact of HIV/AIDS amongst our own people. It is a uniquely Zimbabwean experience at a global level, which brings us a uniquely Zimbabwean satisfaction, which we cannot attain in any other way.

This HAZ approach, the global approach to engaging other Zimbabweans in mitigating the impact of the HIV/AIDS crisis in Zimbabwe is new to most of us as Zimbabweans. We have thus sought guidance, and continue to seek guidance, by partnering with other effective, long and newly established organizations, both in Zimbabwe and abroad, who share our vision. We as Zimbabweans in the Diaspora may not all have much money to spare, but we all have a talent, skill, or expertise, which if brought into a collaborative effort can help make a difference to at least one life touched by HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe. We leverage our individual talents in an organized way and also collaborate with our local and international partners such as the Friends of Picardy Drive and the Zimbabwe AIDS Relief, to maximize the impact of our efforts and collective resources. Being a non-governmental organization, HAZ is nonetheless mindful to ensure that the organization’s efforts and initiatives are in line with, and compliment Zimbabwe’s national anti HIV/AIDS efforts, which are coordinated through the National AIDS Council of Zimbabwe.

HAZ uses all raised funds to provide the maximum benefit in an accountable and sustainable way. We also seek to provide a Zimbabwean perspective to non-Zimbabwean organizations wanting to be a part of the AIDS relief efforts in Zimbabwe, ensuring sensitivity in the work done by non-Zimbabweans, to Zimbabwe’s socio-cultural ways of life.

HAZ uses internet technology to connect talented Zimbabweans around the globe with accountable and sustainable projects which empower children and families impacted by AIDS. HAZ’s approach helps mitigate the “brain drain” of talent from Zimbabwe by reconnecting with that same talent globally and providing a vehicle for continued engagement from afar. “Zimbabweans are contacting us daily to say “count me in … how can I volunteer?” says Joshua Dziba, the Executive Director of HAZ.

Zimbabweans may be dispersed across the globe, but we believe that all have something to offer in the fight against HIV/AIDS. It is not just our individual families, facing HIV/AIDS back home, that need us now more than ever. It is the whole of Zimbabwe that needs our support. As we reflect upon this World AIDS Day 2007, we ought to remember that; “Activism begins by touching just one life” and that even though “individually we may be just one drop in the ocean, together we are the ocean.”

FACTS:

ABOUT HAZ: “HIV/AIDS|ZIMBABWE CHARITY, INC” was formed in 2005 and is a global organization of Zimbabweans, both in Zimbabwe and in the Diaspora, who are working together to provide effective and sustainable solutions to mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS amongst Zimbabweans. We are a registered trust in Zimbabwe and a tax exempt, non-profit, public charity organization in the USA, with additional chapters in Canada and the UK. HAZ provides organized support and services through the following six programs:

1. Children’s Services Program
2. Clinical Services Program
3. Community-Based Service Projects
4. Consultancy Services
5. Informational/Educational Services
6. Strategic Partnerships Program

ABOUT FOPD: “The Friends of Picardy Drive” was formed in 2002 and is based in Oakland, California (USA). The organization provides; an online community news and resources directory, as well as support and fundraising for local and global charitable activities. FOPD collaborates with HAZ and ZAR on a number of Zimbabwe projects providing AIDS support and services. FOPD is a registered tax-exmpt, non-profit, public charity organization in the USA.

Friends of Picardy Drive
www.FOPD.org

ABOUT ZAR: “The Zimbabwe AIDS Relief” is a project of the Allen Temple Baptist Church’s AIDS Ministry and is based in Oakland, California (USA). The Allen Temple Baptist Church AIDS Ministry was formed in 1989 and has a local focus addressing the impact of HIV/AIDS on African Americans in the East Oakland community. Since 1999, the AIDS Ministry has been involved in several projects under an initiative called the “Zimbabwe AIDS Relief” project. This project currently administers two HIV/AIDS clinics in Harare and Mutoko and also supports a large children’s home in Mutoko. The Allen Temple Baptist Church is a registered non-profit organization in the USA.

Zimbabwe AIDS Relief
www.ZimbabweAIDSRelief.org / www.Allen-Temple.org