Since July 2009, Maruva Trust has been supporting the Zvandiri Dance Group. This support has meant we could be trained by the brilliant Tumbuka Dance Company, a Zimbabwean professional dance company (see picture of Tumbuka below). We have now made our second public performance. The first was at the official opening of the Newlands HIV Clinic in September where we danced our hearts out in front of Ambassadors, Ministry of Health, Newlands Clinic staff and international visitors. Then this week we were invited to the Harare Outreach Dance Festival. We are six girls and eight boys in our dance group and we have been trained by Tumbuka every week at the National Ballet studio. 

At the Outreach Dance Festival, there were groups of dancers from different schools and it was our first time to dance in front of other children. When we arrived we were welcomed with a warm hug. Other groups danced and it was great to see. There were many groups of disabled children also dancing at the fesitval. It was touching. I started to cry when I watched them dance, some children with no arms, some with no legs. This is when I realised that we should be proud of being HIV positive.

When we were given the floor to dance, people loved the way we danced. Most of them liked the Mango Groove Dance, “Special Star”. We were given a certificate which made us so happy because we did not expect it. We then mixed and mingled with other children and started discussing how they were coping with their different problems.

On behalf of the Zvandiri Dance Group, I would like to thank our trainers from Tumbuka for all their efforts they put in training us. Thank you Africaid and to Maruva Trust for funding this project.