Advocacy Weekend

The Advocacy team

Once again the team met on the 24th of November, 2012 for updating each other on various issues in regards to advocating for children and the voiceless among adolescents and teenagers. As you already know that the team comprises of members from various cities in Zimbabwe- Mutare, Gweru, Murambinda, Norton, Kwekwe and obviously Harare. Members from Mutare, Murambinda fall under Manicaland team, those from Gweru as well as Kwekwe fall under Midlands team and Norton plus Harare make up Mashonaland West team.
There was a case in Manicaland concerning forced marriages which included children as young as nine years old being married off to old men. As the advocacy team in Manicaland, they decided to stand up for the victims and the case is currently in the social services. Mashonaland West team managed to visit the Ark of God orphanage which is located in Norton. The objective of their visit was to see if there were any cases of stigma and discrimination labelled against the residents of the orphanage and also see what they were doing for those children born with HIV/AIDS. The visit proved an insight to the team. The Midlands team scored a major victory when they were granted permission to hold their support group meetings at Mkoba Poly Clinic after having the go ahead from the Director of Health for City of Gweru. All teams cited the need for more communication from their own team members and the other advocacy teams so as to share ideas and just to update each other.
World AIDS Day which is held annually on the 1st of December is already around the corner and the teams have planned for the activities to be held on the said date in their various communities. In Harare they have joined forces with National Aids Council of Zimbabwe(NAC) for The Day and have organized for the posters and fliers to be distributed on that day, in Mutare they will be joining Youth Alive in commemorating the day at St Joseph Hospital in Chikanga, and also still in Manicaland, in Murambinda they are having a joint venture with the Young People`s Network on HIV and AIDS. The Midlands team will host the day in their different towns and celebrate it with joy.
The World AIDS Day, to most of us this year concerns stigma and reaching out and shunning it and hopefully burying it, a world free of stigma channeled towards HIV/AIDS victims is a world we are hoping to see very soon and IT BEGINS WITH YOU AND ME.