SNV Junior Professionals Programme
Deadline: 22 July 2013

SNV is now looking for high potential and motivated candidates who are ready for a professional career as a development practitioner. The SNV Junior Professionals Programme (JPP) provides the right foundation for a challenging and rewarding career in an international development environment.

What is a Junior Professional?
The programme aims to grow a Junior Professional into a future senior practitioner with a solid grounding in the technical foundation of one of SNV’s sectors: Agriculture, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) or Renewable Energy. You are offered a 2-year fixed-term appointment in one of the countries where SNV works. During this period, you will gain practical ‘feet-in-the-mud’ experience while you work and learn alongside a well-qualified SNV senior advisor in one of our sector programmes. You will be exposed to SNV’s approaches and encouraged to engage with the latest developments in the sectors.

Am I eligible for the Junior Professionals Programme?
-Do you have an advanced degree in Agriculture, WASH or Renewable Energy?
-Do you have less than 3 years of relevant work experience?
-Do you possess excellent interpersonal and communication skills?
-Are you self-driven and hard working?
-Are you committed and passionate about the international development sector?
-Are you culturally sensitive?
-Do you have an excellent command of English and preferably French?

What are the salary and benefits?
SNV offers a compensation and benefits package that is internationally competitive and comparable with other non-profit organisations. You will be recruited by SNV Head Office for a fixed term appointment for two years, following which, based on performance and organisational needs, you may wish to pursue your career at SNV or another international development organisation.

How to apply?
SNV is now accepting applications for 2013 until 22 July 2013. Candidates who are interested in the JPP can apply here

What is the selection procedure?
The JP Programme will select a limited number of international, highly qualified and motivated juniors from both the Netherlands and the countries where SNV works. Shortlisted applicants will go through a thorough selection procedure in which we will seek to establish learning and growth potential to become a high performing development practitioner. Newly appointed Junior Professionals will be expected to be on board by latest October 2013.

Contact
For further information, please don’t hesitate to email us at SNVJPP [at] snvworld [dot] org

Live the full life of the mind, exhilarated by new ideas, intoxicated by the Romance of the unusual.
- Ernest Hemingway

I am asked all the time (but I probably ask it just as often), “What is going to happen with the elections?” Short answer, “I don’t know, I don’t have a crystal ball, if I did, I would have more money than I do now!”

It is an interesting question, even though the result will be the same as it was last elections. Zanu PF will lose the elections, but will not lose power. MDC will win the elections, but will not take power.

Consider, 2008. End result, MDC is the largest group in parliament. Most MPs. Most seats. Most constituencies. But do they start calling themselves the “ruling party”? Do they repeal POSA in their five years as the ruling party (or repeal any laws)? Do they rule? We are a parliamentary democracy, Zimbabwe is legally ruled by parliament.

Presidential election – disputed. But the MDC’s candidate wins that, not by, but they still won. Why do they allow the losing party’ s candidate to remain at his former post? But either way, why is the former ruling party, and it’s Presidential candidate still regarded as the “ruling party”? Why does the real “ruling party” not rule?

So my prediction for 1 August 2013: Zanu PF will lose the elections, but will not lose power.

What would be really interesting – if the MDC (or anyone but the former ruling party) took a massive election victory. How would the current regime hold on to power? We know they will, but how?

In addition to our dear spouses
and our allocation of small houses,
we will have an escort in every town,
growth-point and village: novice, hand-me-down,
school girl, slut… whatever takes our fancy.
We will relegate to sties all nancy
boys, to kennels all dykes, who will be cured,
in God’s good time, well and truly skewered,
by patriotic soldiers with long poles.
Sell-outs will be buried in ant bear holes
after overturning, or hitting trees.
All judges will be given factories
to asset-strip; and Generals will get mines,
with free access to anything that shines.
All policemen loyal to the Party
will be allowed to keep their bribes.  Hearty
support will be given to servile priests,
and Russians will be entertained with feasts
using cattle from sycophantic whites:
Rhodies with insatiable appetites
for Four-by-fours, biltong, safari camps,
the nostalgic smell of paraffin lamps.
Aliens will be cast into outer
darkness.  The First Lady will obtain her
beauty products from Harrods and Dubai.
We will encourage white people to die
because it’s only then that we can trust
Blair’s kith and kin. “Eternity or Bust”
Is our slogan.  We affirm that bullets
are mightier than ballots, and true lies
make a nation healthy, wealthy, and wise.
We will double the strength of the forces,
give them live ammunition and horses
to crush traitors who disturb our cities
(especially girls who bare their titties.)
We will not tolerate freedom of speech,
freedom of assembly, freedom of each
and every citizen to criticize
our Excellency: all knowing; strong ties
with North Korea; Africa’s Jesus!
Nations prostrate themselves when he sneezes,
and the world entire is shaken to bits
when Big Boy squats on his people – and shits.

Expand the conversation: If you could ask your councillor, MP, presidential candidate One Question, what would it be? We’ll get your voice heard. Please email your question and where you live to: products [at] kubatana [dot] net

You add, we multiply!

After the signal blackout by the South African Broadcasting Corporation the free to air decoders acquired by most Zimbabweans are now symbolic and a reminder of what used to be an alternative source of entertainment. Recently I was watching a debate on ZBC’s “Melting Pot” and I expected to see a pot really melting with some lively debate but my expectations were a bit high. The debate turned out to be a rehearsed and a one sided event with in-between citation of a certain political party’s manifesto which I am sure by now viewers can now sing every word by heart. The show anchor actually did not even shy away from showing his party allegiance to an extent that one would have mistook him for a campaign manager of a certain political party. My previous dealing with shows like these would be remote in hand, flipping channels on my free to air decoder or settling my dollar for two movies from the streets.

I am not alone in this fix. The signal cut off by SABC has affected Zimbabwe’s generation of young viewers who had fallen in love with dramas and soaps from down south. Our own local production companies tried to lure young audiences with locally produced dramas and soap operas but the story line ended up getting tired and boring like the actors. The recycling of the usual actors was a big turn off to young viewers especially when our local television is competing with the youth targeted and fast paced programming from SABC and other digital satellite broadcasting stations. The reason why most Zimbabweans preferred to invest in the free to air decoders is they got tired of Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation’s programming and monopoly of the airwaves. Also DSTV subscriptions are just too exorbitant.  How to do you expect to compete for viewers when programs like “Madzinza eZimbabwe” and some Korean documentaries with subtitles are aired during prime time viewing when SABC offers programs like Isidingo and Generations? Neither would one expect to watch a repeat of  ‘Talking Farming” after a long day at work.

But since I’m still searching for an the alternative here is my Friday prime time fix from ZBC-TV & Channel 2:

1730-1830 – NHAU/INDABA
1830-1930 – WOZA FRIDAY
1930-1931 – NEWS HEADLINES
1931-2000 – REVELATIONS
2000-2100 – NEWS HOUR
2100-2115 – ZANU PF – THE MANIFESTO
2115-2145 – MA 1 EP 03
2145-2300 – FRIDAY NIGHT ACTION MOVIE:
2300-2315 – LATE NIGHT NEWS
2315-2330 – ACTION MOVIE  (CONTINUATION)
2330-0000 – MY WIFE AND KIDS
0000-0100 – DOCUMENTARY
0100-0400 – IN CONCERT
0400-0530 – MOVIE:  PLEASURE PALACE
0530-0555 – SINJALO EP 11