In 2005, a march organised by Women and AIDS Support Network (WASN) to protest against the government’s slow work towards normalising the availability of ARVs led to their arrest. They had managed to mobilise people living with HIV/AIDS, children affected by AIDS, affiliated organisations and other interested people to protest outside the Parliament of Zimbabwe. The timing of the march was perfect as on that day, the 1st of December 2005, the then Minister of Finance was presenting his budget. However, the arrest of WASN staff members and others who voluntarily handed themselves to the police did not deter them form continuing to advocate for people living with HIV/AIDS.

Today, nearly six years down the line, such efforts of voicing out have brought about a change in the country with regard to HIV/AIDS related issues. Gone are the days when HIV/AIDS issues were whispered quietly or even associated with promiscuity or prostitution. It is through the work of organisations like WASN and others that advocate for people living with HIV, who disseminate information about the disease and those that take a step further to assist children affected with AIDS, mostly orphans, that we see this change.

Speaking at a Food for Thought session at the US Embassy Public Affairs section in commemoration of International Women’s Day, Mary Sandasi, WASN’s director urged the government and the local community to fully support HIV/AIDS programmes and projects before turning an eye to external support. She insisted that the government, through its finance ministry, should increase the national budget allocated to the health ministry. She also said that, as research is so fundamental in the battle against HIV financial support must be given to this area.

As individuals our role to help fight against HIV/AIDS is to get tested and know our status. In so doing those who are infected can go for early treatment and therefore reduce the chances of them being bed ridden and the need for home based care.

I have always had this wild imagination and always likened life to Pacman, a very captivating computer game. I am sure it rings a bell with many of you. I found it so fascinating when I had to eat my way to survival to get to the next level. And by the way it was survival of the fittest. Every time I got to the next level I would wipe my forehead and just sigh with relief ” Phew, I made it”. In the end I became a pro and obviously invincible.

One songwriter wrote, “You’ve got to live every moment as though it was your last, before the thief of always steals tomorrow from your grasp” which the beautiful and magnificent Jacque Velasquez sang so eloquently. She went on to sing “And time waits for no man, seasons come and go, in the midst of an ever-changing world”. I got confused at first before I had to intelligently reason with myself. At first I thought as an immature and raw individual taking the literal sense of the song. What immediately came to mind was going out and partying hard, you know what any party freak would do. If only “Las Vegas” was in Zimbabwe. Then again the song says live everyday and I couldn’t help but imagine partying hard on a daily basis. That would be suicide at its best – an antagonizing hangover each morning. Would I live to live life to the fullest like that, I don’t think so…

Life is indeed like a taxi, the meter keeps ticking whether you are stagnant or not, and it only stops once you have reached your final destination. What am I doing with my life? Am I passive or proactive, making positive or negative impacts in the lives of other fellow brothers and sisters in this so-called ever-changing world? I definitely want to be remembered. I fancy my parents standing tall and telling the whole world how proud they are of me and never run out of words to say. I have heard people say they have attended funerals where people find it difficult to say just a few words.

I will make it a point that when given a chance to prove myself in what every aspect of life, giving it my best shot would be quite rewarding. Everyone wants to be labelled an achiever, and so do I. Even Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs does mention self-actualisation as the greatest need in our lives. The need to realise that one is an achiever and recognition for that achievement is of great significance. Without that self-actualisation then there is no satisfaction until that goal is reached. The hunger, passion and zeal for accomplishment, attainment and success are push factors that should keep you and I going.

What is it that I need to achieve in life, the goals that I so badly want realised? The list is endless. Nothing can stop me as long as I focus on those goals. Another songwriter wrote “If at first you don’t succeed, you can dust yourself off and try again” – for me that is living life. Acknowledging that in life there are obstacles that will try to deter me and lose track of where I am going but those are merely part of life’s lessons. Those obstacles are there just to make me a stronger and better person at the end of the day.

Life is an adventure … dare it! It is also a mystery … so why not solve it? What is there to lose?

From the ZRP Public Relations department:

If you feel that while you are being questioned or searched at a roadblock, the details involved have harassed you, hinted for bribes, or been generally aggressive, you are advised to contact the ZRP Officers listed below.

The intention is for all ZRP details to have their rank, name and numbers on their uniforms but with current constraints this is not always possible.  Each Police Officer has a force number which should be given out if requested.

It should be noted that there are NO SUCH THING AS SPOT FINES, without an OFFICIAL RECEIPT, that is Form Z69 (j) Admission of Guilt.  Many Toad Blocks carry Z69 (j) for the convenience of the public.  Should it be inconvenient to pay immediately a “ticket” on Form 265 for payment at a Police Station within 7 days should be requested.  Failure to report to a Police Station within 7 days once Form 265 is issued will lead to prosecution.

Superintendent NCUBE: 0772 719 730 or 0712 769 768
Superintendent KANGWARE: 0712 415 491
Spokesperson Traffic Inspector Chigome: 0772 965 030

NATIONAL COMPLAINTS LINE: 24 HOUR Service (04) 703 631

It might seem hysterical, but I suggest you print this and keep it in your car.

Photographed at Mabelreign High School in Harare.

The generals in Zimbabwe are holding President Mugabe upright because they are afraid of the retribution that will come for what they’ve done under his regime. The same thing happens in other countries. And therefore you need to find a formula. In South Africa we settled on a formula of massive amnesty that actually went further than I wanted to go.

From: A Recipe for Freedom – Five lessons from South Africa’s transition to democracy. Excerpts from a recent speech by the country’s ex-president, F W De Klerk.

Read the article, learn the five lessons, on Foreign Policy Magazine