From Kirby.

[Chiedza, Chiedza
Chiedza, Chiedza]
Let peace be here
Let love be here
Love of God
Love of one another
And love of life itself
Let us remember that so many poles
Built a hut, built a school
Let’s work together
To make our home successful.

On Thursday 24th November, Chiedza Childcare Center held celebrations for their 10th anniversary of service, at their Ardbennie premises. Brightly dressed drum majorettes, who danced in celebration, and aptly set the mood for the festivities, greeted attendees.

Co-founder David Sheehan gave the welcoming remarks, whilst caregivers, a representative of the children, a representative from the Australian Embassy and representatives of the Qantas cabin crew (who have supported the organization from its conception), made speeches.

The caregiver’s choir and the children, through drama, poetry and traditional dance, provided entertainment during the celebrations.

Certificates of appreciation were handed out to members of the original board of directors, and to the many volunteers who have contributed to the many programmes Chiedza conduct, helping to improve the situation of the children. The anniversary was then concluded with a special tree-planting ceremony. Various staff members gave visitors a tour around the center’s buildings, and showcased some of the fund-raising projects the children are involved in.

In the past few months there seems to have been a drastic increase in media reports on gender-based violence with all manner of atrocities coming to light. We have heard reports of women being stabbed with kitchen knives, burnt with irons, and hacked with machetes.  It would seem that media coverage on GBV is on the rise. However, the media is not giving a comprehensive and gender-sensitive picture of GBV, but a sensationalized one. Pat Made of Genderlinks observed that most reporting on the issue is featured in the ‘Courts and Crime’ section of newspapers and that the issue of GBV is coming to the news agendas as events “and not as an issue that’s having a negative impact on the economic, social, and political fabric of our society.” She proceeded to say that the media “is not reporting it as a national issue, nor is it going further to put it into the context of the policy framework, and what needs to be done, in terms of the rights of women and girls. We don’t get that kind of coverage of reporting, which is more informed and helps us as citizens to be able to get a different kind of perception and conceptual way of dealing with the issue.”

Last year, Genderlinks, conducted a Gender and Media Progress Study for Zimbabwe to monitor how the different media in the country reported on and handled issues of gender. The study also included a detailed analysis of media coverage of gender-based violence in 2010, revealing that the proportion of stories on GBV were only 3% of total stories in the media in Zimbabwe, while the figures for the SADC region were not much better, at 4%. It will be interesting to see what the findings for this year’s study will reveal.

Kubatana subscribers have informed us of some fishy accounting on their bills, where ZESA is over stating the subtotal of a given unit charge multiplied by number of units. For example, on one customer’s bill, the first 50 units is charged at 0.02 cents per unit which equals $1.00. The bill however states $1.20. The next 250 units is charged at 0.11 cents per unit which equals $27.50 – the bill states $28.00.

Together, those two mis-multiplied figures equal 70 cents – not a lot of money, but taken across thousands of customers each month, this could really add up.

Another subscriber reported similar mis-charging on the part of ZESA, with subtotals not adding up to the unit consumption multiplied by consumption rate, and also with the consumption not being charged at the correct rate.

According to the tariff schedule of 1 September, unit charges for domestic metered customers are:

* First 50 kWh: $0.02 per kWh
* 51-300 kWh: $0.11 per kWh
* 301+ kWh: $0.15 per kWh

Be informed. Inspect your ZESA bill carefully, and double check that they are charging you correctly. Query your bill when necessary, and insist on regular meter readings.

Today’s Newsday reports the story of a 20 year old teacher, Fanuel Dube, who ‘proposed love’ to his fifteen year old pupil and impregnated her.

The reporter writes:

In his defence, Dube claimed that though he knew the girl was still doing primary level of education, he believed she was grown up due to her big frame and big breasts.

Judging from the sentence for what is statutory rape, Filabusi magistrate Shillah Nazombe, must have been sympathetic to the poor man’s plight. After all, it must take superhuman strength to resist the pert breasts and firm buttocks of an underage girl. The man was given a 20 month sentence, 6 months of which were suspended for five years on condition of good behaviour, and the remaining 14 months were commuted to 490 hours of community service where no doubt there will be other mature looking underage girls.

Fanuel Dube’s case is not unique. Several studies and reports conducted by the Girl Child Network, USAID and other organisations observe that sexual exploitation of girls aged between 9 and 16 is rife in the education sector. The studies found that the perpetrators were most often young male teachers aged below thirty with less than five years of teaching experience.