Who’s that knocking on my door?
It’s not those War Vets any more -
It sounds like a hammer with a nasty claw?

Who’s that clumping on my roof?
Not the Chef with a cloven hoof -
It sounds like a liar with substantial proof.

Who’s that banging at my gate?
It’s not Big Daddy designate -
It sounds like a braai fork on an old tin plate.

Who’s that beating my dustbin lid?
It’s not the ego, not the id -
It sounds like a stick against an iron grid.

Who’s that singing sweet and low?
It’s not Dear Uncle on the go -
It sounds – my God – it sounds like a crow!

Harare’s fresh water sources are slowly being eroded by a certain of weed. I remember hearing these two foreign guys sitting next to me on a plane asking each about the green patches on a dam as we were about to land at Harare International Airport. From an aerial view it looked like the river is totally gone and the green carpets forming on the riverbed are also slowly swallowing the dam. Some time back I remember reading an article on Harare’s fresh water sources being under threat from a certain type of a weed but I never realized the extent of the problem. A report published by UNEP Global Environment Alert Service in April 2013 says that the spread of water hyacinth declined from 42% in 1976 to 22% in 2000. But in 2005 a new invasive plant, called spaghetti weed (Hydrocotyle ranunculoide (UNEP 2008) surfaced. It seems the weed is now choking the life out of the few fresh water supply sources that feed into Lake Chivero.

The economic crunch experienced in 2008 left many young people jobless as industries closed and relocated to other regional countries. The situation today isn’t much changed. One town reeling under the effects is Chitungwiza, where young people have not been spared. Some have resorted to vending to earn a living, but even vending is now so crowded. Chitungwiza is a dormitory town and almost 80% of people who live in this town commute to Harare for work. Trading is now the major source of income for those who can’t commute to Harare. Most young people found here are college graduates, bricklayers or traders.  A few who still have the energy have resorted to stone crushing to earn a living. This type of work is labor intensive. They use manual labor to crush big rocks to produce ¾ stones, which can be used as concrete for buildings. A ready market for these stones is already there because of new houses being constructed in Chitungwiza.

The stone crushers work on a small open space which council had abandoned because of the huge rocks, which made it difficult to put structures there.

A day starts with the burning of the rocks till they start showing signs of cracking. Some heavy pounding with big hammers follows resulting in the rocks peeling off into small chunks easy to crush using hammers. This type of work is very dangerous and one can lose a limb or an eye from the flying rock chips from the hammers.

Some of the stone crushers are skilled first class artisans in carpentry and some are builders. They got retrenched when the economy went up side down. Left without an alternative, stone crushing is now their only source of income. To make up a load these young men have to crush an average of 60 wheelbarrows worth of rock valued at US$150.

Working a normal day shift from 8am to around 4pm these young men feel at home when they are doing their work. Like one of them said, “I am earning an honest living and will only leave the quarry site when all the rocks have been cleared.” Most of them are married and they can afford to pay rents and buy food for their families.

I tried my hand on a few rocks but it was like hitting steel with steel, they even laughed at me saying I was weak. I was told with time they got used to the pain and they can crush stones every day.

Hey! Need a job? Want to work in the NGO/development sector in Zimbabwe? Check out the job vacancies below and apply today. If you want to receive regular civic and human rights information, together with NGO job vacancies and other opportunities like scholarships by getting our regular email newsletter, please email join [at] kubatana [dot] net

Administrator/Bookkeeper/ Logistician: Institute of Creative Art for Progress in Africa
Deadline: 3 July 2013

The Institute of Creative Art for Progress in Africa (incorporating Women Filmmakers of Zimbabwe and Nyerai Films) is looking for a qualified and experienced candidate to fill in the post of Office Administrator/Bookkeeper/Logistician.

Location: Harare

Key Result Areas
-General office administration
-Bookkeeping to trial balance
-Office management
-Event coordination
-Writing financial reports
-Reporting to the Board

Send your CVs to: wfoz [at] icapatrust [dot] org or call 04-862355/0775553273

Information Officer: Institute for Young Women Development
Deadline: 6 July 2013

The Institute for Young Women Development is a young-women development oriented organization working in the fields of advocacy and lobbying on young women’s issues and rights, capacity development and livelihoods. The organisation which is headquartered in Bindura and operating in Mashonaland Central Province is looking for a young, dynamic and creative person for the post of Information Officer.

The Officer will report directly to the Director.

Key responsibilities

The incumbent will be expected to support the organisation’s information management and internal and external communications functions through:
-Developing the organisation’s communications strategy
-Development of communication materials and coordination of organisational publications, dissemination of information to members, partners and stakeholders
-Writing and editing reports, newsletters, generation of website content, etc
-Managing and updating the organisation’s social media sites
-Coordination of the organisation’s projects information on implementation and impact
-Handling of external information requests
-Assist in development of project proposals, organising projects activities, facilitating meetings and workshops, monitoring of activities and effective communication of updates from the meetings
-Perform any other duties as assigned by the Director

Qualifications and skills
-A degree in journalism, media and mass communications or any other social sciences/related fields
-Experience in young women/youth development issues in Zimbabwe and ability to work with rural communities
-Good communication and report writing skills
-Strong organizing, planning and management skills
-Computer proficiency
-Excellent oral and written communication skills
-Ability to work under pressure

To apply
If you meet the above criteria, please forward your current CV and relevant certificates via email to: hr.iywd2011 [at] gmail [dot] com

Back in the 1980s and 1990s the Zimbabwean government loved slogans so much it came to define the nature of the politics of deceit favoured by the rulers. “Health for All by Year 2000,” “Housing for All by Year 2000,” “Clean Water for All by Year 2000,” “Education for ALL by Year 2000″ all clogged the public sphere. This was before the UN’s global commitments of the MDGs which were only adopted  in 2000. Indeed Zimbabwe must have been way ahead by then! But it turns out it was all in the name of winning votes because many years later, things remain the same if not worse.

The following photo-essay documents Westlea, a “new” suburb that is yet another pointer of how far the country has lagged behind in providing “housing for all.”

Find water where you can

A child plays outside his ‘house’

A ‘gated’ residence

Safe water?

Reading Marko’s blog on Gukurahundi reminded me of a quote I saw yesterday:

If there is a God, He will have to beg my forgiveness.
- A phrase that was carved on the walls of a concentration camp cell during WWII by a Jewish prisoner