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A diary in Zimbabwe
Isabella Matambanadzo
October 05, 2006

Living in Zimbabwe means I am quite often the bearer of the craziest type of news about women's human rights violations, hunger, police brutality, HIV in our families and homes, the excessive force of the state, a Reserve Bank governor who overnight turns our money into his money and so on and so on. And I can go on and on about this aspect of living in a highly charged environment. But, I had promised myself to find a way of living this year that would generate some very positive and more hopeful thoughts. My diary entry for today is quite uplifting, so I thought to share it with you.

I was fortunate enough to be invited to attend the AGM of the members of Tose Respite Care Home. Tose, as it is called by its members, is a home that provides round the clock care facilities for children and in some instances adults, with very severe and what I now know are called multiple disabilities. Perhaps one day we can visit together and help out in some way.

Because disability is one of the things I have very little knowledge about, I can't give you information of a health and medical nature. I can only say I saw children who, without supervised, professionally trained care, are unable to make their own choices. Be it from being fed, to using the bathroom. Every aspect of their lives is assisted. Having worked in the media, my mind often goes quite quickly to the role the media can play in awareness and advocacy. I thought a short documentary about the work of Tose and the support that is available to our communities through it would be wonderful. I hope t give this further thought, especially with my friends who are in the film world. Imagine if this documentary were rally well made, it could also become a source of revenue for Tose, say if it won an award at an international film festival or something.but I am running ahead of myself as a diary often encourages you to do and dream.

I had the honour to be among the staff of Tose and the parents and relatives of the children who are cared for at Tose. I also met some very young Zimbabweans who have come to know of the work of Tose and who are interested in being available to the Respite Care Home I times of need I was humbled by the commitment of the staff. They work in rather difficult conditions, given the very emotional nature of their work. I understood that the team is challenged in retaining its professionals, physiotherapists, etc because of the limited resources they have for salaries. Some parents and relatives are able to volunteer and others are not so extra hands are always needed, be it to help out with the laundry and cleaning up or providing support in the administration.

Anyway, Tose was established in 1992, and has the status of a welfare organization, which that while it is eligible for some support through the Ministry of Social Welfare, the difficult macro economic environment affects the impact of any of the resources received from government may have had, so Tose operates really on a shoe string budget. We heard in the AGM that it costs Z$ 25 000 a month to care for each of the children at Tose. I think that at the official exchange rates, that works out to about US$ 100 a month per child, or US$ 20 on the alternative exchange market.

It seems that there is an aspect of the organisation's work that is quite hidden. In our societies the frail and infirm are cared for by women and girls. Tose's services enable the women and girls to get some "relief" from this responsibility when the children are in the home.

So the AGM had some ideas about how the public can play a role. They have a scheme of donations that is called Friends of Tose. This is quite straightforward. It is about making donations directly to the institution. They also have a scheme for Adopting a Child, this basically means members of the public can make donations to the home for the care of a child.

They have gardening and poultry projects that bring in some income and provide the ingredients for the meals, but I guess you knew from the beginning where I was going with this public diary entry, so let me get to it. Just to say, I know that you are all already giving so much from your purses and pockets so send this further request to you with humility. If you are in a position to support Tose, perhaps you can chat directly with the Director and find out what support would be most beneficial.

Tel + 263 4 576521, 576040, 576049 please be patient when calling these lines. Sometimes they are down. The same advice applies to the email tose@africaonline.co.zw

My prayers this month will be that some of you will be drawn to make a meaningful contribution.

What an inspiring day!

*Isabella Matambanadzo is a Zimbabwean. She can be contacted via e-mail zvinemazuva@yahoo.com

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