A day in the life of a zimbabwean woman

Public taxis are a nightmare, the screaming and rude conductors, the cursing drivers and the vulnerable passengers. Normally I don’t pay particular attention to other passengers in these dilapidated taxis, but what I witnessed today left me with more questions than answers. I tried so hard to fight back tears as I felt a pang of pain which like a hot ball ran up and down my throat. I could have said or done something but I was weakened by sadness and anger at the same time.

Next to me sat an octogenarian who judging by her stature should be at home herself, probably resting, but there she was holding her 5 year old grandchild who was battling for breath. It was not long before this ailing child started coughing. For a few minutes the old woman struggled to hold the child in her hands as he was now fidgeting before violently throwing up in the taxi.

Overwhelmed by embarrassment, the lady then took her towel and wiped the vomit then she started explaining that both the child’s parents are late and she is the only surviving relative and has to go and get Antiretroviral drugs for this child at the clinic where she was headed. I could feel the pain in her voice as if she was trying to reach out to the strangers in this taxi to understand her plight. What hurt me the most is that just as she got off the taxi, the driver and most of the men enganged in the most inhuman, chauvinistic conversation. Blaming this woman for her misery. Others even used discriminatory language to describe the child.

As I sat there saddened by the old lady who is a microcosm of what many women are going through and awed by the ignorance these men exhibited, I realised that when it comes to tackling HIV/AIDS and stigma we still have a long way to go.

Conferences , workshops seminars are held year in and year out in fancy luxurious hotels, between literate and educated people, yet the real people who need this information are out there spreading the virus let alone fuelling stigma inflicting more pain.

There is no doubt if any that women bear the brunt of social, economic, and political woes. This is no wonder women are seen struggling to make ends meet to support their families. The majority of those in the amazon long queues at the clinics for antiretroviral drugs are women. In remote areas especially, some have to travel long kilometres and sleep at the growth point centers just to make it in time.

I guess the realities of the burden of care being on a woman and the ‘feminisation’ of HIV will only be clearer to one once you have also lived and experienced the realities of it. Zimbabwean women in one way or the other, directly or indirectly are facing the brunt of this burden. I hope one day I will be able to be a part of change and experience .

-Patience Mandishona-

The day I crossed the line

Tuesday at the IAC was an action packed day for me. I got to speak in front of a lot of people which was a new experience for me and it definitely made me feel more empowered. Before I got on stage I was telling myself that I cant do this, but at the same time I told myself this is the an opportunity for me to tell my story. Having the women from Jass there helped me a lot because they encouraged me and told me I could do it. As I sat on the panel I scribbled a lot of things I would want to say but when I was eventually introduced and had to speak I totally forgot it all and just spoke from my heart. Issues of violence affect me deeply as I have also had personal experiences of violence and its also common in the environment I currently live in. After I was done and the comments were now being made, I felt great about myself and that there were people who were in solidarity with me and the work I do. I appreciate being a part of the Jass process as it has given me the opportunity to share with a lot of great women issues that affect all of us. After the session I met up with so many different people who are currently working on such issues. I was then invited to speak at another meeting talking about the invisibility of WSW within the HIV/AIDS movement and the women's movement in general. It was a great place for me to share with others around the world on this issues and it was more relaxing now because it was not in front of such a big crowd so I was not as nervous as I was the first time. After that talk I then rushed over to the Cross Regional Dialogue. This was also an eye opening event for me as I got to listen to women's different experiences in Mexico, Spain and Africa. You get to realize that the group was so dynamic and the experiences shared are so different. As I listened to some of the women talking about legalizing abortion, I looked at the context where I was coming from and realized that we still have a long way to go as issues the legality of abortion were not even on our agendas yet. This was a great learning experience foe me especially talking about the strategies they used and appreciated the work that they were doing currently.
As we go into our final days in Mexico I am looking forward to being a part of a larger process especially having met other women from a different part of the world. I hope that the process will continue and we will share with each other regularly on the work we are doing and we would like to do collectively as Jass. By the way I am Patience Mandishona from GALZ.My final words are lets Keep Crossing the Line.........