Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Cresent Societies - 3 September 2003
John Sparrow and Selma Bernardi in Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe
Wednesday
11.30am
Grandmothers care for the country's orphans, with a passion. Outside the Red Cross home-care post, in the grounds of the Seke South clinic, they are kicking up a dust. They dance and chant. "Orphans are being abused," they protest.
Four-year-old Lynrose Sibanda steps out in front. "We are being tortured and tormented by child abusers," she shouts, and clenches a fist. "Don't touch me again! Don't touch me! I will fight!"
A play is being rehearsed by a Red Cross grannies' support group. Most of the elderly women here have lost sons and daughters to AIDS and have inherited their orphans. They come together once a week to share concerns, learn from one another, gain strength and guidance.
And to prepare their campaigns. Their plays are performed in schools and churches. This one is going to a beer hall.
It is full of humour and the satirical portrayal of familiar figures. The message, though, is deadly serious. Care for the children. Physical abuse, cruelty, neglect and exploitation is unacceptable.
Spiwa's grandfather should see it. The grannies don't know him but he's in it. Red Cross food meant for children is misappropriated, distributed among the villain's friends. A granddaughter is offered for marriage.
The central figure is played by Monica Chimutedza. She's in her seventies and in real life has five orphans at home. She earns money herself by making and selling beverages, and has Red Cross help as well: a monthly ration of maize meal, oil, beans and corn soy blend, and assistance with the school fees.
She still has problems. The eldest children have stopped going to school because the Red Cross cannot fund everyone.
Mamerida Tanda, the drama group's inspiration, is looking for seed money so the grannies can start projects to generate their own income.
13.10pm
In her Harare office, the Federation's Regional HIV/AIDS Coordinator, Bongai Mundeta, is digesting a report of the children's plight in Unit D. She has catalogued orphan abuse and misery across southern Africa and condemns the slow pace of intervention.
"When you compare what is being done and the enormous number of children you must conclude there is a great deal more talking going on than action," she says. "We need to mobilize communities."
Her case is made with chilling evidence. She tells the story of three little girls living alone since the death of their parents in Zambia's Copperbelt. An 11-year-old girl and her sisters aged nine and four were sexually abused daily by a neighbour, and Red Cross appeals to intervene were rejected by the police. The man was too influential, they said.
A legal process was begun to get the children into sanctuary but was so agonizingly slow the sisters were traumatized by the time the Red Cross could complete it. It didn't end there. The man was HIV positive and had infected them.
"Their parents died of AIDS but we know they were not infected by mother-to-child transmission," Bongai says. "After the deaths the children had tested negative." The man remains free and no criminal charges are pending.
When asked, urban orphans place their safety above all else. Bongai has just come from an inter-agency gathering at which orphans had spoken of their problems. Sexual abuse was a major one among the city children.
In the humanitarian crisis gripping southern Africa, aid efforts have been greatest in rural areas. Urban needs have been overshadowed, although often they are more acute. Certainly they are for orphans. "It is easier to assist the rural children," says Bongai. "They are easier to reach, and the extended family, even neighbours, do provide them with protection."
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