Zimbabwean stories of "Best Practice" - SAfAIDS

Figure 10:A male change agent 'chipangamazano' speakingto menFigure 11:The Seke Chief making a point during the CultureDialoguesrecourse from the community courtpresided over by the chief and most ofhis aides who had been part of thedialogues. He spoke openly about HIVand the need to be faithful to onepartner and even though he had thepower to marry many wives he loudlystated "I will stay with one wife". Thechief provided the very leadership rolemodel that the community needed tosee. In the final dialogue, the chiefdramatically turned to the project staffand stressed the need to "...bringtesting to my people and expand theproject beyond the 8 wards".It felt like the curtain had come downto signify the end of a play that leavesyou challenged but inspired to shareand act on the information you havejust seen and heard.Communities; with the right knowledge,skills and approach have the capacityto solve their own problems. After allthese are their practices and traditions.Who are we as outsiders with our limitedunderstanding and appreciation to tryto get involved beyond the role ofcatalysts? Instead we must use theseopportunities to learn so that our futurematerials are based on evidence andless on assumptions.- Comment from Lois Chingandu SAfAIDSExecutive Director and pioneer of the Culturedialogue modelFollow up and broader community mobilization - The HIV and AIDS GalaAt the end of the fourth round the community requested for HIV testing services and for the training ofchange agents. Training of change agents on HIV and AIDS, Gender and culture followed to enable themto play their role from an informed position. The yellow t-shirts worn by these 'wise ones' made identificationeasy, while serving as a motivator.After the round of dialogues, the project organised a Community HIV and AIDS Gala which brought togetherthe whole 21 wards of Seke to participate in a day of fanfare and learning more about the linkages betweenculture, gender and HIV/AIDS.24