Accessibility statement

Sharon Gwati

Zimbabwe, CAHR, Spring 2008

Sharon undertook her Fellowship from April to August 2008. She calls her time at York an "amazing and life-changing experience". As well as attending individual tutorials and courses, she worked on her own project and carried out an internship with a local development NGO. She also gave a series of presentations to local groups on the situation in Zimbabwe. She is dedicated to improving the situation of AIDS orphans in the Southern Africa region. She says "You have all played a part in instilling in me the very things I need to know to make the right steps in this journey. As I leave York I thank you all from the bottom of my heart and promise you all that this shall be a fun and very successful journey and I pray we shall all share in its many fruits."

The African woman and child have been disadvantaged and discriminated against for a long time. The spread and evolution of the HIV virus has made their situation even worse. I speak for this group of individuals in areas where they cannot speak themselves. I speak to them about their rights and opportunities available to them. I believe the fight against HIV and AIDS in Africa will be lost if we do not push for emancipation of women and for child participation.

I believe the fight against HIV and AIDS in Africa will be lost if we do not push for emancipation of women and for child participation.

My work is based in Zimbabwe but reaches out to southern Africa and the African diaspora. I run an HIV/AIDS information dissemination website. Because most people within Zimbabwe do not have access to the Internet we launched a radio programme to communicate the same information to a broader public. Amongst other things, the website looks critically at the reasons young people indulge in risky behaviour which exposes them to HIV/AIDS.

I work as a peer educator for the Young Voices Network Zimbabwe. My work involves educating young people in the poor communities of Harare and Norton (a town to the north west of Harare) on their rights, which they see as luxuries rather than entitlements. At YVN, we identify some needs we can address such as sanitation, water and clothing. For others such as education and housing we link the young people to agencies where they can receive help. I also work with Norwegian People's Aid, providing training on positive living with HIV and AIDS. I research extensively on the subject and share the information on www.aidsforum.co.zw. I also give motivational talks which highlight ways in which women are abused, and I direct women to places where they can get help.