Memories from the rainbow nation

How could I know what awaited for me when I learnt that I would spent a semester in South Africa?

As a good friend wisely said once, I went from hell and back and beyond. I travelled to Zimbabwe with four other wonderful researchers, I produced a short film with the most wonderful team mates one can wish, I spent one week with picteists in the Drakensberg, one of the most special places I have had the chance to see. I met wonderful souls, and fostered friendship bonds I know will be carried for life. It was a journey to a part of the world previously unknown to me, but perhaps more importantly, it was also a journey into myself.

I finish these notes with the sweet memory of that sunset by the Great Zimbabwe ruins. I can nearly hear that melody again if I close my eyes.

Local music and dance, Great Zimbabwe ruins, March 2012

Remember child labour

On this May day I would like to share my submission to a human rights photo contest; it talks about child labour.

The young banana vendor

31 March 2012, Masvingo, Zimbabwe

Denied the chance to simply be children, they have no opportunity to go to school, they have no time to play.  Child labour has been in rise in Zimbabwe since 2000 and this is often attributed to HIV/AIDS, socio-economic hardships and the breakdown of family support systems. While we promise our children a long list of rights, many of them continue to be denied the most basic ones, and child labour remains to be found on large scale farms, in the peasant sector, tea and coffee estates, mines, in domestic employment and in the streets of the country's urban areas.