Seke — When social worker Charakupa Ngwerume was named by the village chief to serve as a counselor on a customary court, his first priority was to campaign for the nomination of female counselors. He says that women bring more than 70 percent of cases before the court, including complaints of abuse, land grabs and child marriage.
Ngwerume's involvement in this cultural and legal body in rural Seke, outside Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, is part of an innovative response to HIV and gender-based violence from the Southern Africa HIV and AIDS Information Dissemination Service (SAfAIDS). Domestic abuse and HIV/Aids are seen as intertwined, given strong evidence that violent relationships increase the risk of women contracting HIV.
Called "Changing the River's Flow", this behavior change program developed by SAfAIDS sees traditional African culture as a river: while it may seem to be permanent, it actually adjusts over time to changing circumstances.
"As a social worker I've studied sociology and anthropology, so when we discuss cultural issues we are not advising confrontation, we are promoting dialogue," said the 62-year-old Ngwerume, who grew up in Seke.
"In the past there were reasons for cultural practices - some were put there to support the institution of the family - but in this era of HIV and Aids we are revisiting the good aspects of the culture and also finding those practices that are driving HIV in today's world."
The globe marked World Aids Day on Thursday as it does every year on December 1 as an opportunity for people to unite in the fight against HIV. An estimated 33.3 million people around the world have HIV - most of them in sub-Saharan Africa. More than 25 million people died from the virus between 1981 and 2007.
Zimbabwe is the only country in southern Africa, the region most affected by HIV worldwide, where HIV prevalence has substantially declined, according to a study by the United Nations Population fund and its HIV-Aids program, and experts say that is partly because of positive behavior change, such as that taught by Changing the River's Flow.
The UN estimates Zimbabwe’s HIV prevalence to have dropped from 29 percent in 1997 to 16 percent in 2007, while the country’s Ministry of Health announced earlier this year that HIV prevalence had declined to 13.7 percent. SAfAIDS attributes this to factors such as a reduction in multiple concurrent sexual relationships, the increase in condom use and HIV testing, and early diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted infections.
Fighting Back
African countries are using a number of approaches to stem the spread of HIV, including Changing the River's Flow. Cultural practices that can be detrimental to the HIV/Aids fight include a custom whereby a widow is "inherited" by her late husband's brother. Instead of condemning it, Ngwerume told Allafrica that he is encouraging open discussion about its relevance and potential dangers - with the help of a newly appointed female member of the traditional court.
Participants in a recent SAfAIDS summit held in Harare were taken on a field trip to assess the impact of Changing the River's Flow in Seke. There they met a woman who had refused to be part of the traditional inheritance practice after her husband died.
Memory Mawoyo told the visitors that because she didn't agree to become her brother-in-law's second wife, his family took all the property that she and her husband had worked for together. As a result, she and her children were forced to move back to her parents' home.
But the 39-year-old says things changed when SAfAIDS introduced Changing the River's Flow in Seke.
"I am now fighting back and claiming what rightfully belongs to me and my children," said Mawoyo, who says the program helped her understand and access Zimbabwe's Wills and Inheritance law.
Ngwerume said that if a man insists on taking the widow as a second wife, both are encouraged to test for HIV. Mawoyo revealed that she and her husband were both HIV-positive.
Traditional Persuasion
SAfAIDS Executive Director Lois Chingandu credits traditional leaders for their support of the Changing the River's Flow program. "We know they are the custodians of culture," she said, "and they command a lot of respect in the communities they lead."
The local chief, Tichafa Kunaka, known as Chief Seke, reports two important changes in his area: an increase in the reporting of gender-based violence to local police, and wider use of condoms.
"The women are now starting to come to me to ask what I can do as chief to persuade our men to use condoms," Chief Seke told AllAfrica through a Shona-English interpreter. "So I am now speaking to all the men in the village, teaching them the importance of using condoms."
Chief Seke has also helped challenge the cultural practice of "appeasing avenging spirits". Ngwerume sees this as one of the most encouraging developments in the 35 years he has been a social worker in his home area.
"In our culture there is a belief that if a relative is killed in another village, his spirit will go to that village and cause a lot of havoc," Ngwerume said. "The family would then visit a traditional healer and be told to make amends to the avenging spirit by making a payment of a virgin girl."
Chief Seke says that when he was growing up he saw this practice as "okay, spiritually" but his view has changed. "I now see it as child abuse."
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Assessing Impact
Ngwerume says the idea is not to challenge the concept of paying compensation, but that the form of payment needs to be discussed.
"Instead of bringing a virgin girl," he said, noting that this is in violation of Zimbabwe's Domestic Violence Act, "it has been agreed to instead bring cattle or money."
This approach ties into a new initiative launched by the independent group of global leaders known as The Elders. The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage, also known as Girls Not Brides, aims to end this harmful traditional practice that affects some 10-million girls annually.
SAfAIDS executive director Chingandu said a team will be visiting Namibia, Malawi, Swaziland, Zambia and Mozambique, as well as Zimbabwe, to assess the impact of the Changing the River's Flow program since its introduction in 2009. Chief Seke believes that the assessment will show that the program has helped lower the incidence of HIV and Aids in his area.
"Only five percent of Seke - mainly the old people - do not agree with these teachings," he told AllAfrica proudly. "And it is only five percent of my community that doesn't know and accept HIV prevention methods."
