Mazoe River Bridge Project
Location: Harare, Zimbabwe
Spokesperson: Fazhimaro
About the project
The Mazoe River Bridge Project was founded in 1989 and originally focussed on helping refugees from Mozambique. Its main aim is to improve the quality of life for all older men and women, regardless of their race, religion or gender.
Working in partnership with Help the Aged, the organisation hopes to expand and reach even more disadvantaged older people; bringing comfort, renewed hope and a future to look forward to.
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Who it helps
The project provides a comfortable resting place for all the older people it helps, including those too poor to care for themselves. Many of the individuals have no families while others find their relatives are unwilling or unable to look after them. The members of the project are regularly consulted during the decision making process to allow them to identify their own needs and requirements. Such involvement helps to restore their self-worth and lost independence.
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How it helps
The project aims to identifies the most vulnerable older people and offer initial help by providing food, clothing, medicine, cash allowance, and other basic necessities, including spectacles. To help keep the residents active and more self-reliant, they also run income generation programmes that encourage older men and women to learn new crafts or develop skills from which they can earn a small wage. These include growing vegetables and raising livestock. A small percentage of funding is also set aside for entertainment and recreational activities to encourage socialisation amongst the community.
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Project spokesperson
Name: Fazhimaro
Year of birth: 1926
Fazhimaro was born in 1926 in Tete, Mozambique. Once he had three children; two daughters and a son but he has lost contact with his family and has given up hope of ever finding them.
In 1942 Fazhimaro moved to Zimbabwe in search of employment. He worked for many mining companies over the years before eventually being made redundant. These days he is unable to work because of his frail health. He has poor eyesight, suffers from high blood pressure and has walking difficulties. Since 2005 he has been hospitalised twice with heart problems.
Despite his poor health, Fazhimaro is still able to perform most daily tasks. To keep himself occupied at the project, he likes to look after the garden and help out wherever he can. He also enjoys spending time with other residents, whom he now considers to be his family.
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Country information
Size: 390,580 sq km
Population: 12.9 million
Capital: Harare
Language: English is the official language; Shona is spoken by three quarters of the population and Sindebele by 18%
Climate: The climate is subtropical with average temperatures of about 20c
Religion: 50% of the population hold Syncretic (part Christian, part indigenous) beliefs. 25% are Christian, 24% Muslim.
Literacy: 94% of men and 87% of women are literate (compared to 99% in the UK).
Older people in Zimbabwe
There are over 700,000 people aged 60 and over in Zimbabwe and this is expected to rise to almost 1.5 million by 2050. As in the rest of Africa, most older people live in poverty and are denied access to basic rights and services. This is due to discrimination, a lack of policy and legislation on ageing, combined with fragile economies, HIV/AIDS plus the rise in conflict and emergency situations. The social and economic troubles afflicting Zimbabwe, including ever-increasing hyperinflation and land reforms, have been especially difficult for older people who are very vulnerable.
The lack of social security systems means that older people have to continue to work for as long as they are physically able, with little means of support for them when they can no longer do so.
Poverty
Over 70% of Zimbabwe’s population live in poverty. The country’s economy has been deteriorating at a catastrophic rate since the late 1990s and is said to be on the verge of collapse. The land reform programme has badly damaged the commercial farming sector which is the traditional provider of jobs. The national cattle herd shrank by 90% between 2000 and 2004, and unemployment is estimated at more than 70%. The hardships faced by older people throughout Africa are magnified in Zimbabwe, where a large proportion of the population are surviving on grain handouts.
Health
Average life expectancy is shocking at just 37. One in four Zimbabweans are infected with HIV and the impact on the reduction of life expectancy and other social indicators is immense. There are more than 1.3 million AIDS orphans which has had a massive impact on older people who have lost their children and taken on the role of carers for orphaned and vulnerable children. The pandemic has also been compounded by the negative impact of economic decline, drought and floods. Since 2000, the government has imposed a controversial AIDS levy on everyone who earns an income. Despite this, anti-retroviral drugs are currently priced beyond the reach of average citizens and only about 50,000 receive treatment out of an estimated 350,000 in need. Other infectious diseases such as hepatitis A, typhoid, malaria and diarrhoea, are also rife and often fatal.
Disaster
Zimbabwe is currently facing a major humanitarian challenge with ever-increasing numbers of people facing food shortages and malnutrition combined with lack of access to safe, clean water.
In 2008, over 35% of Zimbabwe’s population is likely to require food aid. Older people are particularly at risk during food shortages, as they tend to pass what little they have onto young family members.
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