I am Misheck Sanyamaropa acting headman of Sanyamaropa village in Nyanga District under DOMCCP a SAfAIDS partner. SAfAIDS Fatherhood Club is inducing a positive emotion in my life. I married young and taking care of my family was a bit challenging. My wife was a violent person and l had to endure her aggression most of the time. I felt that it was not her fault because she had been exposed to Gender-Based Violence (GBV) from a tender age.
The SAfAIDS Leadership Programme came after the realization that there is a leadership gap amongst adolescent girls and young women, especially in areas of Sexual Reproductive Health (SRH), Gender and HIV. The academy is therefore building young people who are empowered, educated, healthy, resilient and socially responsible.Â
My heart aches at the thought of any kid who is unable to attend school as a result of poverty. I believe that at least if they write can their own names, there is a glimmer of hope in their life. All this compassion emanates from my childhood, as I grew up as an orphan, with little confidence in my capabilities. I had to plead and obey whatever was required of me by my guardians. After all, I felt they were doing me a favour. I felt it was my responsibility to repay them for my upbringing to ensure that other vulnerable children got the opportunity to education through my good deeds.
Being a leader is not just a position but knowing who you are is real leadership. My poor background did not stop me to become the person l wanted to be. It actually motivated me to become a better person. When l am talking to young people, l feel like a role model and that taught me that in life, one can be whatever he/she wants to be. I have this passion to change Africa, and l believe one day l can!
It is always a hustle when you believe you are somehow superior to girls in the same class as yours. Back then l never knew what gender norm transformation was. I grew up with the belief that girls are confined to domestic chores, whether at home or at school, their roles will never change. I was the number one advocator misleading other boys in my class not to ever pick a broom to sweep in the classroom. To me that was all girls’ work.
In an effort to bring young people together, SAfAIDS conducted a Youth for Gender Transformation (Y4GT) club youth camp under the Integrated Approach to HIV and Gender Based Violence (Irish Aid Zimbabwe) programme at Mbizi Game Lodge in Harare. Thirty young people were drawn from SAfAIDS partners including Bekezela, Ndaiziva, DOMCAP, FACT Chiredzi and Betserenai. The Youth camp, a first of its kind brought together young people
I would like to tell you my “l story†as a Young for Gender Transformation Club Facilitator (Y4GT). When l was sixteen last year (2016), l was chosen by my guide and counselling teacher to join the Y4GT club. This was because l always come out as an ambitious and innovative young leader who is consistent in standing for the rights of women.
I am a product of one of the guerrilla fighters who were moving around the country during the time of ceasefire (liberation struggle), raping vulnerable women without giving a hoot. My mother as one of the victims was raped in 1979 and gave birth to me in 1980. She cursed herself so much that she was haunted psychologically. Two years after my birth, she passed on.
         The community gathered at Ndaiziva Community Development Trust
SAfAIDS partner, Ndaiziva Community Development Trust, organised an intergenerational dialogue in Norton, facilitated by SAfAIDS, and attended by stakeholders including the police victim friendly unit, the hospital, local schools, village health workers, behaviour change facilitators, the National AIDS council, community leaders, Norton councillors, church leaders and parents.
The dialogue aimed to address the negative views and practices towards women and girls that fuel gender-based violence and enhance the capacity of men, women and young people to champion positive gender patterns and practices and reduce HIV and GBV.
I come from a disjointed family where my brothers chose their own path of life which l never agreed on. They decided to drop out of school and resort to drugs and other informal businesses. My parents appear to have given up on them already. That is when l realised the importance of parents’ commitment to their children and good linkages with their children’s teachers.
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