This is Melanie Chiponda, a woman who has made a mark for herself as relentless fighter for human and women’s rights, particularly for people in communities that border the Chiadzwa diamond fields in Marange.
Born in Nyanyadzi in Manicaland, Chiponda left her job as a civil servant in 2005 in a desperate attempt to save her community from the horrors of the diamond rush. Now Programme Coordinator for Chiadzwa Community Development Trust, she told The Zimbabwean that the Marange diamond discoveries had triggered an array of negative social repercussions, particularly for women.
“When the diamond rush started, I was working for the government. My heart bled because of the way people’s livelihoods were destroyed, particularly those of women. I thought about my relatives, my neighbours and community. I was convinced that I had the mandate to work with the community,” she said.
Luckily Chiponda took part in the constitution outreach in 2010 and was deployed to Manicaland – this gave her a chance of assessing the situation first-hand, on the ground.
“I had only heard through the grapevine that people from our community were going to be relocated to pave way for mining activities. It became real on 26 June 2010 when 12 families were relocated to old farm buildings in Arda Transau,” she said.
Awful situation
Chiponda visited the relocated families and saw how awful their situation was – as they had no access to decent shelter and were embroiled in clashes with the former farm workers at Arda.
“There were insufficient water sources on the farm, no secondary schools and no clinics,” she said.
Muponda gave up her job and joined CCDT in August 2010.
“The women lost their land which meant that they had no food to eat and they lost their vending places in several wards. They were detached from their forests which were sources of livelihoods as they used to sell “mawuyu” along the Mutare-Masvingo highway.
“Mining activities resulted in the siltation of dams and women were forced to walk for long distances in search of clean water. Men were injured during the diamond rush and women had to carry the burden of being the caregivers,” she explained.
Even though mining activities had led to the resettlement of families, the mining companies failed to employ women.
“It really got to me when l realised that the mining companies would not employ women – who have a right to earn a living and to be employed. Whilst in Marange small grains do well, but women had no idea of the crops they could plant in the new areas. Some planted maize and it didn’t work out. Some had fertilizer but failed to use it because it was a new phenomenon. If only they had been employed, the situation would have been better,” she said.
Silent women
Single mothers were not spared as they had challenges in getting houses simply because they were not married. “When the mining companies started building houses for the resettled families, getting a house as single mother was difficult as they there were prioritising families headed by men,” she said.
In the face of all these challenges the women remained silent as they succumbed to cultural and religious beliefs. Marange is an area dominated by members of the apostolic sect, a religion that undermines the rights of women.
Chiponda said women were just expected to be cheer leaders and men automatically assumed leadership roles in the community without any consultations.
“This is sad because women’s rights are being compromised as they have no freedom of choice and expression. They do not even have information about their reproductive rights. It is unheard of to talk about negotiating for safer sex in a marriage. This is absurd! I believe women should not be afraid to discuss issues that mean life and death to them,” she said.
The issue of using traditional midwives is still a common practice in the area, which has seen an increase in mother-to-child HIV infections.
Access to information
Working with the Marange community Chiponda has gradually implemented strategies to assist women to gain equal ground with men. “I began to capacitate women with information that could uplift them. I realised that most of them lacked information to make it possible for them to participate in decision making processes,” she said.
Chiponda explained that she had an added advantage in working in her community as she knew the needs of the people. “The problem is that most people want to work for the community, but not with the people. By working with the community l am aware of our challenges and how they can be addressed,” she said.
There has never been a female parliamentarian from Marange, but Chiponda said women were now showing interest in taking part in the forthcoming election. “I have been meeting with women to educate them on basic political issues. They didn’t know it was important for them to vote. Nor did they understand the importance of an election and issues around democracy.
“Women have to stand for issues that affect them not as voters but as leaders. I have been outlining the role of parliamentarians because most people are not aware,” she said.
Challenges
Chiponda said her crusade had been successful and she was delighted that three women had declared their interest to run in the coming election.
Chiponda said she faced criticism for the work she was doing and had been interrogated by the police on a number of occasions.
“It’s not easy working in Marange because it is a volatile area. Many politicians have an interest in the diamonds. I have been picked up for questioning on several occasions but no case has been found against me because I always do evidence based advocacy and my work is transparent.
“I will not stop fighting a system that undermines the Marange women because l am one of them,” she declared with a beaming smile.
Post published in: News