GWERU – Grace, a group of among people living with HIV in Gweru, has come up with life-changing
projects to boost their income.
Anglian Diocese of Central Zimbabwe is happy with the progress being made by individual members
of Grace who have moved from begging to self-sustenance in their households.

Grace was formed by those living with HIV from different suburbs in Gweru with a primary objective
of celebrating life and coming up with life-changing projects.
Individual projects include rabbit keeping, potato farming, vegetable farming, herbal gardens, and
recreational activities.
Some of the group’s activities include the combined beekeeping project and a savings club. They pool
their money and lend group members to start their own businesses.
Anglian Diocese of Central Zimbabwe, Projects Officer, Darlington Musekiwa said the church has
moved from giving handouts to the vulnerable members of the community but teaching them to
manage their projects and businesses.
“We are happy that Grace as a group we work with, has embarked on livelihood projects to boost
their incomes, eat what they want from their gardens and live more meaningful lives. The group has
moved from begging to self-sustenance in their households. The group also has an ecumenical
approach of encouraging each other, focusing on what they have,” he said.
The National Coordinator of Anglican Relief and Development in Zimbabwe, ARDEZ, Artwell Sipinyu,
praised the group for inspiring others and making a difference in their own lives.
“From the project, we have seen such as this bee keeping initiative, we are overjoyed that the project
is in line with our empowerment drive to improve people’s health and the raising of awareness.
“However, limited funding is hampering full potential of some of these projects, like lack of water for
the garden project,” said Sipinyu.
He added, that it is important for the church to empower communities to engage in income
generation activities, as this will help in networking, cross pollination of ideas through trainings and
awareness campaigns.

ARDEZ National Coordinator said it was imperative for the clergy to participate in national
development, livelihoods projects and compliment government’s efforts to eradicate any form of
stigma.
A member of Grace said: “Workshops we have attended, books we have been given, information we
are almost saturated but we have remained poor and suffering. But now we have decided to change
our own stories, by doing exactly what we have been told and heard.

“We meet and see what others are doing on the ground amongst ourselves, help our colleague with
what we can and learn from the projects. So far we are 10, each person pursuing their dreams and
passions in their own way.”
Speaking at 15th ICASA in 2004 the then UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said: “We need leaders
everywhere to demonstrate that speaking up about HIV is a point of pride, not a source of shame.
There must be no more sticking heads in the sand, no more embarrassment, no more hiding behind a
veil of apathy… Leadership means daring to do things differently, because you understand that HIV is
a different kind of disease. It stands alone in human experience, and it requires us to stand united
against it.”