The
Highfield District of Harare, Zimbabwe
BY LUCY WILSON (LEWIS HINE FELLOW, 2003–2004)
INTRODUCTION BY LUCY WILSON
Zimbabwe is a place of many troubles. Erratic rains and periods
of drought, combined with the takeover of white-owned commercial
farms by the government, have often brought the words “famine”
and “malnutrition” into the mainstream media in connection
with this country that was once a breadbasket for southern Africa.
The prevalence of HIV/AIDS is among the highest in the world. The
number of orphans is estimated to be well over one million. The
inflation rate is the highest in the world. Zimbabwe’s longtime
president, Robert Mugabe, has exchanged fierce words with the leaders
of its former colonial master, Great Britain, and the United States,
particularly over accusations of human rights abuses, unfair elections,
and corruption. Worst of all, a number of major international donors
have denied aid to Zimbabwe. Faced with these circumstances, how
are the people of Zimbabwe coping?
As a Hine Fellow, I spent six months in 2004 working with the Child
Protection Society (CPS), a local child rights advocacy
organization. CPS was established in 1952 to promote the rights
of children in difficult circumstances in Zimbabwe. I photographed
and wrote about CPS’s community-based child care project in
the Highfield District, a low-income, high-density suburb of Harare,
Zimbabwe’s capital. Programming in Highfield includes educational
sponsorship, food assistance, youth development, and psychosocial
support, as well as community support to child-headed households
whose parents have most likely died from HIV/AIDS. CPS works with
a group of community-based volunteers, local women who assist with
the implementation of the programming, and in particular identify
the children most in need of assistance.
As part of Child Protection Society’s youth development programming
in Highfield, I also taught nine children and youth the basics of
photography, giving them cameras and black-and-white film. I first
asked the youth to write short essays on topics often drawn from
the students’ own interests. (The students wrote in English,
their second or third language.) The children were then encouraged
to take photographs based on their writing. Once students developed
the images, they selected their best pictures and wrote captions
for them. These assignments asked the youth to reflect on the realities
of their lives. The work that they produced indicates their ability
not only to perceive these complex realities but to present it back
to us in expressive and beautiful images and words.
Click on each image below to view
additional photographs and text.
CREDITS
I would like to thank the Child
Protection Society, its staff, board of directors, donors, volunteers,
and clientele, for welcoming me into the community and making this
project a reality. Strachan's Photographic and Catholic Relief Services/Zimbabwe's
STRIVE Project provided financial support and other invaluable assistance
throughout my stay in Zimbabwe. Financial support was also provided
by the Swedish International Development Cooperative Agency, the
United States Agency for International Development, and the Bernard
van Leer Foundation.
banner image:
The students test out their new cameras.
Photograph by Lucy Wilson.
