Dust, Gold, and Infection: Midlands Province Grapples with Mining-Driven HIV Epidemic

A young artisanal miner operates a lever at a mine shaft in Gokwe, Zimbabwe, highlighting the risks faced by children working in unsafe mining environments.

By Michael Gwarisa in Midlands Province As one descends the winding Boterekwa curves in Shurugwi in the Midlands province, the scale of mining activity becomes impossible to ignore. The landscape has transformed dramatically since the turn of the millennium. In the distance, rocks are blasted from the earth, sending thick clouds of dust into the sky. Just past the curves, Musasa Shopping Centre is a hive of activity. Evidence of the night’s revelry litters the open space, with empty beer bottles and used condoms scattered near Chirasha Bar, one of…

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SET A THIEF TO CATCH A THIEF: How AWET Health interventions have reduced home deliveries Among Apostolic Women and Girls in Shurugwi

Caroline Ngosha (23), from Shurugwi is expecting her third child in a few months’ time. In both her previous pregnancies, she delivered her children at home in line with the dictates of her religion, a white garment apostolic sect. Some apostolic sects in Zimbabwe do not allow their followers to use family planning or contraception methods. Neither do they sanction female followers to register with the Anti Natal Clinic (ANC), later on deliver in a health institution. By Michael Gwarisa in Shurugwi She remembers vividly how life threatening giving birth…

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