The applicant must
-    Be able to demonstrate in-depth knowledge of applied economics
-    Have a detailed understanding of the economics and politics of Zimbabwe
-    Have good communication and writing skills

Qualifications
-    Masters in Economics or Economic Development, or equivalent
-    BSc in Economics and Social Policy
-    Experience in economic analysis
-    Fluent in English
-    Fluency in at least one Zimbabwean indigenous language in order to understand grassroots research data, results and situations
-    Experience in journalism is preferred although not exclusively essential
-    Driver’s licence (a must)

Special preference will be given to mature and settled applicants out of studies.

The successful applicant will initiate research to track emerging economic, social and political issues specifically affecting the lives of the people of Zimbabwe and provide us with thorough, in-depth analysis and forecasting. He/she will occasionally travel to the different provinces of the country and have regular contact with both local and national government, non-governmental organisations, business communities, media and most important of all, the ordinary citizens at grassroots level.

We offer the opportunity to work in a challenging, fast-paced environment where enthusiasm and creativity from the subject are the norm. 

Salary is dependent on experience and qualification, and you will enjoy some excellent benefits.

Please send in your CV with a covering letter and details of current salary and employment to: director@sliveirahouse.org

Or by post to the Director at Box 545, Harare

The festival ran under the theme ‘Spread the word and change a life – a positive future requires a positive thought’. It aimed at motivating young people to reach out to their peers and promote a profound appreciation of positive behaviour. The theme was embraced by the participating schools and this was clearly expressed in their various artistic presentations.

Highlights came from Chishawasha Primary School which presented a poem, advocating for care and support for children living in the streets. The poem “Achaitaseiko mwana (What will become of this child?)” presented a situation where a street child was being subjected to injustices and abuse and the community was doing nothing to heave off the challenges.

St Peter’s Secondary School dramatized the ignorance of various people towards HIV and AIDS and its treatment, showing clearly how spreading the word or information can make a difference and change a life. Their message was narrowed down to individual devotions, behaviors and values by “So Profound”, a poet who bases his creative performances on Christian values and virtues. The above highlighted performances were part of the numerous presentations which kept the students glued to their seats from 09:00 to 16:00.

Co-organizers of the festival, Jesuit Aids Project (JAP), said the objective of such festivals is to make young people experience how education can be packaged together with entertainment to form a recreational blend which ensures positive growth. Such festivals are instrumental in contributing to the integral development of the youths in the country. 

Fr Daka SJ, Dean of Arrupe College (Photo: Jescom Zimbabwe)

The classes that started running on January 19 will continue every Saturday from 10 am to 12 pm for nine weeks. The Dean of Arrupe Fr Daka SJ said the program is their way of responding to community needs. “We did a community assessment and found out what people needed and this is our way of responding to their wishes.”

So far the courses on offer are Friendship and English Literature. The Friendship course touches on various modules like Introduction to Theology and Mariology. There has been a good response from parishioners around Harare and the College is also gathering more information on what people are searching for and they will respond accordingly.  Those interested in being part of this noble initiative can obtain forms from Arrupe College.

An almost similar initiative is being run by Holy Trinity College at Wadzanai Trainining Centre (Nazareth House) in Harare.

The program at Wadzanai, already in its second phase after the first group graduated last year, aims at helping lay Catholics understand theology. The program also runs on Saturdays from 9 am to 12 pm till May 25, 2013. The course has a diverse module component that covers introduction to theology, introduction to sacred scripture, Christology as well as Mariology and a study of the new religious movements in the Catholic Church today.

The first day of the assembly saw the entire morning dedicated to the “expo” of the Jesuit works in the province. The different apostolates or works of the province were showcased in displays and interactions amongst all those who attended. The works ranged from social apostolates represented by Silviera House, Jesuit Aids Project, Zambuko House (rehabilitation centre for street children) and Shingirirayi Youth Ministry.

The parish ministry was alive through representations made by St Peters’  Mbare, Musami and Makumbi Missions, Banket, Holy Name Malbereign, Mt Pleasant’s Our Lady of the Wayside, Sacred Heart and Braeside. The parishes are engaged in many self-help projects for the poor or for the general running of their parishes.

There is a vibrant  Education Office in the province that also showcased its work, together with the schools,  among them St. Ignatius College, St Georges, Hartmann House, St Peter Kubatana, St Peter’s Mbare, all based in Harare. From outside Harare were St. Georges Catholic Primary and Sacred Heart Secondary in Banket, St Paul’s Musami high, St Paul’s Primary ant others.

There was also space for mission hospitals and Childrens’ homes to show what the Jesuits family is engaged in as they evangelise the Zimbabwean society. Other sectors represented included the youth ministry, spirituality ministry with CLC, the university chaplaincy, the Jesuit Communications and Jesuit Relief Fund. 

The expo entailed numerous displays of the artefacts and works of the Society of Jesus in Zimbabwe. This was an occasion for both Jesuits and collaborators to interact, for some had never met before, whereas some never knew of other Jesuit works in the province. 

Since the assembly focused on collaboration, there were presentations by Jesuit collaborators of their experiences. There was a variety of interesting and challenging insights from the collaborators, who were equally partnered during presentations by Jesuits in their particular ministries. Most of the presenters were very appreciative of the collaboration that has been going on so far, but wanted more interactions, for the work is plenty, but the labourers few.

Musami is a Jesuit-run mission. The mission has both a primary and secondary school with a combined teaching staff of over 60 and around 30 nurses, as of mid 2011.

Click here to view the embedded video.

See related reading

Education

Catholic Religious Orders

Visitation High in Makumbi

But that came at great risk: the stream was obviously contaminated and its water smelled of sewage. I asked some of the girls balancing heavy loads on their heads, “Do you drink this water? Cook with it?” – “Oh, no, we don’t, just for washing!” I hope that was true. 

Then a development agency came and sank a borehole. A hand pump was installed, and, from then onwards, the women were very happy. Whenever I passed the pump there was a queue of chattering women waiting for their turn to pump clean water out of a depth of 45 m (or so I was told) to fill their containers. 

They did not mind the hard work. Still much better than to carry the heavy buckets over one, two or three kilometres. 

Unfortunately, nothing lasts forever. The pump shaft cracked and broke, and that was the end of the happy crowd of water carriers meeting at the pump every morning. 

For a long time now, the pump has been dead and deserted. No water, no women any more. No men either (there used to be the odd one out). 

I asked some women this morning why the pump had not been repaired. Did they know the people who had installed it? Yes, they did. But it would be expensive, and the local people had not yet come together to collect money with which to have the repairs done. There was no leadership, no one with initiative. 

So whenever there is a water shortage the women with their buckets are scouring Mbare again for water. Worst of all, some fetch it from the dirty stream, with cholera and typhoid never far away.

Patricia has been looking after her young siblings ever since her parents died. Her father was a soldier and lost a leg stepping on a landmine. When he died people whispered about his cruelty towards neighbours that did not support his party. Her mother developed cancer when she was still quite young, shortly after her church marriage.

Patricia was left alone with a younger sister and brother.

Recently she was evicted from the house which her father had rented from the “Kunonga faction,” or was it simply from the Anglican Church before the notorious bishop entered the scene? Nobody asked that question.

Patricia’s family belonged to the enemy, so she and her siblings had to be chased away. Now she is lodging somewhere else. This month she is still working and can pay the rent. She is not so sure about next month. She does not know whether her company will keep her on next year. Her future looks bleak.

See related reading

What future for the elated Anglicans in Zimbabwe

On Catholics’ solidarity with Zimbabwe’s Anglican community

Mbare Report No. 111 “AIDS orphans” is a discriminatory term. Though it describes the conditions of children who have lost their parents due to AIDS quite accurately

Fr Oskar Wermter SJ who has been in charge of it since it was started in 2003 is leaving. Fr Clyde Muropa SJ will take over as editor of Mukai – Vukani Jesuit Journal for Zimbabwe. Gift Mambipiri will be the managing editor.

To cut costs, the office will move to Canisius House in Harare’s Marlborough (37 Admiral Tait Road), where there are already a number of Jesuit offices. 

The exact future of e-newsletter In Touch with Church and Faith has still to be decided. One possibility is to join it together with another Jesuit e-publication Magis, which is on Jesuit spirituality. 

Fr Ignatius Tambudzai SJ takes over as parish priest of St Peter’s Mbare, where Jesuits have been working since its beginning in about 1910. He replaces Fr Oskar Wermter SJ (71) who has been requested by the Bishops of Southern Africa to join their secretariat as a communicator with responsibility for theological and pastoral matters.

Fr Watson Matara SJ will replace Fr Tambudzai in Musami (80 km east of Harare). 

St George’s College, St Ignatius College, Silveira House (director), St Paul’s Musami, Banket parish and Mabelreign parish were taken over by younger men.

However, the old ones are still needed: Fr Mark Hackett SJ and Fr Georg Hipler SJ are taking care of Braeside parish in Harare (including St Martin’s/Sunningdale) even though they are both over 75 years of age. 

In 2013, it is hoped, three more young Jesuits will be ordained priests.

This month the Pope asks us to pray for refugees (“Migrants”) that they may receive a warm welcome in the countries to which they go.

This Christmas as we reflect on the birth of our saviour in Bethlehem and the subsequent flight of the Holy Family to Egypt we pray that the Lord will continue to gift us with the spirit of generosity in relation to refugees.

Wishing you all the blessings of Christmas,

Charles Searson SJ
National Secretary for AP for Zambia and Malawi

The Morning Offering: God, our Father, we offer you our day. We offer you our prayers, thoughts, words, actions, joys and sufferings in union with the heart of your Son, Jesus Christ, who continues to offer Himself in the Eucharist for the salvation of the world.

May the Holy Spirit, who guided Jesus, be our guide and strength today so that we may witness to your love.

With Mary, the Mother of the Lord and of the Church, we pray especially for this month’s intentions as proposed by the Holy Father…

General Intention: For Migrants:That migrants throughout the world may be welcomed with generosity and authentic love, especially by Christian communities. Lord, hear us!

The Catholic Bishops of Zimbabwe recently wrote a pastoral letter to Zimbabweans in economic and political exile. They addressed the Zimbabwean diaspora scattered throughout the world, the majority of which lives in South Africa. This moving document expresses the bishops’ concern for those who have left their homes in an often desperate and dangerous search for some way of supporting their struggling families. The Bishops express their understanding of why they have left but they also hope that one day they will be able to return.

To get into South Africa many Zimbabwean migrants risk crossing the border illegally by wading the crocodile-infested Limpopo River. Once across, their problems have only just begun. They then have to run the gauntlet of some of the more ruthless of South Africa’s criminals lying in wait to rape, rob and even kill them.

Even if they manage to find a job and somewhere to stay, the migrants’ troubles are not necessarily at an end. There have been sporadic outbreaks of xenophobic violence against amakwerekwere (a derogatory term for African foreigners) over the past few years and they have been attacked and killed, being regarded as competitors for scarce employment. In one horrible case caught on camera, a Mozambican man was burned to death.

We pray for refugees and economic migrants and for the organizations who serve them. We pray for policy-makers in host countries and for the governments of countries which cause their citizens to emigrate. We remember the Lord’s word, ‘I was a stranger and you welcomed me.’

Missionary Intention: For Christ the Light of the World:That Christ may reveal himself to all humanity with the light that shines forth from Bethlehem and is reflected in the face of his Church. Lord, hear us!

The intention’s metaphor of light picks up themes from the document on the ‘new evangelisation.’ Its full title is ‘The New Evangelisation for the Transmission of the Christian Faith.’ A central theme is that the new evangelisation ‘consists in presenting once more the beauty and perennial newness of the encounter with Christ.’ In other words, there will be no finding of faith unless the seeker finds Christ. Indeed, without faith in a divine person, faith in an institution makes little sense.

Some might ask: Is it true that the light of Christ is reflected in the face of his Church at a time when the institutional Church is beset by scandals? It is certainly not an easy task to give witness to people who have grown cynical of the institutional Church.

However, we, the People of God, acknowledge that we are sinners but we believe that Jesus paid for our sins by his death and resurrection and that God works within us and through us, as his Church. We recall the Lord’s promise that what is impossible for sinful humanity remains possible for God. I imagine this is why the document on the new evangelisation opens with a meditation on the encounter between Jesus and the woman at the well.

The Synod document states that in the same way that the Lord sat down beside the woman at the well, ‘The Church…sits beside today’s men and women.’ To sit beside someone is to position oneself at their level; it is the body-language of dialogue. The Gospel account relates that dialogue is precisely what took place between Jesus and the woman.

Finally, faith in Jesus Christ has to be lived out in a community. This community is the Church, the gathering of a very imperfect People of God in prayer and the love of Christ. The Church with all her shortcomings, to which we all contribute, is both the instrument of the proclamation and that to which the proclamation points. A church-less Christianity is a contradiction in terms. Let us, therefore, pray for ourselves that we, the People of God, may truly reflect the light of Christ by proclaiming the Good News we bear by word and deed.

Date: December 13

Time: 6 pm 

Venue: The Book Cafe, 139 Samora Machel Avenue cnr 6th Street, Harare 

All welcome – including those who have not read the book. 

Contact: 0778 303439