Statement from WOZA Solidarity(UK)
A Text Message To Patrick Chinamasa

Zimbabwe Skills and Reconstruction
Over 200 Zimbabweans gathered in London lastSaturday for the Britain Zimbabwe Society’s Open Forum 2006, which this year focused on skills and reconstruction in Zimbabwe.
Headline speakers included Thabitha Khumalo of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, Rev. Nicholas Mkaronda ofthe Crisis Coalition in South Africa and Dr StephenMunjanja, consultant obstetrician based at HarareHospital.

Their message was clear and urgent;Zimbabweans in the diaspora cannot wait for the crisis
in Zimbabwe to be over before they engage in theprocess of reconstruction; the time to act is now.
When Thabitha Khumalo brought fresh news of thebrutal treatment of those detained over the planned mass action in Zimbabwe earlier in the week thechallenge to act was taken up immediately.

Activistsin the UK had prepared a list of phone numbers of police stations and some of the government officials inZimbabwe who bear responsibility for injustices andthese were made available to participants.
Text Message To Patrick
Armed withPatrick Chinamasa`s personal mobile number, JeremyDear, Secretary General of the UK National Union ofJournalists, who was chairing the meeting, fired off atext message to the Minister for Justice there and then.

In spite of the distressing news from home the meetingwas able to focus on positive initiatives. Dr StevenMunjanja, in a session chaired by Lela Kogbara ofAction for Southern Africa (ACTSA), emphasised thevalue of linking up professional organisations such asthe Zimbabwe Nurses Association with sistero organisations abroad. He stressed that it was important to work on specific and achievableobjectives and suggested an example of this might beto address the shortage of learning resources bycreating e-books and learning materials on CDs for
nurses at home.
Support for Teachers In South Africa
Nicholas Mkaronda confirmed theimportance of organisations working together and
gave as an example the work the ProgressiveTeachers Union of Zimbabwe is doing with the CrisisCoalition in South Africa. Together they are lobbyingfor teacher registration to combat the exploitation ofqualified Zimbabwean teachers in South Africa.
Journos In The Diaspora
Similarly Forward Maisokwadzo, of the ExiledJournalists Network, outlined the support given toZimbabwean journalists in the UK by Britain`s NationalUnion of Journalists.

Thabitha Khumalo reminded the conference thatreconstruction is a development issue that goes
beyond politics and highlighted the importance ofinvesting in education. `Zimbabweans believe in education` she declared `don`t stop learning - keephitting on those books while you are away from home`and Forward Maisokwadzo urged those studying inBritain to undertake research that focuses onZimbabwe.
Role of Media
Nicholas Mkaronda acknowledged the importance ofthe work of media practitioners and media outlets suchas The Zimbabwean newspaper, SWRadioAfrica andthe Southern Times in Botswana in helping to keep expats informed on what is happening on the ground in
Zimbabwe and in touch with one another.

He also highlighted the role the business community can playgiving the example of a successful Zimbabweanentrepreneur abroad who is providing school fees forfour hundred orphans in Zimbabwe.
Immigration Problems
Many in the audience spoke of their concerns at theway that UK immigration policy impacts on
Zimbabweans. Restrictions on finding employment forthose awaiting decisions on immigration status were aparticular problem and, the forum agreed, a majorcontributor to de-skilling .

Shane Lunga of Zimbabwe Futures described the work his organisation was doing in lobbying the British Government to allow exiled professionals to return to their countries temporarily to
help reconstruction without losing their UK immigration status. People also expressed frustration at theseemingly arbitrary decisions made on visaapplications. Ironically, even if Raymond Majongwe,Secretary General of the Zimbabwe ProgressiveTeachers Union, had not been imprisoned during theZCTU mass action he would have been preventedfrom taking up his invitation to address the forumbecause the British had denied him a visa.
Fragmentation of the Diaspora
More difficult issues came under the spotlight too. Thefragmentation of the diaspora was noted as was thetendency to concentrate on family links rather thanorganisational ones. Although dozens of organisations have been set up to serve the Zimbabweancommunity, there is a need to create a structure forpooling resources and working more closely with eachother. Through the speakers presentations and thecontributions from the audience it became apparent
that organizations set up abroad must work in tandemwith organizations in Zimbabwe if they are to be productive and informed. Just as individualscommunicate directly with their families to understandtheir needs and find the most effective ways to offerhelp, so too organizations in the diaspora need tointeract with civil society organisations at home.

The BZS Open Forum 2006 has showed that thediasporic community is active and very much alive tothe unfolding events in Zimbabwe and that peoplewant to and can contribute to reconstruction at home.
But it has also become clear that for their contributionto have a more significant impact there needs to besome structure through which individuals andorganisations can come together more frequently tocoordinate initiatives.
As Thabitha Khumalo pointedout, using the maxim of Zimbabwe`s NationalAssociation of Non Governmental Organisations,`Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is
progress and staying together is success.