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FindingsChirundu, Zimbabwe Zimbabwe's Chirundu is situated in the arid Zambezi Valley in Mashonaland West, on the border with Zambia. It is 366 kilometers north of Harare and 142 kilometers south of Lusaka. The population of Chirundu border post is estimated to range from 2,700 (Central Statistical Office) to 4,000 (Chirundu Local Board). Chirundu has about 80 formal homes, nearly all two- to three-room houses for customs, immigration and police officials, and 550 informal houses in the "Baghdad" informal settlement. Most informal houses are made of mud, and their number is growing at a rate of three a week. Average house occupancy is at least four. There are no recreational facilities, apart from bars. The largest sources of formal income in Chirundu urban are retail, freight, construction, customs, domestic service, police, parks and immigration, which employ about 300 people. The largest sources of urban informal income are vending and sex work, which employ about 200 people and would rank with the largest formal-sector sources of income. Most women in Chirundu rely primarily on vending, sex work and domestic service for income. Sources of formal income in Chirundu, Zimbabwe
Sex workers Based on careful observation, enumeration in guesthouses, bars and streets, and interviews with health workers and peer educators, the researchers estimated that Chirundu has approximately 100 permanent sex workers and another 200 transient sex workers. These mobile sex workers visit Chirundu from Makuti, Karoi, Kariba and rural Hurungwe at peak times, usually when convoys of trucks transport maize to the Congo and at month's end, when the border is busiest. Sex workers seek clients primarily at bars, hotels and the government mess hall. There is no street solicitation except on the main highway. Sex workers' preferred clients are truckers, who pay in foreign currency. They charge truckers up to US$10, particularly if the driver is South African. In comparison, freight workers pay about $3, and police and border officials pay $1.50 to $2.00. Although sex workers are better off than most Chirundu women, they remain impoverished. Trucking An estimated 38 trucking companies use the Chirundu route. Three have offices at the border: GDC, Wheels of Africa and North Eastern Transport. Trucking companies using the Chirundu, Zimbabwe route
On three random days, the researchers counted the number of trucks crossing the border, which ranged from 91 to 121. On three different days, they also counted the number of trucks parking at the border, finding from 36 to 49 trucks. (These numbers exclude trucks parked elsewhere in Chirundu.) Trucks crossing and parking at the Chirundu, Zimbabwe border on three random days
Truckers' major destination is the Congo. The longest journeys are to Congo and Tanzania and can take two weeks. Major goods transported are food and fuel. Days truckers spend away from home
The places where truckers seek casual/commercial sex partners were also enumerated. There are no guesthouses in Chirundu, and most truckers sleep in their cabins. Truckers frequent three bars and bottle stores in or near Chirundu. They also seek casual/commercial partners on the main highway and in the Baghdad informal settlement. At night, truckers park primarily at the border, the truck park and motels. Informal traders Many Zimbabwean women living in or passing through Chirundu rely upon informal cross-border trade for survival. They export items for sale in Zambia or import goods for sale in Zimbabwe. The import trade has fallen steeply since Zimbabwe's currency declined by 75 percent and prohibitive tariffs were imposed. The researchers counted the number of informal traders crossing and sleeping at the border on three random days. They found that few of the traders sleep at the border because the major destinations of Lusaka, Karoi, Chinhoyi and Harare can all be reached the same day. Also, vendors often sell to vendors on the other border, who then sell the items deeper into their own country. Unlike in South Africa, where cross-border vending is dominated by foreigners, in Zimbabwe and Zambia citizens participate actively in such trading. Informal trading is less important in Chirundu than in Beitbridge. Informal traders meet primarily in three areas, a store and two markets. Informal traders crossing and sleeping at the Chirundu, Zimbabwe border on three random days
Health services Chirundu has limited health services. Patients requiring hospital services are referred to Karoi, over 150 kilometers up the escarpment. In practice, many seek care across the border at Zambia's Mtendere Mission Hospital. The town has one clinic, with six beds and 60 outpatients monthly, some of which are STI clients. Staff members have not received training in STI management training, but they have and use the STI syndromic management flowcharts. They also have first-line STI drugs and do not report shortages. Education Chirundu has only one primary school, offering grades 1 through 3. Rutendo Primary School has 108 pupils -- 60 boys and 48 girls. Most children either do not attend school or go to Karoi, Kariba, Chinhoyi or Hurungwe to study. NGOs in Chirundu, Zimbabwe Health authorities and other key informants told the researchers that no development or health NGOs were working in Chirundu. Condoms Free and socially marketed condoms are available in small quantities. Chirundu Clinic distributes about 6,000 free condoms monthly. A sex worker peer education project also distributes condoms. The only private outlet sells Protector condoms. Three brands of condoms are available: Protector, Kenzo and unbranded condoms. HIV/AIDS data There has been no HIV serosurveillance in Chirundu, but HIV disease is extensive, and health staff and other informants believe that prevalence rates are exceptionally high. There is every reason to believe that Chirundu's HIV rates are equal to or higher than Beitbridge's. HIV/AIDS prevention activities Chirundu is small and remote, and HIV activities are understandably limited. Health workers use syndromic STI management, albeit without training. Public and socially marketed condoms are distributed on a limited scale. An interdisciplinary district committee manages a sex worker peer education project in Chirundu, funded by SIDA, with technical support from the University of Zimbabwe and its Lake Kariba Research Station. An AIDSCAP/NECTOI project worked with truckers in Chirundu from 1994 to 1996, but currently there are no HIV/AIDS interventions specifically for truckers. There are also no such activities for employees in other workplaces and for young people. Risk Environment Profile: Chirundu, Zimbabwe Chirundu is a small town, with limited institutional, human and financial resources. The majority of residents live in an informal settlement called Baghdad and are being relocated to another informal settlement called Congo. Most houses are constructed of mud and thatch. Truckers are central to HIV transmission dynamics in Chirundu. The number of trucks passing through monthly exceeds the town's population. Lengthy delays at the border underpin a large sex industry. Over 90 percent of truckers acknowledged visiting sex workers, citing delays of two to seven days at the Zambia border and their inadequate allowances, which were sufficient to stay with a sex worker but not in a hotel. They also confirmed that they give lifts to women who later say they do not have money and offer sex for transport. Many reported having regular girlfriends in Chirundu (and elsewhere). Although some truckers had visited the Chirundu Clinic for STI care, others visited traditional healers. The number of sex workers in Chirundu varies according to the time of month and volume of trucking, rising during maize convoys to the Congo or at month's end, when the border is busiest. As elsewhere, police and customs officials do not pay for sex, but exempt women from harassment or customs duties. Sex workers typically see three or four new clients and two regular clients weekly. Many make return appointments with clients traveling to Congo or Tanzania. Most sex workers also worked as vendors during the day, and many had worked on farms but left, citing low wages. Sex workers reported relatively consistent condom use, but acknowledged they could not convince reluctant clients to use condoms. As in Beitbridge, they reported that South African drivers were less likely to accept condom use than other truckers. Many noted that they used condoms more often with clients that with boyfriends, and they believed their STIs were more likely to be contracted from boyfriends. In summary, truckers, (particularly South African drivers), are seen as a source of otherwise unobtainable wealth. Chirundu represents the northward progress of the stark encounter between South Africa's relative affluence and Zimbabwe's and Zambia's desperate and deepening poverty. |
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