I am Gladys Chibharo, born in 1979, married with three children, and my spouse is disabled (blind). This is the story of how I have managed to support my family and made a career through Africa AHEAD.
In 2002 I was just a voluntary village health worker (VHW) of ward 31 Buhera District, Manicaland Province, under Ministry of Health and Childcare. When Zimbabwe AHEAD started Community Health club in my village in 2008 I was chosen to be a Community Based Facilitator (CBF) on their WASH and Nutrition programs. I was leading 3 community health /FAN clubs and two of them are still functional to date. From the remunerations that I was receiving from Zimbabwe AHEAD and MoHCC, I managed to save some of the money and started to do some more ‘O’ level subjects that would allow me to get a proper job.
When I finished my educational journey, I was promoted by the MoHCC in 2011 to train as a Primary Counselor on HIV & AIDS for Mombeyarara Rural Health Center. Through the help of the local Environmental Health Technician (EHT) I advanced and then trained as an EHT in 2014 to 2017. In 2019, I came back to Africa AHEAD during a Cholera Response project in Harare as a project officer and helped a lot during the intervention. In 2020- 2021, I became part of Africa AHEAD team responding to Cyclone Idai in Gutu district as a Project Officer, where I am now.
I am just one of many many women who have been empowered as a Community Based Facilitator of a Community Health Club. That was the first step on the ladder. I ran with the opportunity.