Joanna's MSF Blog from Zimbabwe

“Coléra, coléra!!” shout little Zimbabwean kids running after our MSF minivan as it splashes through sewage soaked muddy roads in the high density Harare township of Dzivaresekwa (or Dziva or just Dizzy as some expats have started calling it). Revayi our driver laughs and puts the music up higher. He usually works his minivan as a combi (privately owned transport for locals). “What’s your name mean Revayi?” I ask him as I try to hold on in the back seat — all Zimbabwean names mean something. He says it means bad gossip, because his mother-in-law talked bad about his mother while she was pregnant so in revenge she named her son like that. Dominique turns around and we look at each other, both rather stunned with the explanation and not really knowing how to respond.

I change the subject and ask Dominique to tell me about his field of water sanitation and the project of trying to get safe and clean water to Harare’s most vulnerable residents. Dominique, French-Canadian, young and crazy obsessed with water. Any kind of water, dirty, clean, sewage — with dark thick hair and intense brows he gets easily carried away about his favorite subject ...

Read her articles at MSF