The Listening Project - Field Visit Report Zimbabwe

The Listening Project (LP) organized a two-week field effort in Zimbabwe in December 2006. Four major international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) and one local NGO collaborated with CDA in arranging for and carrying out the field visit of the Listening Project in Zimbabwe. One of the INGOs served as the main hosting agency and each of these agencies generously provided funds, staff and other in-kind support (hospitality, transport, etc.) to the effort. CDA sent three people, including one from a participating agency, to facilitate this listening exercise.

In the three regions and over the course of five days, the Listening Teams held around 62 conversations with a total of about 317 people. All but a handful of the conversations occurred in rural communities that had received aid in the past or were currently receiving assistance. Listening Teams spoke with adult men and women, elderly, youth and children, some who held leadership positions, and others who were marginalized. Many conversations were held with women and men separately, or sometimes with youth apart from adults. In one province, the Listening Teams had conversations with several peri-urban and urban groups. In Matabeleland, most conversations took place with representatives of the Ndebele minority. All conversations were conducted in the local language (Shona or Ndebele) with translation provided for the expatriates by the Zimbabweans, but some people involved in our conversations in all three areas understood and spoke English.