Info for potential volunteers in Zimbabwe

Since I've returned to the U.S. I've received several emails from people who have been offered VSO placements in Zimbabwe, asking about the country, the people, the city of Harare, VSO in Zimbabwe, etc. I found myself giving many of them similar information, and I thought it would be helpful to create this page so they can all benefit from it.

Disclaimer: I was in Zimbabwe from January through August 2011 and the information provided here is specific to that time period and my personal experience, so please take it with a grain of salt. Your own experiences may (and probably will) vary.


Zimbabwe
The people of Zimbabwe are very friendly and willing to help. Almost everyone in the country (especially in Harare) speaks English. Most locals speak Shona to each other, but they would speak English to foreigners.
Unlike what most of the international media would tell you, Zimbabwe is a peaceful country. I felt safer in Zimbabwe than I did traveling to South Africa, Mozambique, Botswana. I avoided engaging in political discussions, and political gatherings should also be avoided (as those are usually the ones that have potential for violence), but this is pretty standard for many countries in Africa. In my opinion, leading a normal life in Zimbabwe is completely safe. I often think that it's probably safer living in Harare than in Chicago :)
Internet is very bad, especially outside of Harare. It cost me about $50/month for internet through a wireless modem dongle and it was very slow almost all the time. You can usually sustain a Skype call, but video is tough.
About mobile phones, most people just use a simple basic phone (like a basic Nokia), which cost about $20-$30. Any unlocked phone would do though (I brought my Android smartphone and used that, so I could get my email on it). Very few people have cell phone contracts - most do pay-as-you-go. That's what I did too. There are people selling credit vouchers on the streets everywhere, so refilling your credit when you are low is no problem at all. The main cell phone company is Econet. That's what I had and almost everyone else I knew there was also with them.

Harare
Harare is an awesome town. I had a great time there. It is much safer than other large cities in southern Africa. There are some museums and the artsy scene is pretty active, especially at the Book Cafe and Mannenberg - two very popular nightlife spots (both are restaurants/cafes with live music shows every night).
Not unlike other large African cities there are areas of complete extremes - very poor high-density areas in the south, and very rich suburbs with lots of mansions on the north.
There is a fairly large expat community and many of the foreigners who work for big organizations there seem to know each other.
The weather in Harare is wonderful. Almost always sunny, and big storms are rare. The nature is abundant. You can see many different colors of trees and plants just walking down the city streets.
There are plenty of stores with all kinds of local and imported products. There are also many different types of restaurants so you can have a variety of food, but most good restaurants tend to be a bit pricey. Harare is a fairly expensive city (for African standards anyway) and the VSO allowance is not enough to sustain a lifestyle of going out or eating out often (but I think this is pretty standard for VSO).

VSO Zimbabwe
VSO Zimbabwe is a fairly small office - about 4 people - located in the Avondale suburb of Harare. The international volunteer program is still very new. During my placement, I was the first and only international volunteer. The people at the VSO office were very supportive and helpful to me and they were always available whenever I had any issues. It seems there is a lot of bureaucracy in their processes and sometimes things take a long time, but this is nothing new to NGOs, and organizations in Africa in general. VSO is not very well known in Zimbabwe but this is slowly beginning to change as they are starting to get involved in several different development areas.
VSO works with a very good doctor in Harare for all healthcare issues. Dr Chifamba was great the times that I interacted with him, and was always available on his cell phone, even on weekends!
VSO opened a bank account for me there through Standard Chartered Bank and they would deposit my monthly allowance there. I don't think I would recommend that though. The banking system in Zimbabwe is very inefficient and there are charges for everything - deposits, withdrawals, use of your debit card for purchases, monthly account fees... If I had to do it again, I would not have a bank account and would just go to the VSO office every month to get my allowance in cash. What I ended up doing was going to the bank ATM just once a month and withdrawing my full allowance amount anyway. Also, you can use many of the ATMs to withdraw money from your bank account at home, if you need it.


Feel free to check out my detailed blog posts on this website and the pictures I took while I was in Zimbabwe.

I hope this is helpful.

Tzviatko Chiderov