HOLDING her husband’s hand with a baby strapped to her back, Anna’s (not her real name) laughter echoed through Masasa Drive, the road from Tshovani bus rank to Chiredzi town. As they strolled towards a popular fast food outlet, the couple radiated with joy, oblivious to the glances of curious onlookers.
Inside the fast-food restaurant, Anna leaves her two children seated next to her husband on a table for four people she had carefully chosen for them to sit as a family and proceeds to the counter to buy their meal for the day.
After savouring their chicken and chips, the family topped it off with ice-cream before embarking on the long walk back home.
To those watching, they were just another happy family and few would guess that Anna’s husband is visually impaired Even fewer would believe her if she were to tell them that only a few months ago, they were frequently fighting—over small things like delayed responses or unspoken frustrations.
“We quarrelled a lot,” Anna admitted. “Money was a major source of conflict because I always suspected that my husband was hiding some money from me, and he thought the same,” she added.
But their newfound happiness is no mystery to them—it’s the result of a unique programme called ‘Toose,’ a word that carries special meaning for Chiredzi urban residents.
“Toose helped me and my wife. As you can see, I’m blind, so communication between us was difficult. We didn’t understand each other,” Anna’s husband chipped in.
“Now, we take walks to town, have a meal and enjoy ourselves. People who don’t know us would never guess that I am blind because of the way we now relate to each other,” he added.
‘Toose,’ a gender-transformative initiative introduced by Plan International Zimbabwe, SAFE Communities and the World Food Programme (WFP), is a family well-being programme aimed at reducing intimate partner violence and all forms of violence against women and girls in Chiredzi urban.
It focuses on building healthy relationships through sessions on visioning for a happy family, positive communication, exploring gender roles in the family, violence in the home and intimate partner violence among others.
To date, 1 078 people across all eight wards of Chiredzi urban have benefit tedfrom the Toose programme.
In addition to improving family well-being, the project has introduced Toose Internal Savings and Lending Schemes which encourages women to form groups and pool resources for entrepreneurial ventures.
In addition to these saving schemes, women also receive training on financial literacy to enable them to run their businesses successfully and effectively.
Some graduates from earlier Toose cohorts have successfully launched small businesses and are producing products such as detergents and peanut butter.
According to Musasa Project, who are also part of the consortium, 41% of gender-based violence survivors in Chiredzi are beneficiaries of cash-based transfers (CBT), and 67% of those seeking information on the GBV referral pathway are also CBT beneficiaries.
This intersection prompted Plan International Zimbabwe and WFP to integrate family well-being initiatives into their CBT programming to address the safety and protection of women and girls.
Miyela Mabunda, Plan International Zimbabwe’s programme coordinator for the CBT and Toose projects, highlighted how the sessions have significantly improved family dynamics in Chiredzi.
“Toose is a household social empowerment tool focusing on gender transformation. It equips ordinary men and women with tools to envision new ways of relating to each other. It also addresses issues stemming from gender inequality and social norms that perpetuate violence against women and girls,” Mabunda said.
She noted that many families report healthier communication and a reduction in conflict as a result of the Toose project.
“Couples are now consulting each other on important family decisions, fostering harmony at home.”
Mabunda noted that many participants have reported significant improvements in their relationships.
“Couples are now communicating better and resolving conflicts without resorting to violence. Partners consult each other on important family decisions.”
This transformation was echoed by one of the participants, a Mrs. Sithole from ward 8 who testified that she and her husband now relate better after they joined Toose sessions.
“Before joining Toose, my husband and I were constantly fighting. Now, we live happily, planning our future together. We’re even working towards buying our own residential stand,” she shared proudly.
Speaking during a debriefing meeting after observing Toose sessions in Chiredzi last week, WFP director for gender, protection and inclusion service, Brenda Behan hailed the project for positively impacting Chiredzi residents’ lives.
“What you are doing here is really changing lives because you are adding something to cash which is much more impactful than cash alone,” Behan said.
Masvingo provincial social welfare officer Stancilous Sanyangore commended Plan International Zimbabwe and partners for complementing the government by empowering citizens.
“I visited a group that was doing Toose Internal Savings and Lending Schemes and I was happy to know that some of the members have already registered companies, which means the program is empowering our people, so we need more of these programmes,” Sanyangore said.
The project has won commendations for Plan International and its partners as highlighted by a recent visit to Chiredzi by representatives of WFP headquarters in Rome, along with their funders from the Group of Friends on Protection and Accountability to Affected Populations Mission who collectively described the initiative as a model for effective partnerships that can create lasting impacts in communities.