Icasa 2015 Zimbabwe in Harare and a Rhino Walk in Bulawayo - all in one weekend

e'Pap Technologies is very proud to be part of the largest international Conference on HIV and Aids this week in Harare.  We will be exhibiting at the Global Village so pop in to see us where you can get your e'Pap at wholesale price, buy some of the e'Pap recycled bags made by women from Gwanda and find out how e'Pap can help your community.

e'Pap would like to thank The Southern Africa Trust and Albion Minerals for their fantastic support in bringing the knowledge e'Pap has to share with the conference delegates, the Zimbabwe community and activists from around the world.  Their sponsorship allowed us to be at this incredible event.

At least 5 000 delegates from all over the world are expected in Zimbabwe for the I.C.A.S.A. conference which has attracted attention from various parts of the globe.

The seven-day conference, which will be officially opened by President Mugabe, will run under the theme “AIDS in Post 2015 Era: Linking Leadership, Science and Human Rights”.
The scientific programm would see a number of presentations on bio-medical advances, elimination of mother to child transmission of HIV, achieving the United Nations targets of ensuring that at least 90 percent of populations know their status.

The programm also aims at making sure that 90 percent of those who know their status have access to treatment and that at least 90 percent of those on treatment have their viral load suppressed by the year 2020.

The conference will also deliberate on Sexually Transmitted Diseases, including Ebola, in high risk populations such as commercial sex workers and hepatitis, among other topics.
The World Health Organisation is also expected to announce the new recommendations on treatment and management of people living with HIV and Aids.

The only patient in the world, who was “cured” of HIV, Mr Timothy Brown popularly known as the Berlin patient, is also expected to make a presentation at the conference. Mr Brown was “cured” of the HIV, but doctors and scientists are not sure if the virus was completely eradicated from his body or is in recession.

I.C.A.S.A. will also explore HIV issues affecting communities such as those in prisons, gays and lesbians, sex workers and people living with disabilities.


In line with community participation, Zimbabwe has also created a community village where issues to do with activism will be held.

AND A RHINO WALK THIS WEEKEND!

Sam Nkomo and e'Pap have long been working together in defence of the Rhino, with Sam having walked over 1000km in the past year to create awareness about this endangered species.

Sam started his walk in defence of rhino on the 28th November. The e'Pap Zimbabwe team will be serving breakfast to the walkers 5am the next day at the Matobo boat club. We will join him on the walk and also have our team meet him at Gifford. We wish them all a successful walk.

UNIVERSAL CHILDREN'S DAY - IF ONLY...

"The one thing all children have in common is their rights. Every child has the right to survive and thrive, to be educated, to be free from violence and abuse, to participate and to be heard. "

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

If only we could be celebrating a world where we were guaranteed that all children were receiving education, that they did not know the horror of violence and abuse and could participate freely and be heard.

  e'Pap is not just about selling food and making a profit, the overriding ethic of this organisation is to ensure that all people, and especially children, are enabled to grow, develop, learn and thrive with the critical foundation of a nutrient replete diet.  

Today, and every day we at e'Pap celebrate children.  But today is also a day to recognise and galvanise, the drought is real and affecting most of southern Zimbabwe and beyond.  Binga has always been ravaged by poverty and this is highlighted by VOA's report from the 18th November...

"The Ministry of Education recently reported that the number of school dropouts in the country is alarming as parents struggle to raise fees due to poverty.But in remote Binga district, Matabeleland North, parents say it is not only about school fees but hunger that has forced the majority of school-going children to pull out of school.

Speaking to Studio 7 in Muchesu, which is about 80 kilometres from Binga town, parents said the current drought in the area has forced their children to stay at home."

"Idah Sibanda, who has two school-going children that had to travel about seven kilometers to get to school, said she was forced to stop them from attending classes at Muchesu Primary School as they had no energy to walk to school and participate in classes.

“Here in Binga we have a big problem, that of the drought. We do not have food to feed our children and now they can no longer go to school because of the hunger. Last year we had too little rainfall and we did not harvest anything and our children do not have food,” said Sibanda."

 The recent UNICEF report EL NIÑO’S IMPACT ON CHILDREN: A WAKE-UP CALL  estimates that as many as 11 million children are at risk from hunger, disease and lack of water in parts of Eastern and Southern Africa as El Niño strengthens, threatening to undo gains in nutrition, health and education. This comes after a series of climatic shocks in 2014 and 2015 ruined harvests, leaving many children and their families dependent on food aid to survive in several countries in the region.  In Zimbabwe, the number of food-insecure people is expected to reach 1.5 million by the time the January-March “lean season” sets in.

Filling bellies with sterile carbohydrate will keep children alive, but what about the "Hidden Hunger"?  Without their micronutrients children will never reach their potential.  For as little as $2 a month children under the age of 6 can be helped with a bowl a day of e'Pap at school.  

If only we could give every child the right nutrition every day.