INCEPTION:
Mozambique attained independence in 1975 but experienced a brutal civil war that lasted for sixteen years. When peace was finally attained and an enabling environment became a reality, people started to reconstruct their lives. At that moment HIV and AIDS had taken root within society. Within churches there were many who felt to do something about HIV and AIDS, not for reward, but for human dignity and a better future. With limited literacy and other resources, the spirit of volunteerism, compassion and moral responsibility motivated many to carry out intervention activities. In 1995, a Swedish missionary from the Alliance Mission, by the name of Duncan Livingstone, came to Manica province in Mozambique with a burning desire to fight HIV and AIDS through working with churches. A meeting was held to gain acceptance and commitment from willing church leadership. In the same meeting, it became evident that the church had become an entry point to the community and volunteers were already implementing home based care activities using their indigenous knowledge. One or two members from churches present were selected for training at FACT-Mutare in Zimbabwe to be followed by further training at the Anglican Church in Chimoio. Later in the year three members were selected together with one from the Red Cross Society to visit FACT-Mutare for experience sharing. Upon return several meetings were held to share their experience and to articulate a vision for the future.“Vision is not enough; it must be combined with venture! It is not enough to stare up the steps; we must step up the stairs.” V. Havel.On November 30, 1995 the church leadership met and officially launched an organization, now known as Kubatsirana, which translates to mean mutual support. The church and volunteer were to become the “legs with which the organization will stand on.” The organization was later registered with the government in 1997.

EVOLUTION:
In spite of the weak capacity, poverty and the impact of the pandemic itself, volunteers embraced the organization and felt a strong sense of ownership that drove them to work harder. Initially Duncan Livingstone offered his garage as a working place for meetings. Refresher workshops were done in 1996 and in June a general assembly was held to review progress and address issues of office space, executive management and coordination of various activities. A constitution drafted by Pastor Juliasse, Mr Agostinho Morais and Missionary Duncan Livingstone was approved and used for the registration of the organization in 1997. As activities unfolded and the pandemic became more complex to fight it became necessary to form programs which included Kuzvipira (Home Based Care), Rukariro (Youth) and Training. Initial funding came from the Alliance Mission and later with Tearfund. Later, the Orphans and Vulnerable Children, Pastoral and Shingirirai (PLWHA) immerged. There was also a need for an executive management and, as such, the posts of Executive Director and Administrator were established. The first Strategic Plan was developed in the year 2000 from a variety of stakeholders including Ministries of Social Welfare, Health, PLWHA, volunteers, partner organizations and beneficiaries. This was reviewed in 2004. As the organization grew so was donor confidence that led to having close to ten donors with funding assistance in excess of US$ 700,000.00 (seven hundred thousand dollars) to date. These programs have since been expanded to four other districts namely Gondola, Manica, Sussundenga and Barue. Several evaluations were done from 1996 to 2006. In 2007 an Organizational Development Plan was developed on the basis of the recommendations from those evaluations and the plan was presented to the donor partners. The main outcome was that the organization is at a critical juncture as it is transforming from being an implementer to a facilitator and therefore there is the need to review the strategic plan of 2004 in relation to the organization’s role of implementation and increasingly immerging role of facilitation. An organizational cultural review exercise was done with facilitation from PACANet that generated information both at organizational and community levels, review and develop a new strategic plan and a guideline for the implementation of a future Organizational Development Plan. Kubatsirana is committed to bear a great responsibility in scaling up efforts and facilitating with necessary practical resources and leveraging on its many years of experience and interaction with the communities to ensure a successful comprehensive program to fight HIV and AIDS.