25 March 1999

Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe: Accompanied by UNV's Executive Coordinator Sharon Capeling-Alakija, German tennis player Michael Stich and his wife, actress Jessica Stockmann have visited Zimbabwe as Honorary United Nations Volunteers to raise awareness on HIV/AIDS.

Scores of children in Chitungwiza, a poor, densely-populated area in Zimbabwe's capital Harare, welcomed the tennis star enthusiastically when he arrived to conduct a tennis workshop with them. In areas like Chitungwiza, the occurrence of HIV/AIDS is particularly high.

The visit to Zimbabwe was the first mission which the prominent couple undertook in their new function as Honorary UNVs. They had officially taken up the assignment with the Bonn-based United Nations Volunteers programme in January. Some 4000 UN Volunteers work annually in more than 140 countries worldwide, also in the area of HIV/AIDS. Mr. Stich and Ms. Stockmann established the Michael-Stich-Foundation for HIV/AIDS affected children and their families in 1994 and have since been actively engaged in rendering assistance in Germany.

Zimbabwe is one of the countries worst affected by HIV/AIDS. It is estimated that some 1.6 million people, up 25 per cent of the adult population, are infected with the virus. "The governments have to take up the issue and call upon the people to fight HIV/AIDS", said Mr. Stich when talking to government representatives and the press in Harare. "This applies to Germany as well as to Zimbabwe."

In the South of Zimbabwe, Mr. Stich and Ms. Stockmann met with the United Nations Volunteers who work in the rural communities. Their aim is to include HIV/AIDS education in the curriculum of primary schools. Assistance is also rendered to the relatives of people with HIV/AIDS: They are instructed in basic health care to be able to care for their family members at home. In particular in the rural areas, the public health system cannot cope with the number of people with HIV/AIDS. One of effects of the pandemic is the increasing number of child-headed households. It is estimated that almost 600,000 children have lost their parents through HIV/AIDS. Even the very youngest must learn how to deal with this situation. The guests from Germany also visited a nursery school for those children. Here, they are accommodated during the day and assisted in preparing for school and simple household tasks. "It is very encouraging to see how the children here are given hope and some happiness", said Jessica Stockmann. The actress made a contribution herself. She had a captive audience when she invited for story telling - with a German fairy tale.