THE
ZIMBABWE CONNECTION

ROLE OF THE ZIMBABWE CONNECTION

As of January 2006, the Zimbabwe Connection is a strictly and deliberately non-political organisation and it does not act as an immigration or personnel placement agency.    However, we are likely, unless there is further dramatic intervention, to be unable to continue operations past March 2006.

The Association has worked with a number of reputable, and preferably ex Zimbabwean migration agents in several states.   Contacts came to us from positive word of mouth referrals.   

We have never believed in encouraging anyone to leave Zimbabwe  because that is a unique and personal decision.   We simply tried to help those who had actively made a decision to move on.   We understood that in that process, you often have to move from having been a giver to being a receiver - for we have all had to do it to some degree - and it is not always easy!

We established the network in South Australia as a pilot programme. 18 ex-Zimbabweans throughout the State were actively looking for potential sponsorship opportunities in their areas. In addition, they 'mentored' a number of cvs from people seeking access to migration to Australia.

Unfortunately we have been unable to expand to cover the whole of Australia - the interest was certainly there, but the dedication and time required to do so, was a real difficulty.

In essence, we played the role of a caring 'relative' or 'friend' and tried to help in a number of ways.    

• matching skills up with existing opportunities throughout Australia.   See Helping yourself for greater detail.   We played no part in this, other than to put you in touch with a prospective employer, so that you and the prospective employer could determine whether there was the potential for employment sponsorship or any other relationship..

• had you been offered a position, we then offered you the choice of a number of recommended migration agents 

• if you had no family or friends in Australia, we put you in touch with an ex-Zimbabwean 'adopting family'.   We tried to find someone living near where you would be going and who had a family of similar make up.   Their role was to respond to your questions by e-mail before your arrival, giving you an idea of schools, housing etc., and determining your requirements on arrival. We found this to be of inestimable value to new migrants.

• we sent you tips and information on migration and processes which must be observed from an Australian perspective. See Tips and Hints

• on arrival we, or your adopting family, met you at the airport

• your adopting family accommodated you for two nights and helped find suitable short term accommodation

• if you arrived with no furniture, we, with now many contacts Australia-wide, endeavoured to equip you. In future, good points of reference are the Op Shops, St Vincents, the Salvation Army or local churches who will often put out an appeal.

• until you were earning a living and able to support yourselves, we found these same organisations could not do enough to help in the provision of basic foodstuffs etc.

• we offered you our specially written grief cycle document, so that you could understand why you felt such a sense of loss and to help you as you reached each stage of the cycle. See Tips and Hints

• while acknowledging that the only way you can really move on is to make friends from all walks of life, we understood the need to meet other Zimbabweans so that you could network and make sense of the move. However we also arranged for you to meet local Australians so that you could make new friends  

If you are starting at the very beginning, have a look at the websites on the left as these will link to the Department of Immigration for more information, or to a State Department of Skilled Migration.   We have added the link to the South Australian Skilled Migration department as an example, so that you can better understand the role State migration departments can play.   

On these sites you will gain a clearer understanding of what is involved. You could self-assess your chances of getting in, and download the various visas you think might be applicable.    We tried particularly hard to help those who might be 'marginal' in terms of age, qualifications or assets and have been fortunate enough to help many families in this category.

If you are not yet using an immigration agent, we can send you an assessment from from one of the migration agents for you to fill in and return to them.   If you do not have a resume,  we can also let you have a resume template to help you put one together and send it back to us to keep on file.    You can also download a resume template which will help you present a cv as it would be acceptable to Australian employers. See Tips and Hints

For a little more information, see Helping yourself