Ximena Duarte

I am a multi-media freelance journalist based in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, with well over ten years’ experience in print and radio journalism. 
I initially pursued a career in teaching, but after an increasing interest in journalism in the
intervening years, I went back to college and graduated from a public journalism school in the country in 2002.

I share the view of famous British playwright Tom Stoppard who once said: “I still believe that if your aim is to change the world, journalism is a more immediate short-term weapon.”

Since November 2006 I have been a regular stringer for a radio station that broadcasts to Zimbabwe from outside the country. The station, established in 2003 with the help of some journalists living in exile, has become a credible, popular alternative to the propaganda churned out by state-owned electronic media in the country.
The state has had a stranglehold on electronic media from the time the country attained independence in 1980.

In spite of a seemingly endless and much reported cycle of socioeconomic problems, I believe there is still a lot to report on in Zimbabwe, especially from Bulawayo, the country's second biggest city
where I am based.

Amidst the doom and gloom that the country’s current situation often evokes, Zimbabweans, who have earned a reputation of being resilient in the face of adversity, still find ways to get by, doing their best
to take care of their families’ daily needs, still sending their children to school, holding on to the hope that things shall be better soon.

Such a situation, no doubt, provides a rich basis for several inspiring stories, some of which I have been able to capture and keenly strive to continue doing so for as long as I can.