Mutare (known as Umtali until 1982) is the fourth largest city in Zimbabwe, with a population of approximately 189,000. It is located at 18°58'S 32°38'E. Founded in 1897 as a fort, it is located in the province of Manicaland about 8 km from the border with Mozambique, and is just 290 kilometres from the Mozambican port of Beira, earning Mutare the title of "Zimbabwe's Gateway to the Sea".

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UNHCR News Story: UNHCR's help for displaced Zimbabweans produces tangible results
Made by UNHCR
Florence reads her birth certificate with her delighted mother at her side. UNHCR / T. Ghelli / February 2010 UNHCR's help for displaced Zimbabweans produces tangible results MUTARE, Zimbabwe, February 17 (UNHCR) – The 16-year-old girl was elated as she held up a document that will open up a whole new world of opportunity and have an impact on the rest of her life. After waiting for hours outside a government registry office in the eastern Zimbabwe town of Mutare, Florence Nawengo had just been given a birth certificate, which will enable her to get an all-important national identity card. Until that moment, she was at risk of becoming one of an estimated 12 million stateless people around the world. They do not possess a nationality nor enjoy its legal benefits. This often leaves them unable to do the basic things most people take for granted, such as registering the birth of a child, travelling, going to school, accessing health care, opening a bank account or owning property. And Florence might still be facing these challenges but for a UNHCR programme to support internally displaced people (IDP), many of whom lacked important documentation, in the eastern Zimbabwe province of Manicaland. This programme, implemented by local aid group, Christian Care, was set up last August to assist Zimbabweans uprooted from their homes. It helped some 220 people in Manicaland last year and UNHCR is expanding the programme to cover the whole country this year. Florence and her mother were displaced as a result of slum clearance in 2005 and now live in a large former bar owned by the municipality in Mutare. UNHCR and Christian Care are helping the more than 100 displaced people who are sheltering there. Many of these people have lost their identity documents or had them stolen during displacement. They cannot afford the cost of replacing them, explained Jane Madzivaidze, a legal officer with Christian Care. Through our mobile legal clinics, we advise them of their right to obtain birth certificates and identity documents and let them know that we can help cover the cost with funds provided by UNHCR. Florence never had a birth certificate in the first place. Her Zimbabwean parents separated soon after she was born and her mother never went to register her birth because, under the law, the father must be present and show his ID card. The lack of a birth certificate did not have a major impact on Florence's early life, but from the age of 16 onwards it becomes an issue in Zimbabwe, where people need to have a national identity card as proof of citizenship. UNHCR experts said that people without a birth certificate and/or national ID card were at risk of statelessness, particularly if they are of foreign origin. Florence realized that to pursue a higher education, and more particularly to sit final exams at secondary school, she needed to have a national identity card, and to get this she would have to present a birth certificate. Things were looking bleak until the UNHCR programme for IDPs was launched in Manicaland. When Christian Care came to explain to me that I could get a birth certificate under my mother's name, as long we brought a witness to my birth, I was filled with hope, Florence recalled. I had longed to get a birth certificate so that I could continue with my education, but I didn't have the money and I did not know where to find my father. Here is my chance, I thought. Christian Care was able to fast-track her application through the registry office while UNHCR covered the US$4.50 cost of obtaining her birth certificate. She was told to return later to pick up her national ID card. The cost might seem small, but to many displaced Zimbabweans it is a fortune. Florence has a more positive future – and a big grin across her face. Now I can go to school, the excited teenager cried. By Tina Ghelli in Mutare, Zimbabwe.


Worship setting
Made by VIM to ZIM 2006
Potted plants and draped fabric enliven the simple interior. They are very proud of their United Methodist connection and show it through their repeated use of the UM logo. The service is preceded by a Bible lesson and followed by a reception introducing the church officers. While the sermon includes enough interspersed English that it is easy to follow the main points, our seatmates also offer helpful translations throughout.


Cougar-side view
Made by loosecannon55
Side view of a Cougar.The mesh screen destabilised bullets to stop them penetrating the inner armour and the rear stowage space can be seen.In common with other MAP's the wheels were on mountings designed to blow off on detonating a mine giving the vehicle a better chance of remaining upright and getting clear of an ambush killing zone.


Mutare housing
Made by VIM to ZIM 2006
A local resident guides us on a bus tour of Mutare Saturday (11 Nov 2006). This house hiding behind its broken-glass-topped wall is typical of its middle class neighborhood. In wealthy suburbs, the trees are too thick (and the walls too high) to see the houses. In poor neighborhoods, one's heart is too busy breaking to take pictures.


2006.11.12 A Former Hartzell Student
Made by mark.taber
The young woman who happened to have sat next to me during the church service, and who translated the proceedings from Shona to English for me, turns out to have been a student at Hartzell Primary School six years ago when my parents, along with Melinda, were there for the library dedication ceremony.


Cougar Rear View.
Made by loosecannon55
The last vehicle to enter service before the end of the Bush War was the Cougar.It was better designed to cope with the boosted land mines that were becoming more common.A boosted mine is exactly that.Extra explosive is placed below the mine to give added power to the blast and cause more damage.


Crocodile Armoured Personnel Carrier.
Made by loosecannon55
Crocodiles were mine and ambush protected(MAP) personnel carriers converted from Nissan trucks.This one also has a gun turret for convoy escort duties and as far as I know the only one with this feature.Used between Umtali and Chipinga for escorting the Heavy Convoy(Lorries).


Rhino Mk.1
Made by loosecannon55
The Rhino was the first type of mine protected vehicle and was built on a Land Rover chassis.It was very basic and as the seats were made of plywood it wasn't long before you got saddle sore especially on dirt roads.It also wasn't bullet proof.


Kudu.
Made by loosecannon55
One of the most common vehicles used by the Police was the Kudu.This one is fitted with Mac's Cannon for all round defence.They were fired by the driver via a control panel next to his seat and delivered a broadside like a ship of the line.


Kudu Mk.10
Made by loosecannon55
All the Kudus started life as Land Rovers.Both long and short wheelbase types were used.The long wheelbase conversions were known as Kudu Mk.10's and had a small storage space behind the protected capsule.


26 Zimbabwe
Made by ernst schade
Africa, Zimbabwe. Sitting in front of a bottlestore, an elderly man collects money for the SPCA, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Mutare, November 1993. Photography by Ernst Schade


Kudu Interior.
Made by loosecannon55
View inside the Kudu.Designed to protect the occupants from mines and small arms fire the outer zig-zag shaped plates destablised bullets and stopped them from penetrating the inner armour.


Exotic planting
Made by VIM to ZIM 2006
The funky plants along the driveway are (according to our team's plant expert) living fossils, a variety of cycad which co-existed with the dinosaurs and predated flowering plants.


31 Zimbabwe
Made by ernst schade
Africa, Zimbabwe, Manicaland, Mutare. 1-1-1992. Four white wanderers from South Africa pass by in the town of Mutare in eastern Zimbabwe. Photography by Ernst Schade


2006.11.11 - Mutare - War Monument - Remembrance Day
Made by mark.taber
For King and Empire: 1914-1918 — Rhodesian-era war monument in the market square in Mutare, Zimbabwe (Photograph taken, completely coincidentally, on November 11)


Majestic vista unfolding
Made by VIM to ZIM 2006
The view down the front yard, across to Cross Kopje (the steepsided mountain with the cross on top), leaves no doubt that this is a high-end suburb of Mutare.


Lunch setting
Made by VIM to ZIM 2006
After church, the two teams are invited to the home of Andra Stevens (Africa University Information Office) for braai - a cookout - and swimming in her pool.


2006.11.11 Mutare's Best Buy?
Made by mark.taber
Wonder if the salespeople are just as annoying and unhelpful here as they tend to be at other similarly branded retail establishments.


Interior of a Kudu Town.
Made by loosecannon55
The Kudu Town was an anti ambush vehicle used by the Police Urban Emergency Unit.It had a low freeboard to make de-bussing easier.


Stimulating the economy
Made by VIM to ZIM 2006
Our group pretty thoroughly clears the shelves in this Mutare shop, which sells local traditional wares made by the handicapped.