felt more empowered to deal with the many hardships that they face and attributed this to their participation in the civic education training. Although the interviews were very positive about CIVNET’s programmes it was nevertheless difficult to quantify the impact of the training, other than to rely on individual stories and collective experiences and verify their “action plans”. The positive impact of the training was further demonstrated, on several occasions, by case studies from different wards where “action plans” had been agreed upon and had been successfully resolved through informed interaction with the public servants and/or the responsible authorities. Some of the examples of where communities were successful in resolving difficulties facing them included; • The clearing of a road to allow emergency services to visit the area; • The establishment of a herb garden to provide traditional herbs for ailments not able to be treated at the hospitals and clinics because all health care services had been closed due to lack of funds, medicines and staff; • Small feeding schemes for children in areas where food was being distributed to the supporters of the ruling party; • Support for child-headed households; • Food for people with HIV/AIDS; • The distribution of water from one community to another where there was a shortage; • Approaches to the District Administrator about open sewers, the increasing threat and spread of cholera, and in some instances the death of community members from cholera; • Providing critical information to the local authorities about the poor conditions in communities, and following up with demands for improvement in the sewerage systems, the roads, the overflow from rivers and a general upgrading of services that were potentially life threatening; • Despite the culture of fear that has permeated Zimbabwean society for over a decade, communities have started to mobilise around economic and development related issues. This has been directly attributed to the CIVNET training workshops. • The social analytical skills provided through the training have created a depth of understanding and knowledge about the root causes of the problems faced by the communities. Similarly the social analytical skills have also provided insights into appropriate solutions. This was demonstrated on many occasions through the various discussions held with individuals or in the focus groups. • CIVNET attributes the relative calm and peace of the pre election period in 2008 to the participation of the citizens in the CIVNET civic and voter education training programmes. This assertion cant be empirically tested, other than if studies had been undertaken to establish views and attitudes in the pre civic and voter education period and then after the elections. However some connection can be tangentially made between participation in the workshops and an understanding of what conditions are required for a free and fair election; • Despite some of the reservations regarding measuring impact, the CIVNET Project has nevertheless had profound implications for those communities that have been systematically marginalised politically and economically over the last 10 to 15 years – and who have only been sought out during election times by the competing political players. The level of consciousness that has been raised through the training programmes has created a paradym shift in how individual community members perceive themselves, how they understand their current realities and what they see as possible in terms of resolving their difficulties. Their perception and analysis of their demands and needs are 16 THE CIVIC EDUCATION NETWORK TRUST (CIVNET)) IN ZIMBABWE – Sida EVALUATION 2008:51