About marian gotha
Marian is an expert programme manager with more than 30 years of experience working on social development with local and international organisations.
Marian started her working life as a Professional Nurse, Midwife and later became a Community Nurse in Matabeleland, Zimbabwe. She rose through the ranks in the Nursing field until she attained the position of Deputy Matron at her former training hospital, Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo.
She joined the NGO sector and became the director of the Matabeleland AIDS Council in 1993. Under her leadership she grew the organisation from 6 staff to double that and to an increase in the reach of the organisation. With her team led the establishment of the first HIV Voluntary Counseling service in Bulawayo at a difficult time, when stigma prevented the public from wanting to know their HIV status.
She established the Oxfam Australia office in Harare in 2001, leading the Combined Oxfams Gender, HIV&AIDS (COGENHA) in Zimbabwe. She successfully led the team in ensuring the success of the programme especially in Mashonaland East Province.
In 2005, she was head hunted by Oxfam America to initiate their Regional Gender, Culture, Law and HIV/AIDS Programme. The programme was initiated in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Namibia. In 2008, she completed her Master’s in Business administration (MBA) from the Milpark Business School. When the programme ended in 2009, because of the global financial crunch, Marian became a part time consultant working on several local projects.
In 2014, Marian joined the Tshwane Ward Based Outreach Team as a Team leader for Ward 86. She worked with other colleagues to conduct a situational assessment at household level, identification of vulnerable households and individuals and the referral of such to the local clinic. Another key element of this job entailed the training of the Community Health Workers, youth from the local wards to engage with communities on health issues in their respective areas.
In July 2015, Marian joined HelpAge International as the Project officer for the European Union funded “Strengthening the Voice of older people in South Africa to engage with local government” project in four provinces of South Africa. The project was successfully completed in June 2018. The skills and experience acquired in the various assignments/ projects’ will be fully deployed in the new venture called Sisonke Consulting. Below are additional courses she has attended which enhance her technical skills:
1983: Training course” A “of Child Spacing and Fertility Association at Mpilo Family planning Clinic, Bulawayo.
1988: The Intra Uterine Device Insertion Course, Mpilo Family Planning Clinic, Bulawayo.
1988, 17 – 28 April 1988: International Course on Diarrhoeal Diseases: Clinical Aspects. Bangladesh
1990, 22 January – 3 March: Maternal and Child Nutrition, by the Eastern Central and Southern Africa Food and Nutrition Training Programme (ECSA) at the University of Zimbabwe.
1993: Practical Management, conducted by Organisational Training and Development (OTD) Pvt. Ltd.
1996, March 28 – April 24: International Program of the United states Information Agency: HIV Prevention and Public Health issues in the United States.
1999, March – February 2000: Strategic Management Course conducted by Pact (Zimbabwe) and Training Resources Group (TRG).
MARIAN's main responsibilities are
