About us

AWARE Trust came into being in 2004 when the trustees were looking for independent funding to perform an important disease surveillance project.

Despite the fact that the results of this work would provide crucial information affecting the development of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park (GLTP), it took the better part of a year to procure international funding for the project.

With each subsequent rejection because of ‘Zimbabwe’ being a four lettered word, the trustees wished there was a local organisation backed up by donors that would be able to facilitate and fund worthy projects such as this.

With this in mind, the Animal and Wildlife Area REsearch Trust was registered by a local lawyer, with $20 provided by Dr Keith Dutlow as its starting capital. As ideas evolved and the gaping need for specialist wildlife treatment of un-owned animals became obvious, the deed of the Trust was amended to include the word ‘rehabilitation’ in the AWARE acronym.

AWARE was dormant for 2 years until 2006. Then the advent of the injured serval, Frodo, and efforts to relocate the problem elephant Tusker, rekindled our resolve to get the Trust going.

Meet the personnel...

The wildlife crew...

Dr Keith Dutlow, BVSc, MRCVS 

Founder Trustee and Director of Operations, Keith was born in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. He graduated from the University of Zimbabwe with a Bachelor of Veterinary Science in 1994 and became a member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons by examination in 1996.
He has worked extensively in small animal and mixed practices in the UK, Australia and Zimbabwe. Keith’s introduction to wildlife work came through a job as an ostrich vet in Zimbabwe. In 2001, he took a record breaking 2026 ostriches by ship from Spain to Brazil. He has been working with other wildlife species, in particular lion, cheetah, elephant, rhino, buffalo, hyaena and small felids since 2004.

Presently, Keith’s main income is from Medi-Vet P/L Zimbabwe, the only Zimbabwean Veterinary Wholesaler licensed to import Dangerous Drugs used in wildlife capture operations. His role as Director of Medi-Vet largely subsidises his voluntary work in AWARE. Keith sits on the Zimbabwe Veterinary Association (ZVA) committee and was the Chairman of the ZVA Wildlife Group from 2012 - 2018. He is the Country Director for SPANA Zimbabwe, which operates through the AWARE Trust. 

Keith met Lisa at UZ in 1994 and, being a slow starter, finally tied the knot in 2004.

Dr Lisa Marabini, BVSc, MRCVS, MSc (Imaging) 

Founder Trustee and Director of Operations, Lisa was born in Harare, Zimbabwe. She graduated from the University of Zimbabwe with a Bachelor of Veterinary Science in 1998 and became a member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons by examination in 1999. She has worked in small animal practices in Zimbabwe, Australia and the UK. Lisa has always been passionate about the conservation and welfare of wildlife. She obtained her private pilot’s licence (PPL) for light aircraft in 1994 with a view to becoming a wildlife vet. In 2003 she spent a year trailing government wildlife vet Dr Chris Foggin around on a voluntary basis. This led to a Peace Parks Foundation (PPF) funded project in which she and Keith tested 2000 cattle for various diseases in a remote section of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area (GLTFCA).

She has since worked with Keith, both in the wildlife arena and as co-Director of Medi-Vet. She was Assistant to the Chairman on the Zimbabwe Trans Frontier Conservation Area (TFCA) Programme Conservation and Veterinary Subcommittee for 3 years. She sits on the Animal Welfare Legislation Steering Committee, a committee struggling to upgrade the Animal Welfare legislation in Zimbabwe. From 2012-2014, she was the Editor of the ZVA's quarterly magazine, the Burdizzo, and the ZVA's International Congress Convenor. In 2018 she was awarded a distinction in her MSc (Imaging) degree from the University of Edinburgh's Royal Dick College of Veterinary Medicine.

Anton Newall 

Anton was born in the UK, but raised in Zimbabwe. His love of wildlife and the outdoors saw him start working for Graeme Bristow in 2003, who trained him in most aspects of wildlife management and handling. Anton now manages the Lion and Cheetah Park in Norton and is a Dangerous Drugs Licence Holder. He has helped AWARE on various projects (and problem animal re-locations) on a voluntary basis ever since Cleo the rescued cheetah was housed on his premises during her recuperation. He is AWARE's official voluntary Problem Animal Officer. 

The SPANA/donkey team...

Dr Erick Mutizhe, BVSc, DipPPM, MBL 

Erick was born, raised and schooled in Rusape, Zimbabwe.  In 2008 he graduated from the University of Zimbabwe with a BVSc and shortly after, joined the Department of Veterinary Field Services.  Here he worked in Masvingo province as a Government Veterinary Officer as well as the Acting Provincial Veterinary Epidemiology Officer. Erick passed the South African Veterinary Council (SAVC) equivalence examinations in 2009 and is therefore a registered member of the SAVC. In 2010 he represented Zimbabwe at the World Animal Health Organisation (O.I.E.) wildlife training workshop in Tanzania. Erick joined AWARE in September 2010 performing SPANA-funded mobile donkey clinics around the rural areas of Zimbabwe, and as the most senior equine vet, he is now Manager of AWARE's veterinary field team. In his spare time, Erick completed a Diploma in Project Planning and Management with the Zimbabwe Institute of Management, and went on to achieve a Masters in Business Leadership from Bindura University of Science Education. Thanks to his time at AWARE he is also competent in dealing with wildlife species. Fun fact: Erick is a musician and he recorded an album in 2004 which sold a considerable number of copies in the country. He has recently released "Preserving Nature" on behalf of AWARE, an awesome song about conserving our environment. Erick is married to an industrial psychologist and has two children.

Dr Andy Garura, BVSc 

 Andy is the 2IC of AWARE's donkey veterinary team. He was born in Zimbabwe and attended Mazowe High School. He graduated from the University of Zimbabwe Veterinary Faculty in 2010. He worked for the Harare SPCA for over a year, before joining a start up veterinary practice, Arcadia Veterinary Centre. After this, he worked for Farm de la Belle as a locum poultry vet. Andy beat off stiff competition in 2013 to become AWARE's second donkey vet, and he has been working on equine ambulatory clinics in Zimbabwe's rural areas ever since. Andy is married to a veterinarian and has one child. 

Dr Tawanda Sakala, BVSc 

Tawanda was born and raised in Shurugwi, and attended Fletcher High School in Gweru. He qualified from the University of Zimbabwe with a BVSc in 2017. He worked at Marondera Veterinary Surgery as a locum for two months before joining the AWARE team in April 2018. Having grown up in a rural area where donkeys are the backbone of the community, he personally experienced the benefit and convenience of owning a donkey. Unfortunately he also saw the brutality and cruelty which these animals are sometimes subjected to, and from a young age wanted to be part of the solution to this. This motivated Tawanda throughout his veterinary education, and he is very excited to be part of a team that can genuinely make an impact on donkey welfare throughout the country. 

 Dr Tonderai Machaka, BVSc

Tonderai was born and raised in Harare. He attained his BVSC degree in 2019 from the University of Zimbabwe. Tonderai was no stranger to the AWARE/SPANA project after volunteering with the programme as a student. In 2017, on a volunteer trip with AWARE to Beitbridge, he observed how donkeys were succumbing to different respiratory infections. He chose to do his final year project on respiratory infections and how they were affecting the livelihoods of donkey farmers in Beitbridge, a project supervised by Dr Erick Mutizhe. The pair isolated Streptococcus equi  equi, the causitive agent of strangles (for the first time ever in Zimbabwean donkeys) which is a notifiable disease. Subsequently, Tonderai took advantage of an opportunity to attend the SPANA funded student internship in Morocco in 2019 where he was exposed to the treatment of approximately 600 horses and 500 donkeys at the SPANA centre in Marrakesh over a two week period. Tonderai joined the AWARE-SPANA team on the 1st of February 2020 as a vet, a job he had dreamt of for a long time. Tonderai recently got married to the love of his life Racheal who he met whilst in college where she was doing her honours in Computer science degree. He is now blessed with a baby girl called Angeline.

Timothy Mpofu (Vet Nurse)

 
  Timothy initially worked as a teacher in 2005-2006. He then studied for a      Diploma in Agriculture which he passed with distinction in 2007. He joined  the Government Department of Veterinary Field Services in March 2008,  where he worked as an extension assistant till December 2013. He also went  on to study Veterinary Nursing at the University of Zimbabwe, from which he  graduated in June 2013. During his work for the government he gained a lot  of experience training rural communities with various projects. He joined  AWARE's donkey veterinary programme in January 2015 as a full time Community Training Officer. Since he has experience in nursing animals, he also tends to injured donkeys in the area in which he works.

Yusufu Chitesi (aka Piri) 

 
 Piri lives in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. He joined AWARE in January  2015 as a donkey extension assistant, having worked under Ian  Redmond of the Donkey Protection Trust for the previous 13  years. He has gained a vast amount of experience in Donkey  Welfare over the years, and his communication skills with local v  villagers are second to none. Piri services the health needs of  donkeys in the Matabeleland South and West areas.   

Rugare Munakiri

Rugare Munakiri worked in the department of Veterinary Services for five years as an Assistant Stores Person . He is a holder of Certificate in Agriculture Sciences attained at Esigodini Colledge and Diploma in Vet Sciences at Mazowe Colledge. He also worked at Chiumburu Cattle Ranch as farm manager. He joined SPANA on the 6th of August 2018 as Community Training Officer.

The rural dog experts (a.k.a "Team Snippy")...

Dr Liberty Chigowe, BVSc 

 Liberty joined AWARE’s “Team Snippy” as veterinarian in charge of the dog project in February 2020 after Dr Eugene left us in December 2019. Liberty was born in Chirumanzu, Midlands province in April 1991. Liberty graduated from the University of Zimbabwe with a BVSc in 2015 having been president of the Zimbabwe Veterinary Students Association. His drive to be part of the solution to end animal disease outbreaks saw his team of students vaccinating over 100 dogs for free in Budiriro during World Rabies Day. After graduating Liberty initially worked as a locum at Harare Central Veterinary Surgery, and then he moved to a mixed practice in Botswana (Vetplus Clinics) where he worked until July 2018. Subsequently Liberty worked at Sixth Avenue Veterinary Hospital in Germiston, SA, before returning to join AWARE on home soil in 2020. Liberty is passionate about animal welfare and enjoys imparting animal health care knowledge to marginalized communities. Liberty has a six year old daughter and is in a committed relationship.

 Rodwell Kamunda (Vet Nurse) 

 Rodwell started working with dogs and cats when he was doing his  Veterinary Nursing attachment at Borrowdale Lane Veterinary Surgery  in December 2012. He graduated in 2014 from the University of  Zimbabwe with a 2.1 average for his Vet Nursing Diploma. He continued  his attachment at Borrowdale Lane Veterinary Surgery as well as  Harare SPCA as a voluntary Vet Nurse until January 2016. He assisted  with the initiation of a Mobile Veterinary Clinic for Borrowdale Lane in  early 2016. He joined AWARE Trust in April 2016 as a dedicated  Veterinary Surgical Nurse in the rural dog sterilisation team. Rodwell is married with 2 children.

 Qelisumuzi Mlotshwa (Community Education Officer)

The Educators (a.k.a "Wild About Animals" team)...

Mrs Herminah Simoyi 

 Herminah graduated with a Degree in Economics from the University of Zimbabwe in 2008. She immediately joined the teaching profession and started off as a Matron at Lomagundi College, Chinhoyi where she met her husband and got married in 2011. She completed her Postgraduate Studies in teaching with a distinction from the University of South Africa after training at Harare International School.  Since then, she has been exposed to both the Urban and Rural school communities through teaching in both settings.  Besides being a passionate teacher, she has a soft spot for animals and has been part of several environmental conservation campaigns. Since joining AWARE, Herminah has completed an International Certificate in Humane Education, as well as a further course which allows her to train educators how to teach humane education. 

Mrs Eunice Nyadombo 

           Eunice was born in Wedza, Zimbabwe. As a stay at home Mum, Eunice developed a passion for teaching not only her own, but other peoples' children, which were often left in her care. As a result, she enrolled in and graduated from Seke Teachers College with a Diploma in Primary Education. She has worked in both remote rural schools as well as urban schools since graduating. She also assists her husband with cattle breeding at their farm in Beatrice, which includes nursing sick animals back to health. She has developed a fondness for animals through this. She is delighted to be part of the AWARE education team where she can impart her knowledge on the importance of animal conservation and protection to her students.