In Zimbabwe, SAVE training of Religious leaders was conducted between the 7th and 8th of May 2025 and attended by at least 20 Religious leaders. Congregational surveys to measure the size and influence were conducted before extending an invitation to any Religious leader. The 20 Religious leaders represented 10 big churches in Zimbabwe. The survey results helped INERELA+ Zimbabwe in targeting these Religious leaders with huge followings as a campaign snowballing strategy, and it worked as the 20 Religious leaders influenced their congregational program to integrate SAVE sessions, especially in midweek services. Each of the 10 big churches that were represented has a minimum of 300 congregants, meaning the SAVE message impacted a minimum of 3000 people after the workshop. This also means that from now onwards, the SAVE Toolkit model will be preached in about 10 congregations with an estimated reach of over 20000 people, including the general public and community members. INERELA+ Zimbabwe Religious leaders are confident a massive reach will be achieved because among the congregations that were represented during the training were liturgical churches such as the Anglican Church, the Methodist Church in Zimbabwe, and the Seventh Day Adventist who, each boasts of more than 100 centres spread around Zimbabwe. The Religious leaders in attendance, besides sharing the information in church centres where they lead, further vowed to disseminate information in centres under their denomination and provinces.
Religious leaders were amused by the content in the SAVE Toolkit, and the positive message they took away was the realisation of the positive impact it has to love, care, and support PLHIV, as HIV/Aids is not a death sentence, regarding community and self-stigma as a killer.
While giving feedback, one of the Religious leaders stated that he didn’t know that they are organisations in Zimbabwe other than the National Aids Council (NAC ) that care about PLHIV and the marginalised. On that note, one of the senior NAC officials who graced the INERELA+ Zimbabwe SAVE model workshop committed to adopting the SAVE Toolkit as a guide when training Healthcare workers, especially those who interact more with PLHIV. He indicated that, further to his commitment, he was going to engage the NAC CEO on the need to adopt SAVE modules and integrate them in the NAC training manuals as a guide on care for PLHIV. INERELA+ Zimbabwe has since kept in contact on the progress of the adoption. In support, officials from the Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council (ZNFPC) and a representative from a partner NGO, Sister 2 Sister, pledged to collaborate with INERELA Zimbabwe on an institutional campaign to promote the SAVE model and the use of the SAVE Toolkit as a guide by the Ministry of Health.