Chirundu.com

Chirundu.com



Chirundu.com is a Zimbabwean online community with the sole purpose of connecting members who were either born in or lived in Zimbabwe. Launched in 1996, the community now has over 13,000 members (as of May 22, 2008) and it is probably the largest internet based community in Zimbabwe.

The site allows members to create personal profiles, upload pictures and contact other registered members.

Social Importance
With at least 4 million Zimbabweans living abroad, mostly fugitives from the nation's economic meltdown and political exiles, local communities have all but vanished and there is an obvious need to allow people who have been displaces to regain contact with lost friends and relatives. This is one of the most valuable benefits of any social networking website, but is especially true where large numbers of people have been displaced in a relatively short period of time.

The Name Chirundu
Chirundu is the name of two towns in Southern Africa, separated by the Zambezi river, but joined by a bridge. One town is in Zambia and the other in Zimbabwe. According to the owner of the website the reason he chose Chirundu was for him, the name symbolizes that two places (or people) can be separated, but at the same time can be connected.

Profiles
Similar to other social networking sites, each profile lists the name, age, and other details including where that member was born, went to school and where they lived in Zimbabwe.


The Chirundu.com Logo
The font of main text of "chirundu" is a free font called "rhino font" in green (hex triplet code #006600) with the background shade of the word chirundu in gold (hex triplet code #FFCC00). Next to this is the ".com" and underneath this is the strap line of "The Place for Homesick Africans" This font is not currently known. The logo also often appears with some sort of African wild animal spoor behind it, usually a leopard.
 
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