Transnational religious and technological mediations among Zimbabweans who live in South Africa:Negotiating presence and absence through faith and technology.

Technology is slowly changing the concept of parenting as it mediates transnational parenting. This research was done in a context where Zimbabweans transnational parents living in South Africa felt that their extended families were no longer helpful co-parents. Technology became prominent in the process of exploring the role of technology in the use of the Catholic structures for co-parenting. This research used focus group discussions and one-on-one interviews to study the experiences of transnational parents from Zimbabwe who live in South African diaspora. The study highlights how social media is used in transnational parenting matrix in collaboration with godparents, the faith communities and Catholic boarding schools. We argue that technology allows transnational parents to negotiate their presence and absence in the life of their children. The Catholic institutions become instrumental in the deciding which values are taught to these children.