Load-shedding, brings families together

Was just observing the other day when we spent almost the whole day without electricity, (as we all know there is continuous load shedding in the country). Everyone’s phone, laptop, tablet etc was off and all we could do was seat and talk to each other. The television was also off so the only entertainment we had was each other. It just got me thinking of our daily routine which l believe is the same to many other households of this century.

We do almost similar things day after day. We wake up in the morning (of which l wake up late and find everyone gone) go to work/school, spend three quarters of our day there. Then come back home in the evening around 5-6pm. When we get home, we do the usual 2mins “Evening! Evening how was your day” conversation then after that each and every one of us has his/her eyes on his/her phone, tablet, laptop etc with earphones/headphones plugged in our ears. We only remove those earphones/headphones when it’s time for our favorite series Isidingo, Generations/Muvhango etc. still these series ain’t everyone’s favorite so those who do not like them, maintain their earphones/headphones and they do not even hear a word you say when trying to speak to them.

Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) are good yes, with them life has become much easier but it has taken away one aspect which used to be so key to our society. It has taken away family interactions. In as much as we communicate and stay in touch with people in faraway places, we forget to interact with those close to us because all we think of is our gadgets. I know how boring it gets if your phone is off just for an hour but that particular day, l realised that l was missing out on a lot of things that were happening within my family while l was busy with my phone.

In as much as l hate load shedding, l appreciate it for keeping families together and giving us time to catch up a bit. #ThinkingOutLoud……..

Just because l’m a woman

I find it really crazy and so unnecessary some of the things that women do to impress their so called “hubbies/boyfriends”. Do you know that women use different staff on their private parts just to keep “it” tight because men do not enjoy “it” when its “loose”. It’s all in the name of taking care of the so called husband/boyfriend, doing everything possible to ‘impress’ him so that he does not get tempted to go out there and be with other women. But let me remind you of something, they still go out there and do whatever they want.

Society says it is natural for men to be in relationships with more than one woman but if l dare date more than one man, l’m a bitch. It’s right for a married man to approach and have a relationship with me because all men cheat on their wives, all that matters is that in the end of the day they go back home to them. But if l date a married man, l am a home breaker/destroyer, a girl without self-respect. I get pregnant out of wedlock, l am the bitch that failed to keep her legs closed but nothing is ever said about the man who impregnated me. I get two or three children out of wedlock, no man is willing to marry me but l am expected to accept a man with his train of babies. All the blame is on me at the end of the day, just because l am a woman.

A woman is expected to cook, wash dishes, clean the house and take care of the children. It does not matter either you are working or not. Since l hate washing dishes and cooking, guess what!! that makes me a little less of a real woman and you know what they say, no man can ever marry a woman who is not well trained and good in doing all these things.

It all starts when we are kids. “A girl is not supposed to get dirty”, “when you grow up you will get married and have children with your husband”, “it is normal for a girl to be soft and cry”, “do not climb that tree, girls don’t climb trees”. All these (and many more) are phrases l (and other women out there) have heard since l was a kid. Everyone around me kept on hammering those words until it became part of my blood stream. There is no room for me to decide what l want. The structure of my life was set for me (and any other girl out there) before l was even born.

My friends keep on telling me that l’m in some sort of a growing up stage in which l find myself questioning the does and don’t that the society laid down for me. They believe one day l will meet this supernatural man who will make me change my mind. Maybe they are right, l do not know but what l know is all these dos and don’ts, expectations that the society has for me, just take away my freedom of deciding what l want and how l want to live my life.

Back in the old days, every mother’s dream was to see her little girl maturing into a proper wife material kind of a woman, get married and be docile to that husband whom she has to bear children for. Thank God there has been a slight change in that structure of life and girls have to graduating before getting pregnant. Then pursue the second and greatest achievement which is marriage and having a family.

I remember very well each time we went to our rural home and my mom kept on teaching me all those ekhaya chaos but since l have always been lazy when it comes to hand work, l also kept on complaining. My mom always said: “You have to learn these things my child, you never know where your future husband is going to take you. You might go to ekhaya labo and find yourself forced to do all these things,” with a soft voice trying to make me understand the importance of acquiring vast knowledge about house chaos.  Honestly, it ain’t in me. I do not see the reason why l should do all those things just because l’m a woman.

My grandmother on the other side is always busy with her song “lina bantwana lifuna ngize ngife ngingabonanga abantwabenu (you children you want me to die before seeing your kids”. She says so because in her eyes, we are old enough to have children and establish our own families. At the same time every person around me is asking me if l have met the man l will marry. All this is my reality as a young African woman, reality that l find so hard to cope with. Reality that scares me because everyone around me seems to believe it is the natural way of life. But who defines natural?

Maybe my friends are right, maybe this is just a temporary mind and one day l will find myself accepting this “natural reality” set for me by society and earn the great respect that comes with following the right path. Until that day, remember that l am a human being before being a woman. #ThinkingOutLoud

                                     image  from pinterest Inspiring Women

Where is JUSTICE? Rape!!!

I was reading the chronicle newspaper sometime last week and the front page story that caught my eyes had a big headline “herdsmanimpregnates boss’s daughter; Grade 7 pupil drops out of school; BUT JUDGE LETS HIM GO FREE.” Before even reading the story l was like “what?” a ruthless man impregnates a kid and the judge lets him go free??? Again earlier this week another front page story appeared in the same newspaper which was a follow up on last week’s story, with headline “5-monthspregnant aged 13; BULILIMA ABUSE GIRL TELLS ALL; ‘I didn’t know what l wasdoing’’. The two stories just evoked something in me and l couldn’t resist writing about it.

Just a little background on the issue, what the newspaper reported to have happened is Conscience Nleya impregnated a 13year old child and was arraigned before a magistrate for his offence. He told the magistrate that he was in love with the kid and they had plans of getting married, building a family together. The magistrate decided that a wholly suspended prison term of 12 months on “good behavior” and 315 hours of community service was the suitable sentence for this man.

Honestly speaking l do not see any justice in this, how can a man who does so much evil to a child and literary destroy her future be left to move around the community freely? The magistrate even said it that the uneducated man had destroyed the innocent child’s future yet he gets community service for a sentence.

Children need protection against such heartless men and when an incident like this happens, a harsh message needs to be sent to scare even those who might consider doing the same crime in future. So what are we saying as a society? Are we saying that men can just have 315hours of community service for having sex with a minor? Why is the charge even ‘having sexual intercourse with a minor’ when it did not end there but he impregnated her? Where is justice? Where is protection of girl child?

Poor child her silence was bought with sweets which show just how innocent and childish she was. On the second story the child was telling her side of the story. She said she did not know what she was doing when she had sex with this ruthless man. She even went on to say she was not sure what her aunty meant when she said she might be pregnant. God! This world is full of evil that children needed serious protection against.

I wonder how many kids get raped like this each and every passing day. If this girl hadn’t been pregnant, no one was going to know that she was being abused. Imagine how many girls face this in every corner of the country yet it goes unreported. Innocent children, innocent girls with bright future ahead of them yet someone see a wife in them.

The 13-year-old's father said that no form of punishment can restore his daughter's innocence. It is very true even if the man is sent to prison for 30years, the child's innocence is gone, gone for good and she is left with a child who will alway be a continuous reminder of what she went through. This is so sad

Let us stand up as a community and protect kids, something needs to be done. Parents be friendly with your children so that they will be free enough to tell you when they face this kind of abuse. Children need to be educated at school and at home about sexual abuse and what they should do when people abuse them. These kids are the future, our tomorrow leaders. Let us protect them and protect our tomorrow.

Domestic Tourism in Zim

Staying in a resort town of Victoria Falls has made me question a lot of things about domestic tourism in my country. Was just looking around and interacting with local people wondering if they have ever enjoyed the wonderful activities offered in the resort town. My discovering was that majority have never even went to see the mighty falls.

There are so many activities that the tourism operators offer here in Vic Falls like bungee jumping, helicopter flight, rafting, boat cruise and game driver to mention but a few. But if you just ask around you will discover that majority of people who stay here have never even gone for anyone of those activities.

There few people who come to the resort town for leisure from other places in the country especially from Harare. Tourism operators have stated that Domestic tourists contribute about 5-10% of tourists guest visiting the resort town with the rest 90% being foreigners.

I did my research and discovered that the economic situation in the country is one key reason why the percentage of domestic tourists is low. People in Zimbabwe struggle to earn a decent living for their families. Cry for salary increment has been a song for almost every working Zimbabwean for a long time now especially civil servants. 

Now with the little salary they earn, non of them can ever consider spending it on ‘leisure’ by taking their families and loved ones for holiday to resort towns but rather use it for basic needs. I remember one time my friend asked me how much it was to go for boat cruise and when l said $50 she was like, “Ah that money is enough for my monthly grocery, l rather stay without ever going for boat cruise” this is actually mentality of majority Zimbabweans including me.

However, its not like everyone can not afford these activities and taking their family and loved ones for holiday at resort towns. There are some who actually find time especially during festive season who do go come from different parts of the country and visit Victoria Falls. For instance with this just ended carnival, they were many people from all over the country but still majority were foreigner.

When Zimbabweans visit the resort town and spend days here, just check where they stay, they book at cheap lodges not fancy hotels. Look at them when they are going out for meals, they go to cheap cafes and not fancy restaurants. 

When they decide to go for activities, they don’t partake on high risky activities like bungee jumping and rafting.They rather go for sunset cruise, tour of the south, game drive and crocodile farm tour, with a few going for helicopter flights.

I don’t know what’s with this Zimbabwean mentality but people tend to fear certain activities especially those that take place were there are high volumes of water. They think its too much of a risk and rather not partake in it when they are actually missing the fun that foreign tourists come all the way from far away countries to enjoy.

The other reason l have realized is that Zimbabweans are fans of free staff, they are too stingy to pay for things. I have heard a number of times people asking why they should pay to visit the falls, they believe its our country so we should just go for free. Come on, if it was to be for free then everyone will be going in and out of there on daily bases uncontrolled, just imagine how the place will be. Plus that place need maintenance where is the money going to come from if you don’t want to pay?

Personally l think every individual deserves to enjoy the wonders that our country has to offer, its our country and we are blessed to be having all these things close to us when foreigner have to travel a million miles just to see these wonders. So why not sacrifice just a little once in a while and take your families, friends and loved ones for holiday in resort towns like Victoria Falls and Kariba. Good thing is that tourism operators actually support group travelling as they have packages with discounts for people who do activities as a group. 

Come on Zimbabwean, lets enjoy what God has blessed us with and not hear foreigners talking about the wonderful things in our country which we have never experienced ourselves.

Love is in the air for Big Brother Housemates

Mandlexi at their night out

It seems like the Big Brother house is now a spot of finding love as. What happens in the house does not seem to end in the house. Elikem and Pokello opened the way for other Big Brother Lovers as Mandla and Lexi are now so much in love with each other.

Recently Lexi posted a picture with a shinning diamond ring on her figure soon after Mandla visited her and her family in Cape Town. Now the question that everyone has is, Is that an engagement ring??

When Lexi was still in the Big Brother house, she acted as if she did not care that much about Mandla, surprisingly they are seen to be spending so much time together to the extent of visiting each other's families 

In my own point of view, l think Mandla and Lexi make a cute couple together because relationship is all about understanding each other and knowing what the other person wants.

Mandlexi's fans are shouting out that they want a wedding from the two, l just wonder if it will happen or the ring in Lexi's figure is just meant to show commitment nothing more. People in love can do anything so let us just wait and see what happens between Mandla and Lexi

 

Richard to perform at Harare Reps Theatre

Richard performing on a live show

International stage comedy “My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish and I’m in Therapy!” is coming to Zimbabwe, leading South African actor Michael Richard delivering this hit one-hander show.

The show will have only two performances at Harare’s Reps Theatre, on Friday May 16 and Saturday May 17.

Popularly known from his hilariously funny play of an Italian-Jewish family and the crazy characters who drive the main character into therapy.

The show has toured the world since 2007 and has enjoyed a successful run in South Africa. In this one-man tour de force, Richard has created a range of voices, dialects and sound effects that will make the stories and jokes come alive.

The show is expected to entertain the people of Zimbabwe by making them laugh at every word that comes out of Richard's mouth.

Richard was schooled in Zimbabwe before studying drama at the University of Cape Town. In 1974, he joined PACT as a member of Ken Leach’s famed Arena Company. After playing Hamlet for PACT in 1978, he left the company to become a freelance performer, although he was enticed back as an associate actor for four years in the mid-1980s.

In the 30 years that Richard has been on stage, he has played a variety of roles from Shakespeare to rock-opera; from comedy, tragedy, farce and musicals to several pantomime dames. Other productions include “Othello”, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, “Fangs”, “Laughing Matters”, “Wild Honey”, “Fiddler on the Roof”, “Amadeus”, “Educating Rita”, “Full Circle” and “Ying Tong – A Walk With the Goons”.

Zahara shines in Bulawayo

Zahara performing with a fan

Afro-soul musician Zahara shared the stage with three other female artistes, Cynthia Mare, Sandra Ndebele and Diana Samkage.

During the show, the afro-fusion musician,Mare hogged the limelight with songs from her latest album Songs my mother loved in a tribute to her late mother. With her magnificent force, the crowd could not resist dancing despite the cold

Mare did not disappoint the fans who had been waiting for four hours as she opened with a song Weakness in me by American musician Keisha White which Zahara also performed later on.

Following Mare was Ndebele with her energetic dance routines together with her dancers including professional male soukous dancers, Ndebele sang the song "Sukuma". The audience could not resist to notice the wedding ring she was wearing. This comes as a challenge to other women out there who give up their careers and passions just because they got married.

 Samkange dressed

in attire that bore colours of the Zimbabwean flag, she delightfully entertained the audience with her  mbira playing skills and played the tambourine.

The interesting part was the way in which the audience called out Zahara's name before she could take to the stage.

The award-winning singer, beautifully dressed and with great confidence took to the stage with her band, lighting up the atmosphere.
She sang Incwadi Encane, Loliwe and Umthwalo Wami among other songs from her debut album Loliwe, which proved to be a big success in 2011.

Zahara's music just has a way of touching people's lives and motivating them. Such entertainment is exactly what the city of Bulawayo needed hopefully we will be getting more of this