I started laying the spiral in the clean white sand in the early morning
Flat, damp, rust-coloured, woody  pods
from the Miombo woodland floor
‘Mmmm, so Munondo pods are flat and Musasa pods curl’
(deduction)
When I returned at mid morning, something had happened that I had never understood before
(after many, many  years of thinking I was watching)
the pods had all curled back to their well-know, spiral-shape in the drying sun
(of course)

Sonia didn’t sleep that night
at 5 the next morning she went out in the first slanting rays of dawn
to lay the spiral
collecting flat, damp, rust-coloured, woody pods
from the newly wet Miombo woodland floor

someone else came by later
and laid a circle of small Munondo seeds in the centre
Future Trees of Life

Jane passed by at mid morning
and paused in astonishment
there, in the centre of the circle of seeds
in the centre of the spiral of pods
was a small chongololo
curled in a perfect spiral.
She calls us all to come and look,
and as we arrive,
another chongololo trundles up

‘is he attacking her?’ Jane asks worriedly
‘no – they are mating’

at least they think there is a future to take care of!

‘the pods have curled’ noted Sonia

later that day we sit around the spiral
12 ordinary people
and speak of our vision for the future

Qalani walks to the centre
and he lays Nyamaropa seeds
around the Munondo seeds
marking the agreements that hold us together

‘this is the yolk’ he says pointing to the middle
‘the yellow stuff at the centre of an egg
It is held in place by the agreements
respect, love, truth speaking, deep listening…
the albumen which feeds the yolk
and around it is the shell
us
guardians, protecting the birthing of this new life

but one day soon
this egg will hatch
for it is time for the bird to fly’

silently, we walk the spiral
placing our vision in the  centre

12 ordinary people
who have the audacity to hope

In late November, the Tree of Life (the healing and empowerment ones!) met for two and a half days to look back on the last year.

It has been a challenge – both with resources, and with difficulties on the ground – but we have done it!

Amazing, courageous work with expanding circles touching and healing peoples’ lives.

It was time to look at ourselves:
What impact has this had on us?
where have we lost our own power?
lost our courage?
felt the stress of responsibility?
where we were up to, and where we were going?

for we have come to a new reality
when there is no one left to blame
no one in charge who we can rely on to look after our rights
and we are drawn by invisible threads into the same circle
nurturing this seed of healing, at the centre, into being

there is a point when we can choose to change and grow
when we move from hierarchy and patriarchy and matriarchy and the fear of authority
and the passive, disempowering comfort of being looked after

and we stand at the edge of the circle
learning to be our true selves.

there is talk of the great turning
of holonic shift
when the force of our intention moves from one that is against something
to a new sense of working together
when we have nothing to trust but a communal truth
and the agreements at the centre of the circle
binding us together
to birth a new vision

there is a point when we choose to change and grow
rather than stay and nurture the old ways that no longer serve

for connected into the circle of our common intention
we each have a path to follow
different responsibilities to carry
different dreams to dream

“To all the celebrities – let’s lead the way. Let’s show everybody this is the way life is supposed to be lived.”  These are the words of renowned urban grooves musician, Alexio Kawara’s and they couldn’t be truer.

Researchers say that human beings learn about the world and decide on their values and behaviour by watching others. Logically, people are likely to imitate the behaviour that they associate with success, or successful people and often celebrities are seen as such.

When celebrities are thrust into the public eye, not only their talents, but also every aspect of their behaviour comes under scrutiny.  It is not by choice that celebrities enlist to mould the minds of an entire population; yet being a role model is something that comes with the job, like fame, recognition and $300,000.  Thus, Alexio along with other local and international celebrities, have the power to influence the public by their behaviour…or misbehaviour.

Alexio was speaking at an occasion jointly hosted by the US Embassy and PSI’s New Africa House HIV Centre.  He was one of seven youth celebrities who accepted an invitation to be publicly tested for HIV with Ambassador, Charles Ray.

Alexio went on to say: “We [celebrities] have mistakes and we have temptations. I think our temptations are at a higher level than the other temptations, especially in an industry where you are in the limelight and every lady wants to say something to you and every guy wants to say something to you and to you too.”

This points to the reality that, despite their vast influence, celebrities may not be the best choice for instilling moral values, especially when their ‘mistakes’ and surrender to ‘temptations’ are broadcast and published far and wide.

However, while celebrities cannot control the type of media attention they receive, they can control some things that are made public about them.  And it is highly admirable when they choose to use their fame to achieve something good and meaningful.  That is exactly what Alexio and his counterparts did to commemorate World AIDS Day.  They underwent HIV counselling and testing, observed by members of the media, to encourage young people to know their HIV status.

Reading from transcripts compiled at the occasion by the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy Harare, it was commendable to see that these young Zimbabwean celebrities were mindful of their responsibilities as role models.

Big Brother contestant and star of the film ‘Lobola’, Munyaradzi Chidzonga addressed the youth specifically when he spoke at the occasion.

“… I really think as young people we need to start talking about the things that we talk about behind closed doors. This needs to be opened up because, believe it or not, in our generation, it is dangerous to have sex because there are a lot of things that could go terribly wrong.”

Desmond Maringwa, midfielder with Dynamos Football shed light on HIV/AIDS on the local soccer scene.

“I am the President of the Footballers Union of Zimbabwe. We have got a project that we want to do about soccer players as well. We have seen so many have gone the way of HIV and died. Nobody wanted to come forward and do something like this (getting tested). Maybe I am the first one, and I am proud of myself.”

The power of knowing one’s status was musician Edith Katiji’s emphasis.

“In the sort of life that we are living- I was listening to the radio the other day- children as early as 12 are getting sexually active… It might happen due to peer pressure, it might happen through abuse, but what is important is for you to know your status because then you are able to make the decision as to where and how you are going to live your life, how you are going to take care of yourself, or how you are going to plan for what’s ahead.”

For their participation at this World AIDS Day event, I was impressed by the tremendous courage and dutifulness of Edith Katiji, Alexio Kawara, Munyaradzi Chidzonga, Desmond Maringwa and fellow Dynamos Football Club team-mate Washington Arubi, Norman Maroto of Gunners Football Club and television personality, Rumbidzai Mugwira.  It is difficult to live your life in a glass bowl and to never put a foot wrong while you are doing it. But once in a while celebrity can be used to achieve something good for other people and on this occasion I applaud these seven who did just that.

As part of their work in addressing corruption in Zimbabwe, Transparency International Zimbabwe is currently working to promote the ALAC initiative. ALAC (Advocacy and Legal Advice Centre) is an anti-corruption initiative that provides free legal aid services to victims and witnesses of corruption. The initiative seeks to empower citizens to demand accountability and transparency.

Presently ALAC has a mobile legal aid team to assist members of the public to make their reports in confidence. Their mobile unit will be at the corner of First Street and George Silundika Ave in Harare every Friday between 9am and 12pm.

Their offices are located at No. 99 Central Avenue Cnr 8th Street Harare.

They may also be contacted via phone on the toll free number 0800 4276 or email on alac [at] transparency [dot] org [dot] zw.

Transparency International Zimbabwe will also be conducting a march on anti-corruption day 11 December 2010, starting at 8am. The march will be from Julius Nyerere to Africa Unity Square. Please keep checking this blog, or Kubatana’s email newsletter for more information. To subscribe to the Kubatana email newsletter email join [at] kubatana [dot] net.

It is that time of the year when families that had been separated for various reasons come back and celebrate Christmas and New Year as a family. Like most people Christmas time is the time when I want to be with my family enjoying the long missed mom’s Christmas recipes. Every parent wants to be with his/her children during this time of the year. This time of the year reminds of the long trips I used to take a few years ago going to down South Africa or Botswana to buy groceries and goodies for Christmas. If you did not experience this time maybe you were not in Zimbabwe during that time or you were okay (sic). I never enjoyed the travelling but I had to do it so that I could enjoy Christmas.

To those in the transport sector that’s when it will be all smiles because its time to make a killing from those poor guys coming back home to meet loved ones. At least this year there won’t be much money to make since some of the basic products are now back in the shops. When the Home Affairs department went down to South Africa to issue travel documents a lot of noise was made about the process but after chatting with my friend who is in South Africa he said some only got promises of getting the papers in December. With the South Immigration singing the deportation chorus, and here it is the chorus of elections next year, it’s now a situation of being caught between a rock and hard place that is if you are Zimbabwean without a permit and a passport in South Africa.

The exodus of Zimbabweans to the Diaspora in the past few years is mainly due to political and economic challenges and many hoped that things would get better after the signing of the GPA. Last week I passed through Road Port in town to collect a parcel from my cousin in South Africa. At first I thought of how I was going to carry the parcel home because in my mind I was thinking of a big parcel. A year ago when you received something from SA you had to go with a taxi because it had every basic product in it. So when I met this guy (Malaicha) who had brought the package I was shocked to get a sealed khaki envelope. I asked, “Is that all?”  He replied, “Spend it wisely, it was hard earned”.  After reading the postcard that was in the envelope, my aunt was not happy because my cousin had written saying he had decided to stay behind until he gets a work permit before the deadline. I said to my aunt, “You should be happy because at least he sent you cash for Christmas.”  But still, she was not happy.

The reason I later got from my aunt was she didn’t want money but to see if my cousin is in good health. My cousin left Zimbabwe during the peak period of the election fever of 2008. I guess with a postcard stuck on the fridge door she will know that her son is alive and she will go to church on Christmas day and give praise to the Lord.

Kubatana recently received a donation of rubber shoes, plates and cups for a charity drive we were doing to give prisoners some of the basic necessities they were lacking.

It has been over a year since the SABC’s unauthorised documentary about Zimbabwe’s prison conditions aired. Of course when it did, we were all suitably outraged. In response to the public outcry, after numerous letters written to the media and a good salting of international pressure, the President issued an order of clemency in September 2009, which saw the release of 2500 prisoners from Zimbabwe’s congested jails. But a year later that outrage has been translated into very little change in those prisons. In fact, it seems as though enough time has passed for us not to really take notice of it anymore.

More recently, Associated Press reported on the case of a man who appeared in court with his intestines hanging out of his abdomen. The injury was caused when he was shot in the stomach as police tried to arrest him. This report not only reflected badly on the prison services but also the public healthcare services as well. The man had been take to hospital twice during his two month stay in prison, and had returned both times without having been treated.

This morning at a press conference about another outrageous dereliction of duty by government, Amnesty International’s Simeon Mawanza said “the people of Zimbabwe are free to hold their government accountable for its failures.” It is not only up to the government to do something; it is up to individuals, citizens to show and remind the government, even if it is a bad one, of where it is failing it’s people. Our situation will only become hopeless when we give up on ourselves.

As citizens it is our duty to ensure that the lives of prisoners, even those who commit heinous crimes are respected. In this instance our hands are not tied, there is no rigging and there are no threats that prevent ordinary people from doing something.