Imagine a man who was soliciting for change from drivers on the street became an Internet hit and all of a sudden several big companies like MTV, NFL and countless radio stations are now on the hunt for the man’s golden voice.

This an example of a life changing story for man who had spent couple of years on the streets begging. Captured on a video in the streets of Columbus in America Ted Williams narrates his story as former radio announcer who fell on hard times and he is looking for help. When the video was posted on the Internet indeed help did come and overnight Ted has become an Internet star.

I watched Ted’s video on Sky News and ooh God the man does have a voice. He is just one person you would want to wake up early in the morning and listen to on the radio or TV.  With a background of alcohol and drugs some people would have written Ted off but thanks to the help and generosity of others he can now live his dream. By just listening to him you can easily see that he is motivated and he has passion for his work.

With a life-changing story like this happening in America it got me thinking on how much talent we may have over looked here in Zimbabwe. We have people on the streets and some of them are so talented and nobody is taking time to give these people a second chance to live their dreams. Due to different circumstances we have a lot of people in the streets especially in Harare and in most cases it’s not by choice that one ends begging on the streets. If you go down along First Street in Harare right now you will find people begging and some of them end up singing and performing plays so that they can get the attention from the public and get a few dollars so that they can survive. But besides begging we should also look at the talent some of these might have. Some of these people have perfected their begging skill to the extent that one would think that they have been rehearsing.

Who knows, we may wake up one day to hear that the guy who used perform walking on the wire along First Street is featuring on the latest blockbuster movie directed by Steven Spielberg. To a lot of people Ted has proved that in life you don’t have to give up.

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.

The vendor wrapping sheet is distributed monthly by Kubatana in order to promote people who are in the fruit and vegetable vending business and also to promote a culture of reading and information sharing. With a high rate of unemployment especially in Harare some people have turned to fruit and vegetable vending as a means of self-sustenance. A few years ago vending was associated with mostly women because men preferred to work in industry but with the economic crunch that Zimbabwe has been experiencing, men are now also vending.

When I was distributing the vendor wrapper in Greencroft recently, I was made to realize that you have to be innovative and crafty if you want to survive in the vending business in Zimbabwe. Since vegetable vendors trade in small currency and coins, trading has not been easy due to shortage of coins for change. In order to avert this problem vendors in Greencroft have become innovative by introducing a new system to make trading easy. With stiff competition from OK and Spar supermarkets, vendors at a vegetable market in Greencroft have decided to claim a share of the customers through innovative means. Just like any shop in Zimbabwe, supermarkets in Greencroft issue credit notes as change to customers when they run out of coins. These credit notes are then used to buy any product from vegetable vendors trading at a market in Greencroft. When I talked to one of the vendors, she said they started accepting credit notes brought by customers because they have been having problems of coins to give as change and also it’s a way of encouraging customers to buy from them. She went on to explain how the system works, highlighting that when they have collected a certain number of credit notes the vendors then go to the supermarkets where the credit notes were issued from and buy groceries or redeem them and get cash. The vendors said this system only works if the credit notes are from OK or Spar supermarkets in Greencroft.

Most vendors have been complaining about the shortage of coins and some have resorted to selling their products in bulk and round off the amounts to fifty cents or one dollar, popularly known as “dollar for two” or “dollar for ten”.

At a media roundtable discussion on “Constitution in Transition: The Role of the Media“, which was facilitated by Professor Andrew Arato, various issues where discussed with regards to the current constitution making process in Zimbabwe. Various media groups attended the discussion including Kubatana.

Public participation in the on going constitution process is the only way we can have a people driven constitution. People need to understand that a constitution is a document that will be used by future generations. Currently Zimbabwe is using the Lancaster House constitution which has been amended 19 times, so in order to come up with a better constitution than the Lancaster one every Zimbabwean should be given an opportunity to have his/her views heard. On the issue of the role of media in Zimbabwe, I liked Professor Arato’s comments when he said “media as a monitoring tool can help to change behaviour of politicians in the constitution making process”. Media and civil society can play a role in the constitution making process by sensitising the public. I believe a lot needs to be done by media in publishing contributions from different sectors of our society rather than to hear a one sided story, especially from a political party trying to campaign.

Recently in Kenya they had their constitution making process and finally came up with a new constitution.  Social media played a major role. I believe new media can play a significant role in Zimbabwe especially in this era where people can now have access to Internet even on phones. We should not underestimate the power of new media.  Since the 2008 political violence many people in Zimbabwe developed this anti politics stance and a lot still believe that even the current constitution making process is only for politicians. The only way to change this kind of attitude is to raise awareness of the importance of the constitution making process so that there is full participation from every Zimbabwean. Since the consultation process is done we are now entering the collation of the information so that final draft can be produced.  People need to have access to the Lancaster house constitution, the 2000 draft (the one which was rejected), the Kariba draft and the final draft, which will be published soon so that they understand the difference and make decisions that best suit them. The role of media in this process is to ensure information reaches the people so that when we go for referendum no one can say I didn’t know what I was voting for.

Internet fever has gripped so many people in Zimbabwe in the past month. There is now a scramble for those phones that can make one get connected. I’m telling you business is now booming downtown in Harare where cheap phones are found. These phones come in different sizes, shapes and weights. Some are even duped to think that the bigger the phone the faster it can get you on the Internet. On the other side it seems the companies in the business of cell phones services and the Internet are out to make a killing by charging exorbitant prices.

As a means of sharing information and communication, I think the Internet as a medium for communication is good, be it on your phone, laptop and desktop machine at home or work. Since the world is now a global village business transactions are now mostly carried out on the Internet. By just walking around town you can see people with phones in their hands trying to get a feel of the World Wide Web. When my mom heard about the Internet she also wanted to have it on her Nokia 1200.

My biggest worry is not about the Internet charges or how expensive the phones are. It’s about the dangers to children of the Internet on phones. A lot of information can be passed around via the Internet and my recent visit to an Internet café reminded me of this notice which was hanging on the wall advising customers that viewing of illegal sites is prohibited. This automatically struck the back of my mind trying to figure out if companies offering internet service especially to phones have put measures that restrict access to illegal sites and downloading of illegal content from the net.

The Internet can be a wonderful resource for kids. They can use it to research, communicate with each other, and play interactive games. As any comprehensive source of completely uncensored and often times erroneous information, the Internet is not an expert teacher or insoluble source of information. Nor is it really designed for children. The Internet is just another facet of socialization for the new generation; as always, common sense and a level head are the best safeguards but as a responsible parent you wouldn’t expect your 8-year-old kid to be level headed. With hopes of better prospects outside the country, young people may be tempted by online human traffickers. I know after reading this article some people may ask “How safe is the Internet for our children?”  Well the answer to that I am still trying to look for myself because just like my fellow countrymen we are still to appreciate the Internet on our phones.

Research shows that the majority of domestic Internet users in developing countries like India, South Africa, Kenya, Philippines and Pakistan access the Internet from a mobile phone rather than a PC. Zimbabwe as a developing country with over 6 million cell phone users, the chances are that 50% of these users will be accessing information via the Internet. By just looking at these statistics the Internet will be good for communication, business and socializing because imagine someone from Mukumbura reading today’s paper on the phone.  So lets welcome this intervention with open arms and use it to the benefit of our country.