Mbare Report No. 82

FISH THAT DON’T WANT WATER

The mountains of rubbish are growing. Pazarangu Street which runs past Stoddart Hall, a national monument, is at one point half covered with stinking refuse making it difficult for cars and people to pass; now the other lane is beginning to be covered as well. Our young people were organized into a cleaning brigade and began, dressed in new T-shirts and equipped with new shovels, to move the stinking mass, for some days with the help of City Council trucks. Then an aid agency activated adults. They too were given uniforms and tackled the dirt enthusiastically. At the end of it they enjoyed a nice meal of sadza and beef.
The trouble is, you need trucks to remove the garbage from Mbare. Otherwise you merely move it from one place to another, but don’t get rid of it. And more importantly still, people need to do this on their own and make it their own personal concern to keep their environment clean, even if no NGO provides nice shirts and shovels, sadza and beef.
Our archbishop warned in a letter to his flock to be prepared for another drought and hunger. There is no drought, though, in the Zambezi valley. An unemployed member of our parish ( and who is not unemployed?) went to buy dried fish at Cabora Bassa for sale in Mbare. He got very little. There is no sun to dry the fish. It rains incessantly, the roads are water-logged, the busses can’t pass. It took him two weeks to come back, instead of three days.
Everybody tries to buy and sell something. What else can the jobless do? But the competition is getting tough and tougher. Too many go to South Africa to buy electronics or to Botswana for food stuffs and clothing. Who is really producing something and creating real wealth?
She has one child of her own and four left to her by her late sister. Her husband has deserted her. They live on the banks of the Mukuvisi River under some black plastic sheets. Some of the children are sickly and need medication, some need clothing, all need food. We gave her some mealie meal and beans and second-hand baby clothing. Now our volunteers have to go and make a proper assessment of her situation. One of many such cases in their notebook.
Oskar Wermter SJ

News

“For I was hungry and you fed me….” (Mt. 25: 36)

Archbishop Robert C Ndlovu of Harare recalled in his recent Lenten Pastoral Letter the help given through the St Vincent de Paul Society to prisoners in 2009. “The SVP were able to distribute blankets, cooking oil and soap to the eight prisons within the Archdiocese, but outside Harare. The five prisons within Harare were given soap, toiletries, medicines, groceries, maize meal, blankets and clothing. At the same time efforts were made through the SVP, to revive the prison vegetable gardens at Chikuriubi, Mazowe and Rigidita by providing seed, fertilizer, and fuel for tillage and irrigation equipment.”
At the time prisoners were completely neglected by the authorities, many fell ill, an unknown number died of hunger and disease, but many were also rescued by outside help.
Talking about the 2010 Lenten Campaign the Archbishop said, “The prisoners we helped last year continue to be in need, Many people in our society are sick and without support. Many are homeless and naked and lack care. Victims of our national economic situation are many, and constitute the ‘little ones of the Lord’…It is our duty to speak up for them and to sensitize others of their need….When the Lord comes in judgment, let us be found to have taken care of his little brothers and sisters, in as far as we can”.
Warning there might be another drought resulting in a poor harvest and hunger, he asked Catholics to be generous in their contributions to the current Lenten Campaign.

AFCAST presents new book on “Political Participation”

The African Forum for Catholic Social Teaching (AFCAST)which is based at Arrupe College, Mt Pleasant, Harare, invited guests for the launching of their latest book project. On Friday 26 February, Dr David Kaulemu, the director of AFCAST and editor of the book, explained the background of the project: 40 women and men active in various fields, not scholars or intellectuals, were asked to write about how they had experienced political involvement in Zimbabwe. Nearly all responded, only a few dropped out: lawyers, artists, disabled people, youth and women, Justice & Peace workers, etc. After a workshop the contributions started to come in. The value framework was Catholic Social Teaching.
Francisca Mandeya did research with children in Chitungwiza. She told the assembly that for children politics was associated with violence, that is how they experience it. Children feel they do not have a voice, they feel they can’t do anything, for instance when there is a cholera epidemic. There is need for them to be empowered together with their parents, so that both feel less helpless, but can do something about their situation.
Fr Richard Menatsi, director of the Inter-regional Meeting of Bishops of Southern Africa (IMBISA) called the book a tool to bring about change in Zimbabwe. This needs a precise description of the kind of political participation that we need in this country at this moment in time.
Mrs Gertrude Chimange who works for AFCAST and also with the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJ&P) gave the vote of thanks. “Political participation is the aspiration of all citizens; it is their duty to fulfil this aspiration for the common good”. She thanked Misereor, the German Catholic development agency represented by Volker Riehl, the Catholic Association for Overseas Development (CAFOD, British) for supporting the project financially, Arrupe College and its band of Jesuit musicians who provided the entertainment, Mrs Dadirai Chikwekwekwe of AFCAST, and CCJ&P.

From the Introduction: “Participation is a central value of the social teaching of the Catholic Church. It is linked to growth, for people grow physically, intellectually, socially and economically by participating in the activities of their communities and societies. Participation through work or labour is more than just a way of making a living: it is participation and collaboration with God in continuing creation. Hence, to be shut out from participation is to be shut out from life, growth and fulfilment and from collaborating with God in the process of creation. We worked from the assumption that no one has a right to shut out other people from collaborating with God in making the world a better, more just and more peaceful place.”

Readers are invited to visit the website of AFCAST to learn more about this institute. Among others things, all the pastoral letters and statements of the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference are available on this website, starting in the late fifties when the Catholic Bishops’ Conference (then called ‘Rhodesian’) was started.: www.afcast.org.zw.
(Incidentally, if you wish to find the texts of all papal documents [apostolic letters,
encyclicals of the Pope] you go to the Vatican website: www.vatican.va).

Major Religious Superiors Reflect on their Mission

During their Annual General Meeting the superiors of religious societies and congregations in Zimbabwe invited Bishop Kevin Dowling, a Redemptorist from South Africa, to lead reflections on the challenges religious men and women (priests, brothers and sisters) meet in Zimbabwe today, on 24 February at the Dominican Convent Harare.

Quoting often the recent Second African Synod, Bishop Dowling said, “To ‘contemplate’ the gift of God to us now…calls for an ability to be quiet and still. …We are called to participate in the transformation of life…to a change of mentality…
We live in a world full of contradictions and deep crisis. Science and technology are making giant strides….yet tragic situations of refugees, abject poverty, disease and hunger are still killing thousands on a daily basis. ……In all this, Africa is the most hit. …(This is due to) people who have no regard for the common good…through a criminal conspiracy of local leaders and foreign interests.
Local Churches (should) intensify …the spiritual care of people in public office….
Many Catholics in high office have fallen woefully short in their performance in office. The Synod [of African Bishops in Rome, October 2009] calls on such people to repent, or quit the public arena and stop causing havoc to the people and giving the Catholic Church a bad name.”
“The Vow of Celibacy is a witness against the prevailing culture of the use and abuse – indeed exploitation – of people and especially women…The Vow of Poverty is a witness…against the awful social sin of excessive wealth for the few and extreme and degrading poverty for the billions, and the appalling consequences this has for the planet, whole communities and individual people/families. The witness of this vow is also to a simple life-style, and ethic of seeking ‘just enough’…and a corresponding commitment to sharing the gift we are and the gifts and resources we have…The heart of our Vow of Obedience is listening in order to discern what God is calling us to be and do. (We must be) living/working interdependently. …Everyone has gifts and skills which can be integrated into the quest for the common good.”

On the same occasion Fr Robert Igo OSB, prior of the Benedictine Monastery Christ the Word, Monte Cassino, presented his new book, WINDOW INTO HOPE, An Invitation to Faith in the Context of HIV and AIDS, in the presence and with the support of Archbishop Robert Christopher Ndlovu of Harare (Ehaia Series, WCC Publications, World Council of Churches, Geneva, Switzerland, 2009, 251 pp. www.oikumene.org).
“While recognizing that there are a number of ways of contracting the HI virus, it has to be admitted that in those parts of the world where prevalence levels are highest the dominant root of transmission is through sexual intercourse. Therefore it would seem an imperative for people of faith to explore openly the real meaning of our sexual identity in order to reawaken our sense of awe of this wondrous gift of life. Finally we need to pay attention and not lose sight of the spiritual support and care that we can give to all infected and affected, through the Word of God, prayer and a ministry of healing and listening. As Christians we have authentic spiritual tools, which can help us to offer courageously to others real hope so that together we can embark on the journey of living positively with determination” (From the Introduction).

Religious Formation

WADZANAI TRAINING CENTRE

“If I could be of any service in saving souls in any part of the globe, I would willingly do all in my power.” These are the words of Nano Nagle, who founded the Presentation Sisters in Ireland on Christmas Eve 1775. During her lifetime education was denied to catholic children so Nano opened schools secretly where basic education and Christian values were taught. In 1978 in Zimbabwe the Presentation Sisters demonstrated the same spirit when they made part of St. Michael’s Preparatory School available for local sisters to further their academic education as well as pastoral and practical skills. Thus began Wadzanai Training Centre. Literacy classes were offered to local people and this gradually developed into the Night School. Crowds came looking for assistance in completing their primary education and most succeeded in obtaining Grade 7 certificates. Many went on to ZJC. As secondary schools opened and places became more easily available enrolment decreased and, eventually, the Night School closed. However, dressmaking classes continued and many women, through it, found a future for themselves and their families.

In the mid- eighties Wadzanai began catechetical training. The course incorporated many teaching skills including microteaching. A video library was equipped and officially opened in October 1989. The 1990’s brought a new development. Wadzanai requested and was granted associate status with the University of Zimbabwe, through the Department of Religious Studies, Classics and Philosophy. The two-year course enabled students to study for a diploma in Religious Studies with the University. The following is a quotation from a past pupil, “Coming from a very poor family I was not sure whether I could continue with my education. I had always dreamt of going to University but like most dreams I knew my chances of ever reaching there were remote. In Wadzanai we were helped spiritually through prayer and small Christian community experiences. The community was very united and everyone was ready to help. I discovered that I was part of the universal family of God. I was wanted and suddenly my life had a meaning. Although it had always been my intention to learn and be a teacher, at Wadzanai I discovered that I would be more than a mere teacher. I would be a teacher in God’s mission. The teaching would be coming from my heart as part of myself, a part I would want to share with others because it came not from me but from SOMEONE.”

Today Wadzanai continues to prepare students for a diploma in Religious Studies with the University of Zimbabwe. In addition catechetical training is provided. Catholic Social Teaching is an important part of the programme. Small Christian Community groups and liturgical involvement support students’ spiritual development.

Without the support of many other religious congregations and many generous donors Wadzanai would never have been a reality. As Dom Helder Camara writes, “When we are dreaming alone it is only a dream; when we are dreaming with others it is a beginning of reality.”

If you are interested in being part of this dream contact:
The Director,
Wadzanai Training Centre,
P/Bag 6205 Borrowdale,
Harare.

Tel: 870244
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Our next intake is August 2010.

Book Review
How Mugabe Defied the Winds of Change
Defying the Winds of Change, Zimbabwe’s 2008 elections, E.V Masunungure, 2009,Weaver Press, Harare

Reviewed by Gift Mambipiri
2008 goes down as the year when President Robert Mugabe should have bid good-bye to the state presidency and all the comforts that come with being a Head of State. His exit strategy was clearly worked out by a combination of factors as Zimbabweans went to the polls. His imminent departure from State house was given a big boost by the results of the 29 March 2008 harmonised elections that confirmed he had become unpopular with the electorate. But foxy Mugabe staged what goes down as the most dramatic and bloody campaigns to forestall the change that was almost palpable when people first voted in the harmonised elections of March 2008.
The harmonised elections of March 2008, hailed by many observer missions as largely free and fair, and the result as a true reflection of people’s choices had given Morgan Tsvangirai and his Movement for Democratic Change majority votes. But the presidential election result, kept a secret for four weeks by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, showed there was no clear winner for the presidency with a clear majority hence there had to be a run off pitting the top two candidates – Morgan Tsvangirai and Robert Mugabe.
And this book is about how Mugabe cruelly turned the tide, against all known electoral conventions – local and international – to ‘win’ back the presidency with a landslide.
Mugabe must have felt a sense of grievous personal loss and humiliation and his power base – the military/security establishment – also got angry on his behalf once the initial results showed he was losing. The loss had to be avenged, and those who had caused it – the MDC in particular and the voters in general – had to be ‘disciplined’ for their ‘delinquent’ conduct on 29 March 2008
The strategy first centred on the media. Andrew Moyse, director of the Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe, believes all the evil we saw in the media in the period between harmonised elections and the presidential run-off had its roots in the period just after the 2000 referendum. “In many ways the constitutional referendum of 2000 defined the nature of today’s media landscape (43)”. Civil society and the independent press had joined forces to counter the propaganda that came from the government-controlled media that was campaigning for the draft constitution. The result was a rejection of the draft constitution, and by extension the rejection of ZANU (PF) and its tired policies.

In response, “a host of blatantly unconstitutional and repressive laws were enacted that effectively emasculated the independent media and deprived the nation of its rights to freedom of expression...(44)” At least four newspapers were closed under these harsh laws and scores of journalists harassed, arrested, detained and thrown out of work. One was even murdered! (44)
Despite the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation’s (ZBC’s) publicised promise that it would abide by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission’s (ZEC) media regulations that demanded fair, equitable and balanced coverage of contestants at least 21 days before the 29 March 2008 election, its coverage of contesting parties showed a complete disregard for these provisions. Instead, the political leadership and journalists working for state media “employed unacceptably offensive, false and intolerant language,” first to persuade the electorate not to vote for people and parties opposing ZANU (PF) and then to threaten them particularly in the presidential run-off.(54).
Before the run-off election, “contrary to media regulations, the MDC was denied all access to the government media and the daily hate campaign ...against its presidential candidate became a tidal wave of venomous insults, threats and false allegations.” (52)
The propaganda line was the same in all state media outlets: the opposition were “puppets of the British whose intentions were to resist the land reforms and surreptitiously ‘recolonize’ Zimbabwe’ (53).
The media campaign was not enough for Mugabe to forestall the winds of change pronounced with the results of the harmonised elections. With the state media covering his back in those elections, he still came second to Morgan Tsvangirai. The risk was great and there had to be another strategy – bringing in the military and the security factor into the whole election and this surely did the trick. Eldred Masunungure, a political scientist believed the force behind the militarised election of June 27 was the Joint Operations Command (JOC), a military/security body comprising heads of security organs, which “decided within days of the (29 March) election to deploy a strategy of delay and violence in order to hold on to the all-important executive” (81).
President Mugabe has always relied on two centres of authority – the ruling party and the security forces. It is these two that have always fought elections for him but always their visibility and significance differed fundamentally between them. In the run up to the 29 March election, it was the party – as was the case in previous election – that played a critical and prominent role in the campaign while the military and other security branches played a subdued role, more rhetorical than physical (83). But unlike the pre – 29 March period, “the campaign afterwards was a visibly militarised one. The security forces, rather than the ruling party, were in the forefront, spearheading the march to the 27 June run-off “( 83).
Mugabe himself had set the tone for this, declaring first to his politiburo the party needed warlike strategies (83) and then at a rally: “We fought for this country, and a lot of blood was shed. We are not going to give up our country because of a mere X. How can a ballpoint fight with a gun “(84).
The brutal campaign that followed was code named CIBD, an acronym for Coercion, Intimidation, Beating, and Displacement (87). The vicious campaign also included torture, arson, kidnapping and murder of opposition supporters. This bloody crackdown was reportedly orchestrated and systematically executed by soldiers, police, state security agents, ZANU (PF) militia, and veterans of the liberation war.
The Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace graphically captured some aspects of the pre-election violence cited in this book: “People are being force-marched to political re-orientation meetings and are told that they voted ‘wrongly’ in the presidential poll on 29 March 2008 and that on 27 June 2008, they will be given the last opportunity to ‘correct’ their mistake, else the full-scale shooting war of the 1970’s will resume “ (89).
The result was Tsvangirai’s withdrawal from the run-off five days from the polling day and the subsequent one-man race that had Mugabe winning resoundingly. Between March and June, he had managed to turn a 43.5% popularity to more than 85%.
Even the hand-picked international observers who covered the elections were united in their judgement: “The elections did not represent the will of the people of Zimbabwe”(95).
Reading this book really brought back the sad memories of 2008. The extensive citations and hard work put into it by many Zimbabweans makes it to me so far the best graphical and analytical tool ever produced of the monster that tore our society two years ago apart , and from which we are still struggling to recover.