Human and Community Development

It is amazing how as a generation we have mastered the art of disguise. Scientists who believe in evolution say as species evolve they learn more sophisticated skills of survival. Human beings we have learnt many things but that which I find intriguing for me is how we have learnt to balance incongruence between the inner feeling and one’s behavior. Perhaps we lean this from our childhood era when we are told to deny food from neibhours and strangers. Regardles s of how hungry we were as children, when invited by our neibhours to a meal, would slide our tongue swiftly and proficiently not to be noticed and put up a genuine- like smile and speak with confidence, “Thank you sir but am full, just had something before I came”. Over the years of our growth we master the art and express it in other spheres, generally meaning, having developed adults with strongly deceiving capabilities. So here we are, and I am sadly one of you – the generation of today. We can say thank you and plaster it ...

There are numerous social constructs which we do preserve, which no longer save us as a people. I argue that conservatives are significant to our development and they bring a necessary check to the radicals, presenting a health state of balance to our progression as a people. But . . .some social constructs are no longer relevant to our contemporary cultures. Wife inheritance is primitive, choosing a spouse for a son or a daughter is primitive  and the thought that educating a girl child is useless because she gets married away is disgusting. It’s not only the norms of the 'yesteryears’ which I question, even the contemporary norms which we are constructing as a society are questionable. Remote parenting is inhuman yet we all embrace it particularly because the parents are in Uk, USA, SA and they can send some money. Normalizing extra-lessons is wrong when the formal lessons can be done well and fully equip a child. Normalizing corruption is wrong whether or not it gets your work ...

Years ago I went to Ireland with a group of Olympians. It was an eye opening experience which taught me several lessons. One of them is to respect every profession. I met policemen, cleaners, waste collectors, firefighters, teachers and gardeners. All of them had one thing in common. They had high regards for their professions and citizens appreciated their contribution to the society. There was a shared respect which was p rofound and prominent. They seemed to understand that every person was a complementary piece of a jigsaw puzzle. I find it as a missing link in our contemporary Zimbabwe, we don’t hold every profession with such dignity. If one’s child says when I grow up, I want to be a waste collector, the parent will definitely ground the child if not giving him or her 2 or so lashes. So the socialization of not appreciating some professions is instilled in children from a tender age. Yet every profession is important. What is worse is the attitude which the professionals themse...

Very often we work up feeling ok but the moment we watch the morning news we get our minds and hearts saddened. 80% of what is on our news stations is sad news, a suicide bomb in Iraq, a train accident in London, a plane crash in the Indian waters, children kidnapped in Nigeria or a gun man kills 5 students at a kindergarten school. At some point I made it a habit to watch news way into the day so as to start the day with a cheerful mood. It is a shared saying that a tragic story makes a good news story. From a bird’s view, it appears as if there is nothing good happening in the world. Well it is a fallacy, there is a lot of good in the world and you can add efforts to what is there. There are people who still give their clothes and shoes to the poor. People who still welcome strangers and give food and a bed to sleep. People who still visit the sick in hospitals. The good fire of Ubuntu still burns and you can contribute to it too by doing a good deed. It’s only through that will we c...

Everyone is born with an inherent good. Although the desire to do good may differ from one person to the other, everyone has that wealth of goodness. One only needs to tap into his or her inner core to discover the common good which we all share. However, this unique gift can be buried deep down our inner core by circumstances, perhaps the way we were socialized, perhaps through the life hardships, perhaps through loss (of loved ones or anything we hold dear).   Like a well which people start dumping rubbish into. Slowly it fills up with rubbish but that does not mean the water at the bottom vanishes. When one is bold enough to start removing the rubbish, he or she will eventually rediscover the water. In natural fact, it never left the well. This is the same with the common good. It never leaves us. It may get buried due to our experiences, our desire for power or when we stop believing in ourselves but but it remains there. It is that good which enables us to look into another p...

We are living in a world where our intellect rules our behavior. It is a game of logic and facts. Empiricism is key preferred mode of operation. Every cent has to be calculated and spend in a logical way. Every relationship has to have an intellectually reciprocal benefit. There are common sayings that speak to the logic of the reciprocal benefit such as a “Good turn deserves another”, (Kandiro kanoenda kunobva kamwe). But there, that’s where we lose it. We are dwelling on our intellect too much. Our humanity is not built on logic. No matter how reasonable and empirically sound logic is. The fibers that knit our being come from the heart. We need to understand the profoundness of love. Of being in a relationship where there is no mutual benefit yet find within oneself enough love to continue. To learn that you can continuously give Good turns without expecting returns. Perhaps rewriting the old sayings, “a Good turn is not done in expectation of another”, (Kandiro kanongoenda nyangwe...

Our socialization exalts being first in life as if being last means you are less of a human being. Very often we encourage our children to be number ones in everything. That is not wrong, it’s a necessary stimuli for pursuance of excellence in creativity and growth however the encouragement has to be done with the realization that it does not qualify the dignity of a human being. It is sad to note that this maladjusted contemporary culture is ex tended to those with handicaps. In many cases we exalt our physical and intellectual competences as if to be differently gifted means you are not a full person. Some may doubt whether it is necessary for people with intellectual disabilities to have decent schools, scholarships or compete in the Olympics. This is even more reflected in the allocation of resources to those who are differently gifted, from the national budget to local government distribution and management of resources. Worse! Even in families, people with handicaps’ interests a...

Surely a name does not define who we are. Names are just labels. If we change your name to John, does it change you. Our physical bodies do not define who we are. If I wake up tomorrow without limbs do I become another person. There has to be something more profound that defines who we are as a people. Something more powerful than names or physical appearances that define us, you. Something that transcend times. Perhaps its not just me who sometimes struggles in redefining myself or us as a people. Perhaps others in their simplicity find it easy going to do so. For some giving themselves a moment to reflect on these profound questions is a waste of time. But is it not true that we become neither hot nor cold and be poured away because we don’t know whether to be hot or cold. We don’t know our identity. Is it not so that then we can be hostile when others are hostile and be welcoming when other are welcoming because we don’t have that which defines how we should pursue life. Recently s...

To be human is to be selfless. To think not of yourself but others. To find value in the collectiveness of our existence. When we discover the treasure of communion and embrace it in our daily existence, we experience that which makes us human. At the core of collectiveness there is sharing. We journey together sharing our experiences of love, pain, of being in need and of giving. Christ in his efforts to help us understand this concept he gathered them (disciples) and he said, “do this to remember me”. There are theological explanations to this happening but perhaps in simpler terms he meant to remind them to share as a community. To discover that which is beyond the cup they share but rather the greater purpose of being human. Of loving one another, trusting each other to a point of sharing a drink together. That’s being human.  Often we are hindered by our self-driven egocentric ambitions forgetting that we were never meant to exist alone. Please find someone to share something...

I know that sounds weird. One should not ask, but hei there are complex perspectives to age. Its easy for people to say we are 35 because we are looking at the chronological age . It is the age we get when we simply count accumulating years. .. but do we not miss the other perspectives to age. The Psychological age for instance. Where we look at how a person is mature intellectually, enveloping the feelings and emotions. I’m sure there are some people who are 35 but you would wonder from how they reason whether psychologically there are 3yrs or 10yrs old. Reflecting at violence in SA, it would remind me of 3 year olds fighting about the colours of the similar toys they have. Then there is the Sociological Age . How someone has matured in how he or she relates with others. This is critical because we are relational beings. Some people no matter how many years they have accumulated, remain underdeveloped on the Sociological Age. Physiological Age , we are looking at the physical growt...

Bonny Woodman a remarkable lady who transformed many through her work with people with intellectual disabilities commented on my previous post. She reminds me of the openness of the heart which people with intellectual disabilities have. The yawning to welcome everyone in their space and genuinely share their gifts. Through Bonny's efforts, Zimbabwe has shared her gifts of sports talented people with mental retardation with the world. Special Olympics Zimbabwe sent representatives to almost all International Special Olympics Events even when times were hard in Zimbabwe. But the greatest lesson we learn particularly in relation to the recent developments in South Africa, is the need to borrow a page from people with intellectual disabilities. Jean Vanier recognizes that they are not disabled but have a special gift to mankind which we can all tap into and learn to be human. Perhaps what we call disability is in a profound way, a disposition towards openness of the heart which the wo...

It is disheartening to reflect on what is happening in South Africa. What kind of a man can do such a thing to a fellow human being? Its so sad that, as we embrace our generation as the generation of enlightenment, we still find huge pockets of primitive aggravation among us. Our civilization as a people has missed on one key area. The civilization of the heart. We have become sophisticated in all spheres of our lives yet remaining primitive in our inner being. Although our faces are iphones, ipads, lcd TVs, our hearts are still holding spears, bows and arrows. Until we learn to appreciate the transformation of the heart, the knowledge that we can only become when we acknowledge that we are relational beings. Our fulfillment in life is the embracing or our core existence as a process towards becoming fuller beings. South Africa please think with your Heart.