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...