Grace Mutandwa

We do have some happy occasions

Over the past few months, some people have asked me if life is always as grim as I paint it in my blogs. "Are all Zimbabweans drowning in sorrow,?" they ask.

We do live  a confused and at times chaotic life but we also have some happy occasions. We celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, New Year and Easter. We also go to fairs.

In the past four weeks I have attended the first ever  Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) sports day, a suburban fair and a fundraising fair for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA). I have also watched rugby, tennis and cricket on television. Yes in the midst of all the chaos, we manage to sneak in some normal and fun days.

I also watched the whole two hours of the American pop star Michael Jackson's memorial. My teenage daughter was amused by the overwhelming emotions I displayed during the specialbroadcast. When tears rolled down my cheeks as the king of pop's daughter spoke, my daughter shook her head in disbelief. Michael was an institution, an amazing entertainer.

Earlier last month seeing Zimbabwe's terrorised civil society get together for a day offun and games was quite emotional for me. It made me realise just how much fun life could be if we lived in a normal country. Yes there is an inclusive government in place but most of the time we the common people, are left confused about just how inclusive the government
is willing to be.

Zimbabweans are a resilient people. We get trampled on by our political leadership and groan, nurse our aches, get up, dust ourselves and get on with the business of survival. When a small window of opportunity presents itself to relax we seize on it with gusto.

Most Zimbabweans love entertaining. When money permits there are parties galore and barbecues are a special favourite. In summer we like to invite friends over for drinks and a barbecue. We love life.

Over the past month I have noticed that we have also become "war weary" and the revolution is no longer the main subject of discussion at gatherings. We have started talking about plants, going on holidays and dancing again. We are slowly beginning to reclaim a bit of our lives before the political brutality since 2000.

Musical bands have started drawing huge crowds of revellers once again.The arts world is slowly awakening. Every week now there are venues hosting poetry slams or offering budding artists the opportunity to showcase their varied talent.

We still do not know what tomorrow holds for us but we all know that we certainly can not afford to go back to the way things were last June. We know that even as we fight and differon the constitution we would like to have, we have no choice but make life better for ourchildren and grandchildren. We have to get the spark back into our lives again.

Posted at 14:37 17 July 2009 by Grace Mutandwa  |  Comments[3]