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Day of African Child commemorations
Heal Zimbabwe Trust
June 16, 2010

"If we are to teach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with the children". Mohandas Ghandi

Whose Duty is it to take care of those Left behind, the aftermath of Political Tension: "Planning and Budgeting for Children, Our Collective Responsibility"

The Day of the African Child embodies and captures the human spirit's determined quest for emancipation from deprivation and persecution. It epitomises how the energies and zeal of the young people of Africa can be channelled towards the creation of a just society. The day was borne out of the 1976 Soweto Uprising which saw thousands of students in Soweto rising against the imposition of the Afrikaans language on all students by the apartheid regime. The students took it upon themselves to protect themselves from repressive and ill fated learning and living conditions.

The cries and expectations of the African Child in 1976 in Soweto echo and reverberate in the Zambezi valley in Muzarabani district where 22 people were killed in the post 29 March 2008 harmonised elections. These are Zimbabweans who were maimed by fellow country men at the instigation of some traditional Chiefs and Members of Parliament who are supposed to be the custodian of all values. In all this, it is the African child who is used as both weapon and victim of political violence. It is the African child, from a poor family background who enrols at youth training camps in the hope of eventually getting employment but is taught hate and stuffed with anger under the guise of patriotism. It is that same African child who is drugged and instructed to insult, assault and rape the elderly in his/her community under the camouflage of political education. This is against the very definition and distinction of what is African (respect for elders and the concept of communal parentage).

It is the African child who witnesses his/her parents being assaulted to death for thinking differently and watches in fear as the law stands motionless and the perpetrator, who himself is a victim, threatens further violence. This African child will inadvertently drop out of school and wait upon his turn to vent his anger and vengeance upon the world. This unfairly disadvantaged African child will have to one day compete for opportunities with her generation from the other four continents.

Child headed Families: A case of Thenjiwe Kachuwaire

Thenjiwe Kachuwaire's parents were publicly murdered at a political base in Muzarabani in 2008. Thenjiwe is 15 years old and lives with her grandparents who are too old and frail to fend for her and her two siblings. She has dropped out of school. Thenjiwe is now the family head and is struggling to take care of her family's needs. The girl child is exposed to unwarranted sexual abuse and victimisation from members of the community and in some instances, close relatives. From a survey carried by the organisation, 20% of the families are child headed as a result of the violence that haunted the district. The delay by the Government to spearhead the national healing process further exacerbate the suffering of innocent children especially the girl child. If the Zimbabwean child is to compete with her peers she has to be protected by the law.

Zimbabwe is a signatory to the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC) and little has been done by the Government in taking care of these most vulnerable members of the society. The children have a right to education, shelter, health, food security; social security. ACRWC acknowledges that children are entitled to the enjoyment of freedom of expression, association, peaceful assembly, thought, religion and conscience. The Government should fulfill its obligations of guaranteeing and safeguarding the child against all forms of economic exploitation and against work that is hazardous, interferes with the child's education, or compromises his or her health or physical, social, mental, spiritual, and moral development. Children like Thenjiwe are neither guaranteed nor safeguarded against these forms.

School Drop outs: The case of Tawanda Chapendeka

From the statistics released by the Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture, the highest number of students who failed to register for the Ordinary and Advanced level examinations are from the rural areas (76%) and some of them lost their families during the political violence and little had been done to ensure that these children have access to basic and quality education. One peculiar case recorded in Muzarabani district is of Tawanda Chapendeka aged 11 who was denied access to education by being barred from benefitting from the Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM) at Chiwashira Primary School by the headmaster and SDA chairman on allegations of being an offspring of parents who were supporting an opposition party. Since 2008, the innocent boy is out of education. His mother has since been forced into a marriage by the ward youth chairperson who is alleged to have been actively involved in the death of Tawanda's father. No attempts have been made to make sure the boy attends school and this case is just a tip of the iceberg.

A lot needs to be done in trying to rebuild a culture of tolerance premised on peaceful co-existence in local communities. It is Heal Zimbabwe's position that what unites the people of Zimbabwe is greater than what divides us. The future of our country lies not in selfish, self serving greed and cultivation of personality cults in local communities and nationally at the expense of the greater good.

As the vuvuzelas blow and trumpet across the world as Africa hosts its first soccer World Cup let it be remembered that such a feat was achieved because on 16 June 1976 the African Child then, who so happens to be the leader now, had the courage to confront oppression in its face. Africa cannot compete with the world as an under dog forever. The answer lies in sacrificing selfish short term victories and admitting our short comings. And as one great nationalist said "the world does not owe us a living." Tawanda Chependuka's future is the future of Muzarabani, Mashonaland Central, Zimbabwe and Africa. There are no amount of words which will teach the African child the African values other than the actions of its leaders and elders.

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