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Kick out violence: Gokwe residents celebrate the International Day
of Peace commemorations
Heal Zimbabwe
Trust
October 03, 2012
Hundreds of
people gathered at Nyaradza business centre for belated commemorations
of the International Day of Peace organized by Heal Zimbabwe on
Friday, 28 September 2012. The celebrations were held under the
theme; "Sustainable Peace for a Sustainable Future."
The day was commemorated through sports, arts and drama. Eight soccer
teams battled out for the Heal Zimbabwe Peace Cup. The soccer teams
were drawn from diverse political parties, churches, and local clubs
in the targeted district who competed for the trophy. Young women
also competed for the netball Peace Cup and six teams took part
in the competition. The ongoing commemorations target constituencies
where political violence and intimidation are ripe. Sport has a
unifying effect in most communities the world over and the Gokwe
commemorations helped depolarize the community embedded in long
time political conflicts as some people started interacting together
for the first time through organizing this event.
The International
Day of Peace commemorations managed to raise awareness on the universality
of the quest for peace and the important role of genuine citizen
participation in maintaining a peaceful society. The most popular
sports in Zimbabwe's rural communities are soccer for men
and netball for women. The commemorations were well received by
the community who actively took part in the planning of the day's
activity thus increasing their sense of ownership. Entertainment
was provided by three local groups who came up with a combined peace
song that encouraged communities to live in peace and harmony. From
the soccer teams, Morning Stars football club took the first prize
followed by Waru Waru football club. In netball, Nyaradza netball
club came first followed by Bridge netball club.
Visit the Heal
Zimbabwe fact
sheet
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