The Chronicle

By Joshua Nyapimbi

8 August 2012

This article was motivated by the just-ended high schools drama competition jointly organised by Plan and Intwasa Festival.

I would like to use this competition as my entry point to explore and challenge us all engaged with rights-based arts education in schools or simply arts education.

I need to put a disclaimer from the onset that I am well-meaning in my critique of arts education initiatives currently being provided in our schools by the Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture on one hand and non-governmental organisations and arts practitioners and arts organisations on the other hand. My concerns and recommendations herein are primarily from the perspective of an arts advocate and practitioner on arts education as well as a parent who desires the best for all children in respect of arts education. Through conversations I can safely say many others share the same concerns and recommended corrective measures.

To begin with, it is important to acknowledge that at the international level we have the Seoul Agenda: Goals for the Development of Arts Education, which was a major outcome of Unesco’s Second World Conference on Arts Education held in Seoul, the Republic of Korea, on 25-28 May 2010. As a product of Unesco’s Second World Conference on Arts Education, the Seoul Agenda is intended to build on the Unesco Road Map for Arts Education that was a major outcome of the first world conference held in Lisbon, Portugal, in 2006. The road map offered an important theoretical and practical framework that provided guidance for advancing the qualitative development and growth of arts education.

The Seoul Agenda calls upon Unesco member states, civil society, professional organisations and communities to recognise its governing goals, to employ the proposed strategies, and to implement the action items in a concerted effort to realise the full potential of high quality arts education to positively renew educational systems, to achieve crucial social and cultural objectives, and ultimately to benefit children, youth and lifelong learners of all ages.

The Seoul Agenda has three main goals, namely: to ensure that arts education is accessible as a fundamental and sustainable component of a high quality renewal of education; to assure that arts education activities and programmes are of a high quality in conception and delivery; and to apply arts education principles and practices to contribute to resolving the social and cultural challenges facing today’s world.

It is my submission that the Plan-Intwasa Festival High Schools Drama competition largely addresses or resonates with goal three above. Of the competition segments held at Mpopoma, Gifford and Townsend High schools, which I managed to attend, there were a mix of performances that were provocative, some touching and others downright off the mark to carry a tag of a play!

What made some good and others poor, one may ask? A combination of factors I would say, and chief among them were: lack of basic script-writing and directing skills among some drama teachers; bad role modelling — sub-standard drama touring schools — there seems to be a dearth of quality professional drama regularly touring schools. It is critical for children and teachers alike with potential and keen interest on drama production and presentation to have regular exposure to mainstream quality drama for role modelling and exposure to good practices.

Further, most schools lack proper performance spaces with basic equipment for professional presentation of the performing arts. Can Mpopoma and Eveline High schools, which are arguably some of the trend-setters in quality arts education, particularly in the areas of the performing arts, justify the lack of professional performance spaces or school halls if you wish, that have basic if not top-drawer stage lighting, curtains and amplifying equipment? Surely it cannot be funding but lack of appreciation of the role of arts in education.

Further, it is worrisome that there are no effective controls in place to prevent inexperienced or sub-standard arts trainers from contaminating the legacy that pioneering arts organisations such as Amakhosi and Black Umfolosi painstakingly helped to build with meagre resources during the past three decades.

The National Arts Council of Zimbabwe (NACZ) is culpable in this area as they have been granting permits to unqualified or inexperienced artists to conduct arts education in schools. It is not fair in my view to expect schools to play this role as they have neither capacity nor resources to effectively play this role or better still does it not make business sense for the Department of Arts and Culture to recruit and support arts education monitors through the NACZ? Or is this not a sign of self-regulation overdue? In simple and practical terms self-regulation around arts education could mean initially starting with a code that we all sign to and register, or database of credible practitioners and organisations in the area of arts education in schools and their particular areas of specialisation. The legal and health professions offer excellent examples of going about self-regulation.

Are the current efforts by the Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture an effort to domesticate the Seoul Agenda on arts education in schools? If yes, this begs further questions as to how the country strategy on the Seoul Agenda was developed because there is no known public process regarding this. Most of the teachers that I spoke to during the Plan-Intwasa Festival High School Drama Competition do not know about the Seoul Agenda on arts education!

It could be argued that the responsible minister, David Coltart, is not keen or does not have an appreciation of arts and culture or is not the right person to be thrust with providing national leadership on arts and culture. For example, the cultural policy is taking forever to complete, suffice to say with all the funding that the Department of Arts and Culture received from Treasury under the 2012 national budget, how could the department still take a begging bowl to Unesco and Culture Fund! What legacy are we creating where the Department of Arts and Culture, the NACZ and the creative civil society compete for meagre arts funding available!

For meaningful arts education in schools, the provision and generation of relevant literature is critical. This therefore begs some pertinent questions to the department on whether any arts books were part of the books distributed to schools recently under the Unicef funding?

Further, Raisedon Baya’s Anthology of Plays Tomorrow’s People is now a set book for schools. Is the ministry going to publish the plays and distribute them nationally? We are aware that the British Council is in discussion with the Ministry of Education on the promotion of Shakespeare’s plays in schools. While we value and subscribe to the 2005 Unesco Convention on the promotion and protection of cultural diversity, we take exception to Shakespeare’s or other foreign plays or other artistic work taking precedence over indigenous art and artists, particularly in the education and modelling of children, the majority, if not all, do not derive any cultural significance from Shakespeare’s plays or any foreign plays for that matter, but Stephen Chifunyise’s, Cont Mhlanga’s or Raisedon Baya’s, just to mention but three published local playwrights.

Further, how many or which artistic groups or artists are part of the official Zimbabwean delegation to the ongoing Olympics in Britain?

Now turning to NGOs such as Plan supporting rights-based arts education in school. While we value the contribution of the funding to rights-based arts education, we challenge the NGOs to adhere to fair and reasonable balance between content and form or aesthetics of producing and presenting drama. It is the rule of thumb that in order for one to produce good drama they need a script written by a competent or experienced person, the script needs to be equally directed by a competent or experienced person who in turn needs trained and talented performers to bring the story to bear.

Suffice to say writers, directors and actors collectively create for the audience. It is therefore against the norm and standard practice to disregard these imperatives. Though NGOs never seem to get it that it makes for genuine and meaningful child-centred development if the role of NGOs such as Plan is to provide funding for training in drama for example because when children have the skills and know-how of expressing themselves through drama, practically all thematic issues fall in place without compromising on the aesthetics of drama, and NGOs for their lack of either understanding or appreciation of drama aesthetics insisting on thematic dogma or propaganda which often kills creativity and the drama itself.

One does not need to mention several times not even once for an audience to know that a play is about the girl child or Aids! This simply reduces well-meaning initiatives to seemingly acts of public relations or marketing by the culpable NGOs. In all honesty and fairness what is the point of getting children to perform plays to none audience of competition adjudicators, NGO officials and fellow competitors and more so perform plays that they neither created nor directed themselves but a mere figment of teachers and NGO officials!

How does a peer school drama competition (peer in that basically the children were or often perform to fellow student competitors) engender the rights of the girl child or any other rights for that matter! Working with children around abuse and rights violations requires a holistic psychosocial support approach because often the majority of the children have suffered some form of abuse from either parents or teachers themselves. How do children tell stories of abuse by teachers when the teachers write and direct the plays?

I would conclude with a quote from Bjorn Maes: “Culture is the song, not the instrument; and we’re all in this symphony together. Culture must be regarded in its full potential scope and quality. Reducing it to a handy tool for development is grossly disregarding both culture and development. Blindly instrumentalising arts disciplines to pass development messages like bitter pills to be swallowed, is cutting both short.”

It is about time the arts in general or arts education in particular should in fact not be left to the whims and insecurities of international donor agencies or NGOs for support. We have published plays addressing the very issues that NGOs are preoccupied with. Why not adapt these and not only promote visibility and consumption of locally written and published plays but also allow schools to work with professionally produced scripts and equally importantly contribute towards economically viable livelihoods for our writers?

Imagine if the Department of Arts and Culture would pay Baya market rates for the next three years or so for his plays! He could turn into a potential investor of one or more distressed publishing houses!

The Over-Seas League, London

8 August 2012

Senator David Coltart’s question and answer session with members of the Zimbabwe diaspora in London:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zh5EVxRvdVQ

The Zimdiaspora

8 August 2012

By Eugene Majuru and Anthony Robinson

Zimbabwe’s Minister of Education Sports and Culture met several disaporans in London last night in an event held in the British capital.

Also present at the event was the deputy Ambassador, Cecil Chinenere.

Questions presented to Coltart included challenges being faced in Zimbabwean education and how the education system can be improved and the role being played by the ministry in terms of sponsorship, fund raising and how to work with people in the diaspora.

Lucia Dube, a resident in the UK expressed her appreciation to Coltart for engaging with the community during his visits to the UK.

“As far as I know you are the only minister who always comes to engage with the diaspora community. Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and other ministers come but do not fully engage with community members. On my recent visit to Zimbabwe I tried to engage with government departments but the problem was knowing who is who in Zimbabwe.

“There is confusion and no one knows who is to produce the policy. I met someone in Tsvangirai’s` office and was told the issue was handed over to a senior official who is not well at the moment and is away from work. As far as engaging with government and diasporans I was wondering how best we could do it. Some ministers do not want to engage”, she said.

Grace Sinikiwe Mupfurutsa a Zimbabwean human rights activist based in Bedfordshire said she attended the event because “I believe education is one of the basic human rights, I wanted to find out what the Minister had to say”.

Mupfurutsa encouraged other Zimbabweans based in various parts of the world to start helping and supporting the education system in Zimbabwe by sponsoring school fees and uniforms to under privileged children and give them upliftment as it comes at a small cost.

Former Zimbabwe athletics coach Stanley Madiri, popularly known as “Fresh“, attended the event and fully supports Zimbabwe sports.

Asked if he saw any of the remaining three athletes in the current Olympics winning any medal he said: “from the performances I have watched there will be no medal for Zimbabwe. If Zimbabwe is looking for medals it takes a whole lot more. After having worked with athletes in Zimbabwe I know that talent is in abundance in Zimbabwe but interventions need to be put into place to aid development”

Asked if he was contributing to Zimbabwean sports he replied “I have offered my services to coach the Zimbabwean athletes on several occasions but did not get favourable response from the athletics association in Harare”

Madiri is currently attending a coaching conference being held in London. “I invited several national athletics coaches from Zimbabwe to attend the conference”.

Achievements of Madiri include coaching Christina Ohurugu, 400m athlete representing team GB in current Olympics. He is also behind British 200m champion Desiree Henrys and Jodie Williams, world junior champion who won gold in the 100m and silver in the 200m in Canada 2011.

The Chronicle

By Jonah Nyoni

7 August 2012

Education stands at the centre of all development.

As a result, the improvement of education leads to upgrading of individuals, families and national economies. The attainment of universal primary education is so key to human development that the UN decided to include it in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Former South African President Nelson Mandela once said: “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” The notion that education is the pillar of human development can never be overemphasised.

It is in this context that the situation at satellite, farm or rural schools must be considered. These schools are operational and serving an immense purpose in the community, but more needs to be done to equip them. The needs could be infrastructural, technical or personnel.

For example, there is Chinego Secondary School in Binga, which was established this year. There is a need for boreholes and building of proper classrooms since the pupils learn in huts. There are others like Tabalwa Primary School, Manyanda Secondary School and Mabula Primary School. These schools are playing  an important role and should be taken care of.

Even in some older schools, children sit on concrete floors during lessons, this after having walked long distances to get to school. More to that, some children have to share only a single textbook, if ever there is any. Some schools in Binga have no trained teachers at all yet in other areas, particularly in urban centres, the situation is better.

This urban-rural dichotomy must be a thing of old but has been perpetuated to the disadvantage of the rural child, especially in Binga. This has documented effects on the education of pupils and in the furtherance of their tertiary education.

A recent article in Sunday News read:

“Thousands of schoolchildren in Matabeleland North Province are denied their basic right to education as they lack the provision of proper classrooms, water, sanitation and electricity.”

In the same story it was noted that there are only 26 schools in Matabeleland North offering Advanced Level education and critical subjects like mathematics and science. This is a drawback for most students, especially if they are to seek places in tertiary institutions like universities, colleges and polytechnics.

Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, David Coltart, made crucial remarks at a classroom commissioning ceremony in Lupane East in Somgolo Primary School a few weeks ago.  He said:

“This is a perpetuation of a negative cycle because children are not getting the quality education they deserve because there are few schools that teach these critical subjects. This is why children have a problem in gaining admission to universities as they lack mathematics and science. This is a poor negative cycle resulting in few science and mathematics teachers and only a few students will also pass them.”

Writing about education in rural South Africa, Michael Gardiner notes a situation synonymous with what we have in rural Zimbabwe.

He says: “Many people and their schools, particularly but not only in rural areas, struggle with real difficulties such as the lack of classrooms, poor access to services such as water and electricity, no landline telephones and hence no Internet, very few public or school libraries and the like. Many of these problems are linked to socio-economic factors, such as poverty and unemployment, and they also have a direct influence on the quality of education that is available to children.”

This researcher noted 10 essential needs that should be met if these rural schools are to achieve better success:
l Clean running water
l Electricity
l Libraries and books
l Laboratories
l Computer laboratories
l Ablution facilities
l Office equipment
l Sports facilities
l Proper infrastructural development
l Skilled personnel

As noted above, strenuous strides should be made to ensure that there is a special focus on these shortcomings. In addition, proper housing, provision of transport, and perhaps other motivational incentives need to be provided to attract and retain trained teachers in satellite rural schools.

There is still a mountain to climb for some schools in Binga to be in conformity with these standards.

However, collaborative and concerted effort can bring about better results. Government and other institutions should work towards the attainment of better learning standards.

SW Radio Africa

By Tererai Karimakwenda

7 August 2012

A car belonging to the human rights activist Paul Chizuze, who has been missing for six months now, was spotted by a relative in the border town of Beitbridge four months after he disappeared, according to reports.

South Africa’s Cape Times newspaper reported that Chizuze’s “dusty” Nissan Hardbody, with registration number ACJ 3446,was seen parked “in a prominent position” outside the government tax offices by a relative passing through to South Africa. A security guard working nearby said it had been there for several weeks.

Chizuze was last seen driving the car on the day he went missing back in February. For unknown reasons, the Zimbabwe Republic Police did not investigate or perform any forensic tests on the vehicle.

It is widely believed Chizuze was targetted because of his work documenting the Gukurahundi massacres of the late eighties. Zimbabwean troops loyal to Robert Mugabe murdered thousands of innocent civilians in Matabeleland, after claiming arms of war were found hidden on ZAPU leader Joshua Nkomo’s farm.

There is also speculation that Chizuze may have been abducted and killed after discovering more recent information that could be damaging to senior chefs within ZANU PF. It is still not known what business he might have been pursuing that led him to park outside the tax building in Beitbridge.

One unnamed relative is quoted as saying: “I now suspect he was murdered and we should all accept that we will never find him alive.”

Education Minister David Coltart, who worked closely with Chizuze, told SW Radio Africa earlier this year that Chizuze had “too much information on Gukurahundi”.

Chizuze’s friends and colleagues launched a campaign on social media sites Facebook and Twitter, in an effort to try and find out what happened to him and spread information about his disappearance.

New Zimbabwe

7 August 2012

Education Minister David Coltart will speak at a networking event with Zimbabwean expats in London on Wednesday evening.

The event, organised by the Zimbabwe Business Network, is a “rare opportunity for the Zimbabwean diaspora community to engage with a high profile cabinet minister and one of the key policy decision makers in the transitional government”, said organisers.

Held under the theme “What role can the Diaspora play in improving the quality of education in Zimbabwe?”, participants at the event will discuss ways of focusing their efforts to sustain improvements in the education sector since Coltart assumed office in 2009.

“The education sector is one market with potential for business growth linked to the recent policy decision to expand the ICT technology thrust,” said Joshua Chigwangwa of the Zimbabwe Business Network.

Coltart took over the education portfolio in 2009 following the formation of a power sharing government with the unenviable task of fixing a broken education system haemorrhaged by a decade-long economic crisis which destroyed school infrastructure and sparked flight by teaching staff.

Coltart is head of delegation for the Zimbabwe Olympic team and returns home after the London games’ closing ceremony on Sunday.

The event will be held between 6PM and 9.30PM at the Royal Overseas League, Overseas House, Park Place, St James Street, Mayfair, London, SW1A 1LR. Admission for this event is £10 which includes snacks and refreshments. For online tickets visit: http://cmgevents.eventbrite.com or call 07775900058

The Chronicle

By Hilary Marizani

6 August 2012

The proposal to distribute condoms in schools as a means to promote safer sex among school children has been a centre of controversy for some time now.

Some people think that it is the right thing to do because children nowadays know a lot about sex and some of them even engage in sexual activities thus having condoms in schools would not make a difference.

On the other hand, there is an argument that if condoms are distributed in schools, it will be simply telling the schoolchildren that it is right for them to have sexual intercourse while they are still minors.

Mrs Ntobeko Sibanda, a parent in Bulawayo, said teenagers were capable of making good decisions and just needed to be informed about issues.

“Some people may argue that condom distribution is a misguided solution due to the fact that it encourages promiscuity; however, that is a misconception because teenagers are quite capable of making good decisions, they just need to be better informed,” she said.

Recently the National Aids Council (Nac) said it was proposing amendments to a number of laws that could see the distribution of condoms at schools as a way of fighting the HIV and Aids scourge.

Nac said they were bringing out a view on what they had found out in a survey and what the general public felt would be the panacea to the spread of the HIV virus.

Chief Gambiza from Chiwundura communal lands in Midlands recently urged the Government to come up with a policy that would allow for the distribution of condoms among youth that are sexually active in schools.

Chief Gambiza, however, differed with Minister David Coltart, urging Government to wake up to the reality that schoolchildren were becoming sexually active at an early age.

“Things have changed now, children are now indulging in sex earlier than before and Government needs to realise that and use such realities to craft their policies.

“There is a need for Government to come up with a policy that will allow for the distribution of condoms among school children as a way of preventing the spread of HIV among school going youth,” said Chief Gambiza.

Mr Professor Ndlovu (30) of Bulawayo holds an opposing view.

“Schools are supposed to be teaching values, self-discipline and self-control, and the distribution of condoms should be left to health professionals. Pupils in school are still children and should be practising abstinence,” he said.

Proponents of distribution of the sheath state that free condom distribution would ensure that teenagers practise safe sex and that the rate of sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy declines. Opponents of distribution state that free condom distribution would encourage sexual activity and foster the idea that premarital sex was acceptable.

Many argue that quite a large number of high school pupils engage in unsafe sexual practices, thus putting them at risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases so they say condoms should be distributed in schools.

Ndlovu’s remarks came hard on the heels of Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, Mr Coltart’s refusal to allow the distribution of condoms in schools.

“There is no way we can allow distribution of condoms in schools. Parents want their children to abstain from sex at school age. Schoolchildren should focus on their studies; we can’t have condoms in school toilets, classrooms and libraries,” Minister Coltart was quoted as saying in a local weekly.

Nompilo Sangweni (17), a student at a local college said if they introduce condoms in schools, then they would be simply giving a licence that school pupils should have sex.

“Distribution of condoms in schools is not right because they will be giving students a licence that school pupils can partake insexual intercourse.

“The assumption is that children are engaging in sex thus they want to distribute condoms in schools. If that is the case then they should also distribute drugs and alcohol in schools as the assumption is that some teenagers are taking drugs,” she said.

Zimbabwe Teachers Association president Mrs Tendai Chikowore said distribution of condoms in schools was immoral and against African values and culture.

“It is immoral as teachers should be teaching children abstinence and morality that they should abstain from indulging in sexual intercourse.

“If schools distribute condoms then we will actually be promoting immorality to children as they would want to experiment since they are readily available in schools.

“From an African point of view this is taboo, not that we are being old fashioned but we will be simply saying to the children it is right to do this,” she said.

Nac head Dr Tapiwa Magure denied that Nac advocated distributing condoms in schools.

“We never advocated distributing condoms in schools but we want to distribute them in colleges and tertiary institutions as they are the most affected areas,” he said.

This debate on condom distribution in schools is not exclusive to Zimbabwe, as across the Limpopo, South Africa recently adopted a Children’s Act that provides children the right to access reproductive health services as a way of addressing the HIV pandemic. However, there is confusion about how socially divisive rights provided for by the Act, such as condom access for youth, would be achieved.

The Children’s Act, together with South African Government policies, allows individual schools to decide whether to distribute condoms, but most school staff are unaware of South African policy and regulations governing condom provision in schools.

Because of confusing and contradictory Government policies and public pronouncements regarding provision of condoms in public schools, few schools have undertaken to provide them, leaving students, especially in rural areas, with few options for obtaining them.

• I don't think I have ever been prouder to be Zimbabwean. Sheer determination of @KirstyCoventry this
  morning storming home was inspirational #
• I don't think we appreciate just how magnificent @KirstyCoventry performance is. Most athletes here amazed she is swimming at all. #
• Now #Zimbabwe get behind Kirsty Coventry tomorrow . Things looking good for 200 m backstroke because she was very strong in that tonight. #
• I watched @KirstyCoventry swim last night with British Minister for Africa Henry Bellingham; imagine how proud I was saying "thats our girl" #
• Our#Zimbabwean ladies always do us proud at #Olympics Going to support Micheen Thornycroft this morning in single scull rowing quarters! #
• Next week I will be supporting another wonderful #Zimbabwean woman Olympian – Sharon Tavengwa – in the womens marathon. Go Zimbabwean girls #
• Despite these challenges (just one of which would have made a lesser person quit) @KirstyCoventry has triumphed through sheer determination #
• I am as a result one mighty proud #Zimbabwean because @KirstyCoventry displays the essence of what the Olympics is all about. #
• One mighty proud #Zimbabwean Sports Minister with @Kirsty Coventry http://t.co/lBWg1qHP #
• At the rowing today supporting Jamie Fraser Mackenzie and Micheen Thornycroft . Jamie has done really well this morning and a real prospect #
• Micheen Thornycroft is competing at 1pm Zim time in the single skulls quarter final – she is in top 24 of the world. Go #Zimbabwe #
• I know that @KirstyCoventry will feel gutted but her 6th place was outstanding. She overcame a multitude of severe challenges to soar. #
• Kirsty overcame incredible odds, lack of financial support, changed coach, dislocated knee, pneumonia, few races and isolation to triumph. #
• In some respects I feel her 6th place was a greater triumph given the nature of the obstacles she had to overcome. Most would've given up. #
• But it is not over. Kirsty was supreme in the backstroke tonight and I look forward to the 200m backstroke on Thurs as she will do well. #
• Just had a nice chat to @KirstyCoventry – although obviously disappointed about last night she is looking forward positively to the 200 back #
• Huge fanfare in UK about Bradley Wiggans' well deserved 7 Olympic medals – most any UK athlete has got.@KirstyCoventry achieved that in 2008 #
• If @KirstyCoventry was British she would have a knighthood by now. We do not fully appreciate just how hard it is to get 7 Olympic medals. #
• Congratulations to Micheen Thornycroft for winning her semi final this morning in the single sculls. Outstanding result doing #Zim proud. #
• Micheen Thornycroft's success in the semis gets into the finals of the c section of single sculls. Can't win a medal but now highly ranked #
• Both Jamie and Micheen have been identified as very exciting rowers for the future. They will be medal winners for #Zimbabwe in future. #
• Why Australia Should Suspend all Sanctions on Zimbabwe http://t.co/NZNt3YXb via @benjaminsday #
• Micheen Thornycroft's performance this morning puts her in the top 16 in the world for single sculls. Our Zim lady #Olympian are just great #
• Well done South Africa on another gold this morning. But it would be nice if you supported your neighbour #Zim more. Reciprocate our support #
• What a great day for our #Zim ladies – Micheen Thornycroft and @KirstyCoventry have once again shown that #Zim #Olympian girls rock! #
• It is stories like this that make me so proud to be part of this #Zimbabwean #olympic team – http://t.co/SvE20Yzu – well done ladies – stars #
• Rooting for #Zimbabwe #039;s greatest Olympian @KirstyCoventry tonight – just about to swim. Go Kirsty – you have an entire Nation willing you on #
• I am very proud of all our athletes who have performed so well this week. But especially Kirsty for making us so proud in so many ways. #
• Congrats Micheen Thornycroft; 2nd in C section final. Now 14th in world and Africa's top women single scull rower. #Zim girls doing us proud #
• Our great ladies rowing team backing Micheen Thornycroft today at Eton Downey at #Olympics 2012 http://t.co/yckHo0cc #

Sunday News

5 August 2012

There is no grief like the grief that does not speak, said Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the most popular American poet in the 19^th century.

Zimbabweans are crestfallen following the departure from the Olympic Games of their medal hopeful, swimmer Kirsty Coventry.

Coventry ended her stay at the Olympics after she came home 6^th in the 200m backstroke final that saw American teenager Missy Franklin emerge tops.

Earlier, Kirsty was 7^th in the 100m backstroke and 6^th in the 200 Individual Medley, efforts that rules her out of contention for any medal.

Before her valedictory swim last Friday, Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture David Coltart said, “She has not had a lot of financial support and only raced two competitive races prior to the London Olympics. So, when you compare that build-up to all her competitors, you will see that what she has achieved is absolutely remarkable.”

Disadvantaged yes, remarkable no! Coventry’s “failure”, is a serious indictment to Zimbabwe as a sporting nation. Her fall, coupled with other failures, epitomizes the death of the jewel called “sport” in this country.

Minister Coltart, since time immemorial we have unleashed our athletes “like lambs led to the slaughter”, to prestigious events, such as the Olympics, The World Championships in Athletics, World Junior Championships and numerous others on the continent, who have gone all the way to embarrass us as a nation while carrying our sacred national flag.

The long and short of it, Minister Coltart is that we are tired of excuses after failing us. It’s all good to be sympathetic while in foreign lands but is this not what your ministry should have done to facilitate Kirsty. Our performance at those prestigious events has at best been disappointing, but at worst embarrassing.

Visuals of Kirsty on satellite television showed gloom, while the body language of her rivals pointed to preparedness, enthusiasm and hope.

How can we expect athletes to raise our flag high when there is a want for morale, and before participation good training infrastructure coupled with handsome with remuneration?

In soccer, we have become accustomed to the fact that our team would be defeated. And then we may ask: what message are we communicating and what culture are we inculcating in our children?

Do we have to depend on the likes of Cuthbert Dube (Zifa President) for incentives to our football national teams yet the Ministry of Sport gets money from Treasury. As a nation we want o know where these financial resources are being used because we can’t depend on the benevolence of individual citizens. If the money is not enough it is the responsibility of the nation to raise it.

There are the traditional annual youth games that are supposed to provide seeds four national teams, the seeds that are supposed to replace our aging athletes. Are the youth games serving that purpose? The answer in No because since the games inception everything has been forgotten immediately the games were over.

But instead we tend to look to towns and townships from the urban setup as the catchment area.

The advice is that Government should put money where its mouth is. But because it is not doing that we are now labeled perennial failures that are known only for such scandals as Asiagate.

It is our fervent hope that after our disastrous outing in London 2012, every effort will be made to fortify our sports development. Strategies, with a view to increasing the depth of our national team player base, and laying the foundation of an even stronger challenge at our next national assignments should be given priority.

Such a review should also examine possible means of enhancing our sports, locally, regionally and internationally.

Just like the National Athletics Associations of Zimbabwe president Joseph Mungwari rightly puts it elsewhere in the sports pages of this paper, let’s invest in building systems that will be effective in producing results for our country.

Asked about her future after the Friday debacle that left her in the cold, Coventry said: “I am going home after this to set up a foundation for sport and youth and I am going to focus on life after sport.”

Perhaps she has set the ball rolling for the relevant ministry and other stakeholders to follow suit.

Zimeye

By Clement Moyo

4 August 2012

Zimbabwe’s “Golden” girl Kirsty Coventry has ended her quest for a medal in the 2012 Olympics as she finished sixth in the 200 meter backstroke finals in London, Friday.

Kirsty Coventry, the 2008 Beijing Olympic defending champion, and two-time Gold Medalist, had re-ignited the nation’s hopes for a medal in swimming events when she qualified for the 200 meter backstroke finals the previous day.

However those hopes were dashed Friday in a pulsating swimming final won by American swimmer Missy Franklin who got it with a world-record time.

A medal-less but gracious Kirsty thanked all who supported her in her quest to repeat the Beijing medal haul.

“Thanks to all my supporters, you have stood by me for such a long time and I feel so blessed having all of you in my corner,” wrote Kirsty on the twitter website.

Kirsty competed in three events, Women’s 100m Backstroke, Women’s 200m Backstroke, Women’s 200m Individual Medley.

On Tuesday, Kirsty finished sixth in the final of the 200m individual medley, a few days after finishing seventh in the 100m backstroke semis’ and missing out on the final.

Odds were against Kirsty who overcame a dislocated knee and pneumonia prior to the games.
Yes, it was near yet so far for Kirsty.

All hopes for medals now rest with remaining seven Olypmic team members, triathlete Chris Felgate, Rower Jamie Fraser McKenzie and the marathon trio of Cuthbert Nyasango, Wirimayi Zhuwao and Sharon Tawengwa.

Education and Sports minister David Coltart later commented: “I am very proud of all our athletes who have performed so well this week. But especially Kirsty for making us so proud in so many ways.”