Beyond the day of the African child

16 June, 2012

June 16 we took time to celebrate the Day of the day of the African Child under the theme, “The rights of children with disabilities: The duty to protect, respect, promote and fulfil.

Online photos, danger to self and others

19 May, 2012

Gone are the days when posting photo albums on Facebook meant posting simple “family viewing” photos. In the last couple of years, what happened in private stayed so.

When the Handsome Poets ‘shine’

 5 May, 2012

When north meets south you get an electric collaboration between a four-member band from the Netherlands, Handsome Poets, and our own renowned Alexio Kawara. 

Young people need solutions

28 April, 2012

When a young girl (19) is stabbed in the chest by her boyfriend 15 times, this is no longer a news item, but a call to action.

Young men urged to get circumcised

14 April, 2012

The Health Professionals Trust (HPE) has urged young men to get circumcised, through a circumcision drive taking place at the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) this week.

The campaign started on Wednesday and will continue until April 18.

‘Building a future with decent work for young people’

 31 March, 2012

The Zimbabwe Youth Council (ZYC) Employment Conference was held on Thursday under the theme “Building a future with decent work for young people”, for stakeholders to address the way forward for youth employment concerns in Zimbabwe.

Girl Guides Association of Zimbabwe celebrate 100 years

March 31, 2012

The Girl Guides and Brownies will on April 1 celebrate the 100th Thinking Day at Twin Rivers School as part of the Girl Guides Association of Zimbabwe centenary celebrations.

2012 Junior Parliament elections begin

March 17, 2012

The 2012 Junior Parliament election process will begin this coming week (March 19) and run till the second week of May. Junior parliamentarians will be elected in all provinces across the country.

Connecting girls, inspiring futures

 March 10, 2012

                                             (Pic: girlchildnetworkworldwide.org)

This year the world commemorated International Women’s Day on March 8 under the theme, “connecting girls, inspiring the future”.

YO SPACE:

Then you’ll know!

When you wake up early in the morning
feeling dizzy, tired and weak
then you’ll know
that you were far much better off with,
me in your life

When you go into the streets
and find lovers walking two by two
and when you jealously depart to the park
you find old lovers seated and hugging
laughing, joking, chatting
when you turn around in disgust
you see youths exchanging roses
some kissing and fondling

Then you’ll know that you were far much
better off with me in your life!

When you try to achieve something
and everything turns out to be a disaster
when you really need someone to talk to
yet everyone seems to be in a rush
when you really feel down and lonely
when colours seem dull;
sugar tastes bitter and food is nauseating
when all you are capable of doing is sleeping
then it will click in your mind
that you were far much better off with me
in your life!

When you meet a dead end
face crossroads in this world of mixed
confusions & you have no one to pull
you out when all the strength you had,
has been lost that is when you’ll realise
that in me that’s where your treasure lies.
probably you’ll search high and low
and when all hope is gone
you’ll search for answers and never find
them
then you’ll regretfully turn back a single
step
and go back to square one
and there you’ll find me smiling
ready to listen to you always
because in me you’ve lost
an unconditional friend

Thubelihle Wellington Ncube 

The poet is a student at Solusi Adventist High School

Kidzcan Orange Day of Cancer celebrated

February 18, 2012

 

This week we saw more orange than we have probably seen in a while. Zimbabwe joined the rest of the world to commemorate International Childhood Cancer Day on February 15, by wearing orange in support of Kidzcan Orange Day, honouring children living with cancer.

Job prospects, a concern for all

February 11, 2012

Today’s questions outweigh answers. The United Nations World Youth Report released in December last year shows there is need to look at job prospects for young people globally.

The youth in this report refers to those between the ages of 15 and 24.

YO SPACE:

LOVE 
                        
Kindness in feeling creates profoundness Kindness in thinking creates love
Kindness in words creates confidence to fall in love

You can fall from a ladder
You can fall from a tree
But the best way of falling is to fall in love
                    
 Love is patient and tender
 Love is blind it can lead you anywhere
                  
 Love is the only kind of ice that keeps a woman warm
 For you to be loved, love and be lovable

Bernard Mapuranga
Solusi Adventist High School

YO SPACE:

A dedication to life

Maybe you were never real,
I was dreaming.
Maybe life was never one big smile
But a basketful of wishes
And a handful of broken promises
The things close to us
That we could never own
That one person we really loved
But we could never hold . . .

Maybe goodbye was the most kind
Of words we could say
Because the pain of staying was immerse
And leaving was the easy way out
And the only smile we had
Gave birth to an ocean of tears
And we could feel the pain in our hearts
As if it were before our eyes
And we wish we could say
I love you
And it would be enough
To crumble the walls in between
And make them fall . . .   
   
Peacemore Manhanga, Bulawayo

Mentoring Zimbabwe

February 4, 2012

As you celebrate your accomplishments after the release of the O Level and A Level exam results, or even if you need to make up for it, the next step of your journey might be to consider your life and career path.

YO SPACE:

She Isn’t a He

What is she?

Who is she?

Where is she?

Whom is she?

In abuse she is mother-cum-wife

She is the scapegoat

For the avenging spirits

She is the maid and breadwinner

One married against her wish

She is in the family of the not so discerning parents

She is the little vulnerable girl child

She is one whose education is sacrificed

She does the cooking

Dishes

Laundry

And ends up in bed with unscrupulous babamukuru

She does all household chores

Goes to the fields

Tends the cattle

Goes to the market

Looks after siblings

Those speaking for her rights

Hold meetings in five-star hotels

Deliberate over three-course dinner

Drive posh cars

Live in spacious, low-density mansions

At tender age

Initiated into prostitution

By anatete

Older sisters

Ana amainini and the harsh economic environment

In the city, by the corners she stands

Bowl for begging in one hand

The other sniffing glue

She sleeps in the open

Gets her meals from rubbish bins

Frowned upon by society

At extremes, taken for

Child pornography child labour

Child gangster

Child prostitution

All this done to a she

Thanks to affirmative action

That is only in words

Only applies to the better-off

Thanks to girl child organisations

Who shower themselves with perks

Concerned about self more than the girl

She remains disadvantaged

She remains a she

She remains with bare boobs

She remains with an uncovered butt

She is not a he

Indeed she is not a he

Had she been a he

She would then be

Dada’s hero

Owner of the house

Heir to the throne

The bully in the family

The one momma won’t send for errands

But then she is not a he

She is only a she

Condemned with a single dress

Exposing her infant breast

Behind almost bare

Transparent as democracy

Never to open her mouth

In complaint

Or in comment

In the presence of elders

Only sitting cross-legged waiting for orders

She is an example of human weakness

At birth announced as a mistake

At rural school does scrubbing

Does the teacher’s dishes

Waters the school garden

Carries the teacher’s books

To be sometimes sexually abused by the teacher

She will never be a he

Who the girl child to liberate?

Dhihwa Ignitius

Get your gear on

November 26, 2011

Imagine if in a couple of years you could walk into a mall with designs exclusive to Zimbabwe. Young designers like Tanaka Samukange are setting the pace on the design scene. At the age of seventeen Samukange has just launched a clothing label, 7:30.

Launching the Old Mutual Youth Empowerment Fund

November 19, 2011

This week Zimbabwe joined the rest of Africa in commemorating Africa Youth Day at the Harare International Conference Centre (HICC) on Wednesday November 16.

YO SPACE:

All is lost

I’ve stopped believing in words that make my heart jump
My heart is stone cold and  nobody can tell
I’ve given up, God knows why I feel so drained
I wish I could turn back the hands of time
I wish I could be there where I used to be
I’ve lost faith in love
I’ve turned my back on hope
I feel so discouraged, I feel inadequate
I’m so afraid of  breaking my heart once again
For once bitten twice shy
But I heard also that fear is the  first step to failure
I’m a living testimony of God’s grace and love
I know I can convince someone how great life is
My speech can be so moving and so motivating
But yet my own heart I cannot move
I’ve climbed mountains and faced cross roads
Sometimes without even realising it
But yet the strength I have gained has all been left behind
It’s as if I went down the drain
I wonder if I’ll ever love again
I wonder if I’ll be able to love with all my heart
Maybe I just need to sit still and wait a while
Oh, should I cast my cares away?
If I have to then how do I do it?
My little heart, hide from this world
You will come out when the storm is over

Thubelihle Wellington Ncube
Solusi Adventist High School