malvernmugadzikwa
Tendai Rupapa in BULAWAYO
CHILDREN must be disciplined and put to use the valuable teachings they receive from elders, President Mnangagwa has said.
He made the remarks to students from tertiary institutions during an educative Gota/Nhanga/Ixhiba session hosted by First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa on the sidelines of the 64th edition of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair in Bulawayo.
President Mnangagwa also shared a lighter moment with the participants.
The students at the annual showcase were delighted to meet the Head of State and Government and wore broad smiles as he spoke to them.
The mother of the nation set the ball rolling by introducing the gathering to the President.
“All these grandmothers are teaching these girls and these are the professors (referring to the elderly from the communities),” she said, whereupon the President said in jest, “including these ones, mateachers futi here?” pointing towards Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Barbra Rwodzi, Mashonaland East Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Dr Aplonia Munzverengwi and Minister of Veterans of the Liberation Struggle Affairs Monica Mavhunga.
“Yes, ndivo vadzidzisi vese ava,” the First Lady responded.
“These children vanokukwazisai,” she said, as she knelt down together with the participants.
The President then said: “How are you all? So, if I sit in here will I learn? Is it possible? I was thinking that I should join and be taught, is it possible?” the President said in jest and in response the First Lady told him there was a gota for men.
“So, there is a group for boys?” he asked, and continued: “So let me go to the boys where I belong. Thank you.”
In the nhanga were students from various tertiary institutions.
Boys were in the gota with Government officials, traditional chiefs and elderly men from communities.
Amai Mnangagwa said: “I have come with vanambuya to teach you girls. Nhasi hapana zvekuti First Lady or ministers, tiri vanamai, vanambuya uye vanatete venyu. A mother is told everything, including where you erred so that we immediately correct and teach you. Some colleges now have bad names attached to them because of your misdeeds as children. Some are living as married couples at school, yet parents will be thinking you are at school, learning.
“Instead of going back home with a certificate, you are going back there pregnant. Virginity is a once-off phenomenon and once lose it is gone. Once used, no one will marry you because your infirmity will be known. Why not follow tsika dzakanaka and be married the proper way? Will it not please your family that you were a wholesome girl and wed with pride? Those school marriages are troubling us as parents because I doubt whether you will be concentrating on your studies. Parents are sacrificing to get fees yet you play at school. The boy you will be cohabiting with will be wooing other girls at the same school and wasting you. Is that proper girls? I want you today to be moulded and leave this place thinking deep.”
Gogo Alice Ncube expressed gratitude to the First Lady for her teachings.
“Amai, we are thankful for the programme you hosted here. As we grew up, we were counselled in the nhanga and we took heed of the teachings. I was married as a virgin. We would never agree even to be patted on the shoulder, but nowadays you giggle as your breast is fondled. Don’t you want your parents to be honoured with a beast for chimanda?” she said.
Similar words were echoed by Gogo Juliet Muchemwa.
“My daughter, it is not only your parents who expect you to behave, but the whole community. You are gold, but do not allow anyone to draw honey from you because you lower your standards. Your dressing and behaviour must be appropriate. No mother-in-law wants their son to marry you because the whole community will be knowing that you were like a wild fruit tree that everyone approached for relief,” she said to wild applause.
Mrs Senzeni Ncube said in the old days, teaching sessions started from a tender age.
“As we grew up, a 12-year-old girl would be weaned to play with aunties and grandmothers. This allowed her to be taught good manners. But children of today do not do this and take social media as aunties. Respect is critical in life and if you wear a crop top that exposes your navel, is that proper? You no longer visit aunties and this means a collapse in culture. You who are in college will soon be looking forward to marriage without being taught what is expected. If you enter marriage without knowledge, it leads to divorce,” she warned.
Tourism Minister Rwodzi concurred with the First Lady, saying that students were indeed cohabiting at college.
“You said the truth on cohabitation, Amai. If that boy finds a new lover, that girl will suffer a serious heartbreak and if you do so, you will always be crying and you do not concentrate in class, leading to failure. Be expensive girls. Do not be cheap so that you are not used. Value your bodies. Tell them you are not cheap, girls, you are expensive and the price is marriage and wedding. Keep your virginity; tell him I feel complete if I’m a virgin. Heartbreak is because he used you. Heartbreaks are leading to drug abuse and college drop-outs. Don’t be heartbroken by any man because you are beautiful and you are special,” Minister Rwodzi said.
Minister Munzverengwi implored girls to observe chastity.
“Amai, that close and lock you taught at the girls’ camp should also apply to these girls. Being at college is not a licence to bed men. I was widowed in 2000, but I said I want to preserve myself because if you are not wise, men will take you for a ball. Close your ‘wallets’ and keep them safe. Our mother’s wish is for us to acquire new titles like Dr John and Professor Mary. Let us focus on succeeding in our studies,” she said.
Dr Mnangagwa opened the floor for girls to ask questions as she and others responded.
They had many questions on personal hygiene, menstrual hygiene, grooming and deportment.
Amai told the girls to reform after the valuable lessons imparted to them.
“It is time to correct your paths. What you did in the past is over and it is time to reflect and reform.”
A girl in the nhanga spoke about the new trend of sleepovers.
“We are told that if a girl crosses the tollgate to a boy’s home for a sleepover, she will be wayward. Nowadays, we are crossing even borders to visit boys. We want to thank you for this programme because we learned a lot. We have left such bad behaviour and will start school with fresher minds,” she said.
Mazvita Ziwira also thanked the First Lady for her tangible life lessons.
“I want to thank the First Lady for the programme she has held for us. This programme allowed us to learn a lot and showed us that we have aunties in the communities and she is bringing back our culture,” she said.
Elderly women who were part of the programme were charmed by the First Lady’s interventions.
“The First Lady has love for humankind. She is giving children direction and I wish her a long life so that our children do not go astray under our watch. I pray that people listen and put to good use all that she teaches,” said Gogo Sithembeni Burwa.
Her colleague, Gogo Miriam Chuma, said she was charmed by the mother of the nation’s selflessness.
“Our mother of the nation is striking the right chords. We need our children to appreciate their worth and follow these good teachings. We owe God great thanks for such a visionary First Lady. She is a marvel,” she said.
Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development Minister Professor Amon Murwira, who was in the gota, said it was important for people to respect who they are.
“It is only when they respect who they are that they can attract respect from others. You can’t expect others to respect you when you can’t respect yourself. The first form of respect is to know who you are and never be ashamed of who you are. So, the Nhanga/Gota concept is an important concept of what I call return to home. Return to home means return to power. Power is gotten from your home, not from elsewhere.
“It is from your home that you will find sleep; it is from your home that you will find trees; it is from your home that you will find crops; it is from your home that you can find instruments that you can make from what you have as your heritage. Therefore, this concept is deeper than sitting around a fire. It is saying return home because we always say home is your place of power. Your heritage is your place of power. Kamwango komumwe hakapedzi ndima. You cannot develop your country based on other people’s ingenuity and resources. It is impossible,” he said.
Colonisation over 600 years, Prof Murwira said, has made some people forget that they are just as powerful as any other society.
“If you want to remove people from their power, you remove them from their resources, and that’s what colonisation is about. So, this is a decolonisation concept. That is why I say its deep and deeper. Its deeper than what I can even say here because its saying return home, return to safety,” he said.
Mr Ndlovu Dingaan said he had had a good discussion with the boys in the gota, where he realised that children of nowadays did not know a lot.
“Our children are far behind. They do not know essential things like the work that they should do around the home and expend much time on social media. They have lost respect because elders are not teaching them regularly and this intervention by the First Lady has opened my eyes to this fact. We need to support our First Lady and ensure we carry forward her vision,” he said.
Mr George Ndlovu agrees.
“The session we had with the boys showed that they indeed did not know our cultural values and how to go about it when starting a home. These boys showed me that indeed there is a huge void that society has to fill. Unfortunately, our mother cannot do it alone. We need to support her fully and ensure her teachings are well received and we also play a part as society in teaching our children,” he said.
Online Reporter