Online Reporter
Fadzayi Maposah-Correspondent
I AM still to understand why it is called common sense since the older I get, the more I realise that it can be rare.
Paul Matavire, who ranks among the best musicians to come out this country, said something that relates to this many times. Those who may not know Matavire, let me shed some light. He died in 2005 at the age of 44.
Matavire was born in Maranda, Mwenezi district of Masvingo Province. He was visually impaired after he had glaucoma as a child and proved that disability is not inability.
There were instances that he would describe some things as if he had full sight.
He was an artiste par excellence who began his musical career with the Jairosi Jiri Band.
He was highly poetic. He was humorous and as a song writer, he made use of very rich Shona lyrics touching on social issues
Matavire earned the name Dr Love since he dedicated most of his music to matters of the heart. He went to jail at some point on rape charges.
After completing his sentence, he celebrated with an album entitled, “Back from College” where he related his experience in jail.
All in all, Matavire released 13 albums that topped the musical charts. At the time of his death, he had semi-retired from music and was into farming.
In one of his songs, Matavire sings that some people behave as if they left their brains at a child’s playground and then the kids failed to put them back in properly.
Those who have seen children play can relate. When children play, they mean serious business.
Toys will be scattered everywhere.
Children are very good at improvising too. When they cannot have proper toys, they can opt to use anything that can pass or be as useful as that toy. I have seen children without toy cars improvising and use anything from boxes to bricks that they happily drive as cars.
As they play, they are content and very happy. Sometimes as an adult, remembering happy moments from childhood is actually good therapy. I digress.
When it is time to put away the toys, the packing may not be so orderly. Dolls are placed in the same package as some little cars. They could actually get run over by the way the cars are stuffed against the dolls!
There are some really organised children who will pack away their toys neatly without needing supervision.
Then they will be those who just put the toys away haphazardly. If the children are out playing on the streets with their make shift pots and pans, chances are very high that when it is time to go home, they will go home and leave the muffins to finish baking themselves while the sadza will boil over the stove!
I remember a time when I stayed in one area and while our family was away at school and work, there would be a bakery operating outside our perimeter wall.
On most occasions, we got home and were greeted by various confectionery delicacies! When it was time for the children who played bakers to go back home, the bakery was abandoned. Imagine if those children had to deal with human brains, removing them and then putting them back in.
What we think and how we act is very important. Let us go back to the very first sentence. Common sense is not common.
Never take critical issues for granted and think that all people have the information. Some may have little information, which in my view can be a danger as these people may want to use their limited information in lengthy arguments.
I have encountered such people, one statement that they use is “as I said earlier”, and then the debate escalates to highly emotional levels.
How many of us know that it needs a man and a woman to have a baby? Sounds like a ridiculous question, does it not?
It reminds you of a time when you used to think that it was sad that a relative continued to go to the hospital and just bought boys when she could have simply bought one girl? This question needs that emoji with big eyes!
I was in a meeting that discussed gender issues. Some participants were corrected as they kept referring to anything to do with women as a gender issue. My understanding is that gender is a socially constructed concept that carries with it expectations and responsibilities, and it also identifies social differences that relate to social behaviour roles and activities.
One hot issue discussed was paternity leave. Already in Zimbabwe, there are organisations that allow male employees to apply and go on paternity leave.
Why this became a hot potato was that some participants wanted to know why males should go on leave as if they are ones who will be pregnant, or will have given birth. Really?
The other question was: what will the males be doing during paternity leave? Even before attempting to implement this intervention, there are already those who doubt that men need paternity leave.
Paternity leave is important for the males, females and the babies as well. Men are equal partners in parenting who need to be supported.
It is crucial that society is empowered with information so that they appreciate why men should go on paternity leave.
It is a new month, August. It is a month that we celebrate the Zimbabwean heroes and heroines.
Let us use the month to acknowledge that males and females have different roles in key issues, but both are equally important. Paternity and maternity are both important. Ubuntu, I am because we are! #Heroes Month.
