Culture week begins in style

Tawanda Marwizi Recently in Musana
Rural Development, Promotion and Preservation of National Culture and Heritage Minister Abednico Ncube has urged local communities to safeguard their respective cultural practices.

Minister Ncube made the appeal at the launch of Culture Week at Nyava Primary School in Musana over the weekend. “I am urging communities to safeguard their respective cultural practices. No matter how small a community maybe, its unique cultural contribution to Zimbabwe cannot be ignored. If it is under threat of extinction we should join hands to safeguard it,” he said.

The minister said his staff is ready to offer technical guidance in various safeguarding measures. “Culture week is important as it provides a platform for all of us to see ourselves as part of the other. Although we may speak different languages, dance differently and eat different foods, the bottom line is we are all Africans and Zimbabweans,” he said.

Speaking in a separate interview, Minister Ncube said though economic sanctions have affected the country’s economic situation, his ministry was eager to fund the sector. “We want to fund the sector and find different ways of improving it but the economic sanctions have affected us in a big way,” he said.

Several chiefs from the province attended the event. Chief Negomo said it was important to teach children several cultural practices so that they adopt to them.

“We need to start teaching these youngsters so that they adapt to it. Culture week is important in that it retraces our cultural activities,” he said.

He said though they hail different tourist players in the country there was need to teach them about our culture so that it won’t get eroded.

Several traditional dance groups, musicians and poets took turns to entice the day.Groups such as Zvido Zvevanhu Dance Group, St Joseph’s School, Chipindura were among schools and groups that performed different types of traditional dance.