adminorder of things,” said Farm Orphan Support Trust director Moira Ngaru on the sidelines of the launch of “A Chance to Play – Zimbabwe Chapter” at Mabvuku Number 1 Grounds on Saturday.
World Play Day is held worldwide on May 28 and in Zimbabwe was funded by Terre des Hommes (TDH Germany) and was attended by over 400 parents and children.
Also present were child protection organisations such as Community Arts Projects, Fost, Midlands Aids Services Organisation and the Child Protection Coalition, among others, and they unequivocally declared that children should be allowed to play.
Regional TDH (Germany) co-ordinator Ms Leonor Quinto and her deputy, Ms Lear Boventura, graced the event, alongside Zambian and South African ACTP partners.
And the A Chance to Play (ACTP) partners handed over a declaration to Councillor Stewart Musarurwa Mutizwa, who was representing the guest of honour, Harare Mayor Muchadeyi Masunda.
Mayor Masunda in his speech nostalgically reminisced on his childhood, and the importance of play.
“I have been reflecting on how we grew up in the rural areas and townships. We used to play. We would play while herding cattle. We would play in the evenings when there was full moon. We played on the streets. We played games that taught us life skills. We exercised. We socialised with our age mates,” he said.
Mayor Masunda said that play also helps people to be gracious losers, and that there is always next time.
“Through play we learnt fairness, teamwork, leadership skills, and planning. We accepted winning, knowing that tomorrow would be someone else’s turn. And on top of it all, we became good sports persons, accepting defeat gracefully,” he said.
Ms Quinto said that Zimbabwe, and the rest of Africa, was losing its heritage for not affording children to play.
“As TDH (Germany) we are here to make the world a better place for children. We are supporting over 50 projects in the region. And as technology such as video games, playstations come in, our games are getting lost. So we are saying this is the time to remember them, and let children play them because they are our heritage,” she said.
Prominent actor and cultural activist Antony Tongani concurred with Quinto, saying that the advent of technology has seen Zimbabwe throw its games into the dusty bin.
“As Zimbabwe we have embraced other cultures at the expense of our own. At this rate our indigenous games will soon be extinct. But our games are rich. Tsoro and nhodo teach us mathematics, that is, addition and subtraction and concentration,” he said.
Raka raka, hwishu and pada were also on the bouquet of games, but sarura wako was the major crowd puller as participants make a circle and one at a time enters the circle and chooses a “partner”.
But away from all those festivities, what has robbed the child, who due to the confines in the mother’s womb, decides to push out such that he finds more space to play, only to be deprived of it?
Ms Quinto said children were being deprived of play due to various economic and social reasons, whereby they are saddled with adult responsibilities.
Mayor Masunda said it is due to disintegration of the community fabric.
“In the past every adult was a parent to every child in the community. But now adults are regarded with suspicion. Recently Stacy Munjoma was raped and killed in broad daylight. So parents are now reluctant to let their children leave the house to go and play because of this risk,” he said.
Mr Masunda was referring to the tragic incident in which a young girl was abducted, murdered and raped on her way from Kambuzuma to Rugare.
Mayor Masunda also conceded that council was responsible for shrinking spaces of play.
“Play spaces for children are shrinking as we are turning those spaces into commercial or housing spaces,” he said.
Taylor Nyanhete of Child Protection Coalition said that council had leased some communal recreational facilities to individuals, a situation that now prevented children from accessing them.
“Some recreational spaces have been leased out to individuals, and this is totally unacceptable. As partners we shall lobby council to reverse these leases, for they are depriving children of their rights,” he said. Mr Nyanhete bemoaned the fact that though Government has a clear policy that schools should have recreational facilities, some colleges have no such facilities.
Mr Fortune Rego, CAP director, fingered extra lessons, which have taken up children’s time to play.
“Between 2005 and 2009, extra lessons were there to ameliorate brain drain effects, which also sucked in teachers. It was a crisis. But now they are unjustified, for teachers are back in schools. After schoolchildren go for extra lessons, then it’s time for bed. School holidays are part of the psychology of learning, but now children go for extra lessons. Even during weekends. They must only be allowed only for national exams candidates, that is Grade Seven, Form Four and Six, not Grade One pupils,” said Mr Rego said.
Mrs Veronica Nhemachena, Maso programmes manager, says that space for children to play are is shrinking up as municipalities are appropriating open spaces and developing them into residential stands.
“Most of these recreational facilities are now waste dumping sites, and children’s ecological rights, to grow up and play in a clean environment, are being violated,” she said.
Clr Mutizwa says that politicians abuse children when they take them to rallies, instead of letting them play.
“As politicians we are the ones who abuse children. We take them to rallies and have them sing and recite poems for us, instead of letting them play games of their own choice,” he said.
However, the future looks bright. Clr Mutizwa said that council would look into the declaration that was handed over to him.
“I take pride in the council. We don’t overlook issues and sweep them under the carpet. We will look at this declaration and come back to those who have given it to us. If there are challenges we will discuss them together. I promise we will look into it,” he said.
And the foot soldiers on the children’s army are on the ground, armed to the teeth and rearing to go.
TDH (Germany) country co-ordinator for Zimbabwe and Zambia Mr Fungai Dewere said that play facilitators were trained and will now take play to all provinces.
“Partners were trained and we will decentralise play as we are taking it to all provinces of Zimbabwe. We will adopt certain places and make them child friendly. And we will continue supporting partner organisations.
“At the centre of TDH (Germany) philosophy is children must be at the centre of development. We believe that play is important for holistic development of children. So we will continue fighting for children to have safe, clean spaces to play, and that parents afford them that right. Let the children play,” he said.
And as Gertrude Chikanga of Zambia would say, “Let children be children”.
Online Reporter