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Vaidah Mashangwa
Women participated in the armed struggle alongside their male counterparts. They played a major role both as fighters and as providers of food to the guerillas. Just like men, the women were driven by differing motivations to participate in the armed struggle ranging from the drive to serve their country to their consenting relations with the guerillas and their local experiences of the war in their respective places of residence.
The women, just like their male counterparts, left the villages to train as guerillas in Mozambique and Zambia and did the mammoth task while there to trek from training camps to the border with military supplies for the fighters inside Zimbabwe.
For some women who remained home, they also played their part as chimbwidos and continued feeding the guerillas. There were mixed reactions to the participation of women in the struggle as is shown by the following quotes adapted from the book, The Front Line Runs Through Every Woman.
“I thought they were courageous, they were fighting the war. It was not good for a woman to walk such a long distance. It was difficult; some were to die on the way. I felt they were risking their lives. Some people took the women as prostitutes. We feel it was not the right thing for them to do so. People felt it was dangerous for women to go to camps.”
From the above statements, it is clear that people had mixed feelings about the participation of women in the struggle. They felt women had stepped into monumental roles that removed them from their families.
No matter how they participated, female freedom fighters should be applauded for their bravery and resoluteness during the armed struggle.
Teurai Ropa Nhongo was the name given to Vice-President Amai Joice Mujuru. She is one of the women who showed a lot of courage and resilience during the armed struggle.
The testimonies that were given by the female guerillas after the war showed that the female comrades unlike their male counterparts, had a problem of the limited availability of soap to wash their clothes and cotton for sanitary protection. At times the water was nowhere to be found for days on end.
During the armed struggle, comrades could go for days without food and the provision to the guerillas according to the book, The Front Line Runs Through Every Woman, included purchasing supplies such as soap, cigarettes, clothes, and meat, cooking large quantities of sadza, killing them chicken and goats, sneaking food out of the so-called “keeps” to their fields, contributing money for various goods, organising with other women and young girls and boys to co-ordinate supplies and delivery. The women also washed clothes and provided warm water for bathing.
Apart from this, women provided information on the whereabouts of soldiers and the activities of neighbours who might have been sell-outs. While all these tasks seemed minor in the eyes of some people, victory could not have been certain without all these tasks that the women performed.
The comrades had to walk long distances and climb mountains hence they needed energy. The women had to cook and provide the much needed food. In general terms, both men and women played a critical role in terms of supplies. Supplying the guerillas with food was also a risk as the women could easily be caught in the cross-fire.
After independence, a number of laws favourable to women were enacted including among them the Legal Age of Majority Act (1982). Apart from that, the Ministry of Community Development and Women’s Affairs was set up in 1981.
Men and women also benefited from the land reform programme and the universal education programme. There was a vast expansion of schools and health facilities.
As we approach the Heroes Day commemorations on the 11th of August, we should therefore remember the men and women buried at the National Heroes Acre such as Amai Sally Mugabe, Herbert Chitepo, Josiah Tongogara, John Landa Nkomo, Simon Muzenda, Joshua Nyongolo Nkomo and Joseph Msika who sacrificed their lives to liberate Zimbabwe from the shackles of oppression by the colonialist.
Let us be a united people so that forever peace prevails.
Peace begins with me
Peace begins with you
Peace begins with all of us.
Vaidah Mashangwa is the provincial development officer for Bulawayo in the Ministry of Women Affairs Gender and Community Development Officer. She can be contacted on 0772 111 592, 09 -889224 or email [email protected]
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