Where will the children play?

raka raka, fish fish and nhodo. But the toast of the day is sarura wako, a game where a girl or boy chooses a partner. It’s a game that prepares children to choose spouses when the time arises, and others make a circle around them, as if it’s a village wedding.
The young are learning new games, what, with the playstation craze that has besieged town. Their parents go down memory lane as their thoughts are taken back to their own days of childhood. No matter how rich, how tall. Forget the generational chasm.
All social barriers have been broken down; they are equal on the field of play. They are celebrating World Play Day at Mabvuku Sports Centre, sponsored by Terre des Hommes Germany (TDH) and organised by Community Arts Projects (CAP) and Farm Orphan Support Trust (FOST), TDH’s implementing partners.
Brenda Mugoniwa, an Upper Sixth Warren Park High student and the CAP Youth president, said that the commemoration had been a success.
“Today was a very special day as children had lots of fun. As children we would like parents to give us time to play. Children should live without stress and this will help them excel in their studies. Freedom to play is a right, and it is important in child development. And our theme ‘Play, the beginning of knowledge’ really shows that play is essential for child development.”
Brenda, however, decried the shortage of open spaces, which is robbing children of their right to play.
“There are no more open spaces as these have been reclaimed for residential stands. This playground had been turned into a refuse dump and we have been cleaning it these past two days. We want to see council and communities ensuring these places are available, and where they are found, they are safe for children to play,” Brenda said.
Child rights non-governmental organisation TDH country co-ordinator for Zimbabwe and Zambia Mr Fungai Dewere said that children’s play is not a privilege but a right.
“The right of children to play is recognised in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Article 31) and in the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (Article12) as the right of children to play, recreation, leisure, art and cultural activities.”
TDH, which celebrates its 20th anniversary in Zimbabwe this year, is concerned that in new residential stands allocation, adult recreational facilities are factored in, but children’s are being ignored.
“As TDH we are committed to seeing children being afforded rights to play. This programme is ‘A Chance to play Southern Africa’. In most communities there are spaces for beerhalls, churches, car parks, among others, and not spaces specific for children to play apart from the tarmac. It is good to build houses but open spaces should be integrated.
“Yesteryear houses were built in various suburbs and recreational facilities were integrated and this worked. We still have them though facilities are run down. Why not now? The child-centred policies that allowed this are now gathering dust in drawers or being ignored for selfish gains but individuals in authority,” he said.
There are also concerns that housing co-operatives are riding roughshod over council by-laws, ignoring recreational facilities and parcelling them out as stands.
“Council should make it mandatory for any housing co-ops to respect all spaces and recreational facilities for children. Remember Mai Musodzi, Chinembiri Community Centre and Stodart Hall (Mbare) in Soup Kitchen, Old Mabvuku Community Centre (Mabvuku) and other recreational facilities. They moulded many youngsters and professionals in Zimbabwe,” said Mr Dewere.
He added that local government should bring back the social workers who used to provide professional guidance to the youngsters at these centres.
“The City Fathers should not approve housing development plans that are not child friendly, each plan should guarantee and promote the right to play and recreation,” said Mr Dewere.
Warriors great and former national soccer team coach Norman “Muchina Wemajuzi” Mapeza bemoaned the lack of open spaces as haunting the national team. “As a footballing nation we are doomed. A player cannot just wake up and play in the National Sports Stadium. When they are young, that is, eight to 10 years, they need to develop their skills. And this can only be done in open spaces, something we currently don’t have.”
The former Galatasaray player said that even the open spaces where he played a plastic ball as a young boy in Chitungwiza have all been claimed by residential stands.
“In the open spaces of Chitungwiza that is where I played as a boy. But now they are all gone. Only Chibuku Stadium remains and that’s unacceptable.
“Youths end up drinking alcohol and abusing drugs. Some watch television and become couch potatoes, instead of honing their soccer skills,”he said.
Deterioration of recreational facilities such as basketball, and tennis courts, football grounds and swimming pools, among others, has hamstrung Zimbabwe’s sporting sector as no new talent is being identified. Thus with the exit of the Black siblings, Zimbabwe is no longer in the Davis Cup tennis tourney. And when Kirsty Coventry decides to take a bow, so will Zimbabwe’s Olympics medals in the pool.
The question now is whether to have open spaces or have residential stands instead, looking at the backlog council has of people on the stands waiting list.
City town planner Mr Percy Toriro says open spaces are very important and council by-laws recognise them.
‘It is very important to have a careful balance between different land uses. Open spaces have a binary function, the ecological and recreational functions.
“As ecological they are the lungs through which the environment breathes. As recreational they are very important for social growth needs.”
He said that council has a deliberate policy of ensuring recreational facilities are part of residential areas.
“I urge all town planners not to belittle open spaces. Do not do away with them.”
However, there are arguments that the open spaces have now become havens for criminals, and garbage sites. Children are forced to play in a dirty and polluted environment and get cut by shattered bottles at these places.
Mr Toriro says that the blame should not be placed only on council.
“Looking after open spaces is a dual responsibility. Communities and council should collaborate in keeping recreational spaces in good condition. That way both benefit from it. Residents should stop dumping garbage at these sites,” he said.
Local Government, Rural and Urban Development Minister Ignatius Chombo has threatened to strip some municipalities of their planning responsibilities if they continue to disregard a directive to stop dividing playing fields and planned public open spaces into residential stands.
Minister Chombo was quoted in the media as saying: “I am concerned with the unilateral conversion of open spaces into alternative use without the express authority of my ministry. I reiterate that these open spaces are an important feature of urban planning,” he said.
But whether this will be heeded is a matter of debate, with many councils converting open spaces into stands, especially in Chitungwiza.