Chitungwiza Residents Fall Prey To Water-meter Thieves,Again

Residents of the Chitungwiza suburb of Zengeza1 in Rusvingo road had their water-meters stolen.This has now become endemic.

Chitungwiza Residents Fall Prey To Water-meter Thieves Again

In an event that looks like a military operation,the thieves alternate the areas they strike and remove the meters at a different location every week.It is alleged that they perform their nefarious deeds very early in the morning around three and four o'clock. The situation is very bad for the residence since they have to replace the stolen meters and the Town council charges them for  re-installing the meters.

Those in the know suggest the trade in stolen water-meters is being fed by the flourishing home industries where cheap coffins are made as the brass from the meters is melted down to form the handles.It is my humble opinion that these acts can be nipped in the bud by forcing the coffin builders to show prove of purchase of any handles they may posses.Regular sweeps by the law enforcement officers will definitely put paid to this scourge.

Alternatively,residents could form neighbourhood watch committees to patrol their streets and stop and question any people acting suspiciously.I once lived in a community where this was implemented,the improvement in safety and security after a very short time was amazing.

The Different Faces of Harare

Harare has more than one face.A venture I have recently been involved in takes me to different parts of Harare; the leafy Northern suburbs of Mount Pleasant, Mandara and Borrowdale.

The Different Faces Of Harare

What I saw there was an eye-opener.The life and atmosphere in the Town of Chitungwiza where I live is a far cry from the suburbs mentioned above.The difference is so enormous one would be forgiven for thinking one was in a foreign country.Whilst there might be some pot-holes in line with the general decline in the economic climate prevailing in the country,on the whole streets in the Northern suburbs are better maintained.One can see the effort being made to keep up appearances.The motor vehicles are sleeker and well maintained.

Sam Levy's Village is like a fairy tale poster for a Christmas card.The shops are beautiful,full of various types of merchandise,one can easily see that the clientele being catered for is affluent.Most shops are air-conditioned in contrast to the shops on the other side of the economic divide.Living in the high density areas one can be led into a false belief that whites have left the country en mass,but they are there.One just has to go to places like Sam Levy's Village to see the proof.

It is politically correct right now to regard this country as belonging to black people.The venture we are involved in to a large extend depends on people with extra cash and the leafy affluent suburbs is where the money is.

Just the outside appearance as well as the size of the residential stands attest to the wealth of the people who live here.Surely if people in the people in the high density suburbs took pride in their surroundings and stopped wining and whinging about their situation being difficult, a lot could change in these areas.

Gratitude.

As the year draws to a close,one cannot help but reflect on the that is reaching its tail end and be thankful of the grace that the Almighty has bestowed on one,

Gratitude

There are also lots of people without whose support and goodwill the road travelled could have been impossible to navigate.Mr E.R.G,whose wisdom seems to grow in leaps and bounds.

Mr A.K. Mutambara, whose vision and drive this blog and many other ventures would have been stillborn.That chance meeting 29 years ago has blossomed into this worthwhile friendship.It is truly wonderful;l the way you selflessly give of your time and resources.

Mhofu,my sounding board.No matter how wacky my ideas maybe sometimes,you still manage to make sense of them.You are one in a million ,the younger brother I never had.Continue to make the great strides.

Mr Gumbo,entrepreneur extraordinaire,you are an inspiration and the big brother I have always looked up to.Even though you cry that the strength is gone but what you have started ;younger ,stronger bodies will take over and finish.

My two sisters,I have said it before and I will say it again ,I value your input.I appreciate all you have done .Alice and I will forever be indebted to you .Oh how wonderful and mature she has turned out to be ,thanks largely to your guidance ,generosity and perseverance.

R.K.G,you mean the world  to me.You know it,I know it.Let me not flog the proverbial dead horse.Needless to say you are one of the most important people in my life.

The crazy gang,my nephews,nieces and their sons and daughters.I love you guys to bits ,all except Ashas,you are too wicked for my liking.Tall nutty professor,I am humbled.You are making the right waves.Keep on blazing those trails.Mambo,what I have learnt from you this year is priceless.Then there is the Steelman,keep on keeping on monna.

My granddaughters,whose arrival made me realise how old I am.Hope to be around to spoil you rotten and you will give your parents a tough time.Forgive an old man some flippancy.This grandad will brock no ill mannered grandchildren!

Last but not least, my Lesotho posse; Malisebo,Retsepile,Mohai,Rosa,Mangubeni,Bandile you rogue,Mr Kasasa,Mami,Khakha and all the various people who made my stay there easy and worthwhile.My extended Gwangwara clan.I love you all.

My sister from another mother,in TZ,your support,counsel and the lengthy discussions we had,I know you are just on the other side of my mobile.

SaTupiri,you are one in a million.

To one and all A Merry Christmas and A Prosperous 2016

Embracing One's Cellulite

Most Basotho women are an African man's dream;full bodied, light in complexion and they love their food.

Embracing One's Cellulite

What I personally loved was their openness.They can discuss  anything and most are not afraid to argue their point.Most modern women will go on weight watching ventures ,were they starve themselves to conform to the dictates of the Media ;print and electronic. Not the typical Mosotho cause she will tell you that she is beautiful,'kemotle kenale li hips' loosely translated to mean I am beautiful because I have bulging hips.As we all know most of the heaviness around a lady's hips ,stomach and butt are a result of cellulite.

The typical Sesotho diet of 'motooho' a sour thick porridge brewed from ground sorghum flour which is boiled and allowed to cool then drunk either in the morning or during the day together with wheat bread prepared the traditional way maybe the source of the ample bodies that most Basotho women have.The fact that they embrace their unique appearance is in my opinion quite commendable given the copy-cats that now fill the African continent; where anything foreign is embraced wholeheartedly at the detriment of our Africanness and a few cases of bulimia have also been reported among Africans, which is a crying shame really.

The Quirky Stories From Lesotho

I spent quite some time in The Kingdom In The Sky and got my full share of some of their wacky behavior.

Basotho Women

Most residential suburbs do not have inside plumbing so most people use the longdrop toilets  a bit removed from the main residence.Where I come from,people visit the toilets ,do their business and leave .Not the Basotho women ,I noticed some accompanying each other to the john deep in conversation and continue this whilst one is on the inside reliving themselves.The first time I saw this I thought maybe it was a once off and the people doing it had some very important business to discuss,but I noticed that it would hasppen often.It is actually a norm where one finds ladies discussing anything from politics to marital problems like cheating husbands whilst one was standing guard like a guard protecting the national treasure and the other would be in the toilet.

Aunt's Gremlin Causes Daughter-in-law's Hand To Swell

One family is in an upheaval after the daughter-in-law opened her aunt-in-law handbag and found her Gremlin.

The Mukwasi family had gone to their ancestral home where one of their daughters was getting married. As is traditional, the negotiations are held at one's traditional home, unless the family is one of these coconut; black on the outside and whit on the inside.

After the merry occasion, one of the aunts asked one of her nephews who owns acar to give here a lift to one of the nearby towns. The nephew gladly obliged. After dropping her off,they realized that she had left her handbag behind. The nephew's wife who mischievously said that the aunt never put the handbag down so she wanted to see what was hidden there. The handbag contained an oily rug sewn right round with beads. It felt as if it had some reptile of some sort inside. She fearfully closed the zipper. Within seconds the hand that had held the Gremlin started swelling from the finger tips to the shoulder. The panic-stricken husband had to divert to a tradional healer he knew. Upon consultation they were told that the woman had held a Gremlin and if she had not been attended to quickly ,she would have died within a week. They were given some herbs to sprngle in her bathing water and told to return the bag tio its rightful owner .This they hastily did.

Three months after the occurrence the victim is on the mend and all seems well.

The Quirky And Wierd

My first trip to Botswana was an eye-opener in more ways than one.

That was way back in  the late eighties.Having travelled on the train for hours on end,we finally arrived in the capital Gaborone and what I saw did not impress me at all.Rondeval pole and mud huts right next to the railway station.I was expecting a cosmopolitan city,with sky-scrappers and all but alas this did not materialise.Since it was early in the morning we had to look for a place where we could freshen up before going further to Lobatse, where I had heard that goods were quite cheap there.These were the heady days soon after Independence ,when our Zimbabwe dollar was at par with the British pound.

The following morning,we were directed to a taxi rank, were we could get a minibus taxi to Lobatse.The first strange  thing  that I noticed was the female conductor. She was very rude to the passengers,I must add.After travelling for about twenty kilometres outside the capital we stopped at a Police road block.The men manning it politely greeted us and asked for our passports.During the search the female conductor got down went a short distance, but in full view of every one,and proceeded to relieve herself much to the consternation of the Zimbabwean first time travellers like me.The veterans told us that this was a common trait of the Batswana.if it was back home she could have been arrested on the spot for public indecency.

In Lobatse,at Wayside Shopping complex, the shop owner barred the locals from entering the shop whilst he raised the prices of goods.We proceeded to strip the shelves of goods. Laden with our new found material wealth ,we looked for taxis to take us to the railway station at Lobatse to wait for a train that would leave at 6 in the evening.We arrived sometime after lunch and the laisse-faire attitude of the citizens and the laxity of policing was evident for all to see as men would pass water in the street in full view of passers-by and they had the temerity to greet them.

When I got home after two days of travelling and told my friends of my experiences, they thought I was giving them tall tales.

Man Uses Gremlin's Head To Attract Customers

It is alleged that the gremlins are brought into the country from either Mozambique or South Africa, where they are sold by the Sangomas there for anything from a thousand US dollars  to five thousand dollars. In the tough economic climate we are living in some get rich quick charlatans are  resorting to buying these.

Man Uses Gremlin's Head To Attract Customers

One chef in a well known restaurant in Bindura is reputed to use a gremlin's head in all the dishes he prepares, it is believed that the head entices customers to flock to the restaurant resulting in a constant stream of revenue for the owner. Those in the know say that the gremlin's head does not burn neither does it get cooked, when it is removed after the food is fully prepared, it is as intact as when it was first put in the pot.

Despite the fact that the  rumour mill regarding the said restaurant ,customers still flock to buy the meals. Whether this gives credence to the tales is debatable .

Zimbabwean media is awash with tales of Gremlins ,which are supposed to bring their owners luck and riches beyond measures.

Conductor Loses Balance And Sprawls On Tarmac

The tendency by taxi touts of hanging onto the back of speeding taxis had a grave consequence when one such landed on his back in the middle of the main road just outside the Chitungwiza Town Centre.

Conductor Loses Balance And Sprawls On Tarmac

Basically these guys entice passengers onto a particular taxi, when it is full they are given fifty cents. Whilst I admire the enterprising young man for at least wanting to earn an honest living, the fact that they risk life and limb had all of us in the taxi transfixed as he took a tumble in the tarred road. He was holding onto the roof language rack,which gave way, resulting in him being dumped unceremoniously on the hard sun backed tarmac. The anxious driver came out to see how his tout was feeling and to his immense relief found that he was okay.Fortunately for him there was no following vehicle and he got minor scratches bumps and a bruising of his ego.

Working for ones dinner is commendable but one has to be safe from injuries and accidents.

Zimbabweans Lose Cultural Identity

The biggest number of people who display this lack of a cultural identity is of course the politicians.

Zimbabweans Lose Cultural Identi

Normally the various rallies that these people hold in their constituencies is typical of the huge gulf between the the electors and elected.First of  they will use whatever opportunity they get to show of  their command of the English language.Whilst we may boast of one of highest literacy statics in Africa,it surely does not mean that every Tom ,Dick and Harry is profficient in the English language.In the unfortunate event that a news crew with television cameras is around,then these politicians outdo themselves.Watching the news reel one can tell that the electorate did not have the faintest idea what the speaker was on about.IF they did then they would be signs of interaction.

I was in a chemist the other day when a middle aged man came in looking for various items that he had listed.He proceeded to address the saleslady in English,I suppose it being a business environment there is alright to use English but me thinks 35 years after Independance ,some of these colonialist tendencies need to be gotten rid of .After a lot of repetitive explanations of what he required,he ended up using his mother tongue Shona.My thinking then was why go to all the trouble if one has to go over it again in a different language ,unless granddad wanted ton show of  the fact that he had been to school and he could hold his in English.

He cultural prostitution  is so entrenched that most Zimbos have English and Shona names on their birth certificates and it is mostly the English names that are used.Some of the names are so absurd one would wonder what the parents were thinking in naming they offspring thus.

It does not end there as most families have tried as much as possible to alienate themselves from their cultural customs to the extend that they no longer visit their ancestral homes,eat the traditional foods let alone wear clothes that have a cultural identity.

Hell Hath No Fury

A friend of mine recently hooked up with what he thought was a woman of his dreams.He spent the whole day yesterday trudging between hid residential place and his lover's place without catching a glimpse of her.

Hell Hath No Fury

The friction started about a month ago when the lady discovered that she had missed her period after a vigorous night of love making.She believed one of the condoms burst resulting in her falling pregnant.To the man's credit ,he was over the moon, owned up and promised to make am honest woman of the lover. All along there have been rumors that the man has an estranged wife ion the diaspora,where she has spent the last four years without coming home.The man being a man assumed that thee wife had moved on hence his decision to look for a companion. Apparently the wife got wind of the development through her mother,now she is back.Yesterday afternoon she arrived and phoned the husband  to come and collect her from the road port.The lady who had replaced her in her husbands heart didn't take kindly to the development.An argument ensured after the call,during which she got a black-eye.

In the evening after escorting the wife to her parents' place ,lover man went to the lover's crib to discover that he had been locked out .No amount of calling or knocking could convinced the lover to open the door to rented room.Lover man had to go back where he had come from.

Early the following morning ,he beat a track to the lover's place but again could not gain entry.He came to my house,poured out his anguish,made all sorts of threats.His biggest fear is that because of the tiff ,the lover is going to get rid of the pregnancy.There in lies his anguish because he had promised to go and ask for the lover's hand in marriage and start for living together as husband and wife.

As things stand lover man does not know whether he still has a future with his lover or not.

Count Your Blessings- Zesa Blackouts 2

An earlier article on Zesa blackouts painted quite a rosy picture of the situation,after experiencing 24 hours of total darkness,I am, singing a different tune now.Normally, I try as much as possible to stay positive no matter what the situation but hey , I am human after all.This is way too much. I have done most of the things that I normally do during a blackout but this is a  totally different ball game.

Count Your Blessings- Zesa Blackouts

Apart from the fact the molten margarine ,spoilt leftovers and the frozen chicken pieces which have since defrosted because of lack of electricity and the debilitating heat,I am at my wits end.Add to the above is the fact that my only means of communicating with the outside world is also blanked out ,my positiveness is at an all time low.My mobile phone's battery is exhausted.The little cheer I normally get from the entertaining articles on the various social media is beyond my reach.Perhaps this will teach me gratitude hey?

It is amazing just how much we take for granted,just 24 hours in the dark makes one rethink their priorities.

Hotels Of Chitungwiza

The Kenny Mubaiwa owned Chitungwiza Hotel and Conference center is a poor advertisement for the hotel facilities in Municipality.

Boasting of zero stars, residents of Chitungwiza will be hard pressed to find a place where they can entertain visitors to the town.Completely surrounded by the suburb of Zengeza2,the hotel's outside appearance does not appeal to passers-by to enter and sample its hospitality.The reception at the hotel is not the best either ,yours truly arrived at the establishment and had ton wait for about ten minutes with two other youngmen who had come for an appointment to see the manager..When the lady receptionist did arrive ,her appearance did not do anything tom improve the doom and gloom which emanates from the place.She did not have any uniform,nor was her manner professional as she talked to us whilst she was munching on a cucumber.If one does not take potential; clients seriously ,they in turn will vote with their feet ,away from the establishment.There was nothing in her manner or deportment to signify welcome.

Small wonder then that the only regular clients that the hotel has seems to be Dynamos football club,which is linked to Mr Mubaiwa.

Once one gets past the hostile receptionist,the charge of forty dollars a night for a room seems on the steep side bearing the shortage of excess cash in the community.It is just a questin of time before this establishment closes shop and moves elsewhere.

Break Stones For A Dollar

Some enterprising young men in Chitungwiza are manually breaking stones to make quarry stones.
In an act akin to the Biblical saga of the Israelites ,who burnt bricks using straw.

Men Break Stones For A Dollar

The work is not for the faint hearted as it is physically and emotionally demanding.These young entrepreneurs break down granite rocks into manoeuvarable pieces which are further broken into what is commonly referred to as quarry stones to be used in the building industry.the only machinery used is their brute strength,12 pounds hammer as well as old tires to stop the stone chips from flying away.

It takes one and a half days to two days for the workers to fill a wheelbarrow.This costs a potential client thirty dollars.For a cubic ,one has to pay two hundred and fifty dollars.That is the equivalence of thirty wheel barrows,I am told.An extra amount of five dollars is levied for transportation within a five kilometres radius of the place where these gentlemen work.

What is heartening is the fact that the people do not sit on their laurels and grind their teeth in frustrating at the shortage of formal employment.They are doing things for themselves.Theirs is a symbol of the enterprising spirit embodied in a true entrepreneur.

Econet Wireless Creates Eyesore In Chitungwiza

Econet Wireless' desire to empower the common man is noble but the shacks from which some of these businesses operate from leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.

Econet Wireless Creates Eyesore In Chitungwiza

First and foremost ,the siting of some of the Ecocash booths seems to have been done haphazardly with little regard paid to the outside environment.No effort effort seems to have been made in order to beautify these spots.One can see rubbish strewn right round some of the booths.The material used is o most extends corrugated iron sheets welded together to form structure which can house one person.You could be forgiven should you think that these are old fashioned outhouses used in the rural ares as long drop toilets.A little tiding would go a long way towards sprucing up the surroundings.

Secondly, the manner of the people manning these booths can put one off using them as most of the people may pear to think that one is inconviencing them by visiting the booths.Some change in attitudes,acknowledging the importance of anyone visiting the booth would go a long way towards ensuring the continued utilization of this essential service.

Thirdly,and I believe most contentious of all is the fact that maybe Econet needs to empower its agents more by providing them wit business training especially customer care.These agents are reflection of the Econet brand therefore they need to be at their best; physical surroundings as well as the way they attend to customers.

Chitungwiza Residents Shortchanged By Munucipality

The frequent burst of sewage pipes in Chitungwiza has residents up in arms against the municipality.

Raw Sewage On Streets

Areas around the C.A.A and Rufaro road between St Mary's and Zengeza1 are notorious for bursting pipes and spilling obnoxious ordours on residents.The fact that this has been going on since the turn of the millennium does not make it right.

From Mondays through to Wednesdays ,when the town has its weekly supply of water,the pipes bursts become numerous.An antiquated sewage system coupled with overpopulation,creates an unbearable strain on the pipes.There are certain areas which have become no-go-areas due to the pools of sewage stagnant on City streets.Maybe we need to have a poo-protest of our own.Take a leaf out of the notorious Poo Protesters of Cape Town.

The situation is a ticking time bomb, soon the rains are coming ,one shudders to think as to what horrors we are going to experience then.

Econet Reaps Customers Off

A brother -in-law of mine has had a torrid time at the hands of Econet Wireless recently.

Econet Reaps Customers Off

His ordeal started when he lost his mobile phone in a taxi whilst coming from seeing one of his customers.He raises and sells broiler chickens in his backyard,so his mobile phone is the best link between him and his customers.The next morning he went to his customers .The next morning he went to the Econet office in Bulawayo,where there was a long queue slowly making its way into the offices of the service provider.He finally got to the counter where he was asked to pay a dollar and provide proof of his identity so that he could get a replacement Sim,which he was assured would start working within 30 minutes.When the Sim started working he discovered that the number he had been allocated was different.After meeting with some of his customers most complained about him not picking up his calls,that as well as the fact that he would get calls from strangers.He had to go back to the service provider,wait in another queue before a Sim with the the right number was allocated to him.

Now,three weeks later ,the Sim is not working again.It has been four days now without mobile phone services at a time when he has to follow up on hid debtors to make sure that they pay.Yesterday,he went back again to the offices of the service provider to get answers and he was assured that his Sim would start working within an hour.We even tried to engage the company through their twitter account ,provided the serial number as requested but still,as I write his Sim is not working.Despite numerous ca,,s to the Econet customers 'scare' line .Imagine spending 17 minutes holding a call in order to be attended to by an operator,who assures you that from his end everything is working well and yet you don't have service.The fact that the Sim is loaded with airtime adds insult to injury.My brother-in-law's case seems to be just the tip of the ice-berg  as I read several other complaints from the disconnected customers on the twitter feeds.It is time Econet upped their game and improve their service.

Should it continue ,I will urge him to choose a different service provider,enough is enough.

Condoms For Teens Debate

The decision by the UNFPA and the government of Zimbabwe to distribute small sized condoms for teenagers 15 years and older has a lot of people hot under the collar.

Condoms For Teens Debate

According to Petros Muzondo, an author on H.I.V and A.I.D.S related issues,'children need God not condoms...even grown-up people are getting STIs and H.I.V.

The facts of the matter are that at this age teenagers have a vague idea about sex from their Biology classes,friends and peers.Bearing in mind the statics on H.I.V and A.I.D.S prevalence in the country , I believe the move to provide condoms is pragmatic .I think our teenagers require the right information ,lest they experiment or get the wrong or half-truths from their peers.In a society parents do not talk to their offspring about sex,the only information at their disposal is either from peers or what they can glean from their Biology texts.Not many teens have access to the Internet ,where they can research the taboo subjects.

Saying that distributing condoms will lead to promiscuity is like the proverbial Ostrich burying its head in the sand .At this stage teenagers are curios .They will want to know everything.And sex is a fascinating subject to them.Until parents face reality and realise their bundle of joy is grown and wants to know the WHYS and WHEREFORES of this world,they are headed for disappointment.The myths about sex needs to be debunked among youths .We also need to accept that they are sexually active .Is it not therefore prudent to then manage the situation by giving them the right information and manage the situation so that the sex they might be involved in is safe.

No matter how much hot air people might blow about how morally wrong it might be,the reality is teenagers are indulging in unsafe sex.Our media is awash with tales of school-girls aborting in school toilets or at home ,so we have to be proactive.No amount the of preaching or sweeping the problem under our collective carpets ,these are the facts.

Wife Selection Guide

This is what my father told me to do if i was to searching for a wife,'mukadzi wekuroora'.

My son, I will be blunt with you.Do not worry about size of a woman buttock or breast but worry about the size of her heart and brain.Worry about the size of her love and endurance.Because after 6 or 12 years ,it will not be about buttock or breast.

Wife Selection Guide

As you can see ,your mum has a flat breast  and almost flat buttock but we still live together happily.I still love her and she still love me .Be careful of woman that love money ,I mean the woman that talks every time about ;hair ,clothes,shoes,bags,panties and make-up.Marriage is not about these things .Without make-up ,clothes,shoes and panties a good marriage will stand but without love,no marriage can stand.

When I got married ton  your mum, Did not have a car or house of my own,I was not even educated but I had dreams and she appreciated and supported me.Any woman that does not support your dreams is not worth thinking a minute about,There are women that will see your dreams better than you,you are lucky if you find one My son ,open your ears very well ,there is a kind of woman  you should avoid ,do not make a mistake to marry this kind of woman or  you will regret it .I mean a woman  that is always has bad things to say about everyone .If you this kind run away.One of the worst kind of woman you can marry is the one that complain about everything.If you buy this,she says that you should buy that.Please stay away .Most woman enjoy talking but the one who talks two hours and listen for two minutes is a potential bomb,be wise,be very careful of a pretending woman.She is not hard to know ,she will know everything .

No woman is perfect, if you see a woman  who believes in your dreams,who respects you,who is committed and who is not all about herself alone then let her go.But remember you must not be a wayward man .I have trained you ,if you find a good woman but you are a bad man ,you will not have good marriage.I will not pick a woman for you but I have given you my advice ,when you find her ,bring her for my blessings.

May you find a woman that will increase you not decrease you.I wish you all the best my son.

By Kurai Muvadi

Count Your Blessings

Having lost my mother eleven years ago the only constant in my life has been my father.

Count Your Blessings

On the twelfth of October 2015, we celebrated his ninety-first birthday.He has been around for a very long time hey,It was in 2014 that we, my siblings and I thought of and organisedb  a surprise party for him.It suddenly dawned on us how blessed we were to have him in our lives.

My eldest sister,her second born son and I were the only ones who could make it from the various towns were we now live.The other sister was in the diaspora hustling,She is the one who let the cat ouit of the bag ,since she had to call early in the morning to wish him a happy birthday,.His instincts had been telling him that something was up.

Anyway ,after the cat got out, preparations continued and at ten we started the vert intimate party we had planned.He had a smile stretching from ear to ear.When we finally got out the presents ,his joy was overflowing.

It took a tale from one of my nephews for the truth to sink in .We are indeed very fortunate to stiull have him in our lives.

Violence Begets Violence

Well, whether black or white ,no one deserves to die like a rat.This is one of the times we are compelled to introspect, believe me there is no dispute solved by violence.Call it whatever you will;either Americans against terrorists or holy wars in the case of Islamists/Muslims ,the issue is the escalation of the death toll.

Violence Begets Violence

When we look at it closely ,ever since the these wars have started in Afghanistan,Israel,Palestine,Syria, no solutions have been found.People who continue to die are innocent.This extremism is more lethal than all the nuclear reserves in the entire world.It calls for everyone to act and castigate violence.

Are we sane enough to co habitat in one world and tolerate each others views?

By Elias Mangwende

Extra-city Coach Operator Makes Passengers Relieve Themselves In Bushes

Whenever I travel to Bulawayo ,I board an Extra-city coach,but since discovering that they make their passengers relieve themselves at ba layby along the highway,I swear that is the last time i use their service.

Extra-city Coach Operator Makes Passengers Relieve Themselves In The Bushes

The host on the coach claims the reason why they opt for the roadside toilet is because the bpublic facilities at the various bus trmini are very dirty.Be that as it may,two wrongs do not make a right.If the operator is serious about the safety of his passengers ,then he could have partnered with one of the municipal councils along the highway to provide a decent public facility for their and other passengers.A sort of community serice perhaps.Should the operator be selfish and not want to spend money on the community then the way to go is buying coaches with onboard facilities.

The problem with most businesses in my country right now is act of just taking without giving anything back.

The Plight Of The Educated Man

Intelligence is super but will not always lead to greatness.Samuel Johnson says 'Great works are performed not by strength ,but by perseverance.'That is how life is structured ;it rewards determination not brilliance.

The Plight Of An Educated Man

Most educational systems celebrate 'smart' students .They are the called the 'A' students ,but rarely will they be top class and cutting edge disciplinrians in real life .For example the late  Dambudzo Mrechera ,who doesnot know of his brilliance and masterpieces?At the end of the day what did he achieve?We can all agree that he had exceptional abilities not harnessed by perseverence.It is quite unfortunate that he died young and had no money nor assets.You may say'I 'am biased ,but the same holds for Albert Einstein.Noone will argue abpout his intelligence ,which was out of this world ,but he died a common death.There is no secret about thus ,determination pays.Thomas Edison ,the electriuc light bulb man, said to achieve one has to increase the rate of failure
.It can be summarised in a simple phrase ,'persevere long enough and you will get it '.

I also want to compare a fundi to a sportsman.If we are to talk about footballers for a start one would notice how early they make it in life.This is because of two condiments ;decisiveness and perseverence.Raheem Sterling ,at the tender age of 19 has made it .He knew that staying with a lukewarm team was not going to help him.Andrea Pirlo,who was a late developer ,spent tens of thousands of hours on the field perfecting his footballing skills.All his life he knew how to discipline himself and stay focussed.

Most of the so called educated people are not decided on what they want.They are tossed about by the wind ,but sports people decide early and persevere until they achieve greatness.More can be said but let me stop .Longer hpours of work without focus and determination will not yield much.

written by Elias Mangwende  

Gweru Bus Terminus Public Facility An Eyesore

The Gweru City Council run ablution facility are the worst i have seen in my travels across the length and breadth of Zimbabwe.

Gweru Bus Terminus Toilets An Eyesore

At the entrance of the public toilets ,one is met with floors covered in black oily looking dirty water.Whether this is sewage or just dirty water is left to one's imagination.Couple this with the offensive stench coming from the urinals and the stalls ,it makes for an unpleasant experience all round.Less than a metre from this despicable sight are hordes of vendors selling their foodstuffs.It is just a matter of time before there is an outbreak of some water-borne epidemic.That this has been going on for quite some time and nobody has done anything about it is in stark contrast to the city's often quoted 'CITY OF PROGRESS' slogan.There is nothing progressive about these public facilities.One wonders where the money charged at the entrance to the terminus is used for.
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Colcom Employees Caught With Their Pants Down

In an apparent symbol of the economic malaise afflicting the country ,two female employees of Colcom in Bulawayo were caught with several kilos of meat strapped to their midriffs.

It is assumed that the pilfering has been going on for quite some time.On the fateful day ,the suspicious security guards stopped the lead female and asked to search her .He met with resistance but after calling for reinforcement in the form of a female guard,the two culprits were uncovered much to the delight of the security guards and the manager of the meat processing plant.

Tales abound of an elaborate plant that included supervisors,security guards who were in on the plot.It is alleged the cabal had customers who would buy the stolen meat.The act smacks of pure greed as all the people involved were formally employed and were fairly well looked after by their employer.It is perhaps an indication of the moral decay in society at the moment.

One wonders whether a few extra dollars could have lead to the two jopardizing their employment.Now they are going to be  the guests of the department of correctional services whilst their children are going to bear the brunt of their mothers' avarice.

Effects Of The Heatweave On My Garden

My reason for waking up cheerfully everyday for the past four months is gone.The lush green veggies of my garden has been affected by the harsh heatwave that has been devastating Zimbabwe in the past month.To add insult to injury ,the borehole whose spillage i depended on for the watering of my garden has broken down.

Effects Of The Heatwave On My Garden

However,I take solace from the resilient spinach crop ,which at the height of the sun's heat wilts and lie on the ground ,come half past four in the evening they show signs of revival and morning ,it is up again .Maybe one can draw lessons from these.One of never giving up or losing hope .No matter how dare a situation might seem there is always light at the end of the tunnel.

Here is to hoping that the rains will fall soon and will quench the collective thirst of human,plant and beast.

Basotho Women Crazy About Foreigners

Basotho womens fascination with all things foreign has had quite a horrific consequences over the years.The one case which is typical of the ordeals they have suffered is the one of Matsiliso ,who is alleged to have been gunned down by her Danish husband fir fear that she would turn state witness and nail him for genital mutilation.The case is before the South African courts as i write

Basotho Women Crazy About Foreigners

During my visits to Lesotho, i experienced this fascination first hand .Nigerians,Zimbabweans,Zambians are top of the list of foreign husbands of choice .Most of these men use the women shamelessly for their own advancement ,to get Sesotho citizenship.Sexual gratification as well as cheap labour for their small businesses before dumping them without a second thought.

Some of the women i talked to openly declared that foreign men were better lovers both physically and emotionally.They claim that foreigners knew how to look after their ladies .Whether this is true or just a myth is open to debate.That is the mindset of the average Mosotho lady,which foreigners exploit to the hilt.

In one of the urban settlements,Haleqele ,the number of children seven years and under who have been sired by Zimbabweans is frightening.There has been an influx of young Zimbabwean males visiting for the purpose of informal trade .Soon the town will have a teeming Zimbabwean community.I do not believe these fathers bother to think of the fact that they will definitely carry the stigma through out their lives.Very few fathers actually marry their baby mamas .To them it is just a means of letting off steam.With the prevelence of H.I.V and A.I.D.S one would assume that these adults would play it safe.

The stigma is not only confined to the offspring ,as the mothers are also painted with the same brush.They are referred to as the 'Mathikatsi' ,loose women who sleep with foreigners.Their chances of marrying Basotho men are almost none existent as they as regarded as rotten apples.

Village Philanderer Bashed By Competitor

A local village wife who is in the habit of flaunting her husband's jewels and sleeping with most of the local men got more than she bargained for when she tangled with a married man.

Village Philanderer Bashed By Competitor

The woman, who is the source of village gossip,is well known for having affairs with all and sundry in the village and surrounding areas.She openly cuckolds her husband of ten years .It has got the extend where the sister-in-law came and ejected her from the family home and forced her to go and build her own homestead as the family was afraid that she would cause the mother-in-law to have a fit because of her shenanigans of bringing suitors to the home and she would keep the whole family awake with her screams whilst in the throes of ecstasy at the hands of various lovers .Her in-laws report that she carelessly deposed of the spent condoms at the back of her bedroom,endangering her children as well as the village children.

This time however,she tangled with the  wrong woman,The scorned woman heard about her tryst with her husband and she didn't take it lying down.She came visiting with vengeance in her heart and bashed the village flossy to a pulp whilst the other women from the village egged her on.

Most villagers agreed that the punishment was long overdue.We wait to see whether the thrashing will heal her itch.
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The Breast Cancer Sufferer Succumbs To The Disease

The old lady whom i wrote about previously succumbed to the cancer that was ravaging her body.

Breast Cancer Sufferer Succumbs To The Disease

What emerged during the funeral is a sordid story of neglect and abuse at the hands of her children.She bore four sons ,all grown up and working .They have all married ,except for one son ,they all live at the family home with their spouses.What irked the relatives of the deceased  was the tales of neglect at the act of these daughters-in-law especially at a time when the mother in law was sick.They never lifted a finger to help her.Since she did not bare a daughter ,her sister's daughters would come and help her out.Even when she ran out of food supplies  it is alleged that the daughtr-in-law would never give her anythig despite the fact that they were living in her home rentfree.

As I write ,one of the daughters-in-law,whose mother was also staying at the deceased's home ,now wants to move into the rooms where the deceased used to use.This has prompted protests and arguments of unfairness from the other spouses.

If one  cannot take care of their parents especially in their hours of need, then what is our purpose in life.

Road Rage

The adoption of the US dollar by our government has made it possible for citizens to buy second hand cars from dealers in Asian countries at an unprecedented rate.This lead to a myriad of problems ,one of which is the road rage from disgruntled road users.

Road Rage

The proliferation of cars on our roads,coupled with the helter-skelter driving of public transport vehicles.the sixteen seater vehicles,our roads have become both congested scary to drive on.The kombi-drivers simply do not care for other road users as they Scrabble for the scarce fare paying passengers.They will stop anywhere especially in the middle of the road ,in order to pick up passengers .The inconvenience to the drivers of private vehicles is huge.One has to be careful in order to ensure that they safely negotiate the roads.The kombi-drivers are a power unto themselves,they will cut in front of other vehicles,swerve,overtake in front of oncoming traffic.

The blood pressure of most private vehicles shoots through the roof as the 'emergency taxis',this is the name the sixteen seater kombis are referred to here,rush here and there in search of the elusive dollar,so they can meet their daily targets.Many a time the private vehicle drivers resort to road rage ,so that they vent they frustration.

The fact that most roads in the urban centres have potholes does not help either.Most scenes of drivers avoiding potholes and other vehicles is like a horror dodgem car exhibition.

Simple courtesy and sticking to prescribed lanes,could go a long way towards curbing wayward behaviour of these taxi drivers.

When All Hope Is Lost

A mother of three young children, the eldest who is thirteen years old and the youngest a toddler of thirteen months recently ended her life because of debts.

When All Hope Is Lost

She had approached a loan shark ,together with three other women to borrow money to be used for the start of a business venture.The other members were supposed to be joint guarantors of the 500 dollars which every member of the group had borrowed.When the venture she had started folded and she could not repay the loan amount plus interest,she told her brother that she was having financial problems.The desperate woman threatened that should the situation continue then she would end her life.When her sibling heard this he drove to meet and counsel her and left her some money to tide her over.After making two payments ,she clandestinely bought some poison,wrote several letters inform her relatives whom she wanted to take care of her children.Under the cover of darkness she drank the poison.

In the middle of the night,when the toddler needed attention.the mother was unresponsive.The elder sibling woke up to find out what the matter was ,only to find the mother catomase.He promptly called for help from the neighbour,who happens to be a nurse.They asked another neighbour to ferry her to hospital,but she was pronounced dead on arrival.

One should never allow themselves to believe that whatever bad situation they are in will not change.Change is inevitable.Had the lady   asked the lender for relief so could pay a reduced amount,she probably could be alive today.She would be taking care of her children.Her children are in a worse situation because of the action she took.No matter how well the mother's sister will take care of them,they will never see their mother again.depriving them of a mother's love at such a tender age.

Economic Hardships Create Monsters Out Of Citizens

The prevailing economic hardships have entrenched a callous disregard for others as evidenced by the massive mansions being built ,huge S.U.Vs being bought and other grandiose exploits.

Economic Hardships Create Monsters Out Of Citizens

Gone is the culture of sharing and caring for the community that was the stay of the country during the liberation struggle.The new dispensation has led to a fierce class struggle where every Tom,Dick and Harry wants to outdo their neighbours in the status struggle.Stories abound of the individuals who build eighteen or twenty-five bedroom mansions for a typical family of four individuals,Large sums are spent on acquiring the latest state of the art automobiles which are paraded at the slightest opportunity.Complete disregard is paid to the collective suffering in the country.It is a case of each man for himself and the devil takes the hindmost.Simple logic would suggest that if these individuals pooled their resources ,they would easily revive some of the struggling companies and in the process earn a lot of money in dividends when the companies do well.

The situation has got so bad that even church leaders are getting in on the act and are blindly fleecing their flock for their own aggrandisement.

The bibble teaches us in Galations 6;2 'To share each other's troubles and problem,and in this way obey the law of Christ'

Pensioners Fleeced Of Their Hard-Earned Cash

Reports suggest that a very big pension fund's employees have been fleecing pensioners of their retirement funds systematically over the years.

Pensioner Fleeced Of Their Hard-Earned Cash

This came to a head when a pensioner from Mutare queried the non-payment of his monthly pension.The person who dealt with his query is alleged to have informed him that he was being paid through a certain, he denied having an account with that bank.Further digging unearthed the scheme where the correct names were used to open accounts with the bank ,but the identity document was false.The culprits allegedly worked with a corrupt bank official ,who facilitated the opening  of the savings accounts as well as the disbursement of the funds.This collusion must have also included workers at the office responsible for issuing identity cards as one has to go and personally apply for an identity document.

Reliable sources suggest that the investigations uncovered an elaborate scheme and resulted in a few individuals losing their jobs .It is also alleged that one former employee also fleeced the pension fund of close to a million dollars before skipping the country.

Two Visitors Per Patient

It is the lunch time visiting hour at a major city hospital.An elderly woman lies in a drug induced sleep on a hospital bed and her relatives have come to see how she is doing.The notice for two visitors per patient is ignored as her anxious relatives  crowd around her bed and try to see for themselves what they have from phone calls or chats that they relative is very ill.

Two Visitors Per Bed

Whilst all this is well intentioned but the patient just needs to be left alone to rest,for her body to heal itself.It is quite a contradiction because those who prophesy to love and care for her are the ones who disturb her by waking up and try to talk to her.Wanting to know how she is feeling and whether she recognizes  them.The lady is very ill, the notes on her bed indicate that she has breast cancer and she is unresponsive to treatment.She is no longer eating neither can she talk.

Some sane minds among the visitors suggest that just a few visitors at a time should be by her bed to no avail.Waking up and finding a lot of strangers around ones bed does not exactly augur well for a very sick patient.Eventually after the initial flurry of rubber-necking is over,the visitors realize the gravity of the situation and sit in the chairs provided and talk among themselves.It is taboo for anyone to mention how ill a patient is traditionally but all and sundry can see that the patient is struggling.

For the immediate family,the children,watching their mother being turned into a spectacle is heartbreaking,no matter how well intentioned the action might be.They can only stand by and watch. Should they tell the visitors to keep their distance,it will be misconstrued as arrogance.It is a catch 22 situation.  

Husband Sees Red After Discovering Sneakers Under Bed

The father of three, who ditched his wife three years ago but has remained friendly with the mother of his children ,going to her place on a regular basis to ask for bus -fare got the shock of his life when he discovered a pair of men's sneakers under the bed of his estranged wife's bed.

Husband Sees Red After Discovering Sneakers Under Bed

On enquiring what was going on his worst fears were realised as his wife confirmed that she had moved on and found a lover who was taking care of her and their children.The former husband saw red when he was invited to come inside to be introduced to the new man who had replaced him in the woman's heart and bed.He unexpectedly head- butted the woman and a melee ensured resulting in the man getting bruises to the face and upper body.The woman was able to stand her ground and pounded her former husband for wanting to spoil her new- found happiness.With tail between the legs,he went back home to freshen up and wear a new shirt as the one he had been wearing was completely ruined.

Realising that he had bitten off more than he could chew, he completely disowned the children

This means the new man has both the mother and the children.Interestingly the former husband remarried three years ago and has children with the new wife.The two women actually get on well together.

Are You A Cannibal?

I was asked this question quite a lot during my travels in Lesotho.One of the most hilarious tales i ever heard was the fact that people North of the Limpopo river are cannibals.

Are You Are A Cannibal?

I love my country,failed economy and all.It has the highest literacy rate in Africa.I contributed a bit to this statistic, the tale of which will be written about at a later date. One can pardon me therefore for being a bit defensive when the assertion was made that our country was full of cannibals.

Most of the Basotho i met with would regale me with story of a Mosotho who married a foreigner,went to visit the husband's country of origin and was forced to marry a baboon.I tried to explain that this was impossible, to no avail.What I later discovered was that there was a lot of uninformed stories about Africa.You could have thought you were in Europe or the Americas, the lack of knowledge their is about Africa in the countries south of the Limpopo.In Lesotho this would have been perpetuated by the fact that History is not taught in the schools.Those schools which teach it

Are Chitungwiza Residents Getting The Service Delivery They Deserve At Last?

For the past two weeks ,water supplies have been coming to Chitungwiza residents regularly from Sunday to Wednesday morning,quite a departure from the usual Monday mornings to Wednesday morning.

Are Chitungwiza Residents Getting The Service Delivery They Deserve At Last?

Imagine our surprise then when we saw a caterpillar front-end loader early in the morning piling sand and rubbish that had been dug up from the water drains along Hombarume drive and tipping them into waiting rubbish dump trucks,to be carted away to some distant landfill.

The fact that 624 workers were laid off not more than two months ago seems to have jump-started service delivery in our beloved community.One to think really hard to when last we saw anything similar to this happening here.

However, a lot still needs to be done in regards to the provision of refuse bags.I have personally gone to the office of the man in charge of the issuing of refuse bags and have been assured that i will get one this month.I am going to demand this service since I am paying my rates diligently every month.We do not want the enforced water rationing that we have been forced to endure.Other suburbs in the town have uninterrupted water supplies,what sins have we committed to be singled out for such arbitrary action.

The area of St Mary's township previously known as C.A.A still reeks from the stench of overflowing raw sewerage.This problem has been going on since time immemorial.One question which begs to be asked is if this area has any councillors.If so what are they being doing because one is led to believe that these are supposed to report any poor service delivery to the town manager.Another question is whether the said town manager ever meets with residents to find out any complaints they might have.

In The Kingdom In The Sky

The first time I arrived in the country ,Lesotho,I was really impressed.It was the middle of May and it was bone-chilling cold.

Students learning

My friend ,who had generously agreed to show me the way , lead me to a hostel where other foreigners lived.What I noticed within days is the proud sense of belonging among the local people.Their love for their country,language,and their culture.Whilst quite a few would try to communicate in English,they made it a point to remind one that one is in Lesotho therefore one had to learn Sesotho,the local language.On the whole, the people are very friendly and welcoming.

Since more than half of the people one meets tells one to learn the local language,I went to the biggest bookshop in Maseru and bought a handbook of English and Sesotho translations.Within three months I could speak the language well.A lot of the people  I first met, when I did not know how to speak Sesotho, were amazed.What I discovered is that, if you love something ,then it will grow and you will succeed at it .The fact that I was  not afraid of making mistakes helped a lot.I had a group of young children children around nine and ten years old who would correct me and teach me the proper pronunciation,by the end of my sixth month in Lesotho, I could  hold my own in a simple conversation.As I write,I can safely say that I am proficient in the language since I can even interpret the meanings of idioms and some obscure expressions.

The essence of what I am trying to say is ,when one learns a language they make it their own.They then use it when they please.There is nothing more rewarding than seeing people's faces when they realise that as a foreigner in their country ,you can communicate in the local language
.Opportunities opened up for me and my fellow countrymen ,who had not bothered to learn the language quickly realised their folly and started learning too.

Maggie The Gambler

Maggie is a forty-something professional.She is a single mother of three school going children.Her biggest vice is gambling.

Maggie The Gambler

It has got to the extend where the Lesotho Sun Hotel actually gave her a gold class access card for use of one of the special rooms designated for  their most loyal customers.The doormen and service people know her by name.Every month-end, without fail, she is at the gambling tables, slot machines or whatever it is that takes her fancy to try her luck.

The unfortunate thing is that she could have had a home of her own,good furniture.The gambling bug has really bitten very deep.Maggie gambles her earnings away and has to rely on loan sharks in-order to make ends meet.It all started innocently as a night of fun with the girls from work,but now her life is up-side down.The loan sharks have possession of her A.T.M card and passport which she had to surrender as security.At the month end , she goes and collects the remainder of the amount left in her account ,usually about a hundred and fifty rands.This is hardly enough to pay the three hundred and fifty rands rental for the two-roomed rented garden flat in one of the not-so-elegant suburbs of Maseru as well the food for her children.To make ends meet she has to immediately borrow from the loan shark at an interest of around 30%,so the vicious circle continues.After getting the loan she gambles in the faint hope that she will be able to score a big enough amount to clear all her debts but slowly but surely she is sinking deeper into the hole of desperation fuelled by her debts and gambling habit.

Her children know that on her payday she will arrive home late after visiting the hotel for a gambling session.The eldest, a tall thirteen year old,does the best she can to look after her eleven year old brother and two year old sister.She has lost all respect for her mother,to the extent that she back-chats and is generally unruly.

What makes this situation tragic is the fact that Maggie actually has a college education,one would have thought that she would be wise enough to the dangers of addiction and the poor influence she is having on her offspring.She foolishly believes that she can stop at any time but this has been going on for a while.Her younger sibling, who has a well paying job in one of the government departments,has vowed not to feed Maggie's gambling habits and will not give her any money at all.

My sympathies lie with the children who have an AWOL mother on the day they should be enjoying her monthly toils.If children cannot partake of the mother's hard-earned cash,whilst she feeds it to the slot machines,can one really blame them for feeling neglected.Were it possible those children would have been taken into foster care.

Making Marriage Vows And Sticking With Them

This is the second funeral I have been to in a week.The deceased, a father of four grown children had been bed-ridden for more than five years.He was paralysed from the neck downwards and could not do anything for himself.

Making Marriage Vows And Sticking With Them

It got me thinking about the spouse who has been by her husband's side all the time during his illness.Had the ill spouse been a woman,how long would it have taken for the man to get a side-dish.Almost all the time ,some women take their marriage vows seriously and will stick by their partners through thick and thin.Does this make men incapable of loving and staying faithful to their spouses for rich or poor ,in sickness and in health ,till death do them part? Or is it just a question of self-indulgence on the part of the male partners who believe that society will accept their philandering ways.In most cases society sides with the man and makes excuses for them.

To those ladies who suffer with their men,keep their marriage vows and keep the family together in times of trouble a heartfelt THANK YOU.

Are You Are A Father Or A Sperm-donor?

Our prisons now hold quite a number of offenders against society who have shirked their responsibilities and have either flatly refused to pay for the upkeep of their off-spring or try to play hide and seek with their spouses for child support.These men are sperm-donors.

Are You A Father Or A Sperm-donor?

A father is one who goes into a relationship and is prepared for the consequences should he sire a child.Raising a child is one heck of a task and responsibility.It is not for the faint-heart .Children are expensive to raise; formula,clothes,medical bills and they require a lot of Tender Loving Care.Expecting the women alone to take care of all that is the height of irresponsibility.Should a marriage breakup then the father of the child should step up to the plate and do the right thing without waiting for the mother to drag them screaming and kicking to court for maintenance payments.

The fact that our government has decided to incarcerate errant fathers for none payment of maintenance is definitely a step in the right direction.We cannot have a generation of children who fail to go to school because their fathers do not want to do the right thing .Often times ,when the child raised by the single-mother does make it in life by the grace of God ,these sperm-donors then want to crawl out of the woodwork and claim to be the fathers,in which case they want to be looked after by the children they would have abandoned.If you behave like that SHAME ON YOU.

Are You Reinforcing Your Child's Misbehaviour?

I recently accompanied a friend to a prison complex and was amazed at the sheer numbers of visitors there.

Are you reinforcing your child's misbehaviour?

One outstanding thing I noticed were the goodies that the relatives of those incarcerated had bought.Is this not going to be misconstrued as a reward for misbehaving,what will stop someone from committing another offence so that they return to the correctional facility if things do not work out on the outside.Statistics suggest that quite a large number of people imprisoned are actually repeat offenders which buttresses my assertion that relatives of prisoners are the ones enabling offenders to wrong society because they know they will be treated well if imprisoned.The scenes were akin to parents visiting their children at a boarding school, viewing the types of foods that were on display.There was a lot of fast foods ,beverages and all sorts of cookies .Some visitors brought reading materials like books and newspapers.

Prisoners should be made to feel that they have wronged society and therefore have to make restitution.

Hollywood Movies Lead To Moral Decay

I love watching movies and the biggest number comes from Hollywood.Since having granddaughters ,I am having to rethink the effect these might have on their impressionable minds.

Hollywood Movies Lead To Moral Decay

Some of the movies churned out by Hollywood contain so much swearing and images of nudity that no self-respecting African would allow their offspring to watch that.Some of us grew up in an era were nudity was frowned upon,one could not be found in possession of a  nude photo,let alone be caught watching a movie with sexual scenes.It is true most of these movies have age restrictions and parents are supposed to enforce these.The bulk of parents cannot be bothered to learn how to activate the parental controls on the television sets.

I now understand why certain  church denominations bar their congregants from owning television sets.They are such a strong corrupting influence on young gullible minds.

Apart from the swear words and nudity,some of the violence and gore shown in these movies is not for the squeamish ,it is most likely to leave a lasting impression on young minds.Parents I implore you to censor what your children watch.A quick study of the users manual of your television sets will inform one how to set the parental control and Walla,temptation gone.