Youths key to national healing

By Golden Guvamatanga 11/01/2010

IT IS a profoundly and poignantly undisputed fact that nurturing children through education presents a country with a solid foundation for a brighter and responsible future.

This is the foundation that is being laid for this country by the inclusive Government as the Organ on National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration continues embarking on its programme of promoting national unity and social cohesion through its National Healing Programme.

While both the programme and the direction being pursued by the Organ are welcome there are some realities that cannot be overlooked if we are to have a future of more and plenty for the future generation that this beautiful country deserves.

This is a future that would be based on the facts of love, tolerance and unity between the people and their country.

The first stark reality of this whole programme is that the world is watching, but that is not to say there should be external interference, otherwise this programme might not achieve its intended objectives which again will leave us a deeply divided nation that we ought not to be.

That we were a divided nation is another reality that we have to face as we search for the deep end solutions that will wipe off the mistrust, divisions and indeed the hatred that existed amongst us prior to the formation of the inclusive Government.

Critically, and most crucially, is the fact that the beneficiaries of this programme are Zimbabweans in their whole unit and youths in their constituency as the torch bearers of a bigger, better and brighter future that their elders and leaders are laying the foundation for them.

This is a serious reality that the people of Zimbabwe should face and hold dear in their hearts as the National Healing Programme gathers steam.

There is no doubt that Zimbabwe needs to exorcise the ghost that engulfed the lives of its people in the past decade.

It is therefore imperative that we take cognisance of the fact that any divisions, hatred and mistrust affect children the most and normally it grows with and within them.

As such it has to be cut short before it becomes part of their lives.

This entails that the Organ take advantage of the country’s high standards in education to promote the National Healing Programme.

This can be done through the introduction of the National Healing Programme in schools, colleges and universities.

I can imagine a situation where a teacher or lecturer enters a pre-school, primary or secondary school classroom, a college or university lecture room, greets his or her students and then dedicates 10 or 15 minutes of their lesson or lecture to teaching them about the importance of love, tolerance and unity at classroom, community, society and national levels.

The teacher or lecturer would go on to teach them about the importance of loving their country through respecting symbols like the national anthem and the national flag or a headmaster at assembly giving a lecture on love, tolerance and unity before lessons.

I can also imagine a situation where the students would go back to their respective homes and tell their parents or guardians about what they would have learnt at their schools that day and the impact that it would have on the parents and guardians as they take these lessons to their colleagues in churches, bars, commuter omnibuses, workplaces, soccer matches among other places of social interaction.

I can again imagine the impact that the message would have as it sweeps through all corners of the country from the youths.

It is of paramount importance to also take into consideration the fact that almost everything that we do emanates from the classroom where we acquire knowledge through education hence the need to have such a programme adopted at learning institutions.

I remember at school we used a lesson called Guidance and Counselling where we were taught about the dangers of HIV and Aids, living in the society among other issues. A similar programme can and may be introduced in schools to promote the National Healing Programme.

This is a reality that we cannot afford to ignore as it is the golden key to unlocking the doors of the unity that the country so needs for its development.

The country needs these kinds of realistic interventions if it is to achieve its goals of promoting national healing to its people.

Also, the other important aspect of the execution of this plan is the use of indigenous languages. This can be done in the form of handbooks or textbooks.

This again should be initiated by schools such that the message of national healing can reach its intended targets with impact.

As demonstrated by the country’s leaders, President Mugabe, Prime Minister Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Mutambara all this is possible if we speak the same language — that of unity.

To fully implement this programme, the Organ can start by teaching the teachers and lecturers about national healing, this kind of training can be done through nationwide workshops.

After that the teachers and lecturers would then go to their schools, colleges and universities to impart the knowledge to their students.

The imparting of this knowledge can be done through workshops, conferences, expos, exchange programmes and competitions between and among learning institutions.

This would not end there as the students would take the programme to the people through exchange visits or art and entertainment programmes.

Through youths and through this programme an intricate network of interaction is critical for the implementation of the programme.

Equally and most importantly for the Organ is the fact that their work would have been made easier in that they would simply reinforce the impact of the already received message by adding their voices as the leaders of the country.

The Organ can also make use of such platforms like soccer matches, musical shows, church conventions among other places to spread the message of national healing.

Fifa has done this to promote fair play and its anti- racism programme and in most cases they use youths to deliver the message to the people and it has worked well as shown by the tolerance among teams and fans.

Another platform they can use is musical concerts and family fun days. Through this they can have youths spearheading the campaign through song and dance.

While the nation enjoys its newly found peace and tranquillity we hope it will continue to prevail as we enjoy the benefits of the great strides made on the socio-economic and political fronts by the inclusive Government.

We also hope that the seeds of love, hope and unity that seek to build our nation are firmly centred on tomorrow’s dream — the youths.

We want a nation whose unity is greatly entrenched on the basis of love for our leaders, love for our liberation heroes, love for our elders, love for our neighbours, love for our brothers and sisters and most importantly love for our country.

The Zimbabwe that we want is one that has its foundation on the aspirations of the future generation, a Zimbabwe that has platforms for the equal participation in any forms of development by youths and a Zimbabwe that has an education system that promotes unity and tolerance between and among children, a message which should be communicated to the community and national levels.

It is our utmost hope that the Organ will initiate this programme with youths being its prime drivers.

We continue to pray for our Zimbabwe so that some of us may see the light.

Long live Zimbabwe!