First meeting
March 24th, 2005
Last night I went to an MDC rally. Late in the afternoon, I finally managed to persuade my friend to come with me. She had never been to a meeting before, and was scared of being targeted for attending one. At 4pm she was still ‘undecided’ but at 5.45pm, finally gave in. The meeting was due to start at 6pm. As we arrived, I could sense the tension she was feeling, but as the evening progressed she relaxed and it was not long before she was throwing her hands up and cheering along with the rest of us. The atmosphere was electric and the crowd were rearing to go! Nobody was afraid to wear their MDC t-shirts, hats and headbands that are usually not shown in public at all. There is a feeling of complete togetherness.
As we approached the gate to leave, my friend froze! There was a small group of people standing in the exit. She did not know what to do – I realised that she thought there was trouble ahead, and she did not want to go through the gate. I nudged past her and she followed me. There was no trouble. The group that had instantly intimidated her just by their presence, were the young people manning the gate. As we walking back to the car she said to me ‘people are no longer afraid, the MDC will win this time around, because the people are not afraid anymore!’ When I asked her to come with me to the next rally on Saturday she said ‘no way, that’s going to be a big one with Morgan, and there will be trouble’. It is hard to break the cycle of fear that is ingrained after five years of continuous intimidation!
