Banish fear, we only have ourselves!
The recent SADC summit in Lusaka and Mbeki’s continuous regrettable retort that Zimbabweans must solves their own problems should be enough evidence to Zimbabweans that we are on our own. We are at a period in the history of our country where the slide back in to the stone age can become irreversible if not stopped. Once the rot sets in to the machinery at Hwange, ZESA, National Railways and the water supply systems for example, it will take more than just a change of government to recover. That is why we need to change the government in this next election rather than have five more years of this incompetent regime which will surely cement our decline.
You say, but i am only one what can i do?
EACH ONE, TEACH ONE! You know who you know well and trust. Each one of you, take that one person aside and lets start a national dialogue between two people.
The first thing you can do as an activist citizen of Zimbabwe is to first spread the message that “none but oursleves can free” Zimbabwe. Dispel the idea that we can appeal to outsiders to come and sort the regime out for us. It must be clearly understood by the person you are talking to, that we are our own saviour. Remind them that God has always helped those who help themselves.
The second thing in EACH ONE TEACH ONE is for you to get your friend to make their way to the registrar general’s office and register to vote. The mobile registration may be over but voter registration is an on-going exercise (confirm Madiba?) and all you have to do is to make the time to accompnay your friend to the registration office. This in itself is a victory and we must start nothing up small victories.
The third thing is for EACH ONE TO TEACH ONE YOUNG ONE. the youth of our country have their sights firmly fixed outside our borders. They. understandably, plan to leave as soon as they have secured some form of paper qualification. Let them know you understand this but ask them to do their country one big service before they leave. They must register and cast their vote. Let them know that every year hundreds of thousands of young people turn 18 and they have the power to make a huge difference in the direction their country is going to take. The country that their parents will remain in. If they make the right choice they will neither have to leave, and if they still do, nor will have to spend scarce financial resources while overseas in parental and extended family support back home. Get one young person to register to vote and get them to get one other young person to register and this part of your work is done.
The fourth thing you can do in EACH ONE TEACH ONE, is to banish fear. Fear paralyses, it weakens the knee and the nation suffers. The people that you are afraid of have mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and children. They too are afraid. In fact, they are more afraid of you than you are of them. That is why they act they way they do. With EACH ONE, TEACH ONE, we can talk to each other and not whisper. Lets talk about our issues, lets wonder aloud what life would be like in Zimbabwe if the regime had not spoilt things for us. Lets ask ourselves what kind of future we want for Zimbabwe. Then lets see how we can democratically bring about that future and of course, lets act on our ideas. That way,we will begin to banish fear in our neighbour or trusted friend.
The final thing in EACH ONE, TEACH ONE, is for each parent to teach one or all of their children what it means to be a citizen. Talk to your sons and daughters. Sit them down and explain why you are still in Zimbabwe and why you have not left. Help them understand the histroy and life cycles of nations and get them to develop a love for their country and its rich history. Teach them about what home means.
Action has started with you at an individual level because societies are built from communities which are derived from groups of people, who come from families that are made of individuals. EACH ONE, TEACH ONE to understand that we all have have an individual duty to our country regardless of whether we have support form SADC or not. Lets show the world that the Zimbabwean people are far bigger and more powerful than cartels of racist leaders who are obsessed with the past and revenge rather than concerned about building a future for Africa. We shall overcome! Let the work begin! We have untill March to get ready.
August 31st, 2007 13:20
Great post - the reason people are frightened of dictators is the isolation, the lack of knowledge of what they can and cannot do to change their situation and being suspicious of the next person. As for the young ones who believe that leaving Zimbabwe for other countries is their solution, I urge them to think twice. There is so much suffering of those labelled either as refugees or economic immigrants the world over. In Europe, couple that with government sponsored racism. I cannot think of a better place to live than in a politically free and economically flourishing country than Zimbabwe. My childhood memories, though drowned in the dire poverty I grew up experiencing are certainly the best memories I will ever hold dear. Good luck and God bless - He surely helps those who help themselves.
September 2nd, 2007 23:31
A wonderful idea; basically, a chain letter formed of freedom’s message. But spreading a message is helped by its symbols: Islam’s green flag, Christianity’s cross, socialism’s red, anarchism’s black.
For freedom’s message, adopt blue. A blue shirt or blouse, a blue hat or scarf, blue earrings or bracelets. Freedom is a universal, as is our blue sky. ‘Each One, Teach One’ is wonderful idea; find a way to give it a symbol; a blue umbrella, for example, or a simple, solid blue piece of cloth draped along the Zimbabwe flag.
‘Be free,’ Zimbabwe.