Hi Sis Noe

IS it safe to keep condoms in my wallet? — Curious.

Reply

A condom stored in a wallet may be damaged by lots of things. The constant bending and friction caused by sitting and moving, as well as long exposure to your body heat, can cause a condom to deteriorate. Extreme heat or freezing cold can make the condom brittle and weak.

Even if the packaging and the condom look fine when opened, there might still be microscopic holes and tears that make it less effective in preventing unwanted pregnancy and the transmission of sexually transmitted infections. For best results, store condoms in a cool, dry, dark place. It might be better to keep them in your bedside drawer, rather than in your back pocket.

Even if it has been stored in a safe way, when in doubt throw it out and get a new one. You can reduce the chance of using a damaged condom by regularly replacing your stash of condoms and keeping an eye on the expiration date. You can also lower the risk of STIs and pregnancy by making sure it’s put on properly.

Hi Sis Noe

I had a miscarriage more than a week ago and since that time I keep vomiting night and day. What is wrong with me? — Worried.

Reply

Although vomiting is a typical symptom of miscarriage, it usually doesn’t last more than three days. In order to rule out any other health concerns that may be causing the nausea, it’s best to contact your doctor. You have not mentioned whether or not a health care provider has diagnosed your miscarriage; if you have not yet sought care for your miscarriage, I strongly advise you to seek out medical care as soon as possible to rule out any potential infections or other conditions that may be causing the nausea and vomiting.

The variety of factors that cause miscarriages may contribute to the length of your symptoms as could some of the miscarriage treatments, so working with a professional to determine what is going on may help you figure out why you are still vomiting. Miscarriage is relatively common, with 15 to 20 percent of pregnancies estimated to end in miscarriage.

One reason you may be feeling this way is that it’s possible the pregnancy hormones called human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) are still in your body. These hormones may continue to be there from 12 to 16 days after a miscarriage, depending on how far along you were into your pregnancy.

Hi Sis Noe

I am 20 and have a boyfriend who is double-crossing me but I still love him. What can I do? I am confused. — Cheated.

Reply

You don’t need to be so tolerant and you don’t need to spare his feelings either. Tell him you know what he did or what he is doing, tell him you are through, and tell him never to talk to you again. Then move on and never spare another thought for the guy. Frankly if you don’t want any more heartache from this guy, you really need to stop and think what you are sacrificing your happiness for.

I understand your confusion and reluctance to move on — but know this — it’s not about love — you are just afraid of being alone. You are addicted to the hurt and the drama. But you are better off without him. Trust me,  months from now after you have left him you will realise it was the best decision of your life. He is not worth it.

You know what hurts this kind of person the most? Dropping him like a hot potato and never looking back. Don’t even spend another full sentence on him. To know that he is worth so little that you can walk away without a word, without even showing how upset you are? That is going to sting. If you answer up the phone and find it’s him, hang up right away. Get a message from him? Delete it as soon as you see it. Get an email? Delete without reading it. The real point besides making him feel bad, of course, is that you get to live your life, be happy again, and stop wasting time on this guy.

Hi Sis Noe

I have a girlfriend and I think she is lying to me that she is a virgin, how do I know without having sex with her? — Worried.

Reply

I am bothered by your attitude that makes your girlfriend’s virginity a big part of what makes you love her. That instantly brings to mind the question what if she told you when she first met you that she wasn’t a virgin? Would you not have been in a relationship with her? To be honest with you — a person’s virginity is their own business. I don’t think your girlfriend has to tell you whether or not she is a virgin because it ultimately comes down to being none of your business. You have to realise, she had a life before you came along, and she will have a life long after you leave — just as you did and you will.

But, if you open up with each other and share your past sexual history with one another, then I think you should trust your girlfriend enough to believe that she is telling you the truth. And if she has told you that she is still a virgin you should believe her. You should have that amount of trust in your relationship. But you deserve an answer to your question. If the hymen is completely intact, it is very possible that the person is still a virgin. If it is not, then it is impossible to know. There are women born without hymens and the hymen can break from any kind of physical activity.

Mollet Ndebele, Sunday Life Reporter

UNITED Colleges of Education in Bulawayo (UCE) for the first time hosted Tertiary Institution of Arts in Zimbabwe (Tifaz), an annual festival where tertiary institutions come together to showcase productions in both performing and visual arts.  

The acting director of tertiary education programmes in the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development, Mrs Dephine Zivanayi, said the aim of the festival was to grow the talent that is there in the tertiary centre and to show that production can be entrepreneurial.

“Culture is both an enabler and driver of economic growth therefore we need to preserve and practice our cultural heritage in order to grow our creative economy. Generally, the creative arts sector usually contributes up to 10% of national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employs more people aged 15 to 29 than any other sector. Hence the need for more sustained support of this sector in strategic national development,” said Mrs Zivanayi.

She said the ministry was ready to support by putting resources towards supporting creativity and innovation in the country.

Founding chairperson of Tifaz Mr Atanas Ruzive said the festivals came after they realised that there was the need for them to promote arts and cultural heritage preservation.

“We looked at areas that are underplayed in national development and that are facing extinction and we realised that traditional dance is becoming extinct due to imperialism as they were regarded as uncivilised and evil,” he said.

He added that they created this platform for sustenance of cultural practices and to motivate talent and skill for students who have exceptional ingenuity to showcase their works.

At the festival students showcased dance, theatre, marimba, mbira, electric dance and art works from hairdo, dress designs to modelling. The festival started on Thursday and it ended on Friday and most teachers’ colleges and polytechnical colleges attended.

Rumbidzai Mhlanga, Sunday Life Reporter

ANTHU Foundation, a non-profit organisation last week donated books to St Columbu’s High School and Robert Tredgold Primary School.

The organisation engaged in a book drive for the first time in June and collected about 150 books including novels, motivational story books and children’s books from well-wishers. The founder and chairperson of the organisation, Lionel Muchirahondo, told this publication that the book drive was a great experience.

“We had a great experience while doing the book drive, it is something that is very popular in other countries so we thought we can also do it for our community and we are grateful for the support we got from well-wishers. I hope that next time we have another book drive we will collect more books within a short period of time,” said Lionel. 

Muchirahondo stated that empowering the youth is one of their major objectives and they have a lot lined up for the youth.

“Donating to schools is one of our objectives which is to empower the youth through education, skills development, active citizenry and counselling. We have a couple of initiatives lined up that will help the youth grow and enhance their culture and native language, therefore the book drive helped us fulfil that objective as this means an addition to the books that the school library had hence giving students a wide range of books to choose from.

“We have a lot of initiatives lined up for students and we will be working with three high schools namely Sobukazi High School, Mzilikazi High School and St Columbu’s High School. We will be hosting the following initiatives, that is the Mannequin Art Challenge for O-level students on 27 September, IsiNdebele spelling Bee for Form Twos on 28 September and the Debate in IsiNdebele Competition that will be held on 5 October, we received sponsorship from Mzansi Express that will help us cover the expenses for the logistics.

“The purpose of these initiatives is firstly for the mannequin art challenge under the theme ‘Africa through my eyes’ which is to provide participants with an opportunity to express and showcase their artistic skills and to springboard art as a possible career. And the purpose for both the spelling bee and debate in IsiNdebele is to improve learners’ skills associated with good spelling habits, expand learners’ vocabulary and encourage correct usage and pronunciation of isiNdebele words as well as encourage them to be more involved in extra curriculum activities that stimulate cultural pride,” he added.

@ruekushie

Rumbidzai Mhlanga, Sunday Life Reporter

Zimbabwe College of Psychiatrists, sponsored by Green Crescent Zimbabwe recently hosted an event to tackle issues to do with addictions in Bulawayo.

According to presenters at the event, addiction is a disease that is perpetuated by social environmental conditions, adverse childhood experiences and genetic inheritance. The organiser and Zimbabwe College of Psychiatrists Convener Dr Nemache Mawere related to this publication the motive behind hosting such an event.

“We realised that the issue of addictions has become a cause for concern in the city and the  country at large but the only addictions that are discussed are alcohol and drug addictions, hence the motive behind coming up with this event is for us to tackle issues of other addictions that we never talk about such as the gambling and sex addictions.

We have been doing a lot of work trying to control this problem but we have failed to control it which means we are doing something wrong somewhere, so we really need to change the way we do things. That is the reason we came together today, people with different kind of thinking from doctors, health care practitioners, students and the general public to talk about different types of addictions and have a common approach on such issues,” said Dr Mawere.

Brighton Sibanda, an intern at Ingutsheni Hospital had this to say about internet gambling addiction and gaming addictions: “The effects of internet gaming and gambling are vast, diverse and to some extent characteristic to each condition. One of the most common ones is decline in grades for those in schools and universities, work performance for adults also declines generally. Increasing tolerance may lead to impairment of others areas of their lives and decreases one’s ability to take care of themselves and those around them.

“To solve these addictions there must be awareness, people must know about these conditions. This holistic approach will equip them to seek professional help therapy, Habit Reversal Therapy, Choice or Reality Therapy and Family Therapy can be used to help individuals. They must also develop self-regulation skills to control their habits that often turn into addictions,” he added.

His sentiments were supported by Fungai Ntuli, the Clinical Psychologist of Ingutsheni Hospital who talked about the effects sexual addiction:

“There are individual effects that include less times spent on hobbies, friends and loved ones, loss of productivity at work and home due to the  distraction of the sexual addiction, financial problems related to overspending in an attempt to satisfy the sexual addiction, loss of employment due to workplace sexual harassment.

There are relational effects as well which are loss of trust due to lies and deceit and difficulty achieving real intimacy due to violation of trust or due to the fact that partners are viewed as objects rather than individuals. The solution is psychotherapy, that is using various Psychology Treatment Therapies addressing the causes and effects,” Ntuli said.

Tholakele Dzowa from Stop to Start International Private Limited talked on how to stop and get the power to start healing.

“We work with people from all walks of life regardless of age, religion, academic achievement and race, as a result we have had a few individuals recovering from different types of addictions referred to us by medical practitioners. We then use our tools, expertise and knowledge to assist them with re-integration into the society. They might face stigmatisation, condemnation and all sorts of negativity.

The tool enables them to deal with this in their stride without resorting to their previous poison of choice. The personal assessment areas are codependent on each other. Someone might develop an addiction because they might have had difficulty in dealing with one issue or another. They come to us to finish off their programme by going through our guided empowerment programme to achieve that effectiveness in their lives,” said Dzowa.

@ruekushie

Raisedon Baya

STEPHEN  Chifunyise, the lion of Gutu also known to most of us as Uncle Steve, was one of the most unassuming men I ever met. He was too simple and easy going to be real. Sometimes we forgot how old he was and just called him Steve, only to be reminded by his smile that he was not our age and not even in our class, then, rather a bit guilty, we added uncle before his first name.

I once travelled with him and Dylan Thomas Max to Malawi for an international writing workshop. We met at the airport in Harare long before it was renamed Robert Mugabe International Airport. I remember him looking at the satchel in my hands as I walked to him and Dylan Thomas Max. 

“Raisedon, where is the rest of your luggage?” he asked, looking a bit worried. I remember Dylan Thomas Max laughing as I told the old man the satchel was all I was taking to Malawi and that there was no “rest of my luggage.” The satchel was all. Uncle Steve had two bags and in one of them were his favourite local snacks and Mazoe Orange Crush. 

“I never travel outside the country without Mazoe. You will never find anything like it anywhere,” he told us as the plane took off and set for Blantyre and then Lilongwe.

Uncle Steve was right about Mazoe. (I later found out he was right about many things he told me.) In Malawi I remember struggling to find any drink I enjoyed. Travelling around I have never found anything that tastes like Mazoe. The old wise man gave me my first lesson in travelling — take a few things that remind you of home and you will never feel lost. Now whenever I travel I have a few things tucked away in my bags to remind me of home.

The next solid memory I have of him was when we spent a month together in Masvingo at the Great Zimbabwe Hotel. Another international writing workshop where he was facilitating. The workshop was organised by Southern Africa Theatre Initiative (Sati). Two things I remember vividly about that month. First, I remember him leading the group of international writers into a small village in Masvingo and teaching us how to blend with the ordinary villagers. It was quite an experience. 

Secondly, I remember the stories he told. He was naturally a storyteller. He told me about his time in Zambia, about his work with the University of Zambia and his love for traditional dance. He told me about his work in this country, his time as the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture. He told me a lot about Oliver Mtukudzi — the man and his music. 

Chifunyise was the first man to explain to me the meanings of Tuku’s songs. He made me realise Tuku’s songs were mostly gospel, albeit not your usual gospel music. He made me listen to Tuku with new ears, always looking for the deeper meaning. I remember coming back from Masvingo and looking for old Tuku albums just to appreciate him more.

One time in Harare we sat at the National Art Gallery café while he told me of his frustrations about being a board member of a certain international festival and why he continued being part of the board. “Things are never easy, never as rosy as they seem. But the bigger picture is beautiful. The arts must win at the end.”

Years later we were to collaborate on two plays commissioned by Daves Guzha for Theatre in the Park. One of the plays was called Ten Years from Now. This was a futuristic play in which we both tried to imagine Zimbabwe ten years from the time of writing. It was one of the projects I really tried to be positive about Zimbabwe. 

We imagined it becoming the bread basket of Africa again. Zimbabwe becoming an industrial boom — all things working and everyone happy and proud. Your Wakanda type of a country. More than 10 years have gone by since the script but nothing like we imagined has happened. In fact, the opposite has happened.  Writing with the old man was a privilege. He had the words, always knew what to say. He had a wealth of ideas but never tried to impose anything on me. We worked well together.

One of his disappointments as a Zimbabwean writer was the lack of respect and recognition for local playwrights. He always gave the example of going to a local school and asking them to name playwrights and to his disappointment the list he got had no local playwrights. 

“Our children are not reading our works. They don’t know about us. They think Shakespeare is the only playwright that lived.” To change that I remember that he was going around some schools reading his plays.

Uncle Steve did a lot. For us. For the sector. He was never celebrated and he never complained.

 Go well hero of time.

Roar no more Lion of Gutu.

Rumbidzai Mhlanga, Sunday Life Reporter

SELF-TAUGHT makeup artist Mutsawashe Mabiso launched her brand Mutsa Makes Faces last week.

The 21-year-old creative and innovative lady, for the love of looking beautiful and making other people look beautiful created her own makeup brand to accomplish that dream. 

“I love showing other women that they are beautiful by simply bringing out their features through makeup. There’s just something about hearing someone who has never viewed themselves as beautiful finally taking pride in their beauty after a makeover, it is just heart-warming and that’s my goal as a makeup artist.

“I believe that every face has a story that deserves to be heard and makeup is simply the paintbrush that paints it onto a canvas and every stroke is necessary to create a clear and holistic narration to that story. To me makeup is not a mask, it is art, passion and expression. Wearing makeup goes far beyond what you put on your face. It’s freedom to express yourself in whatever way you feel or according to whatever mood you are in. It is freedom to be bold, to be fearless, it is self-confidence applied directly to the face,” she said.

Mabiso related when her passion for makeup began.

“It all started with me taking a lot of pictures of myself, I would have photographers ask to take pictures of me to market their work, that is when the love even for modelling was birthed. I would like to think of myself as a very creative person. I love doing anything that makes me showcase my creativity, that explains my passion for makeup among other things. That is the same reason I am also into modelling as it is another avenue that helps me fully express my creativity as I can create any look that portrays any feeling and mood,” she said.

She shared her aspirations and future plans.

“I intend to start my own YouTube channel in the near future where I’ll be doing tutorials for people to learn more about how to apply makeup. I believe that will open more doors for collaborations with big makeup brands and artists. I’d also love to hold masterclasses around Zimbabwe and outside that incorporate both women empowerment and teaching people makeup techniques. I’m all about inspiring and empowering other females in society to be the selves they can be, that would be a big part of Mutsa Makes faces.

“When my brand is well established I’d also like to hold classes to train those who want to get into the industry and possibly even build a team and have more artists under my brand. It’s all about expanding and reaching more people with the message the brand carries while changing lives at the same time. Maybe hold seminars at schools with other people in the beauty industry to spread knowledge on self-care, beauty and self-worth. The biggest future plan is to start my own beauty and cosmetics line,” she added.

@ruekushie

Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday Life Reporter 

SINCE its earliest days at Stanley Hall and Stanley Square, before it moved to 15506 Masotsha Ndlovu Avenue, Lady Stanley Street, Bulawayo, right at the edge of Bulawayo’s oldest township, Amakhosi Cultural Centre has always been synonymous with Makokoba.  

Simply put, Amakhosi’s umbilical cord seems to have buried in the famous township and since the 80s it has not moved away from the shadow of its place of birth.  Not that it has tried to. Amakhosi has always seemed very much at home in its neat little corner tucked right at the edge of a township that has given birth to countless number of stars. 

But times change and Amakhosi for the last few years has not been what it used to be. For the last few years, at least, premier talent was no longer flocking through the gates of Amakhosi. Makokoba’s finest were now finding a welcoming home everywhere else other than their doorstep, with many mushrooming groups a eager to give a warm embrace to talent from Makokoba and even beyond the city’s erstwhile township. 

In search of a new lease of life, Amakhosi founder and Bulawayo Arts godfather Cont Mhlanga has also set his eyes beyond Makokoba. Mhlanga, who this year made a semi comeback from retirement, promising a whole raft of changes at the centre in the process, told Sunday Life that the cultural centre was eying talent from around the city through the establishment of community centres around the city. Two such centres, at McDonald Hall in Mzilikazi and Mgiqika Primary School in Nketa 9 are already operational. 

 “So in Mzilikazi and Nketa we recruited 55 marvelous young people in various fields that range from theatre, music, to Deejaying and modeling and made them a part of our training programme. So while they’re training under Amakhosi they’ll be doing so within their own communities and they’ll also be constant interactions between the trainees and the communities from which they come from

“So as we said earlier when we were launching the Amakhosi Theatre Unit, we’re working on developing communities venues that will be affiliated with Amakhosi around the city. Of the 30 that we had targeted, so far we have only managed to commission two which are at McDonalds Hall and one in Nketa which services the theatre needs of two people in Nketa 7 and 9. In Nketa they chose Mgiqika Primary School as they preferred centre of operations,” said Mhlanga. 

In March when Mhlanga commissioned Amakhosi’s Theatre Unit 12 years after its last production, he had promised that the centre would relaunch with a historical production about the life of Queen Lozikeyi. However, after a few stumbling blocks with the script writing of the epic musical, Mhlanga switched focus to Nansi Lendoda, a 1985 Amakhosi production, starring Mhlanga himself that premiered last month by the centre’s new generation of stars. 

“We couldn’t go through with the musical that we had initially planned. There were some issues with one of our writers so instead we decided that we would open the new Amakhosi with Nansi Lendoda, an Amakhosi production from 1985.  I remember that as one of our biggest plays in the early stages of Amakhosi and I was an actor back then.

 “So our Repertory Theatre premiered a remake of this play at McDonald Hall early last month and I attended that premiere and since I was happy with what I saw I gave them my seal of approval. On the 20th of July they had their first paid performance at McDonald Hall and it was amazing,” he said. 

Mhlanga said the drive to take Amakhosi beyond Makokoba was intentional. 

“The new strategy is all about bringing back vibrancy to Amakhosi Cultural Centre and that vibrancy can only come from the community around Bulawayo. So the new thrust of Amakhosi is to look beyond Makokoba. Our strategy is called the Asset Based Community Development concept and under it we’re going around Bulawayo looking at its tangible and intangible assets.

“Under its tangible assets we’re looking at the community halls, the libraries and other physical places while under its intangible assets we would group its young people and their talent. So we now want to harness all of that and pour into Amakhosi Cultural Centre which is the mother of all these projects taking place around the city,” he said.

As Mhlanga supervises renovations at Amakhosi, which is set to officially reopen its doors in November, a number of local, regional and international projects are on the pipeline. 

The cultural centre is set to join hands with Theatre in the Park in a blockbuster project featuring actors from around the country while a Polish theatre practitioner is also set to orchestrate another project in August.  In addition, former Amakhosi products Pedzisai Sithole and Loveness Wedza are also to set to combine with the centre for projects that are set to span several countries.    

“Amakhosi has produced a lot of stars in a lot of fields and so we’re now touching base with all these people who are now all over the world and they’re helping us take our products international. We’ve given Pedzisai Sithole the rights to translate Nansi Lendoda to SiSwati and he will do so with his production house in that country.

 “So while we’re doing our thing this side they will be rehearsing the production with all Swati cast and then they will tour around that country and the region before bringing it to Bulawayo. We will also work with Loveness Wedza who is in the US that will go from Scandinavia to other parts of Europe and Canada where she’s based,” he said.

Bruce Ndlovu/ Gibson Mhaka, Sunday Life Reporters 

OF the hundreds of songs that her father composed, Memory Mtukudzi’s favourite track from the iconic musician is Hazvireve. 

It is easy why Memory would choose this as the one closest to her heart. It is the one joint that speaks to her, the one track that feels like a six-minute summary of her life. Over an intoxicating mix of neatly arranged instruments, the late Oliver Tuku Mtukudzi tells the story of a regretful man calmly telling his child that his absence from their life does not mean he did not love them. 

When Memory told Sunday Life this, she had a distant look in her eyes and she did not bother to further explain her choice. There was no need to. Her face was explanation enough.

With that short answer, what was an emotional interview was over. For the Sunday Life news crew, that answer was the end of a search that had many starts and stops. 

In 2015, Memory emerged and claimed that the iconic Mtukudzi was her father. She insisted that she was not the gown-up result of a one-night stand, revealing that the relationship between her father and mother only ended when she was five years old. Her mother, Barbara Siziba, passed away when Memory was eight years old. 

Mtukudzi never denied her claims and according to Memory, their relationship had normalised by the time he passed away earlier this year.  Since his death however, she had been elusive. Three months ago a Sunday Life crew went in search of her over several days at Bulawayo’s Mzilikazi suburb where neighbours said she had since moved house. They did not know her new place of residence.  

Some said that she must have changed names because they had known her by another when she was growing up. She could not be contacted through her old numbers with the assumption being that she did not have a phone. With that, the trail had grown cold. When Sunday Life finally tracked her down last week, she said her phone had been smashed by her husband in a fit of rage.       

Along Khami Road, there’s a café that always seems to attract more flies than customers. With very loud blaring in the background, Memory took us through her troubled life and relationship with Tuku, a man she had learnt to love from afar. 

The absent father

Memory said that despite their problems in the past, she had somewhat resolved things with her late father. After a dramatic confrontation with him outside a show at the ZITF at the end of 2017, he had sent emissaries to cool his daughter’s temper. This was after he had seemed to once again lose interest in her life after they had initially established contact in 2015. 

 “That other time when we came from Mberengwa in 2015 Tuku came here to Bulawayo. At that time Sam Mataure was still his manager and everything was not really going well. We didn’t greet each other and then he came this other time to perform at the Trade Fair. That was when there was that great scandal. 

“At the time he told me that he couldn’t talk to me at work and he could only do so at home. I told him that we can’t work things at home because some people did not want me there. He insisted that he would see me at home. After some time he sent people. He sent two men and I told them that my life has never been good since my mother passed, in fact life had not been good ever since he left my mother,” she said. 

By the time he passed on, Memory said that her relationship with Tuku had stabilised. 

“We got along fine but the only problem was the person who had power in his life. But whenever I needed help he was there for me. If he was in Bulawayo and I told him that the children had not paid their school fees he would pay it and if I needed anything he would give me money for it. We only had problems when I got pregnant. He didn’t approve of my husband,” she said. 

After they had mended their relationship, Memory said Tuku had lived up to his promise of making up for lost time, and had purchased a stand for her by the time he passed on. 

“He gave my mother’s sister money to buy me a stand in Cowdray Park. The house has so far been built to window level,” she said. 

A heartbreaking farewell 

Things came to a head earlier this year when Memory went to attend her father’s funeral. Unwanted and shunned, she was on the receiving end of abuse by some relatives. 

“When he passed on it was a Wednesday. So I went to Harare on a Thursday and when I got there a lot of people had already gathered. I couldn’t find anyone willing to welcome me. So I was taken to a private room and that’s when they asked if I’m memory from Bulawayo and I said yes I was. 

“The person that caused me the most pain during the funeral called me when I was sitting outside with other mourners and said Memo you now want to be known by people after you had been abusing my nephew when he was alive, I can make sure that you don’t even go to the body viewing ceremony or even be there when he is buried. I didn’t reply her. She said I should behave myself because they didn’t want children from the bush,” she said. 

After being told that she might not be allowed to bury her father, Memory had to think on her feet as she realised that she would not be able to bid her father farewell if she wallowed in sadness.

“When I went outside the other aunts asked me why I was crying and I told them that there was someone that was bothering me saying that I will not be able to bury my father. That woman had shouted at me and said they don’t want children of prostitutes at the funeral. That’s when there came some buses that were taking people from Pakare Paye to the stadium. 

“I saw that they were people that were climbing on top so I realised that if I didn’t do that I wouldn’t be able to bid him farewell. I finally got where relatives and high class people were seated and I managed to see my father. When I went to his home during the funeral it was my first time inside that house. It was my first time to be welcomed by the aunts and other relatives,” she said.

After the funeral speculation was rife, as many wondered who would get what from Tuku’s estate. As one of the alleged five illegitimate children she counted at the funeral, Memory only took a shirt and a straw hat from his many belongings. 

“I was there when people were giving out his clothes and they said his children should come and get his stuff. Some people were putting stuff in bags and Selmor was there too and I said I wasn’t interested in the clothes but she said I needed to get something and that’s when I took one shirt and put it in my bag. Then my son said that he wanted his straw hat and that’s when I got up and went to get it as well. 

“Afterwards the most senior aunts got up and said that since my father was a travelling man, he had children that were not yet known to the family and so they needed to be welcomed home. Then another aunt got up to complained and said that they couldn’t just accept everyone who walked through the door claiming to be a part of the family. I counted four of us. I remember Felix, Clive and Kelvin. They are from different areas but I was the one that was a bit known,” she said. 

Memory’s personal tragedy 

Memory said that her life had already seen a lot of hardship. It is a tragedy that her first born son, who she had when she was 15, seems to be troubled by as he grows older. 

“My first born son is 14 years old and he is grown and sometimes he would sit me down and say mama how long are you going to continue living this kind of life?,” she said. 

The 29 year -old hinted that she had also grown disillusioned with marriage, as she sometimes felt that it compounded her problems in life. 

“I’m talented in traditional dance but my husband doesn’t want me to do any of that stuff. Sometimes I struggle to understand what kind of a man he is. There was a time that I wanted to go to Harare and I didn’t have money so I boiled eggs and sold them the whole day then he took that money and went off with it. So the life that I lead is extremely hard but there’s nothing that I can do,” she said.

Nhlalwenhle Ncube

A HEARTBREAK is terrible and it’s something that you would never want to put yourself through!

Anyone is capable of breaking your heart, but it seems married men are chief heartbreakers. They cause pain to a number of women at the same time. For instance you can find out that the wife, the mistress and baby mama are having sleepless nights because of one man who has disappointed them and tortured their hearts.

When you are in love with a married man you will realise that your relationship is all about lies. He will lie about his marriage saying it’s a matter of time before it collapses. By so doing, he is buying time and definitely knows that  before you know it, you will be madly in love with him. 

With time, you slowly start to realise that your relationship is a vulnerable one, it’s not invincible. It’s a relationship that you can potentially lose. It’s a relationship that isn’t set in stone and it scares you. 

The idea of losing a relationship that you have invested yourself so much in really terrifies you. But that’s the sad reality that comes with being in a relationship with a married man. They do not last forever and end with heartbreaks. 

You never want to be so unfortunate to find yourself in a heartbreaking experience. Before you give him your heart, make sure you are  ready for the consequences.

If you are in love with a married man, some might even call you his mistress, but in your eyes, your relationship means so much more than that.

The experience of falling in love with a married man cuts across almost all cultures and education levels. Despite the knowledge that this scenario is unethical, immoral and guaranteed to bring pain to everyone involved, many smart, single women get their hearts tangled up this way.

You already know this is a story that does not end well. Maybe today you were fantasising about getting involved with a married, unavailable man, take a deep breath and just walk away. It can be hard to get control of your emotions when you feel so connected to him, but the only way to see things clearly is to re-frame your relationship.

Try to write yourself a happier ending, rather than throw away your romantic future by being in love with a married man, they are just bad news.

Of course most women just get carried away with material things because they already know what a woman wants. They lie a lot and instead of using a condom they will claim to be masters of withdrawal method, but when they fail, they will say no problem as they will take care of the child if it happens that you get pregnant. Guess what, you will stay a mistress as they stick to their marriage.

On the other hand, you will be no longer getting all the attention and love as he has to comfort and act to be a changed man before his wife who is also going through a lot after being disappointed by her husband.

So before you get too deeply involved with a married man, know that there is nothing special about you.

It can be tempting to think you are more “special” than his wife, more beautiful, sexier, nicer and everything he says. But if he already had one foot out the door — and that’s the case for most men who actually end up leaving their wives — you are mainly this: the nearest exit.b This man may end up remarrying, but hardly ever to the first woman who provides him with a convenient way out.

When he is out of his marriage, do not be fooled into believing that you are automatically the next woman to be his wife. He might start looking for other women and start to act as if he is less sure of his feelings. Now you start chasing after him and when your efforts hit a brick wall, you will be left nursing a heartbreak.

Never put your life on hold, always know you deserve to be at the centre of someone’s life, not lurking around the edges.

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Kiyapili Sibanda, Sunday Life Correspondent 

THE music industry can at times have similar characteristics to the beautiful game of soccer. 

The two certainly have ups and downs that make or break those who make a living from both trades. 

In local football, no soccer fan will, for example, will forget the rise of the football sensation Evans “Earthquake” Gwekwerere. Labelled by some the next Peter Ndlovu, Gwekwerere’s rise was fast and breathtaking. Equally stunning was his relatively quick fall. 

Away from the beautiful game, Bulawayo has artistes burst onto the scene but also failed to stand the test of time.

Who can forget 3Kings of the “Seqa Mabhilidi” fame. Because of its popularity among the house and kwaito fans the song was even mistakenly thought to have been made in South Africa. After years of silence, the question uppermost in the minds of some will be what happened to the group that made that hit song. The trio seems to have varnished and they have reportedly decided to go their separate ways with some having totally abandoning the music industry.

It is close to more than five years since the last release of their hit single and with that being the case it is it perhaps appropriate to label them one-hit wonders.

A one-hit wonder is defined as an artiste that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. 

In local music circles, it is not only the Seqa Mabhilidi hit-makers who earned the one-hit wonder tag. A few years back Victoria Falls Afro-pop duo Ras Boom and DJ Ace Kater seemed ready for bigger things with their viral track Zankaleli. 

The video of their song Zankaleli went viral with over 40 000 views in a space of two days on social media and thus gained them overnight success. Since that hit single, the guys failed to match the standards that saw them make headlines in record time.

One-hit wonders can perhaps happen even outside the field of music. Apart from these two musical groups who can ever forget the rise of Bulawayo’s own Zodwa Wabantu, Trino Bambino, who rose to fame after winning the competition at a local club on how to imitate South African’s Zodwa Wabantu. After a spate of headlines, her fame seemed to disappear as quickly as it came.

One wonders what can be done for young artistes who get fame early in their careers.  Certainly it is hard for one to maintain one’s ground in the dog-eat-dog world of entertainment. The industry tends to frustrate the up-and-coming artistes and many seem to give up hope rather easily. Indeed some artistes argue that the fame and popularity does not pay the bills.

All said and done it is up to the fans and promoters to try and mould the artistes who are emerging in order for them to stay relevant. It is perhaps time that young Bulawayo artistes emulate formulas used by the likes of Jeys Marabini, Sandra Ndebele and others who have proven their longevity. One hopes that artistes like the award-winning pint-sized rapper Tebza are getting the right mentorship and advise as it would be sad to add his name to the growing number of artistes who names are mentioned whenever the question, ‘Where are they now?’, is brought up.  

Tafadzwa Gwetai

ARTISTS in all their genres at some point have a strong desire to put their signature to their work. In the beginning an artist is in search of their own voice and is either under the wing of a senior artist learning or is self taught through imitation. There comes a point in their artistic growth process that the young artist seeks to branch out and become ‘themselves’ and stand alone.

When one decides to stand alone it is a result of desiring to be their own person and own unique artist. All artistic fields such as spoken word, the written word, theatre and song have similar growth processes where the artist needs to be original and self defined.

To have a ‘signature’ in the context of the arts such as sculpture, painting and printmaking the idea of a signature is more tangible than the other fields of art. Paintings are the most prominent art forms that have the artists signature in a more profound and distinct manner. It has become common trend to sign ones painting on the lower right side of the painting.

A signature is the defining point of the creation process of an art work. IA defining point in terms of affirming the actual completion of the work of art. A signed work is a complete work, where the opposite would be true where an unsigned work would be classified as incomplete.

Artists signatures first became prevalent during the early Renaissance, which saw art production shift from co-operative creative systems to a celebration of individual creativity. The quest for individuality gave rise to the need to establish ‘brands’ of themselves.  A ‘signature’ was the perfect way to differentiate your artistic skill from that of the other artist.

A signature was the artists way of leaving his or her mark and market themselves as a self made brand. Signatures are also commonly used to keep a record of time, place and medium, as much as they are a signifier of a completed work. As the artist develops and gains more confidence in both style and and concept it becomes more important to sign ones work so as to authenticate ones creation. Signature styles vary and each one becomes the symbol of the artist. 

Art collectors and Gallerists are concerned with the signature as this is their way of determining authenticity of who and when the art was created .  The signature on a painting or other work of art has always been an important item in the assessment of art. Fake signatures are sometimes added to enhance the value of a painting, or are added to a fake painting to support its authenticity. 

This has resulted in certain controversy where some argue that collectors of art focus on the signature and not the art itself. Some artists can become a brand that goes beyond the aesthetics of their creations. A signature for an artist is similar to the importance of a business stamp. A business stamp acts as a seal that confirms the authority of either the creator or the ownership. 

In the process of the artist defining ones self, their creations in their own right become a ‘signature’.  The term “signature” is also used to mean the characteristics that give an object, or a piece of information, its identity. The word “signature” may be used to refer to the characteristic expression of a process or thing. An artist with a ‘signature style’, like any brand, sets them apart and makes them instantly memorable and recognisable.

You can think of your signature style as specialising. A signature style can be a particular technique that you use in all your artworks. It could be a distinctive set of colours. It could be a specific style. It could also be a specific topic or subject matter. Writers, poets, and actors also work hard to attain a signature style that asserts them as specialists in their art form. 

Having a signature style doesn’t  mean that you stick with a certain brand, colour scheme, method of writing  within your art, but it means that your style is reflective of your personality and ideals. If your art doesn’t reflect these factors, your personal artistic brand will not be as cohesive and will lack focus. When you think about your art form and your sense of style, think about what you want your art form to say about you and go from there.

In museum context signature styles were used to reveal the origins of certain African tribes and their geographic location. Traditionally collected artefacts are studied through their signature characteristics that made them unique and original to its origins and meanings. Artists from Africa are faced with the challenge of staying authentic to themselves even more so in these contemporary times where art styles are being imitated and fused with others. It is best to be an original than to be ‘another’.

‘Legalise Art’,  promote, permit, admit, validate, legitimise, decriminalise, authorise, permit, make legal, make lawful. 

houseofmenka@Facebook.com

houseofmenka@gmail.com      

Lovert Mafukure

STUDIES have shown over time that 95 percent of road accidents are caused by human error. Many a time people neglect routine service and replacement of worn parts. Others do follow that routine service but replace parts with generic parts. We now have more cases of accidents and incidents of cars breaking down. Why is that? One of our readers has had spring failure twice and wants to know why that is and how it can be avoided.

First of all, getting into an accident is by no means fun and heading to a repair shop for estimates and parts can be overwhelming if you’re not familiar with the terminology of the replacement parts.

Terms like OEM, aftermarket and salvaged parts can be used to describe the new parts that will repair your damaged vehicle to make it safe and operable again.

OEM is an abbreviation for Original Equipment Manufacturer. That means the parts are made directly by your car’s manufacturer and they are good. They are of the best and durable quality.

OEM parts are usually distributed through authorised dealerships. There are no authorised dealerships for Japanese cars, they are Grey imports. That said, you can rarely get OEM parts locally and two options remain for parts — aftermarket parts and salvage parts.

Aftermarket parts are manufactured by a company other than your car manufacturer. These are companies that have copied the original part and produced it to their own standard. Some are good and some are not. Price always differentiates them.

Salvaged parts are from accident cars or non-runners sold for spares. With reputable car breakers the parts are tested for quality but are in used condition. Since the parts are second hand, they are

often cheaper than the unused OEM parts. The great thing about salvaged parts is that they are often OEM parts. So you are receiving a high quality part that will fit your make and model of car, just at a significantly reduced price.

Coming back to our topic, spring failure is common on cars that have come from England. Such cars usually suffer from corrosion due to the type of weather they have. Saline solutions are common there and used to melt snow. The downside is they corrode suspension parts. The idea of the replacement of parts, as I have mentioned, needs one to be wise. You can get new replacement parts but be sure of the manufacturer because generic parts may put you in harm’s way instead of making your car safer. 

Given the state of the UK weather, components such as these do suffer a lot and are replaced a lot there, some eventually get weaker springs that may have come from the east and usually have a shorter lifespan. From the factory springs have some coating that’s supposed to protect them from corrosive elements but due to stresses, suspension components are exposed and  they crack and tear with time, exposing the them to rust. Rust eventually weakens springs and other suspension parts to a point where they break.

There are tricks you can employ to avoid spring failure. First of all, inspection is important on imported cars, remember they are not new cars, they just have new owners. Spring failure is not so much of a problem on Japanese cars as it is on UK cars but they are not immune so always inspect such imported used cars for rust and replace corroded parts. It’s for your own safety.

Since we have established that spring failure is common on cars imported from the UK, it is wise to always change the springs when a car lands from the UK. One thing car importers need to be aware of is that the rust you see on cars from UK protruding through the fender wells, bonnet and boot linings as well as the doors is just a tip of the iceberg. The moment you see rust on the fender wells, imagine the places you cannot see. The undercarriage and all suspension systems, they’d be worse affected by the rust and eventually its things like springs that give in first.

It’s also wise to get your car inspected before buying locally or importing from the UK. Ask for picture and videos if you can before you spend your money on rust buckets. If you are buying locally, what we call Pre-Purchase inspection in automotive circles is important for you as buyer of a used vehicle. It might cost a few dollars but it will save you a whole lot in future in terms of safety and cost of repairing damage caused by such elements as rust.

Some cars are exposed to overloading like those involved in the mshika shika business. Overloading isn’t good for suspensions. Eventually components fail because they are strained beyond capability.

Cars should always be used within their capabilities, overloading is not only against the law but it shortens lifespan of vehicle components such as these suspension springs.

The quality of parts coming from our eastern friends is not always the best. The good thing about our eastern friends is they give you any part according to your budget. Cheap isn’t good in most cases and cheap does not spell out GENUINE. So next time you go parts hunting remember, genuine isn’t just a word, it’s your safety, it’s your life and whatever is too cheap isn’t genuine.

@lovert116 — Automart Used Spares Centre — Quality Used Japanese Spares — +263 772 33 99 38 – automartzw@gmail.com

Hi Sis Noe

I HAD sex with this guy who fancied me and ever since I have not heard from him but he used to chat with me every day. Is he avoiding me because I am bad at sex? — Worried.

Reply

You are not absolutely awful at sex. You know how I know that for sure? Because no one is defined by one encounter, positive or negative. No one is summed up by one incident. Don’t let one thing inform your perception of yourself to this degree. With any luck, you are going to be having sex for the rest of your life. Sex is going to be a lifelong project. It’s personal and it will evolve.

Don’t let this one man wield this type of power over your view of yourself and your sexuality. If anything, reframe this as a positive experience because you learnt something and it provoked you to think about this: about sex, how you want to have it, how you want to be at it, and who you want to have it with. These are all good things to know about yourself. Forget this guy and concentrate on learning about yourself from this.

Sex is not about making a man go wild. It’s not about ticking the boxes on a menu of experiences.

Sex is essentially about communication, and that is why it causes problems for a lot of us — because open and honest communication is really tricky for people when it comes down to it, especially when it’s laced up with other worries and blockages. I believe that if you get better at communicating, you will get better at sex.

That means being in a situation where you can speak frankly and freely, where you know the other person involved feels exactly the same, and there is nothing being hidden or unsaid. The freedom to say: I like this, do you want that, this is not working for me, let’s try that instead.

And the responsibility to listen to the other person’s desires too. Let’s face it: sex between people generally improves over time. The first time is usually the worst time, because generally you might not have the tools, precedent or intimacy in the relationship yet to be completely comfortable and communicate at your best.

It gets better because communication gets better. Equally, things break down when communication breaks down. I’m not sure you are the one who should have been left with the niggling doubts about being an inexperienced partner here, to be honest. Sex is an element in the mix for a successful relationship — don’t view it as some madly distinct or separate thing or put it on a pedestal.

It’s part of who you are. You seem like a thoughtful person who is sensitive and self-aware. When you find the right sexual partner you will get what I am saying. You will never know why someone has not followed up with you after a first date or a fleeting sexual encounter, so don’t worry about it.

Hi Sis Noe

I seem to have a problem with keeping men. I have dated quite a few but all of them leave without an explanation. I have had relationships but they last only for weeks or a few months before I am ghosted. — Worried.

Reply

Ghosting is cowardly. It’s the new norm. While you might always have needed a thick skin to get out dating, now people find it easy to just avoid their persons. For good and bad, the internet has devalued the importance we place on dates. There is no context, few mutual friends, no investment in people beyond introductory conversation and passing meet-ups.

The person you are meeting in good faith could well be meeting two or three people that week and just be dating for fun or to meet new people. Protect yourself by keeping expectations low, for as long as possible. Don’t become jaded, but also don’t invest too much — train yourself into putting a date right out of your mind the moment it has ended, no matter how fun it was.

Consider anything else as a bonus. This is not cynical, just realistic, especially based on your experiences. Plus, what’s your level here? Do you consider a phasing out of contact to be ghosting? Or are we only counting an abrupt, unexplained severance of contact? Or simply not getting in touch again to arrange a second or third date? There are many, many shades of grey here. Maybe they are just not that into you, but maybe it’s something else.

Who cares? The outcome is the same for you. Don’t drive yours.

 Rutendo Chidawanyika 

KHANYI Mbau a South African socialite is an inspiration to many women. Khanyi has been bleaching her skin for the past years so her complexion can be whiter, luckily she can afford the expensive bleach. However, that is not the case for many cash-strapped women of all ages who use cheap and illegally imported cosmetics with banned ingredients. Skin lighteners cause disfiguring skin problems and seriously undermines your physical and mental health.

Study and research shows that teens and adult women, rural and suburban, lower and middle-class use skin lighteners. They believe a light skin tone increases their prospects of getting married and securing better jobs. It is not just the illegal skin bleach creams that contain dangerous ingredients but most facials found in supermarkets, cosmetic shops, and street corners as well. A frightening 90 percent contains banned or illegal substances; mostly hydroquinone, mercury and steroids.

Hydroquinone prevents the formation of melanin (the dark pigment in skin), long term unsupervised use can cause thinning and light sensitivity, allergies and pigmentation. The potential risks are emphasised by a recent case report of skin cancer following prolonged use without sunscreen. Mercury also inhibits melanin formation, and it weakens the skin’s resistance to infections. Long term use can cause rash, pigmentation, scarring and kidney damage. In Zimbabwe skin bleaching creams are illegal. Sadly there are unsafe products still sold in the market.

Women need to be careful of “even tone” or “removes blemishes” type of creams. No skin care product may claim to lighten or bleach skin, but darker skin is prone to uneven tone and blemishes that result in dark patches. Products are allowed to claim to even skin tone or brighten complexion but be wary of any products claiming to lighten skin less than your natural tone. However, as with drugs and cigarettes, health warnings are unlikely to stop women from changing their complexion. 

Kwaito star Mshoza (South Africa) has admitted to using intravenous skin lightening infusions, because she wanted to see how she would look like if she was white. Other options include upmarket ranges such as Pure Perfect, a skin bleach marketed by Sorisha Naidoo, a former South African beauty queen. Skin bleaching is not a recent thing, women in ancient China swallowed crushed pearls in pursuit of a milky white complexion and in England at the time of Shakespeare, many white women used products containing toxic substances to achieve a paler complexion.

BEWARE

Your skin is actually the largest organ on your body, and it absorbs about 60 percent of what you apply, so take care of what you put on it. Look for labels, avoid products that don’t have ingredient lists or directions. Watch for words such as hydroquinone, phenol and mercury, and related terms. For instance, mercurio, mercurous chloride and camomel are all forms of mercury.

Check the address, this must be the manufacturers’ street address, contact number or website. These are required by the law. If a normally expensive product is offered at a fraction the price, it may be of substandard quality or illegal. If you have any discomfort, consult a medical professional. Always ask a dermatologist before buying anything for your skin.

In the meantime, if you are still toying with going lighter, ask yourself why — and educate and protect yourself. Talk to a dermatologist about your options to treat your skin problems. Safe options include sunscreen, strict sun, protective clothing like hats and long sleeves, rather than skin lighteners. Skin lightening creams can cause too much damage, leaving you scarred for life.

Take care of your skin!

Email: rutendochidawanyika3@gmail.com

Charles Dube

WE have tried to help learners improve their language capabilities by giving them, among other things, basic spelling rules. Many learners have shown that they have vocabulary restrictions which hinder them from performing well in written exercises or questions directly asking them to explain certain terms. Compositions lack coherence as a result of restricted vocabulary. It is opportune time to show shared views on what skills are needed to ensure one extends his or her vocabulary.

Today we proffer various suggested ways learners can follow to develop their vocabulary. The obvious one is to make use of the dictionary. The dictionary provides you with correct spelling, meaning of the word, word class, that is, is the word a verb or adjective? The words also appear in alphabetical order making it easy for the learner to quickly get the words.

“The best way to learn about new words is to learn how to use a dictionary and then make use of it, regularly. It tells us how to spell words. It tells us how to pronounce them. It also tells us what they mean, the word classes they belong to and how they are used.”

Another skill used to extend vocabulary limits is through reading story books, magazines, journals and newspapers. As you read these, you will come across new words and new expressions. Again make use of a dictionary to get the meanings of the words. Keep a notebook on your person where you write new words and expressions that you come across. This is not the end, but, read these new words and expressions over and over again and make them your own. As you write compositions make use of them.

Make use of the thesaurus. A thesaurus is a reference book in which words with similar meanings (synonyms) are grouped together. Where resources permit schools can purchase just a few copies of the thesaurus dictionaries to assist learners. You need to be good at choice or selection of words. Thus, if you find yourself stuck for an interesting word you may use a thesaurus. However, you are advised not to become addicted to it. Vocabulary skills work hand in glove with comprehension. These cannot be separated if a learner is to pass English Language with good grades.

When we are given a comprehension passage, the objectives are clear. We need to read and fully understand the comprehension passage. We are expected to provide correct answers to the questions given. We are to show understanding of word meanings in context, find the main idea and above all, we are to distinguish between fact and opinion. How does this link with vocabulary skills discussed above? Vocabulary is the total number of words that you know in a particular language.

Understanding word meanings in context involves getting the meaning of words, not in isolation, but as used in a sentence or passage. Researchers tell us that the reader must not try to extract the meaning of a word from the word alone. The reader must examine the words which come before it and the words which come after it, to get its clear meaning.

Experience clues — sometimes you can guess at the meaning of an unfamiliar word simply because you have had a similar experience to the one the sentence or paragraph discusses. Sometimes, you can determine the meaning of a word by the way the writer describes the word by defining or paraphrasing it. At times writers provide examples of the unfamiliar word that helps you figure out its meaning. You can also discern the meaning of a word through comparison clues, where a writer compares or contrasts one word or point with another.

Sometimes you get the meaning of a word through the context of a sentence. The context of a sentence consists of the sentences before it and after it which help to make its meaning clear, therefore the sentence is not looked at in isolation. When you are given a comprehension passage you need to pay particular attention to word meanings in context. You do not necessarily have to consult a dictionary because in examinations none will be provided. You derive the meaning of words from the given passage. The passage dictates the meaning of the words.

Use of the hyphen is not as easy as most learners think. Learners always take them for granted. What are hyphens? Hyphens are those small dashes that join up words. Using them correctly can completely change the meaning of a word or sentence, so they are worth getting to understand their usage. There are four main places you can use a hyphen. 1. If the prefix ends with the same letter the word starts with. Examples: re-enter and co-operate.

If you add a prefix to a word starting with a capital post-Elizabethan. Use the hyphen to make the word clear especially if the word could be mixed up with another word that means something different. For instance, I re-covered the sofa. This means I recovered the sofa again. I recovered the sofa. This means I got the sofa back.

For views link with charlesdube14058@gmail.com or sms to 0772113207.

Rumbidzai Mhlanga, Sunday Life Reporter

ORGANISERS have cited a variety of factors for the postponement of auditions for this year’s edition of Miss World Zimbabwe from July to September, amid fears that a late ceremony will leave little room for the eventual winner of the contest to prepare for the final pageant at the end of the year.

The spotlight has moved to Zimbabwe and other participants that are yet to crown their queens after South Africa crowned last week Zozibini Tunzi as its representative for the Miss World pageant slated for later this year. The auditions for Miss World Zimbabwe have been pushed back to September which leaves little room for a ceremony to choose a beauty queen that will be ready to represent the country in December. In years past, many have bemoaned poor preparations for the poor performance of the country’s chosen representatives.    

In an interview with Sunday Life, Christine Matambo of the Miss Zimbabwe Trust said that the show had only been postponed because the organisers felt that they needed more preparation time as they tried to outdo previous editions of the pageant.

“The auditions were postponed to September due to a couple of reasons. Every year we always try to come up with a good show that surpasses the previous one and so for that reason we felt we needed more time to prepare for the auditions. Looking at the current economic situation it also played a part in the delay,” she said.

Matambo said that since last year’s edition had taken place in September, the felt that it was also fair that the reigning Miss World Zimbabwe, Belinda Potts, also wore the crown for a full year. 

“The other reason why we decided to postpone was that the last year auditions were done in September and thus we decided to let the reign of thecurrent Masvingo born beauty queen Belinda Potts to last for an entire year,” said Matambo.

She added that nothing else had changed in terms of the pageant’s organisation. 

“Nothing more changed. It is still the same venue which is at Miss Zimbabwe Trust offices in Harare and the same requirements as last year are needed. What only changed are the dates from July to 7 September,” she added.

@ruekushie

Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday Life Reporter 

AT some point during last weekend’s heavily attended AmaPiano Party at Club Cosmopolitan, one could have been forgiven if they asked where the actual party was. 

While a local DJ was warming up the decks inside the club for the main act with some deep house tunes, a Golf Citi parked a few metres from the joint’s entrance was providing the sound that the hundreds who attended that gig had come for. 

Out of a sound system that seemed to rival the one assembled at high cost by organisers of the gig, the owner of the car had seemingly decided to host a party within a party. 

With doors wide open, young revellers twisted this way and that, some juggling bottles of alcohol in their hands. The bottles, tossed around at what seemed like reckless abandon, never seemed to escape their grasp, with the juggling act done in the background of loud whistles and screams. 

It was an impressive display and throughout Club Cosmopolitan’s car park such small parties caught fire. 

It was a spectacle to behold and with the cheapest ticket for the gig costing a stiff 100 rand, some would have been left scratching their heads as they wondered where all that money had come from when belts are tightening all across the country. 

The house music disciples that gathered to attend what was arguably Bulawayo’s most well attended live show of the year so far had come to see Kabza De Small, the man who has become the Pope of Amapiano, a sub-genre that is currently dominating dance floors on both sides of the Limpopo. 

But what are AmaPiano and where did they come from? 

The first part of that question is easy enough to answer. AmaPiano is an electronic dance music sub-genre that has exploded over the past year. Like the name suggests, the genre borrows heavily from the piano keys usually prevalent in jazz and other forms of traditional music. These are then given a dance twist by thumping drum patterns, percussion and bass lines.        

Where AmaPiano came from is another matter altogether. Like all overnight success stories, the genre has found it has many fathers that claim its paternity. Some say the dance tunes were born in the dust of Joburg’s townships like Soweto, Alexandra and Katlehong while others claim its birth pangs were felt in Mamelodi, Atteridgeville and other townships in Pretoria.

When it comes to music and fashion, when Gauteng sneezes Bulawayo catches the cold and nowadays when one enters a nightspot in the City of Kings they could be forgiven for thinking that they were in the beating heart of Joburg or Pretoria.  

AmaPiano now have a stranglehold on the club scene which was last seen when Durban’s Gqom exploded on the streets of dance crazy Bulawayo.

However, unlike Gqom which felt somewhat restricted, AmaPiano has managed to penetrate places some would not expect such a young sub-genre of house music to enter. Gqom was sometimes too high octane and “loud” for sensitive ears, hence it was shunned by high-end clubs that promise their revellers a relaxed and laid back ambience. 

This has not been the case with AmaPiano, a sub-genre first heard from the cars of city “hustlers” and “dealers” who caught on to the genre a few years before its fever took hold of the whole city. Back then, the sub-genre was restricted to a few individual cars and DJs who had imported the sound from the South African clubs that played it.

One of the DJ crews that pioneered the sound was the Chronicles of House Nation, a crew which took the sub-genre throughout the city with its famed Sunday Chillas house sessions.     

In South Africa, the genre’s DJs initially struggled to get club owners to allow them to play sets of AmaPiano as the genre was still relatively unknown. That has since changed and some of South Africa’s most famous vocalists are now eager to add their melodies to the most exquisitely laid AmaPiano instrumentals. 

DJs in Bulawayo are reaping the benefits from the groundwork laid by those pioneering South African wheel spinners. 

“We always played AmaPiano but people didn’t know it at the time,” said Chronicles of House Nation’s   Denzil “DaHousemaniac” Zulu. “In South Africa DJs might have struggled to get club owners to let them play AmaPiano but we never experienced that here. The only problem we had was that people didn’t know the music but we built a following from the ground-up by introducing them to the music and making them gain an appreciation of it. Soon they were addicted,” he said. 

Some revellers however, might complain that AmaPiano are now just too dominant and overwhelming on the Bulawayo club scene. It’s a fad that will pass like Gqom, they say, and the songs all sound the same anyway. 

And what of the DJs that do not play the genre?

“No one is out of business because of AmaPiano,” said Djembe Monks’ Slimzar Wa Afrika. “Those that want to play deep house can still do so because essentially nothing has changed. A DJ can’t play AmaPiano the whole night in the same way that they couldn’t do it when Gqom emerged. This is just another new sub-genre of house music that’s adding a new and different vibe,” he said. 

Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday Life Reporter 

ON the rare occasions that 91-year-old Gillian Kaufman gets into Bulawayo’s city centre, she steals a glimpse of the sculpture at the corner of Fife Street and 8th Avenue.  

Dangling from the eastern side of Pioneer House, the two working men she depicted in her sculpture have never got their job done. From the early 70s when they were frozen in time in mid-air, the two men have been hard at work, one with his pickaxe in mid-air as if he is about to plunge into Pioneer House’s White Hall. The other is stooped, as if ready to scoop with his shovel whatever mess his colleague might make.   

It is a pose that they are stuck to for all eternity. These two eternal workers working above passing pedestrians in Bulawayo will never finish their job. One person however, did finish hers and this is Gillian Kaufman. So proud is she of her defining work that Kaufman says she cannot help but look at it on her rare visits to the city centre. 

“Well, I look up and say Pioneer House. If I’m driving slowly I look up and say Oh Gosh does it need cleaning? Are there any bits that have fallen off? Where is it marking the building? But I don’t fuss about it. It’s still looks clean and tidy,” she said. 

The Pioneer House stature will always be looked at as Kaufman’s masterpiece. It is now an indispensable part of the cityscape, even though those that walk under it every day might not even know how it was made or even who made it. 

The inspiration for the masterful artwork was simple according to Kaufman. 

“Well, when you think of pioneers, how do you start? You begin with a pick and shovel. In the 1800s there were no machines so it was just men with picks and shovels,” she said.

While the idea of the birth of the two men was simple enough, their delivery was anything but that. Sculpting the two men after she was commissioned by the Pioneer House Board took a lot of time for a married mother of three who was also an arts teacher. 

“It was jolly hard work when I did it. I had to make my own armature (inner working of a sculpture) and beat my own clay. But I had a faithful gardener who would take time away from the gardening and beat up the clay for me. For the Pioneer House job I had to work with two clay figures and they were 12 feet high. So a big armature had to be and I found a young man to help me with that and went to a steelworks and got them. 

“Then I got the clay, which I got from Gwayi River. There is a big clay deposit there that I believe belongs to Anglo-American. They dug out five tonnes of clay and delivered that to a place that I was going to do the work. We then had to beat the clay up and make it into bricks and as I tried to work it this is where my nice gardener came in,” she said. 

With her trusted gardener by her side, Kaufman remembers the early mornings that became a part and parcel of her life during the making of the giant-sized sculpture. While the process of its making was gruelling, she remembers the small yet unforgettable moments she shared with those she worked on the piece with. 

“We had to set off at 4am in the morning with a bottle of tea each in our hands. We got to the yard where we were working at 4:30 or 5AM depending on the traffic because industrially back then Bulawayo was very busy. 

“I used to start work at around half past four or five and one of the loveliest things about working in that yard with all the stone masons there was that as they as came in, someone would get started on a hymn and it was just a hum and then a beautiful morning song and then we would start to work,” she said. 

While most people might not know how the trademark sculpture was made, the woman who made it might also not be able to describe how she did it herself. The retired sculptor who spent seven years at the Royal Academy Schools in London after earning her National Diploma gets frustrated when trying to explain to the layman what her chisel fashioned out of clay almost five decades ago. 

“I made a plaster mould for the whole group of figures and then it was then taken to a factory where the mould was lined with resin and then I chirped the plaster caster and then the resin was all put together, and . . . you know it’s all too complicated to explain unless someone has a book and a pencil and you can show people,” she said.

While the Pioneer House sculpture might be the most prominent of her work, it is not the only one. Her work adorns much of the capital Harare and even neighbouring South Africa.  In Bulawayo, she also made the famous fish outside the Reserve Bank among seven other known sculptures. 

“That had quite an adventurous journey to fulfilment,” she said of her famous fish outside the Reserve Bank. “I’m scared to have a look at it to see if it needs some touching up. I have said some things about polishing it. Someone shouldn’t polish it with a grinder. That’s all technical stuff I guess.”

Years before she worked on that however, Kaufman found herself undertaking her first job on behalf of the Catholic Cathedral after her return from the United Kingdom. It was a job that was to take three years of her life.

“My first job was in 1956 and that was the life sized Pieter for the Catholic Cathedral and it is still there in the memorial garden. It was originally meant to be in the crypt but the Bulawayo City Council said no we can’t have it in the crypt because we have no burials there. It was too big for the cathedral so they put it in the garden. I thoroughly enjoyed doing it. It was jolly hard work with three kids and a husband and a house with a garden to take care of. But you fit it all in somehow,” she said. 

Like most female artistes, Kaufman has had to master the tricky balancing act of managing both work and family. Like other artistes before and after her, she has also faced the financial uncertainty of life as a budding artiste. 

“I wasn’t very clever at school. I failed all my math exams. But I had what my father called a good eye. I could measure things by eye very, very accurately. I didn’t go to university, I went to art school. After seven years I left school so to speak and then the terrible shock of having to earn a living doing something that no one really wants. I mean how you leave college saying I’m a sculptor. I mean no one is really interested and so anyway on I went,” she said. 

Having laid down her chisel and retired Kaufman, who taught art at Townsend High School and pottery at Mzilikazi Art and Craft Centre, said she had never had the urge to look back at her illustrious work. 

“Every time I finish a job that is gone and another door has opened and hopefully next time it will be better. It’s an ongoing thing. You finish a job and the next door opens and so it goes. You never ever get to that point of looking back,” she said.

Lovert Mafukure

SOMETIMES the cars you need to look out for aren’t always latest cars, sometimes they are old cars because sometimes, just sometimes old is gold!

There’s a 90s Hatchback, possibly one of the last great Nissan Hatchbacks and it’s none other than the Nissan Pulser Gtir. This is a car that was made when Nissan was still serious about performance and reliability. They made sure the Gtir wouldn’t be like any other because it had an SR20 det! It won competitions and it won hearts.

The Nissan’s SR20 det has proven itself overtime and no longer needs any introduction. It is the engine that has created its own legacy through cars like the Nissan Silvia which is well known for its presence on the Japanese drift scene. It’s a small engine and produces ample power to bet set records.

To understand the SR20 DET better, we would have to break it down a bit. The SR is the engine code while the 20 represents engine displacement which is 1998cc rounded off to 2000cc. The D stands for dual overhead camshafts while the E is for electronic fuel injection.

Lastly, the T stands for the garret T25 turbo charger that is found in most of these Sr20 DETs. So the SR20 det is a 4-cylinder dual overhead cam, 16 valve engine force-fed by a turbo.

This turbo works all the magic for these engines and with different tuning across the different models the Sr20DET delivers between 200 to 250hp when standard. A lot of enthusiasts get more power out of these engines through some modifications. On the Japanese scene you can be lucky to get a Pulsar modified to perfection and boosted beyond imagination, only price will be your main hindrance.

When you hear the name Pulsar, your mind would probably race to give a picture of the old Datsun Pulsar, well, it’s the same family line and the Pulsar GTir model in question is the 90s version. Lets just say it’s the big brother. The Nissan Pulser GTir is a hot hatch and in proper sports fashion its got three doors and can accommodate five passengers.

This little car has the Attesa all-wheel drive system which has come to define the skyline GTR suspension. The SR20 DET made it so quick it was almost in the skyline GTR league hence the nickname BABY Godzilla.

The Pulsar GTIr is the same as the Nissan Sentra that is popular down here having been produced in South Africa. In southern Africa the hatchback was never popular and the SR20 was never popular in the Sentras. Do not let the looks fool you, though it might look just like a Sentra but it is completely different from the Sentra inside. The suspension is upgraded from the standard Pulsar to incorporate the four-wheel drive Attesa system.

The Gtir was made to give those rally Subarus a hard time and it did although it was short-lived. Apart from perhaps a GTR inspired grill and a body kit, the car looks just like a Sentra. It’s not the best looking and does not even have the looks that are out of this world, like I mentioned earlier it’s the heart that has a beauty of its own kind.

The Pulsar drive-train as I mentioned earlier, consists of the all-wheel drive Attesa setup driven by a double syncro close ratio 5-speed manual transmission with racing clutch that was reasonably strong as it was meant for abuse on the race track. For the lazy drivers there was never an automatic transmission on offer as it was meant to be a race car or rally car — A car for the real driver J.

For a first timer, this is a less obvious choice for a car but for an enthusiast it is the ultimate race car. Weighing only 1,2 tonne and acceleration time of about 6 seconds to 100km/hr, it’s to die for! Earlier tests showed this little monster could run a quarter mile within the 13 sec bracket.

This car does not come very cheap as only about 15 000 of them were made and slowly they become classics as the time goes by. Till Next time, Happy motoring!
@lovert116 — Automart Car Breakers — Quality Used Japanese Spares -+263772339938 — automartzw@gmail.com — Facebook: @automartusc

Raisedon Baya

LAST week I wrote about an experience we had in Botswana while pursuing networking opportunities. The article received several interesting responses. A friend quickly texted me to say I should start a travelling blog.

Travel and write about your experiences, he said excitedly. To be honest I had never really thought about a travelling blog. I love travelling. It frees my mind and gives my spirit an opportunity to soar into the sky and just be free. Now I am seriously considering it.

An acquaintance from Botswana was quick to react. “The sad part is that it’s not just xenophobia. Our customer service is generally poor. It seems people are angry at having to work, and have no problems taking on customers — foreign customers especially.”

Angry at working? They don’t know how lucky they are to have jobs and a working economy.

They should ask the millions of Zimbabweans who are out of work and who live in an economy that has collapsed. Who can blame them? They are privileged.

Several arts colleagues said creating cross border networks was the way to go. They called it expanding one’s influence and markets. Josh Nyapimbi, as usual made me see beyond the usual.

He was quite candid in his response. No sympathies about the apparent xenophobic attitude exhibited by the Batswanas at both the border and hotel.

“Your treatment was usual. It is expected,” he said. “International trade and collaborations are no longer child’s play. Not for soft tackles.

Always be prepared for hard tackles. If you are not prepared for some roughness then be prepared for some big surprises.”

He then went on to give me examples on Brexit, on Donald Trump and his tough foreign policies.

All tough talk and tough tackles. Closer at home he gave examples of South Africa and Nigeria and how they have been aggressive in creating the perception that they are the only two African nations that mattered to the world.

Look at how they have grabbed international attention and are taking African markets with their collaborations. In all honesty Nigeria and South Africa have literally monopolised creative markets in Africa.

Just look at DStv. Soon, with the backing of Netlix and Hollywood, they will be taking over the rest of the African markets if we are not careful. Once they start coming for the rest of Africa they will squeeze all the little players out of business and maybe out of existence.

The solution is only one. Coming together, collaborating as small countries, and securing the African markets before they come for them. We must close the gaps so that when they come they will have no choice but to sit down with us.

We must start seriously thinking about this thing called regioness. Let’s start by securing markets and opportunities in the region. This means working harmoniously together towards the common goal of improving the region.

The region here being the Southern African Development Community (Sadc). We should focus on building and sharing resources within the region, sharing ideas and best practices, sharing markets and business spaces. Sadc is about 14 countries.

The good thing about this is that Sadc is a grouping already in existence and with existing structures that the arts sector should just be utilising.

What happened to Artist Trust and the Sadc Aids Festival? What happened to Sadc Dance Festival? What happened to South African Theatre

Initiative (Sati)? I could mention some more initiatives that perhaps need reviving through, of course, the Sadc arts and culture desk and other private initiatives.

My talk with Nyapimbi made me aware of the amount of work that needs to be done — and none will do that work except us. We are the people that have to secure the future for the coming generation.

My parting shot for this week is to artistes. Let’s strive to secure regional, local and markets first before we aim for Europe.