How many sweets have you got?
I got 5, have you also got 5?
No, just 3. Can I have one more so it can me fair?
No! They’re all mine!
And it begins..a song erupts, the voice is as innocent as an child’s is. Soft. The song is catchy. You hum along and even cross your fingers as is the required gesture of the song …
Kumbira kumbira garema uchazvara mwana akadai…
Many of us are familiar with that scene and with the song. We innocently sang along, in an effort to guilt trip our friends and siblings to share with us whatever it is we wanted from them. Why would you not share when one throws a curse that if you do not share, you will have disabled children? Our young minds would not need to think this through, that threat was enough.
I am not sure why, but I randomly thought of this seemingly innocent song this morning. I even sang it and crossed my fingers. Obviously I was not cursing anyone but my thoughts had drifted to my childhood. I understand now that of course, finger crossing has not power on whether one has a disabled child or not. I now realise that, this, like many other taboos, we’re not real but just mechanisms in which to encourage young people to listen and to conform. William Chigida’s paper on Shona Taboos: The Language if Manufacturing Fears for Sustainable Development immensely improved my understanding. However, with intentions being good, I can’t help but be annoyed with how the “taboos” or “curses” actually perpetuate stigma. If you grew up singing this seemingly innocent song, is it automatic that your views change as you grow? I do not think so.
A few years ago, Siamese twins were born and successfully separated in Zimbabwe in what was a great medical triumph. I noted that, while we all celebrated the success, there were some who viewed these precious babies as a curse. I remember criticising the way some news reporting on the matter was handled. It made me wonder, why are we quick to label what we do not understand as bad, evil or curse? Why must we instil fear in others while actively resisting the opportunity to learn? Why must, our cultures and traditions, not be dynamic?
In many developing countries, it is fairly common to see disabled people roaming the streets begging and homeless. It is also fairly right to say that it is as a result of being shunned by families and society for “they do not conform” to what we have always thought to be the “right way” to be. I am taken aback to the song….
It saddens me that, our ancestors, felt the need to scare for an audience. We are a terrified people and we pass on our fears to the next generation for fear of facing our our lack.
random thoughts, of barbed hope.
Image : Getty Images
Barbed Hope 