From: barnhart@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Mr. Aaron Barnhart)
Subject: IPS:ZIMBABWE: WOMENS' OPPRESSION TACKLED THROUGH AWARENESS
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1992 02:53:13 GMT
Organization: Evanston, Illinois, U.S.A.

Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Area: Third World Dvpmnt
Reference: Women
Title: ZIMBABWE: WOMENS' OPPRESSION TACKLED THROUGH AWARENESS


an inter press service feature

by tafadzwa matimba-mumba

harare, dec 7 (ips) -- zimbabwe's women are working to eliminate
the negative aspects of the country's culture through community
participation and awareness programmes.

as an initial step, more than 2,000 women drawn from
government ministries and villages, have, with the assistance of
the ministry of community development and non-governmental
organisations (ngos) produced a seven volume book for practical
use in the country's rural communities.

dubbed 'building whole communities - an introduction to women
in development', the book aims to explain the importance of full
participation of women in development and to generate national
discussion on womens' problems and strategies to help solve
these issues.

the book also hopes to help change negative attitudes towards
women held by both men and themselves, in order to promote
women's full participation in development.

according to cynthia thebe, one of the 2,000 contributors to
the production of the book, subservient aspects of culture
include polygamy, the expectation that a woman should bow down
to a man, and that she should not be vocal where men are
present.

some of these traditions only serve to reduce a woman's
position to that of a child in the presence of her husband,
thebe, also a skills trainer and provincial co-ordinator for
matabeleland south told ips at the books' launch.

''most women are not aware of their oppression. but through
this community awareness programme, there could be more of an
awareness'', thebe says.

''there are some things which happen in the household which
would oppress us, and we used to think it was the normal
thing but now we know better'', says edith toga, another of the
2,000 women assisting in the production of the books.

plays performed at the launching ceremony last week,
portrayed resourceful and hard-working rural women oppressed by
husbands eager to squander the family's meagre earnings.
(more/ips)


zimbabwe: negative (2)

the plays went on to portray the converted, ideal husband --
helping with household chores fetching water and tending the
garden.

reacting to the play, national affairs and employmnent
creation minister didymus mutasa says that type of conversion
is not a realistic expectation especially for older men.

''you would not expect to find the shona men of my village
doing that. yes, the struggle must continue, but with men of a
younger generation'', the minster says.

according to 'children and women in zimbabwe situation
analysis 1990' co-produced by the u.n. children's fund and the
government, water collection is primarily the responsibility of
women in zimbabwe.

among 2,134 collection trips observed during a study of water
usage, 73 percent were performed by women, 25 percent by
children under 18 years and only two percent by male adults.
only about 20 percent of communal people walk 100 metres or less
to a protected water supply.

''there are some things that some men say they would not do
such as carrying fuelwood'', john million, community
co-ordinator for kariba told ips.

''in many cases you see a woman laden with wood on her head,
a baby on her back and maybe a tin of water in her hands
followed by a husband carrying nothing but his hands. it should
not be like that'', million adds.

apart from increasing community workshops, million suggested
that the subject of male attitudes and participation be
discussed at meeting places like drinking bars.

the books are based on problem posing, where readers are
encouraged to analyse problems and search for their own
solutions.

''we use these methods because adults learn best through
self-discovery. people remember only 20 percent of what they
hear, 40 percent of what they see and 80 percent of what the
discover for themselves'', says the introduction to building
whole communities. (end/ips/tm-m/0a/92)

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