Female police officers and the spouses of their male colleagues spontaneously form a netball team and play friendly matches against two women’s teams of Lalapanzi. Theatre plays, dances and a concert are also presented at this all-day event near Mvuma in the Midlands. The message of all these activities is clear: We want peace in our community, and we will not tolerate politically motivated or any other form violence.
This unique peace building event in May was hosted by the Artists for Democracy in Zimbabwe Trust (ADZT) in partnership with the Church and Civil Society Forum (CCSF). It was attended by hundreds of men, women and children. They all watched enthusiastic youths using netball, soccer games, theatre, dance and music to galvanise their rural community against political violence.
The highlight of the event was the participation of the quickly formed female police netball team. It emphasised that police officers in the community do appreciate peace building initiatives and consider themselves as a part of them.
Altogether, there were three women’s netball teams (Wadzanayi, Netherburn and Police teams) and two male football teams (Lalapanzi Stars and Wadzanayi). The Wadzanayi netball team, named after the farm where the event took place, was the hosting team. Netherburn came from Mvuma, and the police team was from the Lalapanzi Police Station. Their friendly matches offered an opportunity to bring together community members from different backgrounds in order to build peace together and set an example for other communities.
The police officers roundly welcomed the event and even encouraged ADZT to reach out to other areas surrounding Lalapanzi. They explicitly stressed their willingness to participate in similar events in the future as part of improving their relations with community members and helping to build peace in the Midlands area. Community members heaped praise on the police officers and thanked them for participating in the activities. They also lauded them for the role that they are already playing in the community to maintain peace and order.
All matches were carried out in an atmosphere of good neighbourliness and were punctuated by moments where messages of peace were spread by ADZT staff members. This was happening during half-time of the games and between all the other programme items. The Chairman of Wadzanayi Farm, Mr. Musambasi, called it imperative to maintain peace at all time since this was the only sure way of bringing about a lasting peace.
Arts and sports are a subtle way to send out messages. They have the power to influence and change societal behaviour by bringing together people in conflict. They can be described as a soft landing – given the tensions that still characterise many communities in Zimbabwe as a result of the 2008 political violence which left many villages ravaged. Thus, all artistic presentations had peace themes and helped members of the community understand the objectives of the programme.
The Lalapanzi community is one of the areas that witnessed serious political violence in the run up to the June 2008 presidential runoff poll. Violent youth gangs with political affiliations still harass local people from time to time. Therefore, it was very important for ADZT to carry out these activities just there. The two masters of ceremony at the event also helped to spread messages of peace by constantly reminding community members of the theme of this day and asking them questions on the presentations that had been made. The winners of the sports games were eventually presented with a trophy, sets of uniforms and match balls.
ADZT is also working in the Midlands province through the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights, encouraging the communities to participate in governance issues.