The Sunday News
Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday Life Reporter
IN Njelele-Dewe and Silungudzi A in Kezi, Matabeleland South province, nowadays the weather is the talk of both villages.
For the last few months, villagers have looked to the heavens for the expected downpours, but their hopes have been repeatedly dashed, as temperatures soared daily, leaving in their wake dried water sources and depleted pastures.
Right at the foot of Njelele, a place that is ironically synonymous with rain-making rituals, villagers have been left searching for answers as they wonder where the next drop of rain will come from. Amidst the doom and gloom, however, there are unlikely bright sparks of cheer.
On the walls of shopping centres that have looked in desperate need of urgent paint jobs for years, works of art that seem to have transplanted onto them, are bringing colour into the modest lives of villagers.
Mural at Dewe Business Centre in Matobo District
Painted by Leeroy Brittain, better known as Bow, with input from the youth of 70 youths from Ward 17 Matobo that were trained by veteran visual artiste Dumisani Ndlovu, the murals at Chapo, Dewe and Nathisa have added a dash of colour to the otherwise modest business centres.
More than just the visual eye candy that the expertly drawn murals depict, the murals have been embraced as an example of what can be achieved, when idle youths in the area are given a chance to shine.
“We are happy that our walls now look like this and we did not have to pay anyone for the pleasure,” said Mr Morison Ndlovu, a villager who lives next to Dewe business centre.
“More importantly, we are grateful that young people from our villages,were important in the making of the murals and they have also acquired skills that will allow them to do things of a similar nature in future on their own.”
Near the shopping centre in Nathisa, another villager, Mrs Orillia Ncube, said such initiatives were taking away young people from harmful substances and activities.
The murals are a product of Visual Expressions of Matobo Youth Voices (VEMYV), a brainchild of Amagugu International Heritage Center, with support from the Culture Fund of Zimbabwe Trust under CreativeActions2, which is funded by the European delegation in Zimbabwe.
According to Amagugu Programmes Officer Alington Ndlovu, the VEMYV project empowered young women and men with knowledge and skills in research, citizen reporting, and advocacy. The young people under the project were taught storytelling and citizen journalism by experts in the field, while visual artist Ndlovu, was roped in to help them learn how to paint their lived experiences.
“The project leverages the power of visual art to contribute accountability transparency that will lead enlivened social fabric and improved livelihoods and inspire increased participation and representation of young women and men in decision-making, by bringing out socio-economic challenges and also proffering solutions for inclusive and sustainable peace and development. The project targeted youths from Matobo in ward 17, specifically Njelele-Dewe village and Silungudzi A village. The project was inspired by the availability of artistry that exists in the locality, evidenced by other programmes like
‘My Beautiful Home’ and other festivals. It was noticed that beyond petition letters, reports and other communication channels, art will communicate Matobo youths’ voices effectively,” he said.
Ndlovu said the murals were thus the product of the extensive period of training that the youths had undergone over the last few months.
“The murals are the crux of the matter in this article because they mark the end of the project and they are at the climax of the project as they amplify the voices of youths. A mural is like icing on the cake in as far as visual art is concerned in this project. Everything that was done during this project ,was expressions leading to these three murals that were executed in three Matobo business centres in Ward 17. Themes were coined by project participants and Amagugu contracted the award-winning mural artist, Leeroy Spinx AKA Bow to execute murals,” he said.
All in all, the three murals each tell their own separate stories. In Nathisa, the Motobo hills that surround the area are given their colourful portrait, while in Dewe, tribal art that has been popularised by ‘My Beautiful Home’ competition, help youths scream out about the challenges that they face. In Chapo, the beaming face of a child with the balancing rocks of Matobo in the background, brings out the central theme of the project: the need to capture and amplify young people’s voices.
“The first one was at Dewe business centre,with tribal art and infusion of local artistry borrowed from My Beautify Home.
The message says, “SIKHALA SILETHEMBA” meaning we cry/plead with hope and these are the youths who plead for access for resources, employment, quality education, better health facilities, reduced crime rate and network installation, with hope that the intended audience will heed to their plea. At Chapo business centre, the graffiti featured tribal art, rocks that validate Matobo identity and a child who represents the youths participating in the project and the child is contemplating about access to education, network and health.
The message says, INTSHA YIYO IKUSASA: ASIBAZWENI, which means the future is youth and let’s hear them. The final site is still in the process of being executed and like the previous two murals, it also has tribal art featuring the rocks which are the identity of Matobo and the main character who will be receiving opportunities from the duty bearers,” he said.
