Publish Or Perish
Since I was a child, I have dreamt of becoming a writer but what I did not know was that it was going to take more than a decade for that dream to manifest. The road that I travelled on to realize my dream was not the one I would have preferred to travel.God took me from point A to point C via a great detour through point B. It was disheartening because it did not make sense to me or add up in my mind.
But those who had adopted my vision as their own, advised me to believe what God had said to me about my dream. Because of the fact that the transition from the dream to its fruition took a very long of time, during that time, persistence and perseverance were the only two key things that I held on to.
I realized that in Zimbabwe there is an emergence of books that confront contemporary life issues and challenges of the real world. This is because there are information needs that the general mass media cannot meet. So I decided to be one of those authors who have taken up pen and paper to write books that transform lives and which Glorify God.
In this regard, I have recently completed writing a number of manuscripts that I am excited about and which I believe will make a great impact to the society as they highlight contemporary issues prevailing in everyday life.
So I have achieved a lifelong dream and penned a book called, “The Other Woman”, which is being launched on 27 January 2010. It is a powerful story of how a woman persevered against overwhelming odds in her marriage. It addresses the issue of infidelity which, as you know, in the Zimbabwean perspective is commonly referred to as “small-house”, and continues to be the most dramatic news story which is making headlines in the media.
I will be churning out a number of books which all carry contemporary themes which depict that although life on Earth, is far from simple, the unconditional love of God abounds and people’s lives can be directed by and changed for the better by God.
Below is a list of the books which I have written:
1. THE OTHER WOMAN
2. A SINGLE MOTHER’S STORY
3. THE ASTUTE BUSINESS MAN
4. THE LONDON ROUTE
5. A WOMAN’S WORST NIGHTMARE
6. RECOMPENSE
7. TAKING UP THE MANTLE
8. THE ESTARANGED PASTOR’S WIFE
9. BLENDING A STEP FAMILY
10. ZIMBABWE: TRAGEDY AND BEYOND
11. PLEASE SAY YES AND OTHER STORIES
AND YES, I INTEND TO PUBLISH ALL OF THEM THIS YEAR!!!
p.s.
I meant to say that I am one person who is NOT so big on going out ….
There were some hightlights though and those were: Winky D and Sean Paul - best performances of the night.
The Really Bad Deal Concert
The Really Bad Deal Concert
Here are a few things we were told about the “REAL DEAL CONCERT”: it will start at 12pm with Urban Grooves Acts; Sean Paul and Akon are billed to perform, starting from 6pm; it will be a family event, bring your children; there will be adequate security and a host of other high-flying ideals that included sectioned VIP, VVIP and Golden Circle areas with perks and benefits.
My first question is, had the organisers actually studied the venue properly before assigning impossible designations and if they did know the situation at the venue beforehand, why did they not put proper measures to ensure that people who paid more, got more?
Believing the concert to have already started, I thought 5pm would be a good time to arrive. Imagine my surprise when I drove into town with my sister and a friend, to buy pizza, when I saw what looked like a major part of the show (the big screens), still hanging around the Meikles hotel along with what looked like the entire complement of the organising committee.
I was also surprised to hear on the radio that gates were to open at 3pm? What happened to the noon-day start? Okay so maybe things were a couple of hours behind time but if the screens weren’t even up at 5pm, what the hell was going on?
One thing I didn’t believe in from the get-go was the park and ride shuttle system, so I parked at a friend’s house close-by and walked. On arrival at the stadium shortly after 6pm, no one knew which gate was for VIP ticket holders, so after asking many equally clueless people, we climbed a steep hill and ended up outside a big gate (number 15) where numerous people were milling about the while others were in some kind of a queue. We determined that this was the right place, but hey? What was the hold up? A big lorry was also trying to gain entrance and as such, was posing a danger to people on foot waiting also to go in. There were many young men who boldly stated that they were going to try their luck once the gate opened to let the vehicle in and so there was much delay and several times the pressure of the steadily growing crowd threatened to overwhelm those who were trying to keep the gate shut. One and a half hours later, we were still waiting but, along with a couple of vehicles, part of the original crowd were now in the stadium – most of them without tickets.
Two hours later, after fighting amongst ourselves, grumbling to each other and cursing every car that drove up, tooting for us to get out of their way so they could go in, the ZRP dog section arrived and forced the crowd into a single line where-upon people gained entrance one by one, with a small delay to let in some arrogant bastards in a Hummer. This was not the best time I have ever had.
When we finally made it in, we had no idea where the VIP section was, we just found a likely spot and settled there. It was only when we went to look for a different bar than the one in our section that we were challenged and asked to show our tickets, by a young man, who then told us to go and get wrist bands at the gate so we could move around freely. At the gate it was unclear who was issuing wrist bands and so I asked a police man who pointed to two guys standing in two random clusters just somewhere near the gate. My cousin and I joined the cluster where-upon the besieged young man handed my wrist band to someone in the opposite direction to where I was standing – he had no clue who had given him their ticket stub literally 2 seconds after he had looked at me and taken it. There were hands outstretched all around him and plenty of chiface going on. By the time we told our other companions to go and get their wrist bands and moved to the proper VIP area, there was nobody checking right of entry anymore – it was a free for all. At this point I had to ask what the hell I paid $50 for?
This is what I paid $50 for:
- not to be squashed up front in the Golden Circle by all the people who paid one tenth of what I did
- not to hear anything that was being sung on stage because of the horrific echo from the speakers on the ground – whoever was doing the sound engineering should be shot!
- To watch the show on the sometimes uncooperative big screen
- To watch any old body climb-over or walk unrestrictedly into the VIP section
- To be squeezed tightly against some man’s clearly delineated genitals in the scramble for a six-pack of lukewarm Hunters Dry (where is a needle when you need one?)
- To use a toilet that made everyone pull up t-shirts and other items of clothing to protect their noses from the rank smell, making me resolve to not drink anything else so I wouldn’t have to return
- To have drunken hooligans rain half-empty cans of drinks on those of us below
- To partake in the second hand cloud of smoke from an industrial-size spliff and then watch the stupid antics of the two men who were drunk and high and consequently ravenous and rowdy
- To have to view all options of an escape plan should any one of the numerous fights that erupted (because people were bored and drinking too much while waiting) result in a stampede
- To watch in horror as a dead drunk man fell over onto his head down a couple of concrete steps
- To watch several parents rouse and herd sleepy children out of the stadium after midnight because it had become ridiculous to keep them there
- To feel a certain amount of shame and embarrassment when Sean Paul lost the sound on his mic and to wish with all my heart that I could hear properly what he was singing and saying when it was working, because he was doing it with so much love!
- To wait and wait and wait for Akon and then not to care so much when he finally appeared because the screen went out and there was no telling what was happening on stage
- To leave at 3 in the morning before Akon was halfway through because it was too cold and frankly I no longer gave a damn!
I really, really, wanted to go to this concert, and I am one person who is so big on going out. I was so invested in the accomplishment of having managed to lure two world class artists to our small, dry and lately shambolic country that I gave all the benefit of the doubt. I allowed myself to belief in the fantasy that Zimswag might actually know and were committed to what they were doing. I believed in the hype, I gave myself over to the promise and convinced people to join me. It’s all right to dream I suppose but the reality of the morning after is that Zimbabwe is not ready to give anyone, “the real deal”.
Oliver Mtukudzi’s advice for young people chasing their dreams
When I am asked what advice I can give to youths chasing their dreams or goals I do not restrict myself to the guidance that I offer them. When I advise youths, I seek also to counsel parents because they turn the goals of their children into pipedreams when they want to impose talent on their children. Yet only God gives talent and God takes it away. That is how I view life.
My first advice to youths chasing their dreams is to build the very difficult but achievable culture of self-discipline. Have respect for yourself first then everyone else will respect you. How you carry yourself amongst other people, how you engage others and your humility defines a well rounded youth in the context of self-discipline.
No one is born a squeaky-clean character. Self-discipline is a process that is cultivated or is inculcated. Our environs at family level, the parents, the peers, the school and social environment all have immense influence and bearing on discipline and parents are central in ensuring that children are not only raised to fear evil but to love, to learn restraint and to tolerate others who may have different views to life. Read more
Repeat after me
By D. Senda
Say these words after me hi
Say I’m not a victim, say it and mean it
I know you’re hurting
And you may not get it now while going through it
But there’s an answer waiting right now
Washing and wishing away in tears and doubting
For what with our mouths we confess
We pray to occur in our lives
Say the words.
With conviction say them
Say them from the hilltops of your pride
If you have to soar like an eagle soar
Inflate if you have to like a peacock
For every word that departs your lips conditions your mind
I am not a victim, say it nice and loud
Tell me this.
Who tells the waves of the seas to rise after they crash?
But don’t they just?
And the dust, who ever said it deserves to kiss the skies?
If dirt made for the ground will not lie on the ground in the face of a storm
What of you made and ordained to rule over all that creeps and crawls?
All that so you can sit on your self-made sword?
And drink of your cup of pity? I am not a victim!
Say it, repeat after me
I am not a victim!
I am not a victim!
I am not a victim!
I hope you mean it.
2010 Is The Year For Football In Southern Africa
2010 IS THE YEAR for football in Southern Africa and the Games have approached. Most notably, South Africa is the first nation on the continent to host the World Cup between June and July this year and it is against this background that many sports fans from across the globe have already landed in South Africa as well as to its neighbouring countries such as Zimbabwe, in order to watch the proposed world cup games. The world is watching Southern Africa this year as the region hosts the soccer world cup finals. Since for four weeks in 2010, South Africa will be the centre of the world, the tournament is an opportunity for creativity and everyone is looking for something unique, something new, and something different, in order to be associated and identified with the 2010 FIFA Cup Tournament. The World Cup Games offer irreplaceable benefits to make Southern Africa more visible to the rest of the world. South Africa and its neighbouring nations, will no doubt benefit from the millions of visitors expected for the tournament, and the cream of the world’s sporting media who will be thronging the continent as they are focused on the games. THE BEAUTIFUL GAME “THE WORLD GAME” IT IS BELIEVED THAT many different cultures have played a sport similar to the modern game of soccer but no one can really say with any certainty when or where soccer began but it is known that the earlier variations of what later became soccer were played almost 3000 years ago. The last World Cup games that took place in the united States was watched by an estimated 33 million people around the world for almost 27 days. Football is the most watched single sports event in the world not surpassed even by the Olympics. This sport is bigger than baseball, football and basketball combined Football, more commonly known as r soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players using a spherical ball . It is widely considered to be the most popular sport in the world The game is played on a rectangular grass or artificial turf field , with a goal in the centre of each of the short ends. The object of the game is to score by driving the ball into the opposing goal. In general play, the goalkeepers are the only players allowed to use their hands or arms to propel the ball; the rest of the team usually use their feet to kick the ball into position, occasionally using their torso or head to intercept a ball in midair. The team that scores the most goals by the end of the match wins. If the score is tied at the end of the game, either a draw is declared or the game goes into extra time and/or a penalty shootout , depending on the format of the competition Football is governed internationally by International Federation of Association Football, commonly known by the acronym FIFA. The most prestigious international football competition is the FIFA World Cup , held every four year. Football is played in accordance with a set of rules known as the Laws of the Game . The game is played using a single spherical ball, known as the football or/soccer ball. Two teams of eleven players each compete to get the ball into the other team’s goal (between the posts and under the bar), thereby scoring a goal. The team that has scored more goals at the end of the game is the winner; if both teams have scored an equal number of goals then the game is a draw. Each team is led by a captain . The primary law is that players other than goalkeepers may not deliberately handle the ball with their hands or arms during play, though they do use their hands during a throw-in restart. Although players usually use their feet to move the ball around, they may use any part of their bodies other than their hands or arms note-fouls Within normal play, all players are free to play the ball in any direction and move throughout the pitch, though the ball cannot be received in an offside position. In typical game play, players attempt to create goal scoring opportunities through individual control of the ball, such as by dribbling , passing the ball to a team-mate, and by taking shots at the goal, which is guarded by the opposing goalkeeper. Opposing players may try to regain control of the ball by intercepting pass or through tackling the opponent in possession of the ball; however, physical contact between opponents is restricted. Football is generally a free-flowing game, with play stopping only when the ball has left the field of play or when play is stopped by the referee . After a stoppage, play recommences with a specified restart. A goalkeeper dives to stop the ball from entering his goal At a professional level, most matches produce only a few goals. For example, the 2005 season of the English Premier League produced an average of 2.48 goals per match. The Laws of the Game do not specify any player positions other than goalkeeper, but a number of specialised roles have evolved. Broadly, these include three main categories: strikers , or forwards, whose main task is to score goals; defenders , who specialise in preventing their opponents from scoring; and midfielders , who dispossess the opposition and keep possession of the ball in order to pass it to the forwards on their team. Players in these positions are referred to as outfield players, in order to discern them from the single goalkeeper. These positions are further subdivided according to the area of the field in which the player spends most time. For example, there are central defenders, and left and right midfielders. The ten outfield players may be arranged in any combination. The number of players in each position determines the style of the team’s play; more fo
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