Admiring faith, hope and integrity
There is a view is so eloquently expressed by the narrator in the book Admiring Silence by Abdulrazak Gurnah, born in Zanzibar, Tanzania (but now living in England) :
I knew then (not that I didn’t really have to be learned and relearned, and even then we forget them so easily and talk ourselves into something ameliorating and hopeful) that the food- stores were going to remain empty, and that schools would be without books, and the air would be filled with cruel, duplicitous promises, that justice would be just another word brayed from the mouths of the donkeys who rule us, and of course the toilets were going to remain blocked for a long time. Read more
Phanuel Mverengwi new blog
Please note that I am now blogging at
http://phanuelmuverengwi.blogspot.com
Thanks.
Zimbabwe’s education system endangers students
It’s official: Zimbabwe’s educational system is now in the morgue. The state of our education system is clear testimony to how self-destructive Zimbabwe has become. In a word, Zimbabwe is structurally deficient and in a desperate need for repair and construction.
The idea that we have a generation of young people who are receiving a half-baked education is at best, preposterous, and at worst, downright mindlessly stupid.
The failure of the education sector, like many other sectors in Zimbabwe, is a mere revelation that our country is going down the tubes. And in the process, we’ve become like an alcoholic bent on hanging onto to self-suicidal behaviour.
The picture is grim, to say the least. Teachers have abandoned schools. There are no books in schools. Infrastructure is delapidated, and in the erstwhile so-called elite schools such as Prince Edward etc. standards are going to the dogs. Read more
Visions of ailing men in Chenjerai Hove’s ‘Bones’ & Shimmer Chinodya’s ‘Strife’
Professor Robert Muponde
On Thursday 16 October, the 5.30pm Literary Evening at The Book Café extends a warm welcome to Professor Robert Muponde from the Department of English, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
Responding to a long-standing invitation by Pamberi Trust, he will make a presentation based on the work of two of Zimbabwe’s best-loved authors, entitled ‘Visions of Ailing Men in Chenjerai Hove’s Bones and Shimmer Chinodya’s Strife.
The paper seeks to explore the ways in which differently placed dystopian masculinities in the two novels help us to think about an evolving narrative of postcolonial Zimbabwe.
Mr Memory Chirere of the UZ Department of English will chair the ensuing discussion. Read more
Chimamanda Adichie now a MacArthur Fellow
Chimamanda Adichie is one of the recipients of the 2008 MacArthur Fellowship, which comes with a generous stipend of USD 500 000.00. The fellowship “ awards unrestricted fellowships to talented individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction. There are three criteria for selection of Fellows: exceptional creativity, promise for important future advances based on a track record of significant accomplishment, and potential for the fellowship to facilitate subsequent creative work.”
Another great day for African literature. Congratulations, Chimamanda!
For more information click here and here.
Zimbabwe Give-Me-A-Book Campaign
Dear comrades and friends – countrymen and countrywomen – lend me your ears for a minute; for we surely can do something together to help the children of our country have a chance to own a book to read. There are many books that lie like dead and silent tombs in our houses that, if resurrected, could help to shape a vibrant reading culture in our beloved village of Zimbabwe. We need to dig up such books from our homes and give them away to those that do not have access to books like the little orphaned and vulnerable children in many parts of our land. Every child in Zimbabwe must be given an opportunity to own a book, and the solution lies at our doorstep. Access to books is every child’s right and a long-term investment for the future.
Having said that, let me take this opportunity to introduce the Zimbabwe Give-Me-A Book Campaign. The Zimbabwe Give-Me-A-Book Campaign is nationwide effort with a single mission: to give children the opportunity to read and own books. The primary goal is to collect and distribute books to children who, for socio-economic reasons, have little or no access to books. Our objective is to promote literacy, life-long learning and understanding by distributing donated books and other forms of educational media to orphaned and disadvantaged children. Read more
