The state of the dream: A perspective from Guruve

Human development across the span of time has been congruent with the growth of society, nations, civilizations, even nations. Societies stem from individuals, their families and subfamilies to communities and ascend to nations at exponential ratios that carry a seed of national and ecological firing order. This inherent order predetermines a people's identity and this identity reversibly determines this order, seen or unseen. Individuals ,families, communities even nations fail or succeed at given instances of time but life as dictated by the flawless impetus of time goes on or must go on.

Nations may differ in their defining of heroes or the circumstances that conceive these extraordinary men and women but all nations carry medals for their heroes. And all heroes share the spoken or unspoken desire to commit their lives to attainment of greater goods for greater numbers. They are pushed by angst of drive to realize the ideals held supreme and their lives are a voluntary bond of payment. This is their drive, the definition of a livelihood of a nation, the dreams of all stewarded for generations to follow, dreams of equality for all, equal access of opportunities of all despite gender, race, religious foundation, political ideology or wealth and fortune.

Revolutions topple governments and new governments come with new creeds and highly dressed promises nonetheless the only visible progress is the creation of new disparities, new dimensions of inequality. The success of any nation is measured by its facilitation of measures and projects that empower people to widen their options in basic medical care, housing, education, art, sport, science, yet in most cases these are selectively enjoyed. The voices and stories we carry from Guruve are a testimony of this selection. Guruve is largely rural community pre dominantly home to the Kore Kore tribe, though significant portions of other tribes are found.

Guruve called us to probe the idea of growth point as center to rural development in modern Zimbabwe. In 1980 Zimbabwe inherited a fairly developed urban setup that existed alongside a backward rural community. The government was faced with the task of reversing the backwardness. Yes for some time the growth point was an eye of growth but a period of stagnation shredded the measures projected to spread development. The frenzy associated with the growth point soon faded and was replaced by years of arrested growth and miscarried hopes. But despite the challenges these communities still carry the dreams of a better, richer and happier life.

Blemished by years of stagnation in both private and public infrastructure development which ought to have been the anchor of growth, the depreciated structures generates a gloomy picture of arrested development, repelled opportunities and shunned away technologies. Whilst private construction at the growth point has resurfaced, it still lacks the vigor of innovation.

We met people whose stories are proof that we have allowed geography and not merit to be a barrier to human development and social mobility. We saw places confirming that we have embraced a postulation that stimulates only urban development and creates a backward and marginalized rural set up where deprivation has been normalized. It is an idea that makes it acceptable for women in Kazunga to carry 20 liter containers of water for more than 6 kilometers.  It is an assumption that feeds on a cultural practice that traps young girls in Mbire into marriage and poverty that relegates young boys in Kachuta into gold panning and farm laborers. It models cow dung, mud and wooden house for a man's dream of home ownership. It is an assumption that builds a petrifying countryside and takes away the peace and comfort of retirement and labels the local youth apathetic, and unknowing.

Believing that access to a healthy institution is paramount but more important is access to the medical services reminded us of the story of a mother from Kanyemba who choked with tears because she couldn't get drugs for her sick child. Guruve has a single district hospital supported by several clinics that covers a population of over 200 000 people from Guruve, Mbire and a portion of Muzarabani district. but an acute shortage of basic drugs poses serious health threats. A shortage of specialized personnel especially for the diagnostic equipment, lasting breakdowns in equipment such as the x-ray machines which can go for months forcing patients to go as far as 100 kms to Concession or Harare 151kms . The dental department has not been working for the past eight or so years and again patients have to go to Mvurwi 50kms away for dental services all diminish the service.

The crumbling infrastructure in some of the schools and the conditions under which these children live diminishes potential and steal the future. The echoes voices of ECD children singing at Gezi village inside an old dilapidated former cooperative warehouse with rusty window frames, no windowpanes, with neither doors nor roof turned to a school. Or the story of children below ten years clad in tattered uniform walking 10kms from Impinge to Earling primary. Nevertheless despite all the determination by these kids most schools do not have libraries nor facilities for scientific research. Yet these very children are examined together with the rest of the better off children who have access to good schools with all the necessary facilities. The extreme consequence of this is that the children that are in need of a scholarship to continue their studies, are the ones without possibilities to obtain it. The opposite is true, that it is the well-off children who after attending very good schools perform better and are eligible for free higher education at university level.

We met women and men in Bvochora whose dreams of social mobility were thwarted by poverty passed from one generation to another. We travelled across villages locked out of the world, meeting people with no access to any form of media. The deficiency of information rendering them vulnerable and shut out of positive political participation, the lack of exposure and illiteracy of a parent easily transmitted to the child effortless. Their means of production the rocky land exhausted by years of the same methods of farming inherited from their forefathers producing not enough to sustain them and their extended families.

Yes colonization underdeveloped Africa but we must not use that as basis for not improving. We owe it to ourselves to determine an ecological firing order that creates a shared Zimbabwean dream. Geography must not marginalize and tag people for all deserve an opportunity to economic and all deserve the chance to social mobility. The Zimbabwe Dream Project is committed to the realization of potential of these often forgotten rural communities because we believe we are connected as one people and we all tributaries feeding into greater Zimbabwean family. That our individual dreams must be testimony of a shared Zimbabwean dream.

Issued by
Kudakwashe Chakabva
Director Zimbabwe Dream Project
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