Stop playing the blame game Zimbabwe

A LOT has been happening in our country lately. So what do we do about this current economic dive and the drama thereof? Sudden increase in male prostitution, corruption, human trafficking, social media obsession, constant leaking of sex tapes, rampant fraudulent behaviour, the ''2008-scare-syndrome''?

Are we losing control here? Is this ever going to be a joke we will reminisce as history in the near future?

Children see the fear in our eyes and resort to daddies and mommies whose essence of principle is ''sugar''. Mothers approving, improving and consolidating adulterous relationships their girls are indulging in…the fear is real!

Soon headlines will move from the HIV pandemic in universities to the desperate poverty stricken male students in the City Centre colleges who are flashing their sexual organs in the early hours of the night so that they can sell their integrity for the next best thing to another semester!

The job vacancy itself cannot be guaranteed unless a ''sale'' is effected. Moral decay is at its vulnerable worst.

The dominance of the economic crisis is not a shocker in African States. My question however is: Is what we witness here in Zimbabwe the norm in terms of the responses in other African States.

Does poverty and lack of jobs directly cause moral decay? What is our part in it? Can we make it better?

How do we as a nation move on in the midst of economic turmoil that seems to be sucking out the life out of Zimbabwe like a blood sucking tick which does not relent?

The solution is simple…Occupying your time with useful things. I am troubled by the influx of social media activity.

Whenever something small happens, it is exaggerated and taken so out of context that you fail to identify the initial reason it was publicised.

I have shared this concern with some colleagues and the response that I got was that it is a ''coping mechanism''.

I am not sure how exactly exaggeration and jocular behaviour helps any situation. Zimbabweans, I always say, are extremely talented people and if we would channel our energy towards the meaningful things, the sky would be the limit.

If for example, instead of joking about the latest craze, the quails, people would find ways in which to benefit from the market and make some money.

People truly do not have jobs but instead of lamenting about it, one can actually go and offer their services to link the incubator people to the ones that are selling the eggs and to the end user.

I have heard about the demand that is in the export market, there are many ways that people can benefit from the production of quails.

Unfortunately, it all ends in jokes that are so obsessive it's almost sad. Misplaced enthusiasm.

The catastrophe of exhausting our energy in social media, where nothing material comes out, except for entertaining some people is that the issues that really matter pass us by quietly.

Opportunities are rare but when they do come, they are easy to miss because the people are occupied by well…nothing.

There are quite a bit of opportunities that people might be surprised. Scholarships come out of every direction.

The Swedish Embassy has scholarships, writing competitions that the winner gets €2,000. The American Embassy has exchange programs that are very exciting for young people.

The German Embassy has the AU pair program that will expose our people to German culture.

Locally we have the Joshua Nkomo Scholarship fund and the Presidential one as well that takes our children that have done well but are underprivileged.

There is the Young African Leaders Initiative that has all sorts of opportunities as well, the list is endless.

There are so many opportunities out there that are linked to education and that do not require any money, except one's creativity.

That creativity that we waste making sometimes senseless entertainment, could actually emancipate you.

For the HIV positive people, there are opportunities that are peculiar to them as well. There is so much to be done, as soon as the energies are shifted.

Zimbabweans have the gift of intellect and it should benefit our families and open doors for us.

I have travelled quite a bit and everywhere I have met Zimbabweans, they have done quite well for themselves in terms of professional occupations.

Our students are high fliers and great achievers. The ones in the diaspora that do odd jobs are also hard workers.

They work long hours and juggle family and carry the families back home literally on their shoulders.

People sometimes indulge in the blame game. They blame politicians, the government, the country, the economy, poverty and the rain, you name it.

I can't wait for people to be enlightened on the epic waste of time that blaming produces. Blaming numbs your progress by making people feel entitled.

The moment they blame they feel that they have done their part and they sit back and wait for more things to complain about.

It is obvious that nothing can come out of the blaming cycle so we should move past it.

Finally, these economic challenges are not unique. You honestly cannot tell me that every nation that experienced economic hardships ended with no moral fibre whatsoever.

Surely our country should be shaped by the spirit of respect, love; compassion and tolerance that should remain as pillars that are untouched by lack of jobs or anything else.

There was a credit crunch that shook the world over and nations are struggling to recover from it to this day.

There is nothing really shocking about this and we need to move past the reality of the economic situation and spend our time on meaningful things.

Instead of entangling our mental faculties in jocular entertainment, we can use that energy to rewrite the script of the country to amazing levels. It is all in our hands!