Men are hurt and are suffering within as they have no one to share with their struggles and the society seems to be contented with the scenario were the man acts up as if all is well but silently dying inside.
As of late there has been an upsurge of suicidal deaths of men mainly caused by them trying to control the situation within and fails to seek counselling or any other profesional help.
“Ndivo baba” (He is the father), an intiave by ‘Blackbird Zimbabwe’ Cynthia Mapanda set to unravel the lopside of the patriarchal attributes of men that lead them to their demise.
The intiative by telivision personality was set for the male gender to reveal the hidden, unspoken and the lost in this modern generation.
“Ndini baba vako” (I am your father), a radio personality whose real name is Aaron Dobie was a corehost to the Blackbird intiative.
Having “Ndini baba vako” to host the event was a supplementary to the debate.
Blackbird said, “It was my initiative, my first ever male initiative and l would say it was a success”.
The intiative drew participants from all over the country and the furthest being Nyika, Masvingo.
‘Jayaguru’, Fidelis Jinjika a spoken word artist who travelled all the way from Masvingo appreciated the intiative and he performed a poem.
Jayaguru performed ‘Mukondombera’, a poem about HIV and AIDS which informed one of the topics discussed, men and small houses.
Poems and music were some of the ways used to unravel the male and family issues at the event.
The ‘Ndivo baba’ intiative was set up in the habarmasian public sphere both in physical space and scope.
The stronger ideas fertilised the weaker ones and the best ideas were banked upon as the epitome and ideal ones, a typical habarmasian public sphere concept.
Jasen Mphepo Little Theatre in Eastly proved not be that little this previous Saturday if the discourse that was exchanged is used as a yardstick.
Though the debate was centred on “he is the father”, ladies took part in the debate, a slight deviation from Habermas’ public sphere which was pro-men and even our own tradition sphere in the make of “Dare” which used to be only attended by men.
The inclusion of women in male issues was remarkable as most of them provided significant insights.
It is also worthy to note that, the public sphere event in the making of ‘ndivo baba’ is a brainchild of the feminine gender which in itself shows concern for their male counterparts .
The “public sphere” is generally conceived as the social space in which different opinions are expressed, problems of general concern are discussed, and collective solutions are developed communicatively.
Thus, the public sphere is the central arena for societal communication.
The “Ndivo baba” intiative, in a way relates to the current general debate on the increase of divorce cases in Zimbabwean marriages.
Judicial Service Commission(JSC) reveals that minimum of 30 percent of new marriages are collapsing within five years.
The JSC also reports that the number of divorce cases filed in courts across the country increased by more than 100 percent in the 12 months through to December 2022.
2 735 applications for divorce were received last year, compared to 1 351 in 2021.
The couples were married either under the Marriages Act Chapter 5:11 or the Customary Marriages Act Chapter 5:07.
Some of the reasons cited in the divorce files include abuse, lack of communication, financial challenges and infidelity.
“I am hoping to literally make it a monthly initiative where l get to give everyone a chance of sitting down and talking with the male figure”, revealed Blackbird.
Men and Marriage, Musha Mukadzi (Woman is the home) and, men and small houses were the topics that were discussed.
The topics were handy in safeguarding marriages against divorce and were also preparatory to those who will be finding themselves married in future.
“As we wait for another physical event, l am going to talk more via social platforms and l believe it will be interesting”, Blackbird said about the future of ‘Ndivo baba intiative’.
The general consensus by those present at the indaba was that the intiative should not be just a one day event.