Of course it’s unfortunate that Kirsty Coventry was attacked on her way home from the airport the other night. Her story got some press because she’s a celebrity. Meanwhile hundreds of Zimbabwean run the gauntlet between Harare International Airport and whatever suburb they live in on a daily basis. It is entirely shocking and unacceptable that the Zimbabwe Republic Police place two police person details on completely arbitrary roads (like Kingsmead on Tuesday morning) laying in wait to bump motorists $20 for not having something – that something all depends on the mood of the policeman at the given time. Yet, the police know (unless they really are quite, quite stupid) that the road from the airport into town is one of the most dangerous in the city. How do they respond to this? Are there any police patrol cars out on that road at night? No. Just well positioned police ATMs on the airport road during the day to reel in fines from motorists. Welcome to Zimbabwe; hang on to your cash, your bags and your life until you reach your hotel, or your home.

I’ve been wondering why there have been so few reviews of HIFA’s opening show. Even the official HIFA web site is bereft of photographs, video footage or reviews – its as if it didn’t happen. Three Men On a Boat published a short piece that described the show as a catalogue of 60 years of American pop culture and that it was “OK”. On the plus side it was visually appealing. Three Men On a Boat were pleased that the opening show had been depoliticised. Meanwhile Zimbo Jam got to grips with what seems to be a central reflection: where was the story, what was the message of the opening show? But do we have to have one? Many would say yes because its a chance to tell a story, or stories of national significance; a chance to provoke conversation and draw on the experience of Zimbabweans; what are we seeing, doing, dreaming about … It seems like the HIFA organisers don’t believe that it’s possible to do this without being POLITICAL. That awful P word that will either get you into trouble, or prompt you to create art that that doesn’t fall on the side of safety. Tafadzwa Simba, the Festival spokesman said that the “arts indaba simply tried to capture the aspirations of the people, in an apolitical way, as well as to stimulate debate and dialogue.” Usually adopting a protected stand does little to stimulate meaningful debate. Nomalanga Moyo on SW Radio Africa reflected that with Workers Day falling in the middle of the Festival, and in a country with 90% unemployment, HIFA’s theme of progress and optimism could be regarded as being a little far-fetched. And maybe the bottom line: “HIFA should be more than just about singing and dancing, we can see that anywhere else. We come to HIFA because it always has that something special and different,” says Tawanda on Zimbo Jam, otherwise you can just turn on VH1.

We believe in God
We believe that sex is sacred
We believe in caring for each other
We believe in using condoms

Devoted Catholics may call this campaign message immoral and going against the Church and the teachings of the Bible, but to a group like Catholics for Choice they believe its time the Church endorses condom use. A very controversial subject to talk about and indeed an issue, which can make one, lose strength to lead such a huge following. The fact that sex is sacred has not done enough to spare the youth from indulging and this has resulted in high pregnancy rates and a surge in sexually transmitted infections. In trying to deal with all these sex challenges Catholics for Choice thinks good Catholics should condomize to show a sign of caring for one another. The campaign is aimed at the Vatican to change its policy on condom use and it is targeting countries at risk of high sexual infections like Kenya, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

To have a smart phone is no longer a luxury for the elite only but a solution to the exorbitant charges of sending a short text message (SMS) using the services of the cellphone network service providers in Zimbabwe. It costs 9 US cents to sent a local SMS and 23 cents for an out of Zimbabwe SMS chat. Running on economics partly sustained by remittances from abroad most Zimbabweans had to rely on SMS to avoid the high long distance call tariffs when chatting with loved ones abroad. The introduction of chat applications like Whatsapp on mobile phones is now forcing people to switch phones to the latest smart phones compatible with chat apps. My last visit to a local cellphone dealer shop in town gave me an impression that when buying a phone it’s no longer about the looks but the service and functions the phone can give to a customer. I was told the first thing a customer now asks before making a purchase is whether the phone is compatible with Whatsapp. Apps like these have made it easy to chat with people outside Zimbabwe, send pictures, audio and video files for as little as less than US0.10. The young with technology at heart in schools or out of employment have been the major consumers of these social apps because of the cheap charges. The benefits of the chat apps could be small to network service providers in terms of data usage but to an ordinary person with less than 23 cents in his/her phone itching to make contact with someone it’s a huge success. The latest to adapt to the new communications trends are the upcoming entrepreneurs who are still battling the liquidity crunch in the country are also enjoying the benefits of reaching out to potential clients at low costs.