In this last episode of our three part storytelling series, Timothy Phiri sneaks out of home and attends a party, flouting both national lockdown regulations and rules set by his own parents. Find out how the family deals with yet another challenge in this finale.
Zimbabwe
Politics and Society Episode 2: Patimire (Where we stand)
Based on the lockdown experiences of the Phiri family, mourning the loss of a loved one during the pandemic, episode two focusses on dispelling some rampant myths and misinformation.
Politics and Society This is Africa animation series— Episode 1 Patimire (Where we stand)
As part of our storytelling project, this tripartite video animation series captures the various ways in which the pandemic has had disproportionate economic impact on the urban poor (economically vulnerable households), with serious implications on family relationships.
Arts, Culture and Sport Afrojazz innovator meditates mortality and pandemic creativity
Vital Signs, the critically acclaimed pandemic album by Zimbabwean jazz innovator Vee Mukarati, masterfully negotiates the lockdown dilemma of being relevant to your time while staying true to your art. Mukarati swings, meditates and sings on mortality, precarity and alienation on an album that is, at once, deeply personal, richly Zimbabwean and unmistakably global. The Switzerland-based artist discusses navigating the challenges of lockdown creativity in this exclusive interview with This Is Africa.
Arts, Culture and Sport A fight against HIV hindered by a global pandemic
A decade ago, Zimbabwean sports administrator Chris Sambo founded Positive Women League, a thriving social football league for women living with HIV, and those at risk of contracting the virus. For a year now, the initiative has been halted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Sambo himself died of COVID-19 in July 2020.
African identities How the pandemic has complicated life for LGBT communities
“The pandemic has restricted movement and, by extension, community with chosen family. The absence of this means exposure to distress with little support,” says Aanu Jide-Ojo, a clinical psychologist working with the LGBT community in Nigeria.
Africans rising WASTiNNOVA a Zimbabwean medical waste startup sprinting uphill
In the face of a global economic recession a Zimbabwean medical waste management startup has shown great resilience in unprecedented times, exploiting opportunities opened up by the pandemic. WASTiNNOVA helps health institutions with safe and proper disposal of medical waste.
Politics and Society Women and political leadership in Africa: More work needs to be done
Social and cultural beliefs remain an impediment to women’s continuous rise in politics across Africa. While we celebrate a notable increase in the number of women in influential political positions, the culture of violence, in its many forms if not dealt with threatens to undo this progress.
Politics and Society President Mnangagwa claimed Zimbabwe was open for business. What’s gone wrong
The more President Mnangagwa’s government fails to engage democratically with its own citizens, the more it will negate any prospect of re-engagement with the West.