Documentary to clear dethroned Miss Zim

Documentary to clear dethroned Miss Zim

Nothando Ndhlovu Sunday Leisure Reporter
LOCAL media production company AXIS4 is working on a documentary that seeks to clear dethroned Miss Zimbabwe Emily Kachote of any wrongdoing in the controversial nude pictures scandal that ultimately led to her deposition as the country’s beauty queen.

The documentary, which was Emily’s idea, focuses on the rebranding of the model after her name was dragged through the mud after allegations that the model had posed nude surfaced soon after she was crowned Miss Zimbabwe.

It is against the pageant’s laid down rules for representatives to have posed nude on any platform.

Emily was therefore accused of having lied to the organisers and the nation at large when she stated that she had never posed nude before when she was crowned. She, however, said the documentary’s sole purpose was to redefine her.

“This documentary aims to reveal who I really am and what I represent. I wish to accomplish a positive image and let people know who I am apart from the negativity attached to my name and my person,” she said.

“It will also put rumours to rest and offer candid detail about myself. To cease the speculations and answer a lot of unanswered questions,” she added.

The model’s ouster stirred wide debate over how the matter was handled, with some people saying that she did not receive the treatment she deserved adding that her unseating was marred in controversy.

However, in spite of the bad publicity and backlash she has received over the past few months, Kachote has remained positive and has been keeping herself busy. She has in fact turned her bad fortune into an opportunity with one of her projects being a programme where the model talks to young girls and arms them with advice and knowledge on how to overcome and avoid what she went through.

“Lately I have been engaged in a lot of youth activities at my church. I am conducting image seminars and I have also done the same with a group of female students from Goromonzi High School,” she explained.

“I am mostly targeting the girl child and informing them about cyber bullying as I am a victim. I help them by telling them how to carry themselves with an etiquette stride and unshakable confidence,” she added.

She also explained that she was targeting girls as they were more prone to cyber bullying and criticism.

“As a girl you are vulnerable to a lot of criticism especially when you step into the limelight. Thus you have to possess a thick skin and an elastic heart. Don’t let the negativity bring you down and never be defined by your past work on making a better future for yourself.

“Above all surround yourself with people who share the same goal with you and help elevate you. Never settle for anything less,” said the dethroned Miss Zimbabwe.

Kachote said life after dethronement had not been easy for her as she had been treated harshly by both strangers and people close to her.

“I have faced a lot of backlash and there are people who think they know me and make their own stories about me. I have been cyber bullied by people who hide behind social media to say very nasty things to me. I’ve been judged harshly so much that I wonder what has this world come to where people are carrying so much hatred, anger and bitterness in them such that the lash out at the next person.

“There are people whom I thought were my friends but they leaked false information to the press for money. However there are people who have showed unwavering support to me and have stood by me despite all the scandals,” she added.

Although the road has not been rosy for Kachote the moment the Miss Zimbabwe crown landed on her head, she has a great support system which helps her get through day by day.

“I have surrounded myself with people who are moulding me and giving me spiritual advice and how to stay close to God. I am also grateful to all my fans out there who have not for once judged me,” she said.

Tin Tin to launch programme for expectant mothers

Tin Tin to launch programme for expectant mothers

Tinopona “Tin Tin’’ Katsande-Chigariro

Nothando Ndhlovu
AFTER confirming that she is now married and has a bun in the oven and probably inspired by the development, renowned actress Tinopona Katsande-Chigariro, affectionately known as Tin Tin, has started working on a television programme, First Steps that seeks to educate first-time pregnant women on what to expect.
The former ZiFM Stereo presenter said in an interview with Sunday Leisure that she was working on several projects but singled out the talk show for expectant mum called First Steps, which was inspired by her current situation.

“When you get pregnant, your body starts to do its own thing and it is quite overwhelming sometimes. Unotoshaya kuti zvirikumbofamba sei. So many questions arise and you just want to share and confide in others going through the same thing. It helps you go through each stage knowing you are not alone. That is why I came up with the show.”

“First Steps is my first production. As the presenter and director/producer of the show, I will be working both behind the scenes and in front of the camera,” said the expectant mother.

“In the previous productions I have done over the years, I was always in front of the camera as an actor but more recently I started broadening my horizons and attending workshops and apprenticeships on directing and producing television productions,” she said.

First Steps will air on ZBCtv as well as on DStv.
According to Tin Tin, the 13-episode series is educative, informative and entertaining. She added that it is packed with laughter and will be an interactive platform for new mums to share experiences as they demystify and decode the myths of child bearing, particularly in the Zimbabwean context. The main concept of the programme is cultural and traditional practices versus science and medicine.

“First Steps mainly targets first-time mothers like me. It is an informative, educative and entertaining programme that will offer the viewer an interactive platform to share experiences, offer and receive advice and above all demystify the myths that so often surround the birth and rearing of a new born baby,” she said.

The actress said she was excited about her pregnancy as she had been told by doctors that she could not conceive. She came out in the open and revealed that she was suffering from endometriosis which causes infertility. She added that by coming out in the open, she wanted to inspire and perhaps save a life in the process.

“Last year I went public with the revelation that I had been told by doctors that medically it was impossible for me to conceive due to the aggressive nature of the condition called endometriosis, which is often misinterpreted by Zimbabweans as jeko/isilumo, which in English is a bad monthly period pain,” she said.

“Endometriosis is a whole different condition all together. After I received my miracle (for indeed this is what it is), I began my arduous journey of nine months and the anxieties began,” she added.

She sparked rumours that she was pregnant with a Facebook post which reads, “God wants to bless me with this child but I have to endure the nine long arduous months of pregnancy (plus these damn endometriosis fibroids). God wanted to bless me with a loving husband but I had to get out of my comfort zone, sacrifice comfort and convenience, open my heart to love and be loved, invest time in the relationship, lose a few friends and disappoint some family members along the way.”

She has since confirmed that she is both pregnant and married with numerous Facebook status posts as well as pictures showing off her baby bump and hubby Virimai Chigariro.

Tin Tin is in her third trimester and she is very happy and content.
“I am absolutely loving carrying this child. It’s still very taxing but I’m embracing it all the same,” she said happily.

“My first and second trimesters were marred with pain, tears and discomfort because I have eight degenerative fibroids that are growing with the baby and this keeps me in and out of antenatal hospitals in Harare and Pretoria.

“Many times I thought I would lose the baby but doctors, family, friends and my dear husband kept me hopeful because it’s so easy to lose hope in times like that,” said an emotional Tin Tin.

The actress discovered that she was pregnant when she went for a scan with her husband to find out where the fibroids were located as well as their size. Little did they know that there was a pleasant surprise waiting.

“My husband and I wanted to see where the fibroids were located so that I could have a surgery to remove them. At the sixth fibroid, the technician said the baby was doing fine.

“My husband got very angry as he thought it was a bad joke and I told the technician that I wasn’t pregnant and I could not have children because of the fibroids. He then went silent and switched on the sound which allowed us to hear our baby’s heartbeat,” she narrated.

The couple immediately phoned her gynaecologist, who confirmed that she was pregnant after seeing the scan.
“We cried together with my gynaecologist who said: ‘Tinopona, this is your miracle’,” she added.

“As a first time mum-to-be, I now know the anxieties and even frustrations that tag along with the bliss of expecting a child. Everyone around you genuinely wants the best for you and they obviously believe what they are saying is the best.

“Unfortunately some of the advice clashes especially when one is based on traditional or cultural practice while the other is a scientific approach. It can all get quite confusing and even stressful so the show First Steps will aim to broaden our horizons by analysing both options and allowing mothers to make informed decisions,” she added.

She said the show will cover a broad spectrum of topics pertaining to early child rearing in a Zimbabwean context. A resident gynaecologist will be on the show and periodically a paediatrician and traditional practitioner. The paediatrician and traditional practitioner will feature on some episodes in order to answer queries that viewers might have concerning the topic being discussed on that particular episode.

The expectant mother encouraged other women facing the same problem not to give up.
“As someone who was diagnosed with endometriosis, I have a story to tell and I pray that my testimony will inspire other Zimbabwean women who have been told the same thing and are struggling to have children to never give up.

Instead they should keep their focus on living a healthy life, with a healthy mind and body and above all else remain steadfast in prayer for I am living proof that God’s love is unconditional and He is faithful. We just have to trust Him completely,” she said.

Tin Tin said she is keeping her child’s gender a secret as she wants it to be a surprise.

Nobuntu returns from Euro Summer tour

Nobuntu returns from Euro Summer tour

BULAWAYO-BASED female a capella group Nobuntu has returned from a 25-day Euro Summer annual tour. Music groups from all over the world are invited and they tour a number of European countries showcasing their music talents to the world.

Nobuntu has been part of the Euro Summer tour for the third time now since 2013 and this year they toured Germany and Australia, last year it was Germany and Belgium.

The group performed impressively at the Rudolstadt Festival in Germany where they got coverage from a German newspaper, The Ostthuringer Zeitung which covered the festival and commended the Zimbabwean group for an outstanding performance.

The festival was termed “the biggest stage ever” by the group spokesperson, Joyline Sibanda, after they performed to an audience of over a thousand people.

The group of six women in their early 30s specialises on a fusion of traditional Zimbabwean rooted music, traditional gospel, Afro-Jazz and crossover in pure voices with minimalistic percussion, acoustic instruments and dance movements.

They got the name Nobuntu from an African word ubuntu which stands for a concept that values humbleness, love, purpose, unity and family and the group — Nobuntu – places it from a woman perspective.

The group was formed in 2011 by five members who are Joyline Sibanda, Duduzile Sibanda, Thandeka Moyo, Heather Dube and Zanele Manhenga, Claire Ratidzo Dangarembwa joined later.

The year 2013 marked the release of their first album called Thina and their first European tour. They have also performed at a number of local events and festivals.

The group is a new generation of young women singers who celebrate and preserve their culture, beauty and heritage through art. Sibanda said the group filled the deficit of female dominant a capella groups not only locally but worldwide.

“Nobuntu was formed on realising the absence of an all-female professional a capella group in Bulawayo and Zimbabwe as a whole. The ensemble’s mission is rooted in the belief that music is the most important and original wheel of change. It is a way of expression for a new generation of young women singers with the uniqueness to transcend racial, tribal, religious, gender and economic boundaries” she said.

Amagugu launches second edition of traditional home exhibition

Amagugu launches second edition of traditional home exhibition

AMAGUGU Heritage Trust on Thursday launched this year’s edition of the My Beautiful Home which is an exhibition of handmade and naturally designed traditional huts at the Bulawayo National Arts Gallery last Thursday.

This year’s competition launch was opened by a speech of one of the founder members of the exhibition who needs no introduction in the arts industry Phathisa Nyathi and then the guest of honor the Principal Director in the Ministry of Sports, Arts and Culture, Rev. Paul Bayethe Damasane.

This year’s edition is the second following its first launch which took place last year which had 30 entries from two wards in Matopo district competing for the grand prizes which consisted of ploughs, water carries, wheelbarrows, fertilizers and kitchen ware issues to outstanding competitors.

In the last competition prizes were awarded for each category such as best hut exterior as well as the best kitchen and interior design then an overall winner was chosen. Last year’s grand prize was awarded to a Matopo woman only recognized as Mrs S Ngwenya of Ward 16 for her beautifully rendered designs both on the inside and outside of the huts in her homestead.

This year’s competition will be much bigger and better compared to last year’s edition since five more wards took part making them seven for this year’s edition and last year’s exhibitions will be taken to the Harare National Arts Gallery.

The organizers of the competition, who are a group of volunteers with shared interests in the Matopos, architecture, art and culture the likes of Veronique Attala Violette KeTui, Clifford Zulu, John Knight, Dr Andre F Van Rooyen , Phathisa Nyathi and Butholezwe Nyathi funded and sponsored more interesting prizes making the competition much better.

In his speech Rev Damasane pointed out that the home stead as well as the round kitchen hut carry a lot of tradition and also says a lot about the woman of the homestead.

“In line with the famous saying that says a man build a house then a woman makes it a home the beauty of the paintings on the round kitchen huts carry family traditions, shows the mastery of the woman and also portrays the wife as a good wife and a good mother” he said.

The official photographer of the exhibition Dr Van Rooyen also articulated more concerning the beauty and originality of these huts.

“In other types of photography it is the work of the cameraman to make the content look beautiful but as for these paintings there is totally no need to make them beautiful because they are already beautiful. Everything including the paint is natural the only unnatural thing that was involved was the canon camera” he said.

IButholezwe Nyathi the Amagugu Heritage Trust programs manager said the exhibition was meant to appreciate the cultural building and decorating designs which was used by our fore fathers and mothers before the modern western designs took over.

“The My Beautiful Home exhibition was meant to recognize and reward the traditional art of decorating huts with natural pigments and also maintaining a valuable cultural practice while encouraging sustainable development.

The Amagugu Trust Fund is working on obtaining the participation of more regions in the country making the exhibition international and more interesting to honor the art on rural home which they say cannot be ignored or underestimated.