WUASpace Repository
The WUASpace is an open access digital archive which collects, preserves, and disseminates scholarly content produced by the WUA community. WUASpace contains journal articles, book chapters, postgraduate thesis/dissertations, conference papers, pre-prints, working papers, technical reports, progress reports, project reports, among others.
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Is Urban Agriculture Sustaining the Urban Poor? A Study of Grandmother Headed Households (GHHs) in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
(Taylor and Francis, 2022-01-05) Chipo Hungwe
In this study of urban agriculture in Bulawayo, I examine the extent to
which the activity sustains the poor and reduces social exclusion in
grandmother-headed households. A qualitative case study design was
employed to study the lives of 19 older women. Findings indicate that
urban agriculture does not assist in reducing food insecurity and social
exclusion among the research participants because of several factors.
Challenges in acquiring farming land, medical conditions, and the strenuous and less integrated nature of the urban agriculture practice affect
the extent to which urban agriculture secures families from hunger.
Social assistance is needed for members of grandmother-headed
households.
A Stubborn Culture? Zimbabwean Migrants and the Quest for a Decent Burial during the Covid-19 Pandemic
(Taylor and Francis, 2022) Chipo Hungwe
The rise in deaths due to the combined effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and other communicable and non-communicable diseases has made it difficult for Zimbabweans to dignify death and offer decent burials to the deceased. Funeral parlours and other players in the death industry have become overwhelmed. This article explains the behaviour of Zimbabweans in the diaspora who continue to repatriate dead bodies into the country even when repatriation poses challenges to all involved, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. Concepts such as “the living dead”, “death in and out of place”, and “good death versus bad death” are used to analyse perceptions of death among Zimbabweans. For the Shona and Ndebele (the biggest ethnic groups in Zimbabwe), the living and the dead form part of the same community. Repatriation of the dead is an attempt to dignify death and offer a decent send-off to the deceased, whose spirit must be placated lest they become vengeful. Burial location signifies an affirmation of belonging to the kin group. The grave site, and its accessibility, gives kin members the opportunity to perform the necessary rituals at any time.
The portrayal of older persons in grade 3 primary school children’s textbooks in Zimbabwe
(Taylor and Francis, 2022-07-19) Chipo Hungwe; Zvenyika Eckson Mugari; Elda Hungwe
This paper employs textual analysis to explain how older adults are depicted in children’s textbooks at primary school with specific focus on grade 3 level which is the beginning of Junior school at primary level. Because these textbooks are studied throughout the country, this discussion provides a picture of the national situation in so far as depiction of older people is concerned at junior stage in Zimbabwe. Contrary to the educational aims of the new school curriculum which seeks to inculcate values of respect, empathy and tolerance for diversity, older people are depicted as ‘needy’ and vulnerable, vestiges of the past living in rural areas. Older women fare worse than older men; they are almost invisible in children’s school textbooks due to ‘gendered ageism.’ The ageism in these books is reflective of the national discourse and overall paints a negative picture of older adults. This is not the way to prepare children and the nation for population aging.
Restoring women’s dignity through fistula repairs: exploring the challenges and coping strategies of Zimbabwean women
(2022) Lilivale Shumba; Julia Mutambara; Chipo Hungwe
OBJECTIVE. This study identifies and analyses the impact of fistula repair towards the restoration of women’s dignity and their coping strategies or methods of adjustment to society. The study is critical given the negative effects of fistula on the identities of women and their loved ones. MATERIALS AND METHODS. The study employed a qualitative case study which used purposive sampling to select participants for in-depth interviews with seven women (age range 17 to 42). Data were grouped into themes and analysed. Thematic analysis identified the main themes as; negative experience, stigma and positive coping strategies facilitating proper adjustment. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS. Social stigma continues even after surgery and is the major challenge that participants have to deal with daily affecting the level of integration into the community. It also threatened the extent to which fistula survivors can be perceived and perceive themselves as ‘dignified’. Participants faced mental health challenges like anger, sadness, depression, anxiety, stress and shame. However, participants acknowledged that through family support, empowerment programmes and community support, they were slowly getting back to their normal lives.
Representations of Ageing in Contemporary Zimbabwe: A Gerontological Reading of NoViolet Bulawayo’s (2013) We Need New Names
(Springer, 2023-04-10) Chipo Hungwe; Elda Hungwe; Zvenyika Eckson Mugari
This study sought to discover how women with disabilities (WWDs) fared at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic with regard to access to key social services. Fieldwork was conducted in April 2022 among 104 women in three low-income areas of Caledonia, Epworth, and Hatcliffe within Harare Metropolitan Province. The key social services studied are information, water, health, education, and protection from gender-based violence (GBV). The study utilises the structural violence and social suffering theoretical lenses to analyse the institutionalised marginalisation of women with disabilities in relation to access to basic social services during the COVID-19 era. Findings reveal that the pandemic amplified the marginalisation, inequities, exclusion, and challenges confronted by persons with disabilities (PWDs) in general and, specifically, gender and social class inequalities faced by poor women in the Zimbabwean society. The intersection of vulnerabilities arising from gender, social class, disabilities, and the pandemic itself created insurmountable challenges for WWDs. Resolving these challenges is important to creating an inclusive environment for WWDs to thrive. The government, local authorities, and NGOs need to mainstream disability issues in service provision regardless of whether or not there is a pandemic.