Leading from Behind

Maia Chenaux-Repond

Description

Drawing on communications �rescued� from the shredders in the last days of Rhodesia, enlivened by photographs and memories � both her own and those of her colleagues � Maia Chenaux-Repond tells the story of her work as the Provincial Community Developpment Officer (Women) for Mashonaland and South in the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the 1970s. There are no records whatsoever in the National Archives of Zimbabwe about the Community Development Section (Women), even though it was active in all the provinces. In the absence of other documentary sources, and all other provincial officers long having emigrated or died, this account of her work fills a significant gap in the pre-independence history of Zimbabwe. he crucial focus of the Women�s Section on improving the lives and skills of women in the rural areas became progressively more difficult when the civil war intensified from the early 1970 as rural people � and the development workers themselves � were moved into �Protected Villages�, and as the Ministry became increasingly militarized.

Sujets

• Gender studies
• Social sciences
• Development studies

Informations

• Publié par: Weaver Press
• Date de parution: 19 juillet 2017
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9781779223197
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 50 Mo

Extrait

Leading from Behind
Women in Community Development
in Rhodesia, 1973–1979Leading from Behind
Women in Community Development
in Rhodesia, 1973–1979
T T T
Maia Chenaux-RepondPublished by Weaver Press, Box A 1922, Avondale, Harare.
<www.weaverpresszimbabwe.com>
© Maia Chenaux-Repond, 2017
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means
– electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise –
without the express written permission of the publisher.
ISBN: 978-1-77922-318-0 (paperback)78-1-77922-319-7 (ebook)
Typeset by TextPertise, Harare
Cover design by Eltrym Design, Harare,
from a painting by kind permission of Therese Garrood.
Printed and bound in Great Britain by Clays Ltd, St Ives plc.To my family
Rolf, Sue, Caroline and Yvonne
and to
all Women Advisers who worked in the Province of Mashonaland South
and the Development Workers who worked in the
Protected Villages and Consolidated Villages in Mashonaland East
during the 1970sContents
Preface ix
Acknowledgementsx
Forewordxiii
Abbreviations used xv
Map of Mashonaland South xvi
T T T
Prologue: 1972 1
1973 19197477
1975 1471976217
1977 309
Epilogue: 1978–79 423
T T T
Index 445
viiPreface
Some years ago, my daughters asked me to write about my work in
community development. That became my frst attempt at what is now this
book. It was not easy. My emotional memory recalls the joy of the early
days of my work in the rural areas, the intense pain of the war years – and
the diffculty of relating to family and friends during those years; but I
found that I could not remember all the facts. Yes, I should have written
them down during the 1980s, when my memories were still fresh. But
then I had other plans.
During the later years of my work, pain corroded the joy. I remember
the nightmares, the insomnia, and the unspeakable fatigue. I took sleeping
pills and, eventually, once I had left the ministry, I learned to sleep again
without them. But in the process, I successfully repressed the war memories
that had triggered those long, white nights.
This account is based on reports to my superiors that fell ‘off the back of
a truck’. They lingered in cardboard boxes for thirty years without my ever
looking at them. My set of the various reports is by no means complete,
so not all detail was available to me. In any case, they summations were dry
and concise, as befts internal reports in a government department. They
contain no rendering of the emotions involved, they give no favour, they
leave out the joy, and the weight of what I regarded as the most important
aspect of my role – supporting the Women Advisers and Development
Workers, both professionally and emotionally, as they continued with their
work under the increasing pressures of a civil war.
I have also drawn on annual reports of my feld staff, and on their
personal letters to me, though some written during the war years were
so personal that they asked me to destroy them after I had read them. I
invariably burned them. Lastly, I have drawn on the memories that those
mentioned in the Acknowledgements have shared with me.
There are no records whatsoever in the National Archives of Zimbabwe
about the Community Development Section (Women) of the Ministry
of Internal Affairs, even though it was active in all the provinces. I could
only write about the province I worked in. I intend to donate my own
records to the Archives so that other researchers may have access to them.
Maia Chenaux-Repond
June 2017
ixAcknowledgements
I would like to express my appreciation to:
My family – my husband Rolf, who gave me his support during these
eventful times, sometimes ‘against his better judgement’ and who ‘only
ever saw my back hunched over a laptop during the last fve years’; our
daughter Sue, who frst asked, ‘Mum, what did you actually do when we
were growing up?’, and thus prompted me to start the narrative; and our
daughters Caroline and Yvonne, who unfailingly encouraged me in my
writing.
Paddy Pacey, whose early constructive comments helped to shape the
text.
Chris Hales, who persuaded the History Society of Zimbabwe to invite
me to give a talk on this topic.
Professor emeritus Ray Roberts, who offered to read an early draft and
encouraged me to publish.
My brother, Jörg Furrer-Brunner, and my sister-in-law, Rosemarie
FurrerSchiess, who gave me generous fnancial assistance for this project.
Lazarus Takawira, who, after reading my Women of Courage – Eight
Life Stories, so open-heartedly donated one of his early sculptures to help
fnance the publication of this book.
The Embassy of Switzerland, for fnancial assistance that will make
it possible to place copies of the book in Zimbabwean libraries; and
Ambassador Ruth Huber for her personal interest.
Nick Baalbergen, who shared much information with me and dispelled
my confusion as regards the paramilitary structures of Internal Affairs.
Dudley Wall, for allowing me to use some photographs that had frst
appeared on his website, <http://www.freewebs.com/dudleywall>.
Paul Moorcraft and Peter McLaughlin for permission to reproduce
from their book Chimurenga! The War in Rhodesia, 1965–1980 their map
of infltration routes that appears on pages 156/7.
Kevin Philip of Parascope, who constructed the map of Mashonaland
South that appears on page xvii, compiled from a variety of sources.
Professor emeritus Michael Bourdillon, for taking the trouble to read
an early draft and to write the foreword.
Roger Stringer, who edited my manuscript with expertise and empathy,
designed and laid out the book, and compiled the index.
xLeading from Behind
My publisher, Irene Staunton, who gave helpful advice from the very
beginning.
Margaret Chitumba, Beth Chitekwe-Biti, Lucia Fallab-Graf, David
Ford, Thandiwe Henson, Elizabeth Makuzva, Grace Mangoma, Philippa
Maphosa, Lucy Mukombiwa, Patricia Ngwerume, Lillian Murwisi, Louisa
Nhavira and Kate Van der Linden, who shared their memories with me.
District Commissioners Charles Collett, John Saunders and Brian
Lucas, who supported my work during very diffcult times, Assistant
District Commissioner Andy Parkinson, who always had an encouraging
word for Development Workers and Women Advisers, and District Offcer
Debra Enslin, whose support I much appreciated in the feld and offce,
and some of whose texts I have incorporated in this book.
xiForeword
The publication of this book is a ftting and welcome tribute to the
women we meet in it. Maia Chenaux-Repond tells us of her encounters
with women in Mashonaland South province for six years just prior to
the independence of Zimbabwe. She describes her entry into development
work, and her initiatives over the years to fnd ways to improve the lives
of women, and to boost their morale in times of extreme hardship.
At the same time, she provides many insights into the operation of the
white government in rural administration, and of life in racially divided
Rhodesia. Maia explicitly states her own values that lay behind her work;
but she describes how events unfolded, allowing readers to make their own
judgements about policies and programmes.
This is an account of how theoretical ideas such as community
development and the advancement of women can work out on the ground, with
committed workers and inspiring and committed leadership. Aims had
constantly to be adapted to particular local situations, and especially to
disruptions due to the war. The book describes those things that went well
and those that did not go according to plan. The author’s own records
and memories are supported by reminiscences recorded many years later
of some of the women she had worked with, and of some of the children
who fed the country during the war.
We meet many and varied women. We learn something of the diffculties
they faced in a patriarchal rural society governed by white supremacists.
We see how many of the women overcame diffculties. Extracts from their
comments and reports bring vividly to life their hopes and frustrations,
and the help they received from the author’s many initiatives.
The style of memoir or diary helps to break down stereotypes. Apart
from the women appearing in the book, we meet caring and enterprising
men as well as patriarchal autocrats. Among the white government
employees and administrators we also fnd variety, ranging from those
who had deep knowledge of, and respect for, the culture of the people
they were serving, to those who had only ignorant prejudice; from those
who were deeply sympathetic to the roles of women in their communities,
to those who were chauvinists. The account often illustrates the diffculties
faced by those who genuinely cared for the people they were administering
in a situation fraught with racial tensions.
xiiiLeading from Behind
The narrative relating to the years of more intense warfare shows
courageous women continuing in their development wor