Creators of Peace Circles in Zimbabwe

The first Creators of Peace Circle held in Zimbabwe, facilitated by Angie Katito and Adelaide Mhunduru, took place over a period of three days in February 2015 in a high density suburb of Mkoba in Gweru, the third largest city in Zimbabwe.

At the beginning of the Circle, the 12 ladies were a bit on the shy side, not sure what a Creators of Peace Circle was all about, but as the programme took shape the ladies started to open up to each other despite the economic, social and political struggles that our country is in.

In the group there was a widow who had had problems with her in-laws for over 12 years and had completely cut ties with them. They had not been able to see her children or help in any way in their upkeep. She was very bitter towards them because they had refused to give her her husband’s death certificate which would have helped in claiming school fees for her children. The Peace Circle helped her to reconcile with her in- laws and she took a step to phone them and ask for their forgiveness for her silence. She had influenced her children to go against their relatives, now she had the courage to apologize to her children and open up communication between them and their father’s people.

Many of the women were carrying deep bitterness. The Circle experience opened the way to reconciliation – especially with relatives. Forgiveness and honesty have been keys to peace in the home.

At the beginning of the Peace Circle, one woman had SHARED that what was hindering her peace was that a relative of her husband had sent two little girls to live with her. She was not prepared to take on these children since she was struggling to look after her own four. After the Circle, she felt that she should help these children who had been abandoned by their mother. She went and apologized to the little girls and her husband and promised to look after them. Due to the harsh economic climate in Zimbabwe, she had always lied to her husband on FINANCIAL issues but the Circle helped her to be absolutely honest and she went to apologize to her husband. This was a turning point for her.

Four ladies in the group had FINANCIAL issues with a pastor’s wife who was failing to pay back monies borrowed from them. After the Peace Circle the ladies agreed to forgive her and to try and help her make a positive move to repay. The ladies were no longer bitter but promised to resolve the issue amicably together with her.

The second Creators of Peace Circle in March, was initiated by two ladies who had participated in previous Peace Circles. It was held in one of the poorest high density suburbs of Gweru. The two ladies who organized it for us also participated in the hope of becoming facilitators themselves. This was exciting for us as we definitely need more facilitators to be able to respond to the many invitations to hold Peace Circles even out in the rural areas surrounding Gweru. Our first day was a real eye opener as we ran out of food because our participants were so hungry they ate the little we had brought in no time at all. The second day we were more prepared for them.

As we went through the Peace Circle, we realized that these ladies were living under very harsh conditions and we needed to empower them to be able to do something to help their husbands bring food on the table in their households. When we started our first gathering point on 'What is peace?' one woman was almost in tears as she looked at us and commented, ‘How can I have peace when my children are sitting at home unable to go to school because we cannot pay the fees’.

Her husband is unemployed and they have no source of income whatsoever. She was showing signs of stress from her situation. After the Peace Circle we promised TO RAISE MONEY for her to start a second hand goods business. She would partner with another participant who has the same problem, with two children who cannot get their national exam results because of outstanding fees. We promised to raise the $200 startup capital needed.

Deep transformation happened for many through the Peace Circle leading to reconciliation with family members. It seemed clear that healing relationships could clear the way for the women to work more closely with their husbands in addressing their economic needs. A few began to think of small scale income earning projects they could start together.

One woman, married with three children, works very hard to fend for her family. Her husband, as is the case with most men in Zimbabwe is out of a job. She is left with the burden of looking after the family single handedly. Despite all the hard work she gets a very raw deal from her mother- in- law. The husband does not support her in this issue. She was in tears as she recounted the many cases of abuse and explained how bitter she had become. After the inner listening, she shared, in tears, how she felt convicted that she should put things right and forgive her mother- in- law and love her despite all the pain.

Another participant spoke only on the last day of the Peace Circle and SHARED in tears, how she had been very bitter against her husband who was out of a job and failing to look after the family. She used to call him names and tell him how useless he was, but after going through the Circle she apologized to him and offered to do something to help him take care of the home.

This Peace Circle proved very informative for us and gave us an idea of how people live on the other side of the town. We are very grateful for the FUNDS that were given that allowed us to run these programmes. We urgently need the funding to keep going with the invitations that are now coming. The funds go towards the transport costs of the participants as well as food and other overheads. The facilitators volunteer their time.