I let off steam through blogging and .........

We are going into the third week of 2009 and yes in reality we are indeed in a new year but here in Zimbabwe we feel like time is moving us backwards in civilisation. While the rest of the world is moving ahead we are moving backwards. Running water and electricity remain scarce commodities in our towns, refuse collection services have since stopped, hospitals have closed, schools are still closed and those who have no source of getting US dollars or Rands have resorted to barter trade. Everywhere you look you see poverty, cholera sickness, malnourished children, AIDS full blown because of lack of a balanced diet and slim bodies in oversized clothes that used to be tight fitting. In such an environment life can be so intolerable that it can rob you off your peace of mind and your happiness but only if you let it.

I vowed to myself that I won't let the economic and political environment in this country affect me to the extend that it steals my peace of mind and happiness so against all odds I always seek to obtain from life whatever freedom from pain and suffering I can have. Of course I admit that the way to happiness is hard to travel when shadowed with the oppression of tyranny and when governed by undemocratic policies but I try to deal with that in the only way I know how and that is write down the whole truth and nothing but the whole truth,(so help me God)about how Mugabe and Tsvangirai are both holding the ordinary citizens of Zimbabwe at ransom in their pursuit for power. Yes blogging is my way of letting off steam and it helps me a lot because on my blog I have the freedom to say my piece of mind without fear of being abducted like what they did to Jestina Mukoko. I support the essential human right of free speech, a fundamental building block of free society, affirmed by the U.S. Bill of Rights in 1791 and by the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. I guess some Zimbabweans are right now saying, "Don't be so sure blogger, because this is Zimbabwe which no longer has any rule of law and it doesn't respect freedom of expression." I feel safe saying whatever I want because I happen to be supporteded by the Electronic Frontier Foundation(EFF) which is a leading civil liberties group defending rights in the digital world. EFF defends the Internet as a platform for free speech and believes that when you go online, you have a right to exercise your human right freedom of expression. EFF gives me a basic roadmap to the legal issues I may confront as a blogger, lets me know my rights as a blogger, and encourages me to blog freely with the knowledge that my legitimate speech is protected. Freedom of speech is the foundation of a functioning democracy which happens to be the political ideology I stand for and Internet bullies and undemocratic politicians shouldn't use their warped laws to stifle legitimate free expression. Let me take this opportunity to share with you readers the rights that I have as a blogger which EFF made me aware of, just in case you have no time to visit their website which is on address http://eff.org and read it from there. These are the blogger rights that I am talking about and bloggers out there your support of EFF in cash or kind will be greatly appreciated since EFF is a not for profit organisation that depends on your support to sustain it.

1. A blogger has the right to blog anonymously. EFF has fought for your right to speak anonymously on the Internet, establishing legal protections in several states and federal jurisdictions, and developing technologies to help you protect your identity. With your support, EFF can continue to defend this right, conducting impact litigation to establish strict standards to unmask an anonymous critic in more jurisdictions.

Blogging is my life, I start blogging as I eat my breakfast, this is the time I think about the topic to write on that particular day. If I don't write anything on a particular day it means that I would have skipped breakfast because of financial constraints and will be having one meal that day, namely supper. That is the reality of the life we ordinary Zimbabweans are leading here in Zimbabwe.

2. A blogger has the right to keep sources confidential. In Apple v. Does, EFF is fighting to establish the reporter's privilege for online journalists before the California courts. With your support, EFF can defend news bloggers from subpoenas seeking the identity of confidential sources in more jurisdictions.

Blogging is my life, I blog during breaktime at my workplace, instead of wasting my time joining in office gossip or woman's gossip because I want to be truly angelic.


3. A blogger has the right to make fair use of Intellectual Property. In OPG v. Diebold, Diebold, Inc., a manufacturer of electronic voting machines, had sent out copyright cease-and-desist letters to ISPs after internal documents indicating flaws in their systems were published on the Internet. EFF established the publication was a fair use. With your support, EFF can help fight to protect bloggers from frivolous or abusive threats and lawsuits.

Blogging is my life, I blog during lunchtime, since I can't afford to buy myself lunch in this hyper-inflationary and US dollarised Zimbabwean economy because my employer pays my salary in worthless Zimbabwean dollars.


4. A blogger has the right to allow reader's comments without fear. In Barrett v. Rosenthal, EFF is working to establish that Section 230, a strong federal immunity for online publishers, applies to bloggers. With your support, EFF can continue to protect bloggers from liability for comments left by third parties.

Blogging is my life, I even blog in the library, it is a passion that consumes most of my free time and makes me feel at peace afterwards when I have written it all on my blog. It feels like a heavy burden would have been lifted off my shoulders because I would have let out all the bottled up thoughts and feelings.

5. A blogger has the right to protect his/her server from Government seizure. In In re Subpoena to Rackspace. EFF successfully fought to unveil a secret government subpoena that had resulted in more than 20 Independent Media Center (Indymedia) news websites and other Internet services being taken offline. With your support, EFF can hold the government accountable for investigations that cut off protected speech.

Blogging is my life, and with my WiFi networked laptop I can blog anywhere anytime even if undemocratic politicians decide to seize my server or block me.


6. A blogger has the right to freely blog about elections. EFF has advocated for the sensible application of Federal Election Commission rules to blogs that comment on political campaigns. With your support, EFF can continue to protect political blogs from onerous campaign regulations.

Blogging is my life, it gives me a sense of freedom that I had never felt before and if I do it outdoors I feel one with nature and the universe and the resulting peace that engulfs me really overwhelms me sometimes.


7. A blogger has the right to blog about his/her workplace. EFF educates bloggers on their rights to blog about their workplace and offers developed technologies to help anonymous whistle bloggers. With your support, EFF can help shape the law to protect workplace bloggers from unfair retaliation.

Blogging is my life, I even blog about my workplace, like the time I wrote an article entitled, "Let the truth be told."

8. A blogger has the right to access as media. EFF educates bloggers on their right to access public information, attend public events with the same rights as mainstream media, and how to blog from public events. With your support, EFF can fight for bloggers rights to access as media.

Blogging is my life, every night, after my good night prayers before I sleep I blog about my pursuit for peace, love and happiness, amid adverse conditions in this country, Zimbabwe, where I live in.

9. A blogger must know his/her rights and be prepared to defend them. EFF has created the Legal Guide for Bloggers to give you a basic roadmap to the legal issues you may confront as a blogger and a guide on How to Blog Safely. With your support, EFF can expand and update these guides.


Blogging is not the only way I am using to retain my peace of mind and my happiness in this ruined Zimbabwe. I try to find joy in everything I do and when things get tough like they did recently when I ran short of food and didn't have any US dollars to buy the food with, I joke and pray about it and then ask for help from my friends and relatives. As I go through my everyday living I have learnt to concentrate my mind on the things that give me pleasure. I have noticed that it is the simple things in life that can provide me with happiness and make life in this hyper-inflationary economic environment and chaotic political environment in Zimbabwe tolerable. The pictures below show where I am harnessing my peace of mind and happiness from. Every picture tells a story of how peace of mind and happiness can be quite easy to achieve if you set your mind to it and learn to enjoy everything you do through out the day and learn to see and appreciate the beauty and goodness around you.



I enjoy watching romantic and comedy films and they have the ability to divert my mind away from the pathetic situation in the country I live in.







The education system here in Zimbabwe has gone down so much that it seems like it's non-existant and I can't just sit and watch, an important legacy, education, that I thought I would leave my children with not being fulfilled so I have resorted to teaching my own children everyday after work. If I don't, no one will, since I can't afford to take them to private colleges.



I have never been a woman who loves to do housework, have always been the odd woman out and over the years I have managed to keep my house spic and span clean and very smart and orderly through giving commands to the housemaid. Now that Gono's policies are making it impossible for me to pay a housemaid I have resorted to doing the work myself. Suprisingly enough I am enjoying every minute of it. If my mother was alive she would be so happy to see me enjoying doing housework and being good at it, because housework is something that always came between my mother and myself during my teenage years.



I always take myself out for a date, take time to get to know myself better each day.
I know that humans are such complex creatures whose mindset can change ever so often and so if I don't take time to meditate and ask myself questions each day and ponder about my love and what makes me happy I may never keep up with my changing mindsets, my changing feelings and my changing needs.


Amid the adverse economic and political conditions that are in Zimbabwe I can still afford to smile, write sense on my blog and have a good night's sleep and that is all thanks to God, my friends and relatives who provide me with food when I run short and my own will power that is determined to make me peaceful and happy in spite of everthing in this country going wrong.