Taboos that we all fear talking about publicly

There are many taboos that most Zimbabwean African people are not at liberty to mention publicly. Aids is one of them. When someone loses a relative to Aids, most people would rather simply say he was just "sick". And you know what they mean when they say one is sick. "Uyagula kumbe ulomkhuhlane" He is sick, or he has a disease. It all means that of is a victim of aids. Its easier and safer to use the substitute words that mention the real thing. We are all comfortable that way. Nobody is offended. Nobody is stigmatised.

Part of it is because we all assume that if one has aids or HIV, he or she is has been living recklessly in terms of sex and relationships. We are quick to conclude. Those who might be suffering from this killer disease do not usually come out in the open either. The hid until its too late in most cases. Its a vicious cycle. We are a society that is in denial. Aids is an extreme example, and part of the bigger problem is that we are not a culture that is open about sex. There is little or no sex education at all. For most children growing up, the word sex is picked up outside the home. Often abused by some neighbouring kids.

There is never a shortage of naughty teenagers, who brag about the number of boys, or girl they have had sex with. They are self proclaimed sexual heroes and councilors. Believe it or note, these are in some way better than guardians who do not mention a thing about sex to their kids. Schools pick up the subject later on around six or seventh grade. Whether you like it or not, that is how sex is introduced to a lot of children in the townships. Learning about sex from the wrong people usually gives a wrong perspective, and surely leads to disaster. I am not sex, or HIV, aids expert. Not even close.

Another subject that our people shy away from is domestic abuse. We know it happens to people close to us, yet we do not condemn it. Sometimes its orchestrated by people close to us and worse still we will never say a word against it. There are some men who are known for beating spouses or wives. To them its away of gaining and maintaining respect. In the process people have been bad hurt, or disabled not to mention that some have surely died. What we shy away from addressing publicly surely seem to destroy us in private. Just by inreasing awareness in our social groups and network, we could save a life or too from either HIV, AIDS or domestic abuse. We cannot always talk about these things from the nagative.


We can strive to provide solutions and counter measures while everything is looking normal. There is an English saying that says justice denied is justice delayed. many people are suffring in silence. Recenlty a learned proffesor was mudrdered by her husband in Canada in a cold blooded doemstic violence case. Who will be the next viticm of one of these after you have read this story?