Murals a game changer in Zimbabwe’s battle against COVID-19
Created to grab the attention of community members where they are located, the murals have become an innovative way of improving awareness.
A security wall at Masvingo Christian College (MCC) located in one of the most populous suburbs in Zimbabwe’s oldest city has become a centre of attraction.
Drivers, school children and residents in the Sisk area of Mucheke high density suburb regularly stop to marvel at a painting of two friends demonstrating some of the COVID-19 prevention protocols such as wearing of masks and social distancing.
The mural at MCC is one of many promoted by Youth Advocates Zimbabwe (YAZ), a youth-led organisation that works towards advancing sexual reproductive health rights of adolescents and youth people as well as amplifying their voices where it matters, in 12 districts across the country.
Created to grab the attention of community members where they are located, the murals have become an innovative way of improving awareness and creating dialogue around COVID-19 prevention and the ongoing vaccination programme.
The YAZ initiative, which is supported by UNICEF Zimbabwe through funding from USAID Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance COVID 19 Emergency (USAID BHA COVID 19) and European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Operations (ECHO) is visible in Manicaland, Bulawayo, Masvingo, Harare, Mashonaland East and Matabeleland South.
“It is important to continue reinforcing the message that COVID-19 is still with us despite the low infection rate,” said MCC deputy head Mrs Mangono as she marvelled the recently painted mural.
“I would like to thank UNICEF and its partners for this mural.
“I hope its positioning here will help learners at Masvingo Christian College tremendously so that we don’t have a recurrence of problems we experienced during lockdowns to control the spread of COVID-19.
“During lockdowns we had an upsurge in teenage pregnancies, abscondmennt and general delinquency, which is attributed to drug abuse that also became prevalent.”
She added: “I hope the mural is not only going help the learners, but the community at large as they would be seeing the messages as they pass by. This is a very busy road as you can see.”
The deputy school head revealed that during the COVID-19 lockdowns delinquency among learners got out of hand to an extent that some would scale over the security wall to buy drugs during school hours.
“As you can see we have had to fortify the security wall by putting a razor wire because some of the children would escape to buy drugs during lessons, which they brought into the school,” she said.
“We hoping that through messages from organisations such as YAZ we can counter the scourge while also addressing the issue of COVID-19 in the community.”
Terrence Makusha, the Masvingo district advocacy officer for YAZ, said MCC was chosen as the location for the mural in Masvingo because its learners stood out in the organisation’s youth leadership programmes and for its strategic location.
“We gave MCC the first preference when it came to the location of our murals because it is strategic position in terms of advocacy because according to the Ministry of Education it is one of the best schools in the province in terms of absorbing the information we share with young people and because this location is visible to many people,” Makusha said.
“During lockdowns we had an upsurge in teenage pregnancies, abscondmennt and general delinquency, which is attributed to drug abuse that also became prevalent.”
She added: “I hope the mural is not only going help the learners, but the community at large as they would be seeing the messages as they pass by. This is a very busy road as you can see.”
The deputy school head revealed that during the COVID-19 lockdowns delinquency among learners got out of hand to an extent that some would scale over the security wall to buy drugs during school hours.
“As you can see we have had to fortify the security wall by putting a razor wire because some of the children would escape to buy drugs during lessons, which they brought into the school,” she said.
“We hoping that through messages from organisations such as YAZ we can counter the scourge while also addressing the issue of COVID-19 in the community.”
Terrence Makusha, the Masvingo district advocacy officer for YAZ, said MCC was chosen as the location for the mural in Masvingo because its learners stood out in the organisation’s youth leadership programmes and for its strategic location.
“We gave MCC the first preference when it came to the location of our murals because it is strategic position in terms of advocacy because according to the Ministry of Education it is one of the best schools in the province in terms of absorbing the information we share with young people and because this location is visible to many people,” Makusha said.
“We are trying to send a message to the community at large that we can stop COVID-19 by observing the given protocols.”
CaliGraph is the agency behind the murals dotted across the country.
Its creative director Nyasha Tafadzwa Jeche described murals as the “most accessible media.”
“They are more accessible than music, newspapers and film,” Jeche said.
“We painted this mural to communicate certain messages about COVID-19, the need to keep preventing the spread of the disease and the continued need for vaccination.”
Tatenda Songore, the YAZ executive director, described the murals as a game changer in efforts to ensure that young people have access to messages about COVID-19 in an effort to promote behaviour change and create demand for the vaccination programme.
“As a youth-led organisation we have learnt that the murals are a game changer when it comes to key messaging,” Songore said.
“We are using the murals as an art to communicate messages about COVID-19 and mental health during the pandemic, among other issues. “They are a way of giving hope at times of local pandemics.
“We are very grateful for the support we are getting as Youth Advocates Zimbabwe from UNICEF Zimbabwe and other partners.”
Zimbabwe has used national lockdowns, vaccination campaigns and aggressive information dissemination to stop the spread of COVID-19 with support from partners such as UNICEF Zimbabwe.
The country has since relaxed most of the lockdown measures imposed two years ago largely due to the success of its COVID-19 vaccination programme and increased awareness about the disease.
As of June 28, 4.6 million Zimbabweans had received their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
