PROGRESS REVIEW
It is now 3 weeks since the launch of MAGGEMM on the internet and the response has been phenomenal to say the least. We have had numerous encouraging emails and telephone calls from people all over the world. One email said; "big congratulations for the launch of your website which I describe as a score for democracy and human rights in Zimbabwe. I was in form 1 when this sad episode was visited upon innocent civilians and in 1989, I was at Mkoba teachers college with a lot of people who were directly affected by the massacres. They did not share their experiences with us from Mashonaland because they were traumatised."
Our message of action, truth, justice and healing has found welcome resonance among Zimbabweans at a time when the country is once again in the grip of state sponsored terror reminiscent of Gukurahundi in the 1980s. Our assertion that the current crisis in Zimbabwe has its roots in the unacknowledged past that is Gukurahundi is now tragically proving to be true, with even the Zimbabwean commentariat drawing sharp parallels between Gukurahundi and what is happening in Zimbabwe today.
More and more people have sent us messages saying they now feel more emboldened to speak out against the human rights abuses in Zimbabwe. People who would otherwise have been silent have now pledged to support our quest for truth and justice on behalf of the victims of Gukurahundi. At the moment, it is impossible to conduct commemorative events inside Zimbabwe. The idea of a memorial message board on our website has been welcomed by most people as a necessary step towards dignifying those who died or disappeared. We hope that one day we will be able to hold open and public commemorations in Zimbabwe.
We have also received many pledges of help with our programmes and we are glad to have now appointed a trained photographer/videographer to capture every moment of our campaigns. We still need all the help we can get, particularly with legal issues, so please do get in touch if you can assist us.
Perhaps our biggest achievement so far, we have been able to muster all our organisational capabilities to broker a treatment agreement with a London psychotherapist on behalf of a victim. We intend to do all we can to help those who are still living with the trauma of Gukurahundi.
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There is still a long way to go though; this is only the beginning of our journey towards truth and justice. However, with the help and support of each and every one of you, we know that truth and justice is possible. It would be dishonest of us not to say that we have had the odd message of disapproval of what we are doing. In response to all those who say Gukurahundi is a bygone and was settled in 1987, we can only quote French essayist and moralist Joseph Joubert (1754 - 1824) who said "it is better to debate a question without settling it than to settle a question without debating it."
Thank You
MAGGEMM
