CHIPAWO Children’s Theatre (Zimbabwe)

CHIPAWO Children’s Theater was co-founded by Dr. Robert McLaren, Stephen Chifunyise and Farai Gezi in 1989, in Harare Zimbabwe. CHIPAWO children represented different Zimbabwe ethnic groups and age groups, with children as young as 3 years being members. The idea was to promote creativity among young people, nurture the love of theater, dance, music and performance as well as to give children VOICE. Focus was on children from working class backgrounds and also from the rural areas. At the height of Zimbabwe’s economic crisis, CHIPAWO found itself in great hardship as a lot of international donors who had provided funding withdrew in an effort to punish Zimbabwe for President Mugabe’s policies.

On learning about the hardships facing CHIPAWO, UWAO decided to include the theater group among the charities it was fundraising for. A total of $350 was sent to CHIPAWO and was used for the following activities among others: sponsorship of economically deprived children; buying food for the children; buying props for theater productions and providing transportation for the children, etc. venues for performance. In sending this token donation to CHIPAWO, UWAO played a part in ensuring that ordinary children were given a chance to experience the creative and transformation benefits of theater. More importantly, UWAO joined other groups and individuals to provided solidarity when CHIPAWO needed it most in order for the children to continue have a platform through which they could impact the development of Zimbabwe by using their creativity to enact the challenging reality around their lives.