MANY single mothers are battling silently and succumbing to pressures that come with single parenting. Since it is sometimes tough for single mothers to fend for their children, many have resorted to unorthodox means to put food on the table.
Without a strong character, resources or any assistance from the child’s other parent and being ridiculed by the patriarchal society, it is highly likely for one to be depressed or experience mental challenges.
In her own unique story of motherhood and single parenting, one of the urban grooves’ pioneers Pauline Gundidza told NewsDay Weekender how she has managed to overcome her addiction to alcohol after becoming a single mother at a young age.
The former Mafriq member, Gundidza, had to turn to her friends and do projects that positively impacted the community such as repairing old infrastructure, cleaning campaigns and mentoring the young girls in schools about gender and art.
The experience made her realise that she had to also fight battles for other youths and people with different addictions.
Dealing with the pain that comes with divorce
In my case, I failed to deal with the pain that comes with divorce as well as the pressures of single motherhood at a very young age. I felt like the world was mocking me and I lost my self-esteem. Eventually, I took to the bottle for solace.
Initially I was fine, but I started to abuse alcohol even when I was not feeling down. I was addicted for a long time, and this affected my family and career. With the help of some good friends, I realised that I have a problem and I have been working hard to rehabilitate myself.
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Self-rehabilitation
During the period I was fighting against addiction to alcohol, I joined with other artistes and friends who had a similar challenge, although others were battling drug addiction.
I am currently putting together a substance abuse campaign. I started it in 2021 when I was in self rehabilitation after a hard time with alcohol abuse and depression.
I linked up with some artistes and friends who had similar issues and were also fighting addiction, marijuana, and crystal meth.
Practical steps to overcome drug addictions
Together with my colleagues, we embarked on practical steps to overcome our addictions to drugs and alcohol by opening a studio and doing voluntary community work. We started a studio using bits and pieces of studio equipment that we pooled from different sources.
We called it the Battle Studio because we believed that in order to overcome our addictions and change our circumstances, we had to win the battle of the mind.
So, we had strict rules whereby using substances in and outside the studio was prohibited and we also had weekly support group meetings where we met to share wisdom and information and give each other advice.
We also strove to be more in the studio as well as occupying ourselves by doing menial tasks in our community. In St Martin’s, we repaired old infrastructure and cleaned up the environment rather than to be on the streets.
Singing against drugs and substance abuse
Together with my colleagues, we are set to release It’s Never Too Late, a song that will be accompanied by a documentary which educates people about the effects of drugs and substance abuse.
It was difficult to maintain the project as we had limited resources. As we are committed to making music with a positive impact in society, we wrote It’s Never Too Late which speaks against substance abuse. We want to release the song with the visuals while being accompanied by a documentary. I got an opportunity to record the song at dancehall singer Shinsoman’s studio with different artistes such as Fuzzy L and Dhadza D who shared my vision.
The track is the theme song of a campaign titled It’s Never Too Late/Takabuka which will be launched soon after finishing the documentary and raising some funds for the campaign.
We will work with organisations such as Mandipa Hope Rehabilitation Centre and Trust Africa, among others, and engage relevant ministries in government to work with us.
After the release of the song, we will start campaigning in communities especially in schools, advocating youths to stay away from drugs and substance abuse and helping those who are addicted to start changing their lives.
Collaborations with Chipo Muchengwa
I am also working on a collaboration with Chipo Muchegwa titled Rudo Rwekare set to be released soon. The song was recorded at Afrotonic Sound.
Chipo is doing well and representing people with disabilities. We are doing a song with a unique love theme. The song compares yesteryear love relationships to nowadays love called “mjolo”. The song will be accompanied by visuals which will show the difference between the old school and the new.
The song is also a collaboration that is significant in the sense that women can uplift each other and work together. We are both goal-oriented women and it made it easy to click and work together.
Project helping to rectify some mistakes
This project (Its Never Too Late) has helped me immensely because when I started the research, I identified my own mistakes. The more I work on this project, the healthier my mind becomes because I am accessing important information which we want to share with others through this campaign.
In Zimbabwe, high unemployment rate has been noted as one of the major drivers of drug abuse as unoccupied youth end up being trapped in drugs.
I am happy that after President Emmerson Mnangagwa declared abuse of drugs as a state of emergency, the police have been incarcerating some of the drug lords around the country.
The need of spaces and practical steps to stem drug abuse
Instead of just campaigns against drugs, there is a need for authorities to create spaces and practical steps to stem drug abuse. I think the authorities can assist in the substance abuse situation by providing spaces that can be used as community centres.
The youth can spend quality time playing sports, reading, learning crafts or skills and receiving positive mentorship as opposed to spending time unoccupied while falling prey to harmful vices such as drugs and alcohol abuse.
I also think it would help if community health centres catered for mental health by providing access to counselling and mental health consultation.
Mentoring young talent in schools
I have also been involved in nurturing young talent in schools and mentoring young girls during my gender activism programmes. Among the schools I have worked with, include my former primary school, St Martin’s.
I have been mentoring and supporting up-and-coming artistes and working with certain school choirs and bands.
I have done collaborations with some of the up-and-coming artistes while others are under our mentorship at Afrotonic Sound, the studio we established in partnership with Fuzzy L.
I often perform at schools and many gifted children have approached me to assist them to realise their dreams of becoming artistes. Sometimes, I am approached by the schools themselves. In my gender activism programmes, I have also been given opportunities to mentor young girls.
Leaving Mafriq to go solo
It was not an easy journey after I left Mafriq to go solo. I took time to find myself after leaving Mafriq. I went to Music Crossroads Academy where I did my Certificate in Music and established a band called Vanhu before I began recording my solo tracks in various studios.
It took me a long time because I was working without management and resources were limited so, some of the solo works that I did in the past did not come out successfully.
Lack of respect for female artistes in the music industry
The challenges that I have faced and am still facing include the lack of respect we get from some of our male counterparts. When we are in a position of authority we are not respected and some of our counterparts try to take advantage of us.
And, because of the social nature of our work, we get a lot of judgment from communicating or interacting with male fans or visiting places that are male-dominated such as night clubs where we must go to seek decent work.
Advice to young talent that wants to pursue music as a profession
The advice I would give is to first get some knowledge of the business side of music and learn what it requires to be successful as an artiste and to know one’s rights in the music fraternity.
To young female artistes, I would advise self-control and professional conduct to ward off the sexual predators and exploiters in the industry.
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