https://cris.library.msu.ac.zw//handle/11408/55 Mon, 06 Apr 2026 07:16:47 GMT 2026-04-06T07:16:47Z https://cris.library.msu.ac.zw//handle/11408/6875 Title: On pfukwa/mhvuko and the Ndau Christian Dilemma: A Case of the United Church of Christ in Zimbabwe (UCCZ) Authors: Sipeyiye, Macloud Abstract: he article engages with the notion of pfukwa/mhvuko (avenging spirits) among the Ndau Christians using the case study of the United Church of Christ in Zimbabwe (UCCZ). The study was motivated by a recurring question among some members of UCCZ on the phenomenon of the avenging spirits and the plight of the Ndau Christians. The article argues that the Ndau Christian converts are not immune to the effects of the avenging spirits in the metaphysical spaces of the Ndau because of the elaborate notion of collective existence (unthu/ubuntu) that defines the Ndau identity. The article unpacks the notion of pfukwa/mhvuko and its embeddedness in the whole matrix of Ndauness that does not spare the converted Ndau. The article is both a theoretical and empirical qualitative phenomenological enquiry that employs the netnographic research design. It uses the UCCZ WhatsApp social media microblogging site Eya Eya Haiwa Haiwa, to gather data through seminar (group) presentations and discussions. The article utilizes discourse analysis to filter data. It also engages with available relevant literature on the subject. The article uses two theoretical frameworks of unthu/ubuntu, and Goffman’s back and front stage theory to traverse the pfukwa/mhvuko phenomenon among the Ndau. The findings are that the Ndau notion of pfukwa/mhvuko is an existential metaphysical reality among both the Ndau practitioners of indigenous spirituality and Ndau Christians. The study recommends an authentic dialogue between the two spiritualties to build a contextually relevant Christian doctrine of pfukwa/mhvuko. It also raises the challenges that may stifle progress on the recommended trajectory. Mon, 01 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT https://cris.library.msu.ac.zw//handle/11408/6875 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z Sipeyiye, Macloud https://cris.library.msu.ac.zw//handle/11408/6718 Title: The Potential of the Negative: A gender critique of men and HIV and AIDS in Johanne Masowe weChishanu among the Shona of Zimbabwe Authors: Sipeyiye, Macloud; Chirongoma Sophia Abstract: This article makes a gender critical analysis of the Johanne Masowe weChishanu (JMwC) beliefs and practices in the context of HIV and AIDS in Zimbabwe. In current times in sub Saharan Africa, poverty is both a direct and an indirect effect of HIV that feeds on skewed gender relations. Efforts at forestalling the HIV and AIDS pandemic have often concentrated on empowering women through giving them a voice in negotiating for safer sex with their male counterparts. The approach has not lived up to expectation because it focuses on the powerless partner in sexual interactions to lead prevention initiatives against the transmission of HIV and AIDS. Men have resisted such women led initiatives feeling that their authority is threatened. There is a paradigm shift where focus is now on men in African indigenous religions or men in general. However, focus on the potential of men in African Independent Churches (AICs) in dealing with HIV and AIDS has been limited. Focus has been on men in traditional religions or men in general. Can men in AICs transform or revalue their cultural, moral, and spiritual obligation of dealing with threats to health and well-being in the current crisis of HIV & AIDS? This is a critical question since managing HIV and AIDS through transforming gender relations goes a long way in fighting poverty. This article argues that beliefs held about real manhood among JMwC are vital sites for the much-needed revaluing of religious traditions in combating HIV and AIDS that has critical effect on managing poverty levels in households. Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://cris.library.msu.ac.zw//handle/11408/6718 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z Sipeyiye, Macloud Chirongoma Sophia https://cris.library.msu.ac.zw//handle/11408/6652 Title: The impact of the COVID-19 aftermath on the sustainability of Women’s Informal Business Enterprises in Zimbabwe: The Need for Faith Based Interventions Authors: Hlatywayo, Anniegrace Mapangisana Abstract: Using a qualitative phenomenological research design and a sample of 15 women informal workers, this study sought to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the sustainability of women’s informal business enterprises in Zimbabwe. Underpinned by the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (SLF), the research is based on the premise that the devastating COVID-19 pandemic resulted in loss of livelihoods, particularly for women in the informal sector. This was borne from the failure to recover from economic shocks triggered by the pandemic’s containment measures as well as its spill-over effects. Women, who bear a larger percentage of informal workers, as well as bearing a disproportionate burden of poverty, were directly affected by the domestic economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a bid to redress the economic impact of COVID-19 on women in the informal sector, this research posits that informal workers constitute the religious or class minorities supported by Faith based organisations (FBOs). FBOs are embedded in local communities and are renowned for being among the first respondents to disaster. In response to the Sustainable development Goals’ ‘No poverty (SDG1)’, ‘Zero hunger’ (SDG 2), , ‘Gender equality (SDG5)’ and ‘Reduced inequalities (SDG10)’ as well as the pledge that “no one will be left behind”, this research sought to appraise the response of FBOs to the COVID-19 induced plight of informal women traders in Zimbabwe. Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://cris.library.msu.ac.zw//handle/11408/6652 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z Hlatywayo, Anniegrace Mapangisana https://cris.library.msu.ac.zw//handle/11408/6375 Title: The agency of the elderly women in indigenous responses to COVID-19-related mental health challenges among the Ndau of south-eastern Zimbabwe Authors: Sipeyiye, Macloud Abstract: Pandemic-related stressors are many and they are known to cause mental health challenges to people. Research has shown that women are disproportionately affected by the effects of pandemics on mental health than their male counterparts (Manyonganise, 2022). It has also shown that the elderly people are at risk of the pandemic-related mental health challenges because of their advanced age that undermines their resilience. There is not much literature on how the elderly women in some cultural contexts form a formidable resource in mobilizing emotional and practical resilience in times of pandemics. The available literature has not emphasized the fact that every society has its own conceptualization of pandemics and unique strategies of mobilizing resilience. This study, therefore, explores the agency of the elderly women in indigenous response initiatives to COVID-19-related impacts on mental health using the case of the Ndau people of south-eastern Zimbabwe. The study argues that ‘elderly people’ are not a homogeneous group. They are found in diverse cultural contexts that have a bearing on their response to pandemics. Therefore, there is need for sensitivity to religio-cultural contexts when dealing with the impacts of pandemics on communities’ mental health. The conceptualization, and strategies employed to mitigate the effects of pandemics on mental health are context specific. The African ecofeminist theory informs this empirical qualitative phenomenological study that takes an ethnographic research design. Indepth interviews were used to gather data. The Ndau people were chosen on the bases of the researcher’s cultural familiarity and, the non-homogenous character of the religiocultures of African communities. The study makes a unique contribution to scholarship as it seeks to emphasize on the agency of the elderly women in building local communities’ resilience to pandemic-related mental health challenges, with less emphasis on the common narrative of their victimhood. Mon, 01 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT https://cris.library.msu.ac.zw//handle/11408/6375 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z Sipeyiye, Macloud