Growing up in the 90s in Zimbabwe children had to find alternative means of entertainment. Today the youth have so much at their disposal: unlimited TV programming, internet, toys, and Play Station. Unfortunately with so many choices of entertainment at their disposal, today’s youth are not required to be creative and resourceful and tend to develop antisocial behavior induced by extended periods of isolation. In our time, one had to improvise toys, using bricks as cars and making wire cars.
Most games were very interactive and always depended on having a group of more than 5 people hence were good for building social skills and encouraging interaction. We managed to keep ourselves very entertained. And it was good unadulterated entertainment with no age restrictions and parental guidance disclaimers. Most people of this era would agree with me when I say we had it good while growing up and the current youth will not experience the same fun we did growing up. Most of these games were ball games made by skilled craftsmen who were known to make these balls from wrapped plastics (we were going green way before it became a fad!). The main plastic being a 5kg of Red Seal Roller Meal or Ngwerewere, then sometimes it would have a net of plastics to make it really compact and bouncy. These days, some of the games may be known by different names and there may be variations to the rules of playing them.
Below is a list of some popular games from that era.
Raka Raka
Hwishu (Ghetto Cricket)
Country Game
Hwai hwai / (Red Rover)
Dhudhudza
Nhodo
Fish Fish
One Touch
Other games which were also played included; Tsoro, Matsva, Chisveru, Deya, Chihwande hwande, Chabuta, Stechu, Hondo yema Kinha, Tauya Kunoona Mary, Flag
There are countless other games that kept us entertained and out of trouble though some actually got us into more trouble than we bargained for.
