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Mathew Masinge Cool Lifestyle Writer
All roads lead to Harare Girls’ High School today for the Christmas lighting show hosted by Chipawo to celebrate its 25th anniversary.

The show dubbed “The Street Lights of Christmas” will see more than 500 children from Chipawo centres taking part. According to the organisers, the colourful show will be celebrated on two separate occasions, with the first in the afternoon and the other at night. The centres include Bindura, Bulawayo, Chitungwiza, Domboshava, Harare, Kadoma, Marondera, Mutare, Mt Darwin, Norton and other children’s homes.

An official from Chipawo said this year’s Christmas show was made possible courtesy of the support the organisation got from the President’s Fund, Culture Fund and Hivos Mobility Fund.

“ For Chipawo the Christmas Show is a very important responsibility as it brings together the Chipawo family and friends in celebrating an early Christmas through dance, music and drama influenced by the African ideology. The total number of children scheduled to perform at this year’s show is above 500 drawn from all walks of life,” said the official.

Chipawo children interviewed by CLS revealed that they had already begun their joint rehearsals for “The Christmas Lights Show” at Chitsere Primary School, Mbare.

“We started the preparations weeks ago and this week we were doing joint rehearsals to come up with a solid single production that defines Chipawo,” said 13-year-old Tinotenda.

Chipawo has held annual Christmas shows since 1995 and each year had a different African perspective aimed at providing entertainment and an enjoyable Christmas experience for its family audience and, most importantly, presenting Christmas in an African and Zimbabwean context.

“This is the time of the year when Chipawo ensures that the Zimbabwean children do not accustom themselves to always looking up to foreign models and idioms but instead relate to international events like Christmas in their own languages and applying them to their lives”, said the Chipawo official.