Our Culture Our Heritage: Elders Save the Children from Homosexuality

Charity Chiromo
Faculty of Education
Midlands State University
Zimbabwe
chiromoc@staff.msu.ac.zw

Abstract: This study was on causes of becoming homosexuals for most learners living in informal boarding facilities in Zimbabwe. Interpretivism was employed in this work as a research paradigm. A qualitative research approach was adopted. A phenomenology research design was used to explain how the respondents perceive the phenomena. The study took place in 3 purposively selected schools in Midlands Province. The participants were also purposively selected. The participants were 18 learners (9 girls and 9 boys), six from each school (3 boys, 3 girls), and 6 teachers (1 male, 1 female from each school). The researcher used structured in-depth interviews with open-ended questions to all participants to allow probing. Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were used on the learner participants in their natural settings that is their respective schools. The researcher used a thematic approach to analyze the data and the presentation was purely qualitative with phrases from respondents quoted verbatim. The study found that sharing of blankets because of poverty, lack of adult supervision in IBFs, lack of information about sex from elders, and lack of the topic about homosexuality in the curriculum were the contributing factors to homosexual tendencies to learners in (IBFs) in Zimbabwe. The researcher recommends that Guidance and Counselling sessions be taken seriously in schools and more so for learners who stay in IBFs who constitute a more vulnerable group. Curriculum planners should include the topic of homosexuality in line with the African culture in the curriculum.