NORTON, Zimbabwe -- Zimbabwean music superstar Oliver Mtukudzi's lyrics
have delved into child abuse and homeless youngsters living on the streets.
Now he's been chosen to serve as a goodwill ambassador for the U.N.
children's agency.
Mtukudzi says he'll do all he can to protect the vulnerable and help promote
HIV prevention.
"My passion for music comes from children. I have always dealt with children
during my career," said Mtukudzi, who was chosen last month for the post.
Tuku, as Mtukudzi is known to fans worldwide, is Zimbabwe's first U.N.
ambassador. Other U.N. children's ambassadors include Susan Sarandon, Mia
Farrow, Danny Glover, Whoopi Goldberg, Harry Belafonte, Jackie Chan and
David Beckham.
"The honor is not for me alone but for the country," Mtukudzi, 59, told The
Associated Press at the arts center he built in the town of Norton, 25 miles
(40 kilometers) west of Harare.
Oliver Mtukudzi began performing in 1977 and has released more than 40
albums and compilations of his hits in local languages and English since
then. He has successfully toured Britain, Germany, other European nations,
Canada and the United States as well as topping the bill at concerts across
Africa.
His songs have been described by critics as a moral voice, tackling
everything from discrimination to alcohol abuse.
The song "Todii?" (What can we do?) refers in the local Shona language to
the problem of HIV-infected adults raping children in their care, and asks
the listener to imagine the pain if their own child was abused that way.
"Some songs are reminders of where we are going wrong. The purpose of a song
is to give life and hope to people," he said.
Apart from being a singer and songwriter, Mtukudzi writes and directs films.
One of his musical productions, "Was My Child," highlights the lives of
Zimbabwe's street children.
Studies show that Zimbabwe has a growing number of street children, the
result of years of political and economic turmoil, and they are often
exposed to sexual exploitation in exchange for food, money and clothing.
"It is every parent's responsibility to keep children out of the streets,"
Mtukudzi said.
His songs have criticized political violence in his homeland and one hit,
"Wasakara" (You are getting old), was seen as urging longtime authoritarian
ruler President Robert Mugabe, now 87, to retire.
In 2007, he opened an arts center in Norton, to help young people pursue
their dreams of becoming artists. Youngsters come to the center to try their
hand in sculpture, art and music.
The Zimbabwean superstar tragically lost one of his five children in a car
crash last year. Sam Mtukudzi, 21, was also a musician.
Tuku said parents often need to be encouraged to support the artistic
aspirations of their children.
"Parents have the wrong attitudes toward their children being artists ...
God gave these kids talent for a reason, to heal and give hope," he said.
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