Published by the government of Zimbabwe
Collin Matiza
8 October 2008
Harare — THE Zimbabwe Olympic Committee are going places. Barely a few weeks after announcing that they will soon be establishing an Olympic Park as part of their expansion programme, ZOC yesterday revealed that they were in the process of setting up an Olympic Museum and Sports Library in Harare.
The country's first Olympic Museum and Sports Library will be located at the Zimbabwe Museum of Human Sciences at Rotten Row in Harare.
Robert Mutsauki, the ZOC chief executive, said they have already agreed to enter into a partnership with the Zimbabwe Museum of Human Sciences for the establishment of the Olympic Museum and Sports Library at their building "as part of the Olympic Values Programme".
It is envisaged that this project will not only promote legacy as a concept but will effectively create a platform for the systematic promotion and spreading of Olympism and Olympic Education in the country targeting people from all walks of life but with a special emphasis on the youth in the country's education system.
"ZOC and the Zimbabwe Museum of Human Sciences have agreed to establish a partnership to work together on this project given existing goal congruence, a clear strategic fit and mutual benefits that can be achieved through the cooperation.
"The partnership, which will soon be formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding or Cooperation Agreement, will pave the way for the establishment of a permanent Museum and Sports Library within the Zimbabwe Museum building in Harare," Mutsauki said.
The project will see the Olympic Museum and Sports Library operating side by side "as the two aspects will complement each other," Mutsauki said. The two parties jointly exhibited at the Harare Agricultural Show where members of Team Zimbabwe 2008, who had just returned from the Olympic Games in Beijing, China, visited the stand and met members of the public.
The team, which was led by the country's swimming icon Kirsty Coventry, also signed autographs and gave away various prizes that included balls and autographed action photos of Coventry while she was competing at the Beijing Games.
Mutsauki said they were now planning to have annual joint exhibitions with the Zimbabwe Museum covering the Trade Fair in Bulawayo and the Harare Agricultural Show.
They will also be alternating between other centres such as Gweru, Mutare, Masvingo and Chinhoyi.
"That's the concept of our outreach programme which also includes mobile exhibition because we realised that not every Zimbabwean can visit the Olympic Museum in Harare.
"So, we are taking this museum to the people hence these annual exhibitions at various centres around the country. We also want to reach (ordinary) Zimbabweans in rural areas and we will be looking at ways and means of exhibiting at some major events which are organised or hosted at rural centres such as Growth Points or schools," Mutsauki said.
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