Zimbabwe's Story
GLENDA'S STORY I was born on November 1st, 1988. I completed my primary education at Chengu Primary School in Highfield, a high density suburb of Harare. I finished my O levels in 2004 at Highfield High school and have 8 grade 7 units and 6 ordinary levels.
At the moment I am a Metallurgical Assaying student at Harare Polytechnic. At the beginning of 2009 the Polytechnic raised its fees from a few Zimbabwean dollars to over $700 US! I had no control over this and certainly did not have the money to pay! I only have one year left of the course to do. Thankfully, God answered my prayers, when a contact of CR in England offered to pay my fees. I currently live in Greystone Park, Borrowdale with the Mutasa family. We are a happy family, but it hasnt always been easy for me.
When my mother fell pregnant with me, she was 22 and reading secretarial studies at Harare Polytechnic. Unfortunately, my father denied that I was his child. He left my mother to face the world of being a parent on her own after shattering her career and studies. So I grew up with my mother and her family grandparents, 7 uncles and an aunt! Mother managed to take good care of me since she was employed as a secretary at a clothing shop. Although mine is a fatherless background, mother always tried her best to cover that gap.
I know who my biological father is, but he never took part in my upbringing until 1997, after he had reconciled with mother and got me a birth certificate the previous year. In 1997 we started living together as a family and in February 1998, my brother was born. After 10 years of going through life with only my mother to look after me and being quite aware that I had a father somewhere who wanted nothing to do with me, it was very difficult for me to adjust to the change. Honestly, I have to confess that I failed to love or even like my father at first. Im ashamed to admit it, but its true.
After I had sat my grade seven exams, in the 2000, on the 25th of December while others were celebrating Christmas, my father passed away. He had suffered from chest problems for some time. To think that we were back to where we started from was difficult I was now fatherless once more! What made it unbearable for me was that mother had quit her job to become a housewife, and now she was stuck with 2 children, alone. I was starting secondary education; I needed school fees, new uniforms and on top of growing up I had to help look after my brother. Having lost his father at 2, he does not remember even his face. It was difficult for my mother to deal with the loss and look after us both. To add to the problems the house we lived in belonged to my fathers elder brother. Soon after my fathers death my cousins threw us out of the house. Then, my grandmother died in a car accident, in August, the same year. Losing two loved ones in a space of only 4 months was a big blow for all of us especially mother who desperately needed comforting and space to mourn.
Life got really hard in August 2003, when mother was taken seriously ill. She started simply with a cold, which then got serious and she took tuberculosis tests. I had to accompany her to Gweru, to get medical attention, where I left her and went back to school. After her tuberculosis test results tested positive, she was transferred to Driefountain Mission hospital for treatment.
When I saw my mum in December that year she had improved and I felt she was going to be back on her feet again. I agreed to come back to Harare with her, a decision that I regret up to now. In February of the year 2004, she became seriously ill again; the doctors said that her ulcers had burst. She could not take solid foods except for a little bit of porridge and fluids. This was not enough for someone who was on medical treatment, so the tablets she was taking ended up acting on her lungs, which led to her death in March 2004.
That day I had returned from school in a jovial mood, I had collected the English Language Ordinary Level results, which I wrote in November 2003. I had passed with a B and wanted to show my mum the results. When I found her I tried to talk to her but I got no response, she was no longer talking all I could hear was her faint breath. I assumed that she was asleep; resorting to let her rest I left the room. When I returned with the laundry about 5 minutes later, I found her struggling and gnashing her teeth, there was just the two of us in the room, and so I tried to help her straighten up. There in my arms, in front of my bare eyes, she gave her last breath and died. I went numb, lost my senses and just stared at her helplessly; I did not even shed a tear I just sat with her in my arms. I did not want to believe that she was really gone.
My mothers death was the most devastating experience, she left when I needed her most. It greatly affected my studies and I was drained emotionally. My uncle and his pregnant wife took us in, as our guardians. I was an orphan. This meant adjusting a new environment, coming to terms with the fact that mum was gone for good, keeping up with school and looking after my brother. Life seemed like one dreadful nightmare, sometimes I just wished the earth could open up and swallow me! Sometimes I thought I heard mums voice talking to me, it felt like she was still there. I thought that she has gone somewhere temporarily from were she will return. The reality was unbearable because I was so close to her. She was my mother, father, sister and friend and losing her felt like part of me had been ripped off and all that was left was emptiness.
My aunt delivered a baby boy a week after my mums funeral. After 5 months she also fell sick and was diagnosed with a kidney problem. She could not breast feed or do anything at all. I had to nurse her, take care of the baby and my brother, do all the household chores and go to school. This was in August and I was writing my finals in November, which left me with 2 months to finish the syllabus and exam preparations. Sadly, the baby died in the same month of August due to dehydration since he was not being breastfed. His mother had been taken to her maiden home for proper care and treatment so that lessened the load and pressure a little. I managed to get 6 ordinary levels although I know that I could have done much better had circumstances been conducive.
Miracles happens when you least expect it; I was introduced to a youth group called Tariro-Tabarana by my uncle, Nyasha. Uncle Nyasha had linked up with the Mutasa family for a number of years from St. Pauls Anglican Church in Highfield. He ended up working for them in the Honde Valley at their holiday lodges. When I joined the group, I did not know what it was all about; my reason for joining was to get away from home! Little did I know that this was going to be my breakthrough, and the dawn of a new era in my life. With time, I began to get myself acquainted, familiarizing myself with the aims and objectives of the youth group. I began to participate in the activities praise and worship, singing, attending meetings and team building. I want to confess that after mothers death I had lost my sense of belonging, but Tariro gave it back.
I was employed as a receptionist at a construction company. However my employment did not last long. The job was not paying. In fact it paid so little I was spending my wages on the bus travel to and from work! After a fruitless 3 months I quit and stayed at home again. My uncle somehow discovered that I was going out with a guy who had offered to send me for driving lessons. This probably gave him the wrong impression that, here was a rich man who could marry me and take the burden of looking after me from him and his wife. It pains me even up to now, to imagine myself as a wife and probably a mother. I was barely 18 years of age at the time; I was ill treated and ruthlessly put under pressure by all my uncles and their wives to get married, except for my uncle Nyasha. The impression I got was that my uncles and their wives wanted to push the financial burden of looking after me to someone else. I was on the verge of collapse, had it not been for my friend Monalisa who kept on strengthening me and giving me hope. Once again I was a burden to everyone I knew.
On December 26th 2006, I received a call from Mrs Mutasa, and she needed someone to help her at home. That very day I packed my bags and walked away from problems, harassments, sleepless nights and that stressful life which had become so unbearable. I stepped into a new life, new home, new environment and new family. Tambu Mutasa became like a new mother to me and Philip the father I never had.
With the help of the youth group I managed to enroll at the Polytechnic in January 2007. After years of emptiness, I now had a true family around me a mother who cares for me and takes time to teach me life values and brothers who are ready to give me honest advise and ideas whenever I need them. Love cannot be seen where it is invisible nor can it be felt where it does not exist. Ive seen and felt love. Ive learnt to forgive and to let go and let God and Ive learnt to appreciate life as a gift. Cast all your burdens upon the Lord, for he cares about you.
I thank God for the people in my life who listened and responded to Gods call. They allowed Him to use them to change my life for good especially the Tabarana leaders, Mr. and Mrs. Mutasa and Dr. B. Tumushime. For me to say a simple thank you would not be enough, but God knows the best way to reward them for the good work they have done and are still continuing to do, and he knows how grateful I am for pulling me out of the gutter.
E-mail
Phone No.
carlmelville@hotmail.com
nstebbing@mirfield.org.uk
07951491211