Small improvement in my life

I feel I analyse situations too much. I feel have all solutions to theoretical non-existent problems.  I end up building humongous mountains a thousand times higher than Everest out of a mole hill. I think, I am sure I suffer from paralysis by analysis…too much 🤔 thinking, too much planning and yet zero action. I need to improve.

What’s one small improvement you can make in your life?

On the planning and thinking arena, I could be having seven degrees and multiple PhDs but in reality on the ground….zero. Nothing to show for those many pensive 😔🤔 hours. Nothing to show for the hours gazing at the ceiling and many evenings gazing at the stars. I need to improve on action implementation.

For years I have been trying to write a book…”Transfrontier kid,”…the courage to put pen to paper 📜 is not there. It all fizzles at the back of the brain. For many years I have been thinking of taking an Environmental management and Conservation course with the Catholic university in Harare, that too fizzles into thin air. The will to implement is eluding me. Procrastination reigns supreme. I need to improve on action taking.

I have a beautiful retirement cottage in my mind. A comfortable cottage for Margaret and I….the initial step, the crucial baby step to that dream is proving elusive too. It all fizzles into thin air, remaining a painful mirage, an illusion to say the least.

I need to improve on taking prompt action…pronto! 😕😔

Freedom

“Freedom is coming tomorrow! Get ready…” That’s the sound Leleti Khumalo was belting out in the epic movie Sarafina. When I close my eyes I see her youthful radiant and vibrant, vividly in the middle of a ring of youths, all optimistic and looking forward to freedom…uhuru. Yes freedom, physically and verbally but economically uuummm it’s a long walk to economic freedom, maybe never to reach economic uhuru.

What does freedom mean to you?

Reading the paperback Long walk to freedom by Nelson Mandela, one really feels and fathoms the difficulty and the amount of sacrifice to physical and verbal freedom but even him our guru Nelson Mandela could explicitly describe economic freedom. Economic freedom has been elusive to many in history and will continue to be elusive in future for many many generations to come. Yet economic freedom in the juicy and most essential part of freedom and independence. I can safely say freedom is just a myth, a utopia that we spend all our lives optimistic and looking forward to but can never fully attain.

In Africa, the quest for freedom has resulted in wars for freedom and subsequent bloodier and more vicious coups and ugly civil wars, all in the name of freedom. The more the wars and coups stretch, more sufferings and anguish …alas the further the people drift from real freedom.

Freedom of worship, freedom of expression, freedom from hunger, freedom from persecution and many other forms of freedom including economic freedom remain elusive, scarce and painfully out of reach for the ordinary folk.

Yes freedom is coming tomorrow, but which freedom? We all have our perceptions of freedom. Martin Luther King Jr had a dream…the question is when is his dream going to be a full reality decades down the line. Karl Marx had his vision of freedom…George Washington had his vision…Robert Mugabe had his….Kwame Nkuruma had a vision of total African Unity and so did Maumar Gadafi. The East has its own version of Freedom and the west its own version…Capitalism versus Communism…socialism, scientific socialism…all coming tomorrow.

It is all coming tomorrow…and a very very long walk to tomorrow. Tomorrow may never come… tomorrow is always there in the horizon, millimeters out of reach. Freedom has tantalized humanity all through history and will continue to tantalize generation and generations in future. It’s all an illusion, a mirage but necessary mirage. It is worth living and working hard for…

Freedom is coming tomorrow!

I don’t agree with….

I love President Barack Hussein Obama, infact I do not just like him, I adore his intelligence, I adore his wit, I love the way he speaks and most of his policies were near perfect but I don’t agree with his policy on gay rights and LGBTQ policy. I do not believe a human being can be born in the wrong body, I do not believe and I do not like transgender issues and same sex marriage. Marriage is only between man and woman period! God created two genders only, male and female. Donald Trump is 💯 correct.

What public figure do you disagree with the most?

In the same vein, I like President Joe Biden but I disagree with him on the LGBTQ policies. On that issue I do not agree with him at all. Again I think Trump is 💯 correct. I do not agree with abortion as well, I think it’s murder. Yes, abortion is necessary in extreme circumstances but generally it’s murder. Let the foetus live, life begins at conception.

We all have a right to our opinions and beliefs. Africa has a right to its own opinions and beliefs. For President Joe Biden to impose sanctions on Uganda and other African countries who oppose and ban LGBTQ and gay rights…. imposing sanctions and denying aid to countries who oppose same sex marriage is wrong, very wrong. I strongly disagree with President Joe Biden on that sensitive issue.

Let South Africa agree to LGBTQ, gay rights and same sex marriage…let Durban, Johannesburg, Pretoria and Cape Town go pink, it is their right. They like it, fine but do not paint the whole Africa pink. Do not impose pink on Kampala, Harare and the rest of Africa. As Africans, thorough bred Bantu, we say no! Yoweri Museveni,the late Robert Mugabe and I, plus the rest of Africa, we say no! Please accept our opinions and respect our constitutions.

That’s the part I disagree with President Joe Biden and former President Barack Hussein Obama. Otherwise Barack is my idol and role model, was it not for the LGBTQ and abortion issues only.

Live performance

In the recent years my taste for live music shows has faded exponentially. The death of Whitney Houston and recently Tina Turner left a sour taste in my live music taste buds. The two ladies, though of a different genre of music were my favourite icons on the music stage on Television.

What was the last live performance you saw?

Locally I have lost the taste for live music shows too. The last live music show I attended was that of Oliver Mutukudzi at the Chimanimani Arts festival in 1999. That was an awesome show to say the least. Oliver belted out his latest album then, with the songs Dande and Todini topping the charts. Chimanimani was a sea of revellers ever Easter weekend with tourists and European backpackers flooding the Eastern highlands town of Manicaland Zimbabwe. Heaven lodge, Frog and fern, private households all filled with young tourists and backpackers. Chimanimani was a mini Copenhagen every Easter back then. Friday night, Saturday night, Sunday night it was live music every second. That was fun.

Nowadays I have not attended any live show. I might brave to attend a music show from Gemma Griffiths. The beautiful white lady sings beautiful Shona lyrics. I love her music and I will make a date with her live gigs one day. The rest I will contend with TV, radio and phone. Besides most music these days are either copy rights of heavily synthesized from the computer. We might as well let Artificial intelligence AI take over the music industry.

Idawekwako old people’s home

Moving to Marondera Zimbabwe has immersed me into a very rich gene pool. The Rotary Club of Marondera has very dedicated and highly energetic membership who  are geared to to be involved in the community and to serve the community in earnest. Among the highly essential and absolutely important community projects is the sprucing up and caring of our senior citizens in an old people’s home in a suburb of Marondera Dombotombo called Idawekwako. Idawekwako in Shona literally means love your own.

What do you do to be involved in the community?

With the current challenging economic environment and cash crunch, our Senior citizens and pensioners are highly affected. Pensions have dried up and many senior citizens find themselves with no one to take care of them. Some find themselves dropped in old people’s homes. The old people’s homes run on critically tight budgets and without community assistance, many are on the verge of collapse. Idawekwako has a large number of inhabitants needing care, with one or two estimated to be above 100 years old, they need critical care.

The community does donate clothing. There is evidence of a large store of clothing at Idawekwako but what is crucial at the moment is food, toiletries and amenities. The Rotary Club of Marondera is intervening with repainting the institution and plans to start a much needed orchard among other wonderful projects to improve the life of our Senior citizens. I am happy overdose to be  among the Rotarians who are doing a great service to our Marondera community.

Zimbabwe has many old people’s homes dotted all over our beautiful country. Zororai Old people’s home in Sakubva Mutare and Chinotimba old people’s home in Victoria Falls come to mind. There is an old people’s home near you, please make an effort to visit the old folks with food, cash, toiletries ,medicine and other life giving items. Any gift no matter how small, makes a great difference.

There is nothing better and more fulfilling than serving the community. Giving back to our senior citizens is a virtue, these Honourable Ladies and gentlemen served to build our country to where it is today. They fought hard, sacrificed to care for us, therefore it is our obligation to care for them in return.

Please contact a Rotary Club near you and donate to our old people’s homes. With Rotarians you are assured that every item reaches its intended recipient home. I belong to the Rotary Club of Marondera, I belong to the world of Rotarians and through Rotary International I offer my service above self, I offer my services to the community world 🌍 over.

A job I would like to do for one day

When my wife was pregnant with our first child, the nurses would always tell me that I had to be there when she goes into labour. I would promise that I would be there. Then came the day, I developed cold feet and found a way to escape. I could not be brave enough to witness the process.

What’s a job you would like to do for just one day?

Fast forward many years later, I would probably be brave enough….too late she has now past child bearing age. Given the chance I would want to be a nurse in the labour ward for one day, just one day.

I cherish nurses and doctors for saving lives and helping to bring new lives to the world. Blessed are the Midwives for they are the custodians of new lives. They are the angels new babies see and cuddle to. In their safe hands we are all born into…yes they give us slaps to make us cry…the slap of life. A slap that makes us gulp our first whiff of air…our first sniff of oxygen.

I would love to be a midwife for a day. God bless all Midwives.

Vote

I don’t believe the vote is worth anything and I have a firm belief that a vote changes nothing….a vote is just a vehicle for politicians to be extra influential, extra secure and extra comfortable but nothing else to expect from them. Most politicians think only for themselves and their families, their business ventures and boosting their connectivity. I have been voting since 1985, I have not seen any great use for my vote. I have decided never to vote again in my life.

Do you vote in political elections?

The Jehovah’s witnesses do not vote not salute any flag. I think they are correct 💯. All political systems are quasi devilish and hail from Satan. The way politicians do anything to acquire a vote. The dark secrets of political parties, the dark covenants they have, the ruthlessness they deal with opponents and the war mongering in the dark circles and political lines make me want to keep my vote. I will never vote again in my life.

Looking at the world politics, both East and West…it is all the same. No election is transparent, credible and fair. Either side professes to be just, fair and credible but none is better than the other. Politicians are politicians, they are all the same, different sides of the same coin. They all promise a great future, they promise paradise, yet deliver hell…they promise a bed of roses yet deliver a blue hot furnace…they promise sweet fresh water yet deliver salty brine…they promise sunshine, yet deliver pitch darkness. I will never vote again in my life…never!

I accept who ever is ruling and work to improve my family, community and country. Whoever God ordains to be the ruler, who ever God has installed and anointed, he is my leader, God has voted for me. God is my proxy.

As a man thinketh….

As soon as one is awake, thinking kicks in. Wether you are lying down, sitting, standing, walking, running, driving, working, resting, dancing, playing…thinking continues unabated. We are what we think….as a man thinketh, so is he a quote, a book by James Allen.

Do you have a quote you live your life by or think of often?

Whenever I think deeply, feeling troubled, I just hear a voice saying “As a man thinketh….” Whenever I think bad thoughts about someone, the same voice brings me back to reality. Good thoughts I cherish…and the little voice grows louder…”as a man thinketh, so is he.”

There are many more quotes I think of and live by….I have a dream from Martin Luther King…..the Jabez prayer in the Bible Chronicles….the Lord is my shepherd, Psalms 23 and many more.

There is one quote that got me going when things got tough…”The impossible we can do today and miracles take a little longer.” -anon. That quote has enabled me to to what I deemed impossible. I love quotes and I live by many more.

As I think…so am I.

Favourite holiday

Growing up and being a Christian, my favourite holiday is Christmas day. New year’s day comes in close, so it becomes a festive season. We were conditioned from infancy to love Christmas day. We would receive new clothes for Christmas and the day was characterized by plenty food, music and visits to relatives or relatives visiting us. It was the time we visited relatives in towns and cities or vice versa. Christmas was a time to remember.

What is your favorite holiday? Why is it your favorite?

As we grew up going to school, Christmas was a time for beautiful carols and happy tidings. At work year-end was a time for bonuses, what they termed the 13th cheque which was synonymous with Christmas too. Christmas has always been the holiday to look forward to.

Being a Christian, the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ has a great significance to our belief. We take great reverence to the day and it is the day our savour was born and the start of our redemption from sin started. Therefore Christmas is dear to me.

The 🔥 flame and the stars⭐✨ on a lovely camping night.

Twinkle twinkle little star ✴️✨…how I wonder what you are…. beautiful kindergarten stuff race in my mind as I peacefully lie beside a camp fire high up Mount Kaumba. The cool breeze gently ruffles the fire but the dry wattle firewood keeps glowing, giving off constant heat. The chicken on the spit and the roasting beef give off a salivating aroma. In the full moon lit sky…. I gaze up, and marvel at the milky way and wonder to myself how beautiful the universe is.

Have you ever been camping?

To the East, a long crimson line of the veld fire snakes up the hills. The Neck area is up to its mischief again. The fire is threatening to breach the Eastern fireguard. We are camping up here to watch the veld fire progress, updating the Donjera base hourly. To the north is the Nyafaru village and to the North west is the Little Nyangani mountain, shyly glistening in the soft yellow moonlight 🌙. In the valley down below, the Nyamudendere river roars past the rapids into a beautiful waterfall,  giving a beautiful murmur to the gentle breeze. The universe.,.the night.,.the atmosphere and the wattle, pine and eucalyptus aroma plus the soft cool dew….it feels so good.

My companions are all now 😴😌, snoring and wheezing, adding to the sounds of the crickets and the hooting owls in trees nearby. A nightjar whistles nearby and an inquisitive hare races by. A bushbuck coughs close by. A startled shriek of a Samango monkey in the distance, must be a leopard on the hunt because a loud commotion of baboons join the fray….unusual during the night. Then all goes quiet again. The peace of the yellow night prevails…I enjoy my barbeque chicken and milkless coffee.

Sleep 😴💤 gently steals me….off to sleep I go, waking up at intervals to check on the veld fire. The veld fire diminishes in the late night, and I could sleep a lot longer with peace in the cool of the starry night.

Camping in the Nyanga mountains always feels good except in the rain, mist and drizzle.