Reflections from the field

It is true that life is lived forwards but understood backwards. On this page I want to trace the journey I have taken up to this point in my life and career, reflecting on some of the key influences, experiences and insights that have made me to be me.

I know it will be an exciting journey for me, and I hope that you will take this invitation to get an in-depth insight into my life as a development worker, boy, man, African, father, son, Zimbabwean, scholar, practitioner, researcher and all the labels that we give ourselves as we seek to live and impact the world.

This is my story, but it could also be about you, about somebody that you know, about your kid. It is a story of inspiration, fighting and self-discovery in the improvised script that has been my life. Enjoy the posts!

Introduction

Reading University in the United Kingdom is a long way away from Vurile Village, in Chief Magudu’s area. But I guess you could flip it the other way round and say: Vurile Village, in Chief Magudu’s area, Masvingo, is really far away from anywhere. It is a place tucked away among kopjes and inselbergs; a scraggly backwaters that is home to hardy goats that scrambled and scrounged among the thorns and rocks. The October sun comes down mercilessly, reducing the soil to baked ash. We trudged barefoot to Mutirikwe River in the hot sun, enduring the scalding soil to reach the Nirvana of its cool rush.

I digress…

I made the fateful journey to Mazowe Veterinary College in December of 2002. The actual college itself is really an obscure sprawling red brick establishment beside the road, some 34 km along the Harare-Bindura highway. I say “obscure” advisedly, because the first notable thing that happened to me was that I overshot my bus-stop. Apparently, the conductor wasn’t sure of the place too. An inauspicious start…

As I was coming from Harare, I was struck by the lush vegetation that I could see by the roadside. Tall msasa (brachystegia) trees formed thick matted clumps, the tall hyparrhenia grass growing to double a man’s height. It was an amazing sight to me, and my blood really quickened at the sense of vigour and life that the environment portended.

It was an amazing formative time, but I will leave it here for now. Till next time, stay safe.