What if we could really live happily ever after?
April 1st, 2008
On Sunday I finally dared to believe that change was coming to Zimbabwe. I let loose a few of the tightly-bound, repressed dreams that I have been holding imprisoned in my mind for years…
I let it slip out that at last, we in Zimbabwe would be able to show the rest of Africa, the rest of the world, what a truly united people could do. We would rebuild the country, heal the wounds, start new and fresh and with so much new wisdom.
I felt that the diaspora would start to come home, all those bright young professionals who had left home armed with the education that Robert Mugabe’s early government gave them, now they could return, armed with work experience gained in the capitals of the world. A nation that has been through hell and come out the other side, knows that adversity borne together is adversity that unites. The goodwill and the mutual respect would blossom and create such a force that no problem would stand in our way for long.
All the different tribes, languages, colours and religions in Zimbabwe’s melting pot have suffered the same abuses, hardships. All of us have felt the pain of personal loss as our colleagues, friends and family have been lost to us, through death or emigration. Now at last, the thousands of families broken up, torn apart and scattered, would start to reunite once more in this happiest of lands.
There will be such a lot to do, so many things to mend and to build and we would be able to count on each other like we used to before the madness of power and patronage divided us and gagged us and beat us into submission or flight.
My dreams, once released from their prison, took even wilder flights.
What if, with the new MDC government, we were to choose just the best of the West, and the best of the East, and build our own unique, new African nation, one where we would be nobody’s dependant, no super-power’s lapdog or supplier of resources.
What if we as Africans led the way in constructing a society that was built on respect for the environment, that ancient respect for mother nature that has been the key to Africa’s soul for millennia, before it disappeared under the greed and the speed and the rude immediacy of the ‘developed’ world?
Zimbabwe will have to start again, we will have to re-build everything from roads to power sources, from educational systems to international relations. Maybe we could take the opportunity to do it better this time, with the benefit of hindsight. No stinking slag heaps, polluted rivers and wage-slave populations in the thrall of Big Bucks and the Almighty Shareholder.? What joy to live in such a land.
What if music and art and tourism was the main money-maker in a country where our Peace Parks would stretch out to flow into those of our neighbours and span the whole continent? A Zimbabwe where visitors whose own rivers have disappeared under concrete, would pay dearly for the privilege of waking up to the dawn chorus of hundreds of wild birds in the fresh, scented air of a Zimbabwe sunrise?
What if we could really live happily ever after?
And then I see that the greed and the graft and the brutality is alive and well and throttling the life out of the Zimbabweans’ desperate bid for peaceful change in their country. Our election results are being stolen, our chance for healing and prosperity is being suppressed again, the doors to freedom are slamming shut. The unarmed civilians will once more stand under the threat of violence from a sad, mad old man and his criminal cronies in a parody of government.
So I lock my dreams back in their secret prison…… for to let them out hurts too much.
April 1st, 2008 12:12
Stop the Dictator in Zimbabwe
As Zimbabweans affected by the repressive and undemocratic actions of President Robert Mugabe over the past 28 years, we call upon the international community to express support for the will of the people of Zimbabwe.
In Zimbabwe, there is growing evidence that a presidential and parliamentary election held Saturday was won by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, putting to an end, at long last, the dictatorial rule of 84-year-old President Robert Mugabe.
But there’s been a suspicious and prolonged delay in the announcement of the voting results.
The delay in the announcement of the results is to give President Robert Mugabe’s regime time to cook up results and subvert the will of the majority of long-suffering Zimbabweans.
A combination of popular pressure and international intervention can help to put an end to an autocracy that has brought much suffering to the people of Zimbabwe.
We can not tolerate another fraud and another entrenchment by President Robert Mugabe and his cronies.
Thank you so much for your help – forward this email to friends!
April 1st, 2008 12:15
What an incredible piece of writing! Zimbabweans all over the world and in Zim need to read that!
April 1st, 2008 12:32
Our people have fought too long and hard for this dream for us to give up now. It hurts and its hard but each loss is one step closer to a win. Pie in the sky? Maybe! “Happy are those who dare to dream dreams and have the courage to make them come true” Do we have the guts? Are we prepared to pray for it, to fight for it? Our forebears had the guts and they were prepared. As long as we have a dream and as long as we believe in it, we have hope and we can make it happen. So Matsiga, dont put your dream in a cage, let it out and chase it. I will
April 1st, 2008 12:35
The world is watching and praying that democracy and justice will prevail. Good luck and please do not give up hope.
April 1st, 2008 12:52
I agree with Chris – that should be essential reading. Don’t give up. Please don’t. He has only really won if you stop dreaming. While you have dreams he doesn’t have everything.
You may not feel it but this time things are different, because this time the rest of the world is not only watching, but taking notes.
You aren’t alone.
April 1st, 2008 12:59
The delay is, of course, both disgraceful and disheartening.
Freedom and justice WILL prevail. It is to be hoped that this will happen sooner rather than later, and peacefully rather than through more violence and suffering.
Every dictatorship that ever there was, in every part of the world, eventually came to an end. Zimbabwe is no exception.
Bod bless Zimbabwe!
April 1st, 2008 13:48
what an insightful piece of writing. i for one has benefited from zimbabwe’s primary and secondary education. however the greed of our elders has led me to aquire my tertiary education elsewhere(its been a struggle). i’ve done well and am doing well but my dreams lie in the day i will join the many who will sacrifice “green pastures” to get involved in the restoration of our land. we all have a part to play big or small. unity for a new zimbabwe. to the writer of this article…thanks for this.
April 1st, 2008 14:12
I know some people are raising the issue of the time it will take for Zim to recover if “all goes well” with the election results, and thus a smooth transition of power. I feel that presently, we need not to focus on the issue of recovery, because the simple truth is the world, and that is all of us included, must focus their entire energies with regards the Zimbabwe issue, on ensuring that the will of the people is repsected in every sense of the meaning, and to ensure that there is no rigging at all – nothing. And we must NOT lose sight of the variuous rigging tactics that occured pre March 29 either.
April 1st, 2008 14:20
Your beautiful dream is sustained by your faith. It might be that in the dark, you reconcile yourself to the idea that your light is the only one in the darkness, and that it must be hidden behind your eyes because the winds would blow it out. But it is not. Do not lose hope. Hope might seem like morning dew, but it is a foundation stronger than rock because it bears the truth that you are right and that your country could be free, must be. If all else seems to fail, don’t lose hope. Because there are more people like you than you realise and there is more sense to what you want than you might see in the shadow of evil. One day, your faith in your free Zimbabwe will take wing. It will fly. Hold on.
God Bless you and God Bless Zimbabwe
April 1st, 2008 14:21
I just wish to say that Botswana is with you, and has ben with you since the axe fell.We have seen the strive first hand, saw the pains in our brother’s eyes, the loss of dignity in people who held themselves high and felt the pain you feel.We couldn’t offer more than we had, hoever our hearts and prayers are with you.If you keep the hope and the fight, all can’t be lost.
April 1st, 2008 14:53
With you in Spirit friends.. from Brighton, UK
April 1st, 2008 15:33
Best wishes from Great Britain. We’re watching your election results avidly. We sincerely hope you achieve the result you have waited so long for. Democracy is such a fragile thing. Here in the UK our voting turnouts are abysmal. We should look to Zimbabwe on how important having that vote can be.
April 1st, 2008 16:24
Every minute … every second I’m with you all there in Zimbabwe (except of the regime elite).
Change will come for sure. The world is watching even here…Wish and hope your dreams will come true. But I understand how it feels now not to know what is going on there behind closed doors. But believe it can’t go backwards. The dictatorial regime is under such pressure.
April 1st, 2008 16:28
Best wishes from me as well. I hope that within not long, I will be planning a vacation to a democratic Zimbabwe! My pledge, however tiny, is to help support your touristm once Mugabe is gone. Good luck and please know that the whole world is watching and praying.
April 1st, 2008 16:35
The people who voted for ZANU, do they live in Zimbabawe Or are there people who are honestly so deluded and blind to the fact?
It is disgraceful that Mugabe thinks so lowly of the people of Zimbabwe that he and his people can cook up the election results so blatently. Do these people have no shame? They obviously have no idea about honor. Mugabe destroyed his legacy at the 2002 elections, surely he could do himself some favour and redeem himself by acknowledging defeat this time and go out with some grace.
Our fathers also fought for the liberation of Zimbabwe but it is time for us to move on. There is no time nor room for retributions in the new Zimbabwe we look forward to. All we want is fairness and equity and a prosperous Zimbabwe.
The rebuilding of our country is going to take some time but it can be done and for as long as the right skill mix is sought, there should be no reason for failure.
God Bless our nation
April 1st, 2008 18:30
Siting here today in grey, windy UK, so very far from home, is nigh on killing me during these terribly tense and frustrating hours, but I sense a growing excitement that this time, things will be different.
I too have dared to begin to dream a few of my secret dreams.
Light your fire Matsiga … I believe it will not be extinguished this time.
Soon, you will see, we’ll all be home, young
and old, giving re-birth to the jewel Zimbabwe
has always been destined to become.
April 1st, 2008 19:13
An inspirational article.
Nothing else to say; I’m just one more person watching and hoping this all comes good…
Simon (UK)
April 1st, 2008 23:30
Beautiful and poignant . left tears in my eyes . We in the Uk want to return home professionals that have left home and lived in exile for ten years . Our Zimbabwe . We dare to hope and dare to dream . Without hope we are nothing but the thought that we could change the leadership in Zimbabwe with dignity adn pride is something that we have pride in. CSurely Justice and Peace will prevail . Heres to a better and brighter future !!
April 2nd, 2008 10:43
Take care special Zimbos.
April 2nd, 2008 15:36
You made me cry – keep your dreams alive – a better tomorrow will come and one day, God willing, we will all come home – to visit or to stay – it matters not – we will return. Truly inspirational writing, so great to know that there are so many of us who still care so deeply, even over here in the UK. God bless.
April 2nd, 2008 16:07
It really does feel as though this long long road is nearing an end. The clouds are dark but the rain is not yet falling. When it does, everything will smell different.