My Birth- 1982
I was born in Bulawayo 16th of February on a Tuesday eve. Mpilo was the best hospital in this second largest city in Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe after the war. The Sunshine city became our coven, a hideout from the hostilities of the struggle. Fanuel had found favour of seclusion in Llewelyn Barracks from his kin seeking to end his life. Life in my young eyes and innocent years was good. Bread, milk and butter defined my little world which left little to desire in the military camp. An outside world never existed to me.
Crucifixion (1964 - 1979)
The liberation war had killed our grandma Vaida and the losses wiped all our relatives in the reserves as a result of dad joining the army. Granny was shot in cold blood extra judicial killing. It was a bleak cold day. Crows had circled the sky and the omen struck. Danger lurked at her door for letting her boy make such a decision.
Carrying the cross
Grandpa suffered crucifixion for the rest of his life for letting his son dine with the enemy. Torture was the order of the day. Red chillies was his common meal. Drinking stupor would obscure the pain for him until he was a wreck but sad memories taunted him. Since the killing of Granny never baited Fanuel to come home, grandpa was put as a live bait to trap his son. He wrote chain letters of pain and sorrow telling his boy to come home. His troubles were many. Sadly, grandpa dissipated all the love he had for his son. He sunk into oblivion and dejection. Fanuel had closed the door of help on him. His boy had changed. He forgot about him. Death hung on his head with no one on his side, all the days of his life. He died a troubled soul haunted by a dark past, since his wife was no more. The pain never ceded from the oldman’s heart. The war had destroyed all his sustenance.” One day I shall see my grandsons alive was the only ticking clock inside him despite forces of evil persuading him to self-terminate. During the war Grandpa Sixpence forfeited to the resistance all the herds of cattle we had, a gesture of allegiance to the struggle. Why would he blame his son? After all it was the only thing to do. For Fanuel It was a tough decision he made to protect his family by lifting his heel against his own people and his kin by serving in the enemy tents. For twenty-seven years he was severed from his roots and got alienated from all his people who called him a traitor and a coward.
Lynching
When defectors like him got caught the sentence was death by fire or decapitation after digging your own grave, an act which was executed by your relatives. It was a gross and dishonourable way of losing life. He knew the consequences hence there was no recourse.
Defection & Service
Forced recruitments, saw many young men joining the ranks on both sides of the war. By that time Fanuel was forced to do patrols and reconnaissance in his home area of Gota because they purported he had knowledge of the terrain which later led him to marry Dorothy my mom who was a bar maid in a lonely store of Bakasa. Only God knows why she survived rape and murder while interacting with the militants from both side asking her to be their informant called vana “Sisi” or “chimbwido’.
Dorothy
She came from southern districts of Zimbabwe when her family migrated to get greener pastures in the northern soils for farming. The war destroyed all proceeds from their farm such that she was forced to look for a job as a maid. “Rooranai vematongo” (Marry in the hood”) norm found my dad taking her hand in marriage and she left for Matabeleland hideout away from the throes of war.
Disputes
The pursuit of happiness was short-lived when the passing of granny struck Fanuel. That woman had given him all to be who he was. She had told her only son to escape the war. All her sons had suffered sudden deaths. Only two daughters got married and left the village. It was a matter of time when dad had his inside weigh hard on him such that violence against mom was the order of the day. He had lost the ones he loved and he cared no more. Brawls and fights later retired him after the war with a broken leg and no front teeth. He was tired it was time to retire back to our homelands
Back to Reserves-1989
It all began when Fanuel retired from active service in the army 1989 after serving 27 years dodging bullets and shrapnel. Life came to a sudden turn and abrupt stop when we left the camp and a new life began. We learnt to grow in the hot arid reserves somewhere in Africa. A land of sweat dust and throes of sad memories. The war had left pain and incurable pain to my people, disjointed families, a story no one could tell without shedding a tear. After serving both governments Fanuel’s age caught up with him only but to retire with little but a herd of 8 cows we had to rely on for our future education. It wasn’t enough. After scaping years of fear, sweat and blood, his wrinkles wrote fear and sorrow, a story of his past sadness he could not revisit.
My Story Begins
Hailing from a family of 8 siblings, 5 brothers and two sisters, also being the 5th born, life was not easy. ………. To be Continued.
Story By Zimleague
Hey and welcome to steemit, I hope you enjoy your time here, its a great community :)
Yes Daniel am so excited , the welcome is so embracing ,i regret the time i lost when i was not here.
You will regret it more and more every day, nice to meet you, i know you will love it here :)
It is a joy like a lost sheep finding its way back home.. you can guess the feeling.Steemit welcome is so huge and important to me .It is more than my birthday when only my siblings called me
Very inspiring
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Thank you @steemitboard for such an award .i have upvoted.
Welcome to Steem @zimleague I have sent you a tip
Thank you Botty ..am glad am getting more friends do not stop giving me advise and tips
Welcome to steemit community. You will love it. Following links may help you to get started.
New Users Guide: https://steemit.com/welcome
Dos and don’ts on Steemit:https://steemit.com/steemit/@najoh/dos-and-don-ts-on-steemit
Top Earners List:https://steemwhales.com/
ChainBB Steem Forum: https://steemit.com/chainbb/@jesta/chainbbcom-a-blockchain-forum-platform-for-steem
If you find this post useful, Feel Free to up vote, follow me.
Thank you for very helpful advice i have followed you so that i keep learning a lot since all is new to me at this stage.I am glad for such a warm welcome
Thanks for the support am checking it now
That is so sad ...So deep ..nicely told ... you are a man of experience .... would love to read more posts by you .. keep posting
Upvoted the post!
You Can follow me @utfull if you like
Will follow you back! See you around .
Thank you @utfull it is not easy an experience to put together given the time and childhood memories but it becomes so vivid when i spend time with dad to recapture all the lost years and some of the things they cannot tell because every time we end up wiping tears and going to sleep before we finish..but after all that is life ..we shall all live to tell our own story.
Welcome to steemit! im sure you will like it here!
Am already liking ..very friendly and supportive community
Welcome bro, stay strong!
Your strength is my hope
Welcome to the Land of Steem
Guys you are good people ..what is the name of your dog on your profile pic louis
Her name is Angel
I am a dog charmer too...she looks like a snow girl..those sharp ears
Welcome to Steemit! :)
Thank you
Wow, you have a big family. Thank you for sharing your story. Have fun on steemit.
Ha ha ha ha Fanuel lost sibling i think it was a way of adding up his losses .. iam already enjoying it.. how big is yours ?
Just one brother. So a little family, where I have grown up with. But I have already two daughters today.
Welcome to steemit! Following you now. This is what I love about Steemit over facebook. Seeing inout from people all over the world instead of your limited FB circle of people tou already know. Good luck.
I feel free than on any other platform.. i feel close to my connections.
You ended up being my 200 follower, thanks! Much appreciated. Im going to see if I can send you 1 Steem as celebration, not because the value, but as an example of the incredible technology that enables this capability.
Woooow you are such a darling..this is so overwhelming when everyone is giving you hugs and embraces.. there is no such a loving community as this..i really appreciate your welcome gesture..my family is here or never.
This is a lot of fun. You should have it by now. I forgot I transferred all my steem to steem power so i added some bitcoin back into steam to transfer a steem to you. The more I use this technology the more impressed and confident I am about the future uses.
Let me know if you got it. It should show as a red notification in your wallet. It is the first time I sent somene steem so I would like to know if it worked.
Welcome to the platform, I wish everything work out for you. It’s not easy here but not difficult neither but just ask an extra effort, engagement is the key good luck I’m @goodaytraders Start by following people and they will do the same.
True i am seeing great profiles of people committed to welcome others
Welcomee to steemit 🤗
thanks Ilona looking forward to having great friends here
Welcome to the wonderful world of steemit! You will definitely have a great experience here.
@GLOBALFOODBOOK to get updates on assorted delicious recipes from all over the world.
Feel free to follow
Hope you get me African dishes hey.will check it indeed.
Yes, I have loads of African recipes on my blog https://globalfoodbook.com/recipes
I'll take my time to share them here on steemit.
Cheers
Welcome to steemit community.
I’m @jyoungking2 Start by following people and they will do the same.
Good Luck
Thank you let me do that
When are you giving us more. I can't wait!
Heey Lisa how is Skies .. when i am settled i will go through my memoirs ..i usually reflect when i visit the my home, it is one of those things you know.. writing about your story is never easy
Hello fellow Zimbos,i have found this platform appealing in showcasing the opportunities in Zimbabwe (cryptocurrency) which can turn around peoples liives.I have made an initiative on P.A.LDiscord to create a Zimbabwe chat room where we mix ,share ideas and support each other .If you are interested feel free to check it out on the link below.Thank you once again
JOIN- #africa-zimbabwe channel -https://discord.gg/dTgjBJr
BLOG - https://steemit.com/minnowsupportproject/@minnowsupport/msp-update-regional-communities
Hello Tinashe.Uri bho here .For real, crytocurrency use in Zimbabwe is a grand idea, that is why we created the steamit fan club in harare and we need support from all over.Zimbabwe chatroom for blockchain activities is cool.Let me check it mwana wa amai.
Ndeip, i want to know more about the steemit fan club in Harare.
We are just a week old.We have two venues and getting more fans in every city, just networking nothing more, We need all the support understanding all the technicalities of learning cryptocurrencies, opening wallets etc. so we are finding helpful posts on steemit.com to do that.We are also creating audio podcasts for everyone to access and use.We have senior steemit members e.g @tkembo @lisanyamadzawo to help minnows in getting their accounts ready, steemit tips, how to do good posts and other author related information e.g copyrights, ISBN numbers for their work, publishing etc and how to make connections. So we are growing significantly.my whatsapp number is +263773811601
Discord Channel https://discord.gg/zrnymkk
Whatsapp:
https://chat.whatsapp.com/Hqcg3STB4V29tQazdIJiFz
OK LEMME JOIN THE APP GROUP AND discord channel
hey, welcome to steemit, this is great hardly do people like sharing where they are from and their lives and this is always a great starting point to be open about yourself