Panyaya ye diaspora i think it’s like if mwana 1 refuses kurohwa by an abusive parent the other kids say but Tese tinorohwa waani.

It’s true tese tinorohwa but it’s not right that this parent abuses us.

The kids are not the issue. The parent is the problem.

But because we’ve all been surviving this abuse we become conditioned to accept it. I think this is how ZANU has gotten away with shitty conditions. No water? We adjusted
No electricity? We adjusted
No jobs? We adjusted
Crappy hospitals? We adjusted

Our Minister of Finance has been living in a fancy hotel for two years! Do you think he doesn’t have running water?
Ko iye Nick Mangwana? How much is he getting paid to run the propaganda machine? Does he have water at his house? What kind of house?

They can try to make us enemies of each other but we are not enemies. For the last two decades those abroad & those at home we’ve worked hand in hand to survive Zimbabwe. The one at home takes care of on the ground the one abroad sends the $. This is how we’ve survived

Not every Zimbabwean in Zim needs remittances or everyone abroad sends but the majority do. For the majority our only sanity has been knowing that mainini at home will take care of Ambuya and Mukoma in London will pay for Ambuya’s hospital bills. Don’t let ZaNu fools distract us

When I did my research on the diaspora I spent many hours in the homes of kind Zimbabweans. Around 10pm most everyone would say - let me call home. Oh the way their eyes lit up when a sleepy someone on the other end picked up. The sparkle. The joy. The laughter - Makadiiko Sisi

Sometimes I watched people call home because something bad was happening. They spent hours on the phone getting details. The one abroad knowing they can’t physically be there but maybe just maybe ensuring that Baba gets the nicest casket will bring me closer to the events

Once in a while I witnessed fights between siblings but there weren’t any winners. Just wary people broken by distance. They can’t look each other in the eye or hug it out or laugh it out so things go unsaid - hurts go undone

When I went to interview the same families in Zimbabwe I saw again that sparkle. Did you really see my sister? How is my daughter? How is my son? Sometimes I lied and said they are fine because what’s the point of saying he or she is struggling too much. I lied

Don’t ever let these fools decide for you what is true when you know what is true. We are an imperfect people but we are better than whatever version of monsters ZANU PF has turned us into.

And in the diaspora we have many issues. But, I have many times over received the kindness of complete strangers simply because we are both Zimbabwean. It’s not perfect but often when it matters we find one another.

We can always find each other - always