Een van de leerlingen die door SSZ gesteund wordt is Brown Sianjeme. Over zijn leven heeft hij onderstaand verhaal geschreven.
ABOUT MY LIFE
I was born in 1983,fostered and grew up in what used to be thick and densely tree populated area called Mola community which was highly infested with game like buffaloes, elephants, impalas, duikers, zebras to mention but a few.
Life and ecosystem interaction that is nature, was more beautiful and even better than what it is like today. Walking by night was frightful due to buffaloes and elephants. In my village Marembera, homesteads were scattered among the thickets only accessible by foot ways. Famines were very rare and rains were earlier followed by bumpy harvests on small portions farmed.
We had no boreholes in the village, thus,we fetched water from a nearby river called Sibbilobbilo through easy done wells in river sands nearby river pools. The water from those wells was clear and even safe for it tasted better than today’s and there were no reports of deaths as a result of bilharzia, diarrhea and cholera.
My friends were boys from the two nearby homes. I used to swim in Sibbilobbilo river pools and caught fish using different methods e.g. by poisoning, draining water and using hooks.Alternatively, hunting was another most interesting activity. I hunted animals like hares, squirrels, duikers and reptiles using spears, axes and dogs. More so, I also caught birds using snares which I ensnared in harvested fields, around water bodies and sometimes using wild cucumbers. I could rarely go to school only to go hunting.
Up to 2002, I attended traditional dances which were performed mostly overnight. I enjoyed dancing, singing, beating drums, sounding trumpets of different horns of animals like impalas, antelope etc. The dances were either for spirit mediums or ceremonies for the dead. I went to church at nearby Baptist shade or school only when there was a bioscope to watch.
I did my primary education at Marembera school up to the year 2000. I had no interest in school from grade one to four; instead, I exhorted my spirits to hunting alone. However, the love for school grew intense when I was in grade five until now. I got interested with reading, writing and calculations. I stared participating in public speaking, athletics, volleyball games and reciting poems. And these activities fueled my interest for secondary education.
Going for secondary education at Mola up to the year 2006 was to me a great achievement in meeting different faces, for instance, of teaches, classmates and friends. I sheltered in the huts we built nearby the school yard where I could enjoy cooking for myself. I used paraffin or diesel fuel lamps to read and to light up the hut.
During school holidays I had to go for party time jobs at Chalala fishing camp in order to get funds to finance my school stationary and other personal utilities. Sometimes I had to work very hard to beat up several hardships that I met during my education. Nevertheless my grade seven and O’ level results were exciting even though A’ level ones were insulting.
In addition, I became a born again Christian by the year 2003 and am a member in ‘Clear Apostolic Faith Church’. Since 2002 I went through several courtships and presently am in a relationship longing to marry though lack of funds is acutely hindering.
Moreso, I worked at Makuyu fishingcamp from January 2007 to May 2009 as a gillnet fisherman seeking to raise funds for tertiary education. I became an associate teacher from June 2009 to December 2010 and taught at Kauzhumba and Marembera primary schools. From January 2011 to present, I am undertaking studies towards national diploma in ‘Surveying and Geomatics’at Harare Polytechnic.
Eventually my life now is free from traditional dances and hunting activities, instead, I am now pressing over a vision of achieving three macro and basic life essentials and these are;
I. eternal life under the Lordship of Jesus Christ ,
II. marriage, and
III. achieving National Diploma in Surveying and Geomatics .