First Steps

Even if  the odds are against us,  as African youth, we have to be courageous enough to take our first steps . I believe that there is no greater failure than failing to try. Breakthrough is the essence of success, rising above adversity to achieve a vision. My past has taught me, nothing is impossible if you have unwavering determination.

I was born with a  deformity condition in both legs called bilateral CTEV,  and at that time, there were no bone specialists in Zimbabwe to conduct the corrective surgery. The only prospective one was still undergoing studies overseas. Financial resources were limited to have the procedure done abroad.   In an attempt to stall the progress of the deformity,  doctors had to put plasters on both my legs. This however was at a risk of seriously jeopardising  my prospects of walking normally even after the procedure. On the other hand removing the plasters would mean  that I would be crippled for life if the procedure wasnt done soon enough.

My mother had to make the hard decision,  the plasters would have to be changed regularly which translated to countless visits to the hospital for the next 4 years I was going to go through 5 operations. My father at the time when he was needed most, abandoned us.

As the  time passed my mother patiently waited,  I can imagine her worry, wondering if she had made the right choice. Maybe her son was never going to walk and run like  other children. It is my conviction that I have always had a fighting spirit eventually, against all odds I took those precious first steps.

Taking my first steps

The specialist -Dr Vhera  finally came, and with financial assistance from the government, well meaning donors, the sacrifice of my mother and above all the grace of the LORD I was able to get operated and undergo through intensive physiotherapy. As for my father, i barely remember him, he passed away  a few years later when I was only 6 years old.

From this part of my hisory there are some analogies that I think are important for us to draw particularly to African youth. Although we have problems like unemployment and poor backgrounds marred with war, famine and political instability. That should not weigh us down from taking our first steps towards our destiny of championing the renaissance of our continent. Our hardships should only serve to propel us to a higher level with the conviction that it is our obligation to ensure that future generations do not endure the same past as we did.  Our generation simply does not have the luxury of making excuses. We must unite, and  work towards building the Africa that we want to see.

Personally, although in my heart I have forgiven my father, however,  I do not forget the the hardships that my mother went through without his support.  I have convinced myself that I  have to be a better man, I believe in family and i deeply respect women. I  told myself, i cannot be the reflection of my fathers mistakes.

If you look at Africa,  you will observe that one of the major problems has been leadership. Most of our leaders have become corrupt and power hungry and this has led to countless wars, divisions and hardships, throwing people into abject poverty. Bad leadership has resulted in Africas paradox, being the most resourced yet poorest continent.
African youth, as we struggle to the top echelons of power we can not afford to  make the same  mistakes as our fathers did. Someone wise once said a people who are ignorant of history are condemned to repeat its mistakes.  Understanding history is very important,  not to perpetuate its prejudices and injustices but to avoid blunders from the past and build a more secure future. We cannot afford  to be seduced by the trappings of power  and individualism to  destroy the future we are working so hard to achieve.  Ideals of unity,  freedom, peace and collective development should be immortalised  in our hearts.

My mother was my teacher,  I learnt from her the values if hard work,  her strong conviction of escaping the poverty cycle through education. Diligent application of what she taught me has helped me to build my career and many face many challenging life situations.   GOD has blessed our generation with teachers and mentors to raise our generation, to guide us, to unify us and to teach us values. Selfless men and women that have the heart  to believe in the potential of young people and to carry  us on their shoulders so that our perspective is widened beyond even what the have seen themselves.

I have deep respect and heartfelt appreciation the sacrifices that have been made  for our generation  by  icons  such as Dr Strive  and Deaconess Tsitsi Masiyiwa. Their sterling efforts to raise or generation of African leaders, trusting in  youth and investing  in our education.  Personally,  I am honoured to have Pastor Petronella Maramba as my mentor to guide me into on deeper paradigms of spiritual understanding  bringing clarity to my purpose and vision.

Mentoring a generation- Mr and Mrs Masiyiwa (Pictured with President Obama) Photo http://goo.gl/n2oDhH

However as youth, very oftenly we  make the mistake that intelligence and  innovative ability are a substitute for wisdom and experience. Nothing can be more fallacious.  We should incline our hearts and minds to learn,  taking in instruction from  our mentors, sharpening our resolve to initiate the change that we want to see. We cannot allow our conscience to be clouded with  unprincipled ambition. We should be willing to learn and diligently apply what we learn to better our communities,  countries and  continent.

I do believe that the future of Africa is bright and Africas renaissance is imminent.  We are the  generation that is going radically change the narative. It is our mandate though to be brave  and strong enough to take those first steps,  avoid the pitfalls of past generations,  have keenness to take instruction from our mentors and above all have faith in God. It is a conviction that i hold that through his spirit we have the ability to rise above challenges and come out victorious.