Definition: comfort or refreshment; Literal translation: drop

During my pre-school and early primary school years, my family stayed in a small town called Chegutu in Zimbabwe. When I say small town, I’m talking about one main road with a couple of robots (traffic lights) in the entire town, at least when we stayed there. I have fond memories of it like attending Mad Hatter Nursery school which I enjoyed attending. I used to get a few cents pocket money some Fridays and those were my most favourite days. There was this general dealer store that sold these marble sweets. They’d change colour as you sucked them and got closer to the centre. I haven’t been able to find those sweets since unfortunately.

I remember family parties either at our home or at my parent’s friends’ homes. They typically had kids my and my sibling’s age to play with. I remember fruit trees. Most people seemed to have those in their backyards those days. We had banana, citrus, and avocado trees. The best tree by far, in my opinion, was the bird plum tree [nyii] at one of my friend’s house. The tree was huge and fun to climb for us and it yielded so much yummy fruit. I remember when my parents finally allowed me to walk home from school with my friends unaccompanied. I felt like such a big girl and it was a satisfying, proud feeling.

There’s one memory I did not recall at all. A story around a violent thunderstorm that my mum told me about recently. Apparently, it had been extremely hot for a while. The heat was unbearable and there was concern about drought being an agrarian community. We went to church one Sunday and Mr. Garande, one of my dad’s friends prayed for rain; he asked God for “donhodzo”. In typical African fashion, it was long and drawn-out prayer. Mass was running long and the heat in the church was punishing1x. As much as we desperately needed the rain, in that moment many just longed to get home and get to lunch. Needless to stay, that prayer was certainly remembered long after church.

Later that day, the much-needed rain came. It came down in a torrential downpour accompanied by claps of thunder that sounded like they were going to split the sky open. The lightning was blinding. It was a remarkable thunderstorm that seemed to go on forever. While I’m not one to fear thunderstorms, I was not pleased. “Ah! Zvichingobvawo na vaGarande vakumbira donhodzo nhasi,” I commented which means, “Ah! This is all on Mr. Garande who asked for that ‘donhodzo’ earlier.” 😄😄 There’s a take-away in that story somewhere. Be careful what you wish for, right? Be very specific when you pray. God never gives in small or half measures 😀💛

Love,