"The Zimbabwe Situation" news page
The following was sent to me last week, and I am forwarding it to you as
an
amazing plight of an 18 year old boy. Clive is the same age, and in the
same
form as our daughter Kerry. We know him, and his family well. The
adopted
daughter is also at school with Kerry, her father was the local
Marondera
vet.
******************************************************************
The
following is a poem written by Clive Kay (18), an A-level pupil at
Peterhouse
School, rural area outside Harare on Tuesday this week - a day
when he was at
his lowest, when the prospects for returning to his home on
the farm,
after fourmonths away, seemed impossible, and where it seemed that there was
no hope.....
For those of you who don't know Clive's parents, Iain and
Kerry Kay, you
should appreciate that they work relentlessly for the people
of this country
both in AIDS awareness and other humanitarian good works -
Kerry heads
the Commercial Farmers' Union, internationally acclaimed, AIDS
awareness
programme. We have worked together on this programme and it's
consequent
Farm Orphan problems for the last decade and Kerry's input has
been way
beyond the limits of the average farmer's wife. Iain has given her
his
undivided support as have her three sons - they have two
adopted
children - one an adult male and the other the orphaned teenage
daughter
of great friends who were killed in an aircrash two years
ago.
Sadly for Kerry, Iain and their family their farm borders a
politically
diverse communal area - one of the constituencies presently being
contested
by the Movement for Democratic Change. From the moment
the
build up to elections commenced in Zimbabwe the Kay farm became one of
the
target areas for thugs/squatters/war veterans, culminating in Iain
being
badly beaten up on his farm in March this year and got away with
his life
intact by swimming across the farm dam where he was rescued by
his son,
David. Since that time Iain and Kerry have been in hiding
because
of death threats - their home has been ransacked and they have
generally
had a nightmare of a life not knowing what to expect next and
still waiting
to return home. Iain is a fluent shona linguist and a very
gentle,
quietly spoken and lovable character.
Iain's now deceased father,
Jock Kay, was a ZANU PF member of
parliament at Independence in
1980.
Clive's poem gives us an insight into what effects the present
situation is having on our future adults.
Jane
Souchon,
DESPERATE
A certain calmness has returned
Day to
day chores are carried out
The mind strays little from work
Every so often
a thought or two
Disturbs the tranquility of school
But stays only for a
short while.
Seldom is there anything worthwhile
One just drifts
through time
Hoping and being ever patient.
Coping is the hardest goal to
achieve.
Never offer a glimpse of sadness
As it will only dissolve what
little
happiness there is left to enjoy.
Like adrenalin injected
straight into the heart
So the feeling of violence erupts
The desperate
desire to punish
The ultimate goal is to annihilate
the perpetrators
without remorse
If only there was reason
A pure understandable meaning
to the chaos
but there isn't
Every man to his own?
UNITY is the way
forward
But not everyone wants to stand together.
Solutions emerge for
a situation
Then a new situation arises and clouds that solution.
Nothing
is ever fixed or amended
Instead it is thrown back into the
revolving
pandemonium of recurring problems.
Who is to be trusted?
Who is and
who is not?
The good men or the bad
confused are the good because
even
they cannot trust each other
Has unity gone forever?
The idle
winds are left alone
Intellectuals and profferers of truth
are
relentlessly pursued and attacked
The story of life according to God
those
who stand up for what is right
will always be persecuted
Even though it is
right.
The world is nothing but a revolving
wheel of madness
Why
can't the wrong see they are wrong?
Why do the good commit evil when
they
know it is wrong?
Perseverance, courage, forgiveness
Their abundance
in every person are
only qualities of a perfect being.
I have numerous
faults, cracks
in my character.
These cracks are continuously being
widened
Driving me to one point
The point of no return
Soon I will
commit murder
The murder of myself or my enemies
Some turn to alcohol,
some to God
And some disappear into a world of fantasies
Eventually
madness.
Why? because the mind cannot cope
It is confused to a
point
A place where it has no solutions
You may think the solution
is
waiting for things to be done lawfully
When there is no law.
Yes
the country must UNITE
To bring peace, stability and law
But individual
interpretations are different
The ultimate goal should be LOVE
Love is the
only rational act.
How does one unite different religions
Different
levels of literacy and intellectuality?
One does it by using love.
How do
you love someone who
has disrupted your life, stolen your home
Beaten your
loved ones to death
All in the name of land and politics.
The devil
has blown through your life
Like a wild fire, consuming what
little good
you had ever grown in your heart
Some may say he and the Lord do not
exist
If this is so then why do you feel, touch, think,
fight, love, hate,
live, die and then live again?
Your home is where your heart is
And my
heart is in ZIMBABWE.
When someone threatens my home
they threaten my
heart
My existence
I want to exist therefore I will fight.
Focus,
don't let it disrupt your work
the less affected say
They don't and can't
feel what I am feeling
Keep drumming into my head
Conciously I am
alive
Subconciously I am dying.
The time has come to rid
this
country of evil, to speak freely
Our thoughts on everything
that
concern our lives, our future
To denounce political wrong doing
To
repel evil and those who perpetrate it
There will need to be
sacrifices
but be not afraid.
I feel alone and isolated from
people
from those around me
They do not understand my pain
How do I
make them understand?
I am cornered and slipping down the
wall and falling
to my knees
I am fighting with myself
And drowning in my own
thoughts
And in so doing losing my loved ones.
Being temperamental,
impatient and volatile
inhibits communication
Trivial matters become
monstrosities
and I turn on those who care
Slowly my courage and
strengths
are being consumed and I am
retreating into darkness
Quitters
are losers
I guess by giving up I am quitting
If so, I have
lost.
Clive Kay.