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Hildegarde The Arena
WHEN last week I wrote about the symbolism of the month of April, I never realised that we would be getting more than we have bargained for. I just wanted to pay tribute to a month that is so pregnant with meaning.

For, there was a dark cloud that hovered above the nation. Yesterday, the nation laid to rest two illustrious women, women and mothers who sacrificed all for the sake of today and the future.

On the morning of April 8, the nation lost two gallant daughters who gave up all for the sake of Zimbabwe. These were Cdes Victoria Fikile Chitepo and Vivian Mwashita. As if that was not all, on April 9, Chinyani Chinamano, the son of national heroes Cdes Josiah and Ruth Chinamano, also passed on.

Tuesday brought another blow when we lost prolific author and freedom fighter Cde Alexander Kanengoni.

He was among the few writers to objectively documented as best as he could Zimbabwe’s history through the First and Second Chimurengas.

Cde Kanengoni was a natural born writer, and a colleague who attended teacher training with him at St Paul’s Musami (before he joined the struggle), said then principal Father Hackett said he was asked to appear before the academic board after awarding Cde Kanengoni 100 percent for an essay he had written. The board wanted him to justify that grade, for he was the only student to ever be awarded such a distinction.

And Father Hackett justified the mark.

Cde Kanengoni’s sudden death shocked the nation. The stories about the death of these fallen comrades are being well documented in other sections of this paper and others.

We also lost on Tuesday, Prophetess Apphia Clara Manjoro, a powerful woman of God and wife to the founder of Faith World Ministries and Bible College, Bishop Dr Bartholomew Manjoro.

She was the founder of the Virtuous Women Community, and according to information gleaned from their website, Prophetess Manjoro’s greatest desire was “to see more women being used by God in the home, business, ministry and in leadership of all respectful nature. My prayer to God is that I want to see great prophetesses and anointed women rising and declaring the Word of God.”

As a Lemba (muRemba), she was also actively involved after news broke out that the lost Ark of the Covenant (Ngoma Lungundu) had been found among the Remba people in Zimbabwe.

We continue to lose our mothers from different walks of life and this piece is dedicated to all the departed mothers and the families they left behind.

But, what does a mother mean to you and me? And, what does losing a mother mean, for a great deal of us have lost our dear mothers, including this writer?

Cde Chitepo’s son, Kule Zvenyika, and Cde Mwashita’s daughter, Nyasha, speaking on behalf their respective families, invoked memories of a mother’s love, care, sacrifice and devotion. You are never too old to be her little boy or girl.

Describing Cde Chitepo, Kule went beyond her qualities as his biological mother, but paid tribute to her as the mother of the revolution.

He said their mother’s humility, commitment, love and sacrifice for what is good and what is right, which was anchored on her Christian faith in the Anglican Church, represented resilience personified her as Amai Chitepo.

It was a symbolic “Amai” (mother). She was like a stream that runs so deep, and whose waters you always desire to quench your thirst.

Nyasha also described Vivian Mwashita as a humble and down-to- earth woman who taught her children to be strong, courageous and that all things are possible. She was also a woman of great faith, who fellowshipped with the Salvation Army.

I also spoke to two colleagues who lost their mothers in 1980 and 2006, respectively. I was seeking a common thread in the person we all call mother as described by Nyasha and Kule.

One of them who spoke on condition of anonymity said: “Having a mother means enjoying unconditional love. It is an experience that no one can replace as the bond between mother and child does not cease to exist even when the umbilical cord is cut at birth.

“My mother was my friend, teacher and role model. Being a trained teacher, she taught me the values of life and prepared us for life without her. She taught me to be humble and to always think of others before myself,” she said.

“She taught me to be a hard worker and that nothing can stop me from realising my dreams and aspirations. When she died in 2006, I was heartbroken as she left a void that cannot be filled. My father has not remarried – maybe a sign that it is hard to find anyone who can match her exceptional qualities, both leadership and social.

“I was young when she passed on, so were my siblings. Being the first born, her passing on was a realisation of all the important lessons she taught me. I took up all the things she taught me and am proud to be her daughter. She could be over the moon seeing the person I have become today, since she always encouraged me to work hard and to never depend on anyone for my livelihood,” she said with a contented smile, that also said, “I still miss you Mama.”

Herald senior writer Lovemore Ranga Mataire, whose mother Cde Revai Mabhunu (Dowis Mavura), was a freedom fighter- but who did not survive to see independent Zimbabwe – told the writer: “No tears, no words, no goodbyes, nothing, just memories. It is difficult to explain how I feel in losing the one that bore me, the pain of never being able to hear your voice, the pain of not knowing how you smiled, how you walked, just memories.”

It was quite evident that he hurts as he continued: “It is difficult to explain growing up without the one that carried you through for nine months, bore the pangs of birth, suckled you and protected you from all human and natural vagaries of society. I am a living testimony of her undying spirit and all I can say is thank you for bequeathing to me and my generation a free and independent country,” Mataire said.

Indeed, they might have gone to sleep, but we can still remember these sweet mothers and women through Pastor Shirley Caesar’s song, “I Remember Mama”.

Below are the lyrics, courtesy of some Internet websites:

I remember Mama

And the love that she gave

Kneeling by her bed side

I can still hear Mama say,

“The people are depending on you, Shirley,

Don’t you let them down.”

I remember Mama in a happy way!

We went to school with holes in our shoes

We didn’t have much

But the Lord saw us through

Mama kept the family together!

I remember Mama in a happy way!

She packed our lunch in an old greasy bag

It might’ve seemed empty,

but it was more than others had

It had a lot of love way down deep inside (yes it did)

And I remember Mama in a happy way!

I remember Mama in a happy way!

Now Mama is sleeping in the bosom of Jesus Christ (yeah)

Somehow I know she’s smiling,

She’s smiling on us right now.

One day I’ll see her again,

How happy I will be (yeah yeah)

And I remember Mama in a happy way (yeah yeah)!

I remember Mama in a happy way!

I remember Mama in a happy way!

I remember Mama in a happy way!