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Dr Masimba Mavaza

This week we continue with our story from last week. Mandinema continued to share her experience in the Uk. Having been kicked out from her relative’s house and now renting a replica of a cold cave belonging to her pastor and paying half her salary for rent, Mandie reflects on her first day at work. 

She continues by saying, being fair to some agents, most Zimbabweans have perfected the art of deceit. Deception is lodged safely in our blood. Very soon the only truth you will hear from Zimbabweans fighting to come to the UK is nothing. 

Even if some people say good morning, you might need to go out and double check if indeed the sun is out. We have lowered our dignity all for the love of England. It is some sort of a national shame. Many Zimbabweans who paid thousands to the sponsors in the Certificate of Sponsorship scam have lied that they can drive. They have paid thousands to unscrupulous VID officers to get driving licences. 

This is because the requirement to get the sponsorship was to have a drivers licence among other things. So many people brandishing their driver’s licences never drove a car and never set for any exam for a driving licence or provisional. 

Her story has exposed the accelerated corruption in the VID department. People have made money with England. Now we have workers from the polytechnic in Harare who can give you first aid certificates. You can even get a paramedic certificate if you pay more. For now you can even pay for one to sit the English test for you. The process is elaborate. One has to create a fake passport in your name but with his photo to sit in the exam room. 

This has seen many inexperienced people being inexperienced. 

Inexperienced means having little ( no) knowledge or experience of a particular thing.

Inexperienced means amateur , childish, having no experience at all. 

Though there is still maintained conflict, we may imagine.

Ex: He is an inexperienced one. ( Having no experience at all , we may train him)

He is an unexperienced one. ( Having some experience which is not perfect , hence amateur , he is of no use when not perfectly trained )

Inexperienced means having little ( no) knowledge or experience of a particular thing. Unexperienced means amateur , childish, Though there is still maintained conflict, we may imagine.

“ So on my first day at work all hell broke loose. I was given a car by the new employer who was found for me by pastor. I had told pastor that I was a good driver. I even lied further to gain more stars. I told my pastor that while he was in England I was driving for the First Lady. I wanted to create more stars on my shoulder. But the moment of reckoning was coming and indeed it came. 

“Some people think their lives are hard and full of disappointment; well I am one of those people. I am a hard worker, but no matter what I do, I still face problems. It is as if my life is an ocean of endless problems and disappointments; however one of the disappointments I have faced happens to be the most interesting part of my life. I had been learning how to drive for a whole month.

“ I was spending part of my everyday life in a car listening to instructions from a boring old man, but I kept up with that to get my licence and enjoy the freedom of being able to go wherever I wanted, whenever I wanted. But time was running out so I ended up buying my licence.  I was given Vauxhall 2015 model. It was manual. I told them I was very good in manual. I was given a list of addresses I needed to visit. What I was doing was called home care. 

“Where my clients have capacity and I only go to their houses and help them with tea and their medication. I got in the car my shoes were starting to wet with sweat. I was shacking and my eyes were red like liver. I summoned my courage so that I can maintain my lies. I started the car but alas it was in number one gear. Without a warning it jumped forward missing my manager by a few centimetres. I did not know that the car had a grudge with the wall. It kept forward with a ferocious speed. I could not control it. It crashed into the wall with such vicious force. It was so angry that it destroyed its own front part.  

“I was pulled towards the steering. I did not know what was happening. I only came round when my chest gave me a compressed pain. I could not open the door. I head my manager calling on God. I realised what had happened. Someone rushed to the car and pulled me out of the car. I was injured but I had to pretend and feign more injury to escape the shame of my fatal lies. 

“I realised that lying can be costly.  I recognised that the increase in high potential fatal incidents (i.e. incidents that could cause major loss or a fatality. Now this is reasonably expected in England due to the increasing numbers of inexperienced personnel who have purchased everything from care certificate to drivers licence even passports. This has made the situation to be more susceptible to accidents and safety breaches.

The rest of the story is for another day said Mandie showing an embarrassed face. 

Temba Machona had his first experience in the car having successfully used his pocket to pass the hill start. 

“The day before my driving test was one of the worst and darkest days of my life because I was extremely nervous and worried about the judgment day” “quipped Temba “My brothers and sisters teased me for studying so hard to get my driving permit when I was going to pay for it though. Although I studied hard, I got my licence after I had to part with few hundreds of dollars. 

The VID guy said to me the distance between you and your licence is exactly the distance between your hand and your wallet. I spent few minutes with my driving instructor making sure I knew everything that I had to know and how the funds are to be paid. We went through all the instructions and all other details that there was to know. I usually sleep late, but on the day before my driving test I slept unusually early.

During my sleep, I dreamt of being in a car with the police officer sitting on the passenger seat screaming “You are a failure in driving” and that made me wake up in the middle of the night sweating. I kept imagining failing the test the next day, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it and my money. However, I tried to stop thinking about tomorrow and tried to get a good night’s sleep, which would be an advantage for me when taking the test. The payment was done on a Thursday and that night Finally, I slept like a baby without any nightmares this time.

On the big day, I woke up to my alarm and got ready to be picked up by my instructor to go to the VID station, where I would have my driving test. I was very nervous, and my instructor, while we were on the way to the police station, said that I was not driving as well as I always do. I had been turning without informing other drivers that I was going to, by using the indicator. Once I got to the vid station, I was waiting in the car for the officer to arrive and start my test. I couldn’t help it but imagine that he would be an old man with eyes crossed and that he would be laughing evilly, when failing me. When the officer got in the car, that’s when I got even more nervous and my legs were vibrating as if I was a phone that was being called. My dad told me, the day before, not to let the officer see me tense, or else he wouldn’t pass me in the test and could even cause my arrest for bribery. Unfortunately, any person who laid his eyes on me would notice how tense I was. However, I tried to calm myself down, so I thought about the long period I had been learning how to drive and convinced myself that it would be a piece of cake. Moreover, my older brothers and sisters got their licenses without learning as much as I did.

Before leaving the police station, wI took one last look at the place where I would be coming back to get my license. Then I started the car and the officer was directing me on where to go; however, I kept imagining all the things that could have went wrong or even worst if I failed the test. I was told to make a right turn, when my mind went blank and I didn’t know where my left was, or my right. I tried remembering that my right would be towards the arm I use to write. Once I got to my first stop sign I asked myself “Is this going to be the sign that would fail me?” It failed two of my friends in the past. Luckily, I stopped at the sign smoothly thanks to all the training I had. After that, the officer took me to the parking lot of a gas station where I was tested for parallel parking. The space in which I had to park looked so extremely small that it would be impossible to park in. I did my best and tried recalling every step my instructor taught me and finally did it in success. When I was leaving the parking spot, something unexpected happened. 

A teenage girl was walking in front of the car, but I failed to notice her because I was looking at the cars coming from the back. Instinctively, I had to hit the brakes hard and caused both of us, the officer and me, to bend towards the front of the car. 

At that moment, I thought I had ruined my perfect driving and gave the officer the excuse he was looking for to fail me. In order to reduce the tension, I asked the officer calmly, “Are you alright?” and he replied, “I am fine, but don’t do that again, concentrate.” Then, I found out that I might still have a chance to pass this test, since the officer didn’t ask me to go back to the station. He finally asked me to park at a shop and asked me to go in and by him a Parker of cigarets.  He then told me to drive back to the station. 

I pulled myself together and continued driving, while listening to the instruction from the officer. 

When we got to the station. I was told that I had passed. I felt so happy even though I knew that I had paid for my licence. The time of recognise came when I was given my first car by my employer in the UK. 

The problems Zimbabweans face in their roles as carers despite the Agencies is the lies which catches up with them when they get to the UK. It is not surprising that manyore new comers in the UK are already contemplating going back to Zimbabwe. 

Truth being told Zimbabwe is far much better than anywhere in the world. 

In the UK we only work for food and bills and sending funds home. There is no life in the UK. 

The most painful thing is to be speaking in English the whole day. Sometimes I mix Shona and England while speaking to a none Zimbabwean.  

I remember one senior lawyer shouting to the magistrate that his client was putting on a free juzi and a grey Batye. 

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