How it Really Is….Not how it is For You!

This piece was inspired by a rather unfortunate encounter that highlighted how sheltered my life has been and the influence my upbringing has had on how I view the world as well as how little I know about what is really going on in my country, Zimbabwe.

A few weeks ago my mother and I went to visit a homestead and as we were having conversation with the young couple that stayed there they mentioned how they had just returned from fetching water from a bottle store that was about 3kms away. As this conversation went on they continued to explain about how they have to get drinking water from that bottle store, how they also have to get bathing water from somewhere else as well as ordeals about rising from their slumber at 2am to fill the bath tub. The first thing I sort of asked mid conversation was, “Why?” and what was running through my mind was, “Is it really necessary for you to go to such extremes for drinking water on a daily basis?” and “Why wake up at 2am to fill the bath tub?”  It really didn’t make sense to me and the moment I asked that question my mom immediately gave me this sharp look telling me to SHUT UP!  I was baffled and kept quiet.

What I want to highlight right now is that I know and have always known that there has been a water situation in Zimbabwe. I know that water has been a problem for quite some time and this has been going on for as long as I can remember really so this exactly wasn't news to me BUT the extensity of the subject matter had never really been highlighted to me personally. This is mainly because from the time we moved into our current house 18 years ago a borehole was sunk and a few years later we installed a water tank for whenever the power went out (this often happens in Zimbabwe too). I went to a private boarding school for high school and this was the case for my primary education too. Whenever there was no water we either had back up tanks or huge buckets of water made available everywhere. Soon after that I left for university abroad so although I knew water was a problem I never really had days where I woke up and had to go and get water from the neighbors or at some minister’s house. If there was ever an issue with water at my house it was always a case where of somebody not switching on the borehole or ensuring the tank was filled the night before. Similarly everywhere I have always gone I haven’t stayed there for long periods of time where I’d have to go fetch water with the exception of visits to the rural areas where this is accepted as common practice (clearly it isn't the case for them alone anymore).

Essentially what hit me that day is that there are people who do not have wells or boreholes and there are many Zimbabweans who have had to travel/walk long distances to fetch water to drink, water to shower, water to wash their dished, water to flush their toilets, water to do their laundry DESPITE living in the City. Cases of this are on the rise too…things are not any better and it’s become a grave situation of which my mind had never been open to. I never really understood possibly because of my age at the time or simply because of the family that I had been brought up in as well as the places and people I interacted with. As a result I probably had/have a very limited understanding about what is really going on and although I might sympathize and cry foul about, “Oh we have these issues in Zimbabwe” there is a very significant aspect of them that I do not know and may never know unless I have become exposed to them.

This brings me to the main point of this blog post that’s highlighted in the topic: “How it really is, not how it is for you”. By virtue of your financial standing - your wealth or poverty you are going to live in very specific places and be surrounded by a certain caliber of people. The lifestyle that you lead (the schools you send your children to, the places that you shop) are going to create a bubble of persons around you and a community who essentially by default is not going to be very different from yourself. In effect your world view is governed by these not so invisible divides. How external matters affect you and how you see things is typically based on the level and extent of your exposure. I’m immediately reminded of my university peers who upon hearing I was Zimbabwean sympathized with my ‘suffering’ and hunger. They questioned why it was that I spoke such good English and were confused when I showed them pictures of tall buildings in Harare. With that said that is how it was FOR ME unlike the little boy in Chizumba whose English isn't so good, who has never seen tall buildings in Harare or a computer.

So Yes…this really constitutes a bit of my personal  very random rantings. I would like to encourage anybody reading this blog to make it a point to try to see further than your world, discover and appreciate “How it really is, Not how it is for You!”

XOXO

Chido Dziva Chikwari 

P.S Getting over the not so invisible divide is probably easier said than done. E.g. how my schoolmates viewed Zimbabwe was based heavily on what they saw portrayed in the media. I understand how they can see things like that, how else are they to get exposure to the truth or 'bigger picture'? I guess in this case it was up to me to TELL them, show them.