Chitova WeMapfungavutsi

My mother has always been my everything. She raised me with love and care. She pushed me and would teach me under the moonlight. I learnt to write my name on the ground 😁 She showed up for me at every prize giving day, visiting day, sports day and everything, she was always there! She sacrificed a lot to move me from Mambale Primary School to Sacred Heart. (All my five siblings were now in high school and I was now walking that 7 km by myself 🥺) As I got older, I realised how much sacrifice it took for her to be on a bus at 1 am from eMambale to Bulawayo, and then take the school bus to Sacred Heart in the morning and still show up with a smile. And because I was young, and she didn’t want me to feel like I was less than other kids, she made sure I had everything required. (Sacred Heart made it easy too because we were not allowed to wear our own clothes ever or to have groceries or anything that wasn’t on the school list). She sold so many cows shame to put all of us through good schools. She didn’t want us to do high school in the village because she understood how the world works. She did it so well that in my earlier years I didn’t realise we were struggling. (Being in the village helped because everyone was poor. So we were good 😂) And she was my Grade 1 and Grade 2 teacher, and yho, she would beat me up (rightfully so. I was naughty 🙈). She beat me up so bad this one day, I yelled, “Stop it! I’ll report you to my mother!” 🤣 Everything I am today, I owe to her. Her strength. Her grace. Her love. And the many hugs and words of affirmation. The encouragement and support. Oh shame umama, showed up and continues to show up for me every day 😭 And knowing she’s proud of me is more rewarding than I can ever put into words. I can talk all day about my mother 😅🙈