ISSUE #1

19
with flushed faces, shining eyes, and palpitating hearts, looking hungrily at the dear man as
he proceeded.
“...As they say in our custom – If you don’t work you don’t eat...”
To Dumisani this man was just out to show off. Life was not as simple as that. It was
very possible to work very hard and still not manage to eat. Take for example, the
destruction of the vending stalls. It had been announced that an alternative temporary
trading place would be made available so that vendors could continue with their trade. But,
that never happened. In high density suburbs, vendors now desperately lined main roads
selling their wares to the few motorists who stopped for them.
Zimbabweans are known to be resilient people. Now they had been reduced to fowl
rearers. Would their resilience hold?
“Dear customers, we should not crowd here for too long,” a voice was heard from
near the entrance.
These words were greeted by murmuring from the crowd. “You said today is the
collecting day, yet you stand there to lecture us,” a huge man with a distended belly
growled.
“We are not your kids, and mind you, we have been here since dawn,” a middle-aged
woman with a baby strapped to her back chimed in.
“I understand. I understand you ​vabereki​,” the man from the shop replied in a
restrained voice. “But, we have to be quick before the police come and intervene.”
Following this exchange, the weary customers followed the orderly queue to receive
their chicks. The early rumour of riot police moving around the Central Business District that
day, had at first been greeted with a sense of dread, but was soon forgotten as the
collections progressed without interruptions. Boxes of chicks were distributed among the
customers according to their various purchases.
Dumisani - felt his heartbeat pump faster as he slowly moved up in the queue. When
he received his box, a flood of tears rolled down his cheeks. He had done it at last. Squatting
by the gate, he began to count his new babies one by one. Tenderly, he felt each of the
chicks, innocent looking birds that would occupy him for the next few weeks. A rare smile
spread on his face as he imagined feeding them and watching them grow. Yes, this was his
new project and he would see it through to the end. Momentarily, he thought of his fellow
university students. What were they doing with their lives during these trying times of
lockdown? He yearned to see them and tell them about his project. Perhaps one or two of
them would help him with ideas about how to market his chickens. He had heard success
stories of others like himself scaling up to dizzying heights. Yes, perhaps he would have a
breakthrough, and end up supplying chain stores and supermarkets. Perhaps, he would sit
down and write a project proposal and submit it to different potential funders. He had at one
time watched a presentation of how to write a business plan. Surely, it was achievable. He
had heard it said that success was a matter of determination, taking and seizing
opportunities.