“WHERE do you come from?” I asked the woman I worked with a few days ago, although there was no need to ask that question because I could tell that she was from Zimbabwe from the ID badge she wore around her neck, and her exaggerated English accent.
“Originally from Zimbabwe, but now British,” she said with a wide smile.
“And you?”
“Mwana wekumusha, I am also from Zimbabwe,” I said.
Our conversation reverted to Shona.
We talked about life in the UK in general, work, our families back home and I was surprised to learn that all her family (grandparents, parents, brothers and sisters as well as some aunts and uncles from both her parents’ side) were all here and that her grandparents and parents live a few houses from me.
“That’s really interesting, I mean, to have all your family in this country,” I said.
“I have to travel to Zimbabwe to see my family.
“My mother would never live here.
“She only visited once and she didn’t like it.
“She was miserable and left after three months.
“My siblings are doing so well in Zimbabwe there is no need for them to come here.”
Out of interest I asked her if she ever thought of going back to Zimbabwe to live there permanently.
She was adamant that Zimbabwe was now out of the question; her life (and that of her entire family) was now in the UK.
I was not surprised to hear that declaration that she would never go back to Zimbabwe; I hear it more often, especially these days.
All her family had moved to the UK after 2000.
And she is not the only one whose whole family came to live in the UK.
Her parents and grandparents are receiving state pensions in the UK (yet they never worked here).
No wonder they see the UK as the ‘Promised Land’.
I worked with another Zimbabwean man who also said that he has no intentions of going back to Zimbabwe.
“I only go there once a year to spend my money,” he said.
However, last week I worked with a middle-aged Zimbabwean woman who gave me a very different view.
“I came to the UK in 1998, escaping an abusive marriage,” she said.
“I managed to bring my children over here, but they have since finished their nursing degrees and my two daughters work here as nurses.
“My son decided to move to Australia where he is also a nurse.
“I am now planning to go home (Zimbabwe) for good.
“I am 55 years old and there is no need for me to continue living here.”
She said she built a very big house in Tynwald, Harare and she wants to get into farming when she goes back to Zimbabwe in two years’ time.
I told her that she was one of the few people who would want to go back home for good at some point in their lives.
“Don’t worry about those (who don’t want to go back for good),” she said.
“They lack foresight.
“Any person with a clear foresight should see the writing on the walls.
“Tell me, in the 1950s and 60s, do you think any white person in Zimbabwe would have thought that one day they would leave that country?
“What is happening in the Mediterranean (African migrant problem) should be a warning sign that things are not going to remain the same here.
“Do you think with thousands of Africans coming to Europe everyday from the Mediterranean, that it’s sustainable?
“It’s time to make a move before things get worse here, my sister. “Kana kumba zvinhu zvikanzi zvaoma, eheka kumusha kwangu, zvinooma ndirikowo nevamwe.”
Many people, especially those with young children, think that going to Zimbabwe would be a challenge because they will have to face the challenge of paying school fees and medical costs.
That is understandable; but for someone in their late 60s to boast that they would never go back to Zimbabwe, that is another thing.
I talked to a few people to find out their views about returning to Zimbabwe at some point.
Patience (35) is a Zimbabwean social worker living and working in Wales, and she came to the UK in 2002.
She said she would return to Zimbabwe as soon as the economic situation there gets better.
“KuZimbabwe kukaita mushe I will go back.
“I bought a house in Mount Pleasant.
“Have you seen elderly Jamaicans are being treated in nursing homes (old people’s homes)?
“I used to work in a home where there was a very old Jamaican man who was a resident.
“His children dumped him in that home.
“None of the staff members bathed him.
“I used to give him a bath when I was on duty.
“Aiti akaridza bhera for help the staff members would ignore him, they said they didn’t understand his accent.
“I am telling you, I will go back to Zimbabwe as soon as I can.
“I am just waiting for the economic situation to get better.”
Patience will return to Zimbabwe even if it means uprooting her young children from British schools and a free NHS.
In contrast, another Zimbabwean social worker (53) who lives and works in Leicester said she has no prospects of returning to Zimbabwe.
“Like many Zimbabweans, when I came to this country in 2002, I thought I was only coming for a few months or years,” she said over the phone.
“But now I have been living and working in this country for a large part of my working life.
“I contribute to a pension scheme here, so I will live where my pension is. There is nothing for me to return to Zimbabwe for.
“I bought a house here.
“My life is now here.
“I told my daughter that she can put me in an old people’s home when I grow old.”
Another Zimbabwean man in his 60s also told me that although he has two houses in Zimbabwe and he visits his extended family in Zimbabwe, at least once a year, he does not think he would return to Zimbabwe to live there for good.
“My wife and children are here,” he said.
“I took early retirement leave in Zimbabwe before I came here.
“I have a pension in Zimbabwe which is paid into my Zimbabwean account regularly.
“I am working here and contributing to a pension scheme.
“I would rather be here with my family than going back to Zimbabwe.
“It is a decision we have accepted as a family.”