MY father Isaac Mapwanya is a war veteran who helped in the liberation of Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
Growing up, father did not see himself being one of the guerrillas.

He had no intention of joining the liberation struggle.
Born in 1953, father was lucky to be among those who got a scholarship to further their education.
He was issued a scholarship for his Advanced Level by one Doctor Sadza from Nyadire Hospital.
Father tells me that all he could think about was going to America for his studies.
As an educated young man, he had to think of ways of going to America.
With his scholarship, father decided to go to Malawi so that he could be able to travel from there.
He knew that it was very difficult to go to America from Rhodesia for people were preparing to go for a war.
At that time he was working at Woolworths as a part-time receiving clerk and used that opportunity to ask one driver of a delivering truck to smuggle him to Malawi.
On their way to Malawi, they crossed Nyamapanda going to Tete and they managed to cross most of the roadblocks.
Father met his misfortune when they were about to cross Angonia district in Tete province.
It was a Frelimo roadblock that led to his capture while the driver was told to carry on with his journey.
The Frelimo soldiers took him to Chingodzi base so that he could join them.
Frelimo was still not independent so the area was still an operation zone.
Father tells me that he could not find the power to escape since he was now in the military atmosphere.
He was forced to join them and it was from their political orientation that he concluded that he was to become one of them.
Fortunately, it was the personal assistant to the provincial commander Samson Vincent (Cde Sauru), who liked and instructed him to work in the office of the provincial commander.
This move was an advantage to father who had seen his dream of going to learn in America being shattered.
He was then trained military tactics that include guerrilla and conventional warfare.
The year was still 1974 and my father had his dream shattered while on the other hand he was fulltime in the FRELIMO force.
He did not know what was happening back home for his parents living in the rural areas had no idea where he was.
Father did not only fight the Frelimo war, but was also asked by the first governor of Manica province Jose Moyana to teach English.
Apart from that, he also translated newspapers and other documents.
Mozambican independence in 1975 opened avenues for more Zimbabwean comrades to get into Mozambique for military training.
Father says he was very happy to meet fellow Zimbabweans, who were coming for war and he knew that independence was the next big thing for Zimbabwe.
FRELIMO opened a refugee department in the President’s office before father was given the task to work in the department to receive people from Zimbabwe.
There he met Cde Chihombe, John Mayowe, Levy Gwarada, the late Felix Chemandiwi, Petsi Mecador and Retired General Victor Rungano.
Comrades from Zimbabwe wanted father to be on their side, but unfortunately, the governor refused.
In 1976, father was among those that established Radio Chimoio and Voice of Zimbabwe.
After establishing the radio station, father then asked the governor for an opportunity to join his fellow comrades.
In 1977, he became a liberation fighter for the Second Chimurenga.
He was now fighting a war together with his people and for his people.
His Chimurenga name became ‘Isaac wekuChimoio’.
It was during this war that he met my mother, who was a nurse up to independence in 1980.
After independence, father worked in the department of information in ZANU before joining ZBC as a programme compiler in the library for the year 1980 only.
He also joined the Zimbabwe National Army and went to the School of Signal in Bulawayo in 1981 before retiring in 1995.
I am a proud son of a war veteran who bravely fought for the liberation of both Mozambique and Zimbabwe.