IT has been said that pain and misery are unnecessary and should end when people take charge of their feelings, beliefs and actions.
Without doubt the Second Republic has given us the means to make alterations in our values, rules and controls which have allowed our lives to become more productive.
It is exhilarating to be an eyewitness to the processes that will get us to the promised land.
When we bask in the glory of 2030, I will say I saw, l walked and participated in the journey or, more accurately, the fight, the war that got us here.
When l look back to where we have come from, I am more fuelled and fired up to get where we are going; the heroics in our history tell me l am much more than I’m demonstrating mentally, physically and emotionally.
What can l do today that can make a difference in shaping our destinies?
How can I expand, learn, grow and share that knowledge with others in a meaningful and enjoyable way?
Every day, when I wake up, uppermost in my mind are four questions.
- What will be my legacy?
- What will be the legacy of my
generation?
- Did we successfully carry the mantle
of our forefathers and mothers?
- Will our contribution today give a
massive boost and start to future
generations?
Every generation in our beautiful motherland has benefitted from the work and efforts of preceding generations.
Statistics, evidence may be presented to prove otherwise but we are beneficiaries of goodness achieved by and through sweat, blood and life of those who have gone ahead of us.
The First Chimurenga, Second Chimurenga and Third Chimurenga have been battles fought, successfully, by others for us.
Will my generation produce names in the mould of Chingaira Makoni, Chiwashira, Mashonganyika, Herbert Chitepo, Rex Nhongo, Leopold Takawira, Shuvai Mahofa, Vivian Mwashita, Mama Mafuyane, Alfred Nikitha Mangena and Jason Ziyaphapha Moyo, to mention but a few?
Zimbabwe is being built brick-by-brick.
At every given time in the construction of this great edifice called Dzimbahwe, thousands have flocked to take part, to contribute their expertise.
They have been stirred and driven by a spirit force so strong to be irresistible.
Who can explain hundreds of schoolchildren just upping and going, leaving books and all behind.
Droves of university students abandoning lecture theaters for the bush.
Professionals leaving cushy jobs in various capitals of the world for service that offered no salary or any allowance.
Those who risked their homes, their lives to support the construction of Dzimbabwe.
It will be a lie to say I do not know the story of my forefathers and mothers.
The story of pain, misery, suffering, bravery and heroics of the living and departed of our country has been told and is imprinted in our minds.
To claim to not know it is pretense.
To pretend to not know it is hiding behind a finger.
To claim to not know it or to say the story does not matter will be because we are ashamed of what we are doing.
To not pick the trowel and continue laying bricks on Dzimbahwe is simply betrayal.
Those gone ahead of us acted not just to achieve but also to teach and show us the way so that we continue dzamara tasvika.
While the greater, brutal, vicious and scary battles have been fought and victory attained, the struggle continues.
Our erstwhile colonisers and enemies have not stopped fighting us.
And this is not good at all, this is very very very bad.
Zimbabwe has achieved many victories.
For Zimbabwe cannot become an example for the rest of Africa.
Zimbabwe is leading the rest of Africa.
Every African country is looking to Zimbabwe.
Despite our challenges, we own our land.
Black indigenes operate mines, extracting precious and semi-precious minerals across the country.
Black indigenes have thousands of livestock on land that is theirs.
Black indigenes are producing crops on vast tracts of highly fertile land.
Black indigenes do not just own property but high value commercial real estate.
Black indigenes are involved in every sector of the economy.
Zimbabweans, because of the battles that they have fought and won against imperialists and neo-colonialists, are now truly masters of their own destiny.
And what will be our generation’s contribution to modern day Zimbabwe?
It is a privilege to be an eyewitness to this great unfolding, this thrilling chapter being written right in front of our eyes.
We must not be complacent, rather we must keep moving, challenging each and all sectors to do more and to break new ground.
Vakomana nevasikana chokwadi nyika inovakwa nevene vayo/ilizwe lakhiwa ngabanikazi.
Tawanda Chenana is a businessman and social entrepreneur. He writes in his own capacity