Remembering Zimbabwe

John Vissers says: The short answer is yes, absolutely.
Joseph McLelland writes: Yes indeed – the famous definition of St. Anselm was “faith seeking understanding.” The title of my recent book is a play on that: Understanding the Faith.
Re A Colonial Life, by Margaret (Rudo) Zondo, November
Some of my recollections differ from Margaret's and that could be because mine are of the late colonial days and early independence.
Although at one time I did attend a private (convent school) I later attended a government school. Both of these institutions of learning encompassed all nationalities. From my recollection, children attended school in the language or religion of their choice, rather like French or English here in Canada.
I remember the first time I visited South Africa and saw the park benches marked “Whites Only,” that was foreign to me – in my Zimbabwe there were no such divisions. Public places such as swimming pools, hospitals, restaurants, libraries, parks, etc. were all multiracial.
I grew up in a modest, three-bedroom brick bungalow, a far cry from the posh houses that Margaret describes. Yes, we did have a native African servant, who had a four-room cottage in our garden where he lived with his wife and two children.
In my Zimbabwe no one was hungry, everybody worked, children all had easy access to education; it was known as the Breadbasket of Africa. There was peace in the land and it wasn't until the uprisings after 1965 that I ever knew fear.
My heart grieves for the Zimbabwe of today where fear, hunger and poverty are an every day fact of life for all, regardless of race. A school friend of mine, a white African, still lives in Harare and writes to me of the daily struggle for survival. My prayers are with the people of Zimbabwe.