TheJourneyVolume1 - Book - Page 92
#NextGenUNDP
Maxwell Gomera
Coun tr y o f O r igin :
UNDP Co u n t r y O f f ic e :
Date o f Ap po in tm e n t :
Z I M BA BW E
R WA N DA
O C TO BE R 2 02 0
“I AM INSPIRED BY THE STORIES
OF HOPE AND PERSEVERANCE OF
THE PEOPLE OF RWANDA.”
I
grew up in a family of seven children. Four were my
direct siblings and two were adopted by my parents.
I am the youngest child of the family. My adopted
siblings, Widreck and Dadirai, suffered tremendous
trauma at a very young age. Widreck lost his father and
Dadirai both his parents. They experienced so much
grief and sorrow, and their youth was filled with so much
pain. It wasn’t that they were being treated unfairly. My
parents loved us all unconditionally. I only found out they
were my adopted siblings aged 20. I grew up, learning to
share their pain, or at least I thought I did.
As Africans, we often express our sympathy with those
in pain, and sometimes we think we understand the pain
others are going through. But often we don’t. As an adult,
and having recently lost a son, I now know that it is only
when you have lived through such pain, that you can fully
understand it.
Travelling down life’s road, the images of my childhood
shape my interactions. I know that, like Widreck and
Dadirai, everyone has their own story and pathway in
life. But the one thing we have in common is that we
are all trying to find our way to that place of happiness.
And if I can journey along with anyone and understand
their story, I will have succeeded in being a better human
being.
FROM VILLAGE SCHOOL TO UNIVERSITY
We all grew up in a small mining village called Eiffel
Flats in Zimbabwe. Going to school in that village was
a challenge. We had everything stacked against us. Few
books, no internet, overcrowded classes, and very little
hope of ever making it out of the village.
Insofar as opportunities after school go, it does not
get any worse than that small town. Our worldview was
limited. We largely travelled on foot, walking for miles
to the nearest town to see the latest model of cars, which
were not that great in hindsight. For most of us, the only
opportunity to escape that village was to do well in school.
I am one of the lucky ones that made it out.
Like most kids my age, I enjoyed the school holidays.
Holidays meant the end of early mornings and homework;
it meant the beginning of life! But unlike many children
my age, my holidays were spent in Mhondoro, a rural
area in western Zimbabwe, where my parents would send
me every year to tend to the family farm and herd cattle.
When I was in school, the dinner table stories were
about scientific practitioners, especially doctors,
engineers, and sometimes successful teachers. The subtle
and subliminal messages were clear – the careers of the
future were in medicine. Environment and development
hardly ever came up.
It was only when I got to university that I decided to
explore a career in agricultural economics. And as they
say, the rest is history. And I have serendipity to thank
for this.
WHEN OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS
Just after completing my studies, many years ago, I
walked into the offices of the Zimbabwe Trust. This
was my third visit to the offices. I was a young man in
desperate need of some work experience. I wanted to
meet with the Executive Secretary of the Trust to find
work in their wildlife sector. The Trust was at the center
of Zimbabwe’s famed Communal Areas Management
Program for Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE). During
my first visit, I had been informed that the Executive
Secretary was busy and that I should call. During the
second visit, the Secretary was unavailable once again.
But on this third visit, I was finally able to see him and
make my case.
The Executive Secretary could not offer an opportunity ›
Rwanda has shared our
narrative that the future must be
green, inclusive, and resilient,
otherwise, the future will be
unsustainable.”
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