Letter from America By Ken Mufuka
THE death of Gibson Sibanda of the MDC-M brings to the front the idea of a national hero. The issue here is that even among the saints, we would find that there are some heavyweight apostles like St Paul and St Peter. But surely there is a category called the lesser saints.
Zimbabwe has been blessed by many lesser saints, who loved their country so much that like the widow woman, they gave everything they had, even if this amounted to a farthing.
I think my father, Brigadier Miles Mufuka of the Salvation Army falls into this group. I do not expect him to wear golden slippers in heaven or to sup at the table with the heavyweights like St Paul, but he will be recognised as one of the lesser saints, whose lives were a blessing to Zimbabwe.
Born in the year of influenza (1918) his mother died of that plague, leaving my father, Miles, to be raised by a feisty sister, Marita Chihera, 15 miles from the Salvation Army Institute at Howard.
Marita, who was illiterate, intuitively saw that the future lay with those who mastered western education.
My father must have appreciated that premise, because he cycled to Howard everyday on his cycle for five years until he graduated from Standard Four.
The courses for Standard Five and Six were taken while he was already in officer training for service with the Salvation Army.
The life of a Salivation Army officer is that of self sacrifice. When I remember the kindness of the saints, and how they contributed to our well being in food and material comforts on a daily basis, tears come into my eyes.
In Masvingo, my father had a family of eight children, but was housed in a single rondavel near the flea market at the bus station. Only the three girls slept in our house while all the boys were farmed out.
I do not know how my father inculcated the lesson into us that our very survival and well-being depended on God’s graciousness and the generosity of the saints. We were taught that one day, it is our duty to return the well from which one drank the sweet waters and say thanks.
The significance of the story is that Brigadier Mufuka emphasised only two principles in life, a life of righteousness and a life elevated by western education. The saints who helped us were not our relatives, thus we have a Pan Africanist outlook on life.
Today, we receive the 84th student to be admitted into Lander University, through Mufuka Family Scholarship. I am a sinner of the worst kind and I claim no credit for myself, but I believe the seed started in 1981 during his lifetime.
We started with a two scholarships per year at Howard Institute and later at Mazoe Secondary School.
At that time, the three American Mufuka Brothers were in mid-level management.
Then blessings came roaring like the Zambezi River. Ten years later, my brother Douglas, was nominated leading physician at Chicago Southside Hospital. I was promoted to a professorship with full rank about the same time. My brother Howard bought a service station. With these windfall blessings, particularly for my brother and his wife, Mufuka Family Foundation was set up at Lander University in memory of our father. Now we could play with the big boys.
These efforts did not go unnoticed at Lander University. The trustees noticed that all Zimbabwean students, without exception, excelled in their studies. I was invited for a trustee reception.
“What is your secret in choosing these brilliant young students from Zimbabwe?” A statement which I will cherish forever came from Eleanor Teal, a vice president of the university.
Teal had noticed that in the hustle and bustle of American life, whenever Zimbabwean students met her on campus, they would go out of their way to say hi, curtsy, remove their caps, and inquire kindly about her health. She told me that American students don’t pay her any mind.
Very soon a nearby college invited me to teach there and they too wanted to know if I could send them some of the excellent students from Zimbabwe. Thus the legend was spread in all the neighboring colleges.
A disappointing note is that of all the 84 students who have passed through our hands, only two parents seem to have grasped the concept. These are Leornard Gwata and Daniel Manyika. These two have from time to time inquired about the scholarship and sent some money into the fund. The rest, like the 10 lepers, they went away merrily and forgot the past.
Today we received John Masvi, son of a widow, Colonel Grace Masvi of the Salvation Army. Yesterday, I drove from summer camp, Allan Manyika from Guruve back to college. Timmy Pasi from Masvingo has graduated as a computer science major. When Major John Pamacheche of the Salvation Army died 10 years ago, his widow wondered how he was going to put through college the twin boys left.These two boys are with us now. One was fourth in Business School out of a class of 60.
These works may not qualify my father to wear golden slippers in heaven and to sit at the table with the mighty saints, St Peter and St Paul.
But surely there are kids in Masvingo High School library who have the curiosity to ask. Whose picture is that? I am sure they will be told that when the school burned down and the city fathers were heartbroken, that person in the picture was the first to give a major contribution for the rebuilding of the school.
l Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from our correspondent’s biography. He writes about his father sowing the seed of patriotism in the Mufuka family, which led to the creation of the two scholarships at Lander University in his honour.
Show/Hide commentswritten by Svinurai f***y, September 15, 2010
-
- +0
-
-
written by Anon, September 07, 2010
-
- +2
-
-
Show/Hide comment form