The phoenix of Chimanimani
IF there is one person who can confidently tell the story of how he overcame what he went though, one person who can easily become someone else’s survival guide, then it is none other than 19-year-old Mr Tatenda Mapungwana of Chimanimani.
When Cyclone Idai hit on March 19, 2019, with Chimanimani District suffering much of the damages, the story drew global attention.
The intense and devastating Cyclone Idai was one of the worst tropical cyclones on record ever to affect Africa and the Southern Hemisphere.
One of the long-lived storms (March 4, 2019 – March 21, 2019) caused catastrophic damage, and a humanitarian crisis in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Malawi, leaving more than 1 500 people dead and many more missing as it travelled at a highest wind speed of 205km per hour.
The estimated damage was valued at US$3.3 billion as it easily became the costliest tropical cyclone in the South-West Indian Ocean. While all these damages were at a regional and national scale, there are personal scars of Cyclone Idai that some individuals will live with for the rest of their lives. Mr Mapungwana is one of such people. When the cyclone ravaged his home area of Rusitu Kopa Madhomeni residence camp, the then 14-year-old had his father, mother and three siblings — two young brothers and a sister — swept away, never to be seen again.
Mr Mapungwana only survived mainly because he was at a boarding school — Biriiri High School in the same district.
Today, Mr Mapungwana is a proud ‘A’ Level graduate who came out with an impressive 15 points in Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry, thanks to the Higher Life Foundation and USAP Community School Educations Matters Africa Foundation, who took over in providing for the youngster’s needs.
In a few months, Mr Mapungwana will be leaving the country for the United States of America where he will study Medicine at Middlebury College.
Mr Mapungwana said: “It was a painful experience. It is something that I never imagined, and when such things happen, you run out of tears due to excruciating pain.
“However, I am really grateful to Higher Life Foundation and USAP Community School Educations Matters Africa Foundation for helping me to get my life back on the rails. I will be leaving the country soon for the USA to study Medicine and this has always been my dream.”
Soon after the sad events of March 19, 2019, the young Mapungwana told his relatives that he was comfortable staying with Mr Witness Matiza, his father’s friend and church-mate.
Mr Matiza, who also lost his wife, a threeyear-old daughter and a three-months-old son said: “This young man is just awesome. Sometimes you wonder why such nasty
things happen to such innocent and lovely souls. He is so disciplined.
“When his parents were swept away with his siblings, he told his relatives that he wanted to stay with me. I was close to his father who was our church leader. He is like my own son.
“We have comforted each other since the disaster, and we have duly accepted what happened. We now know and understand that our loved ones are no more,” said Mr Matiza.
Just like a phoenix, Mr Mapungwana rose from the ashes and has picked up the pieces and will soon be living his long cherished dream of being a medical doctor.