The ugly side of migration

and school fees for the many children they left behind. She reminisces with a grin face the occasions when her children left home and how their promises have all become an imaginary tale of fantasy to her as she continues to struggle with five grand and great grandchildren among which is one born with various disabilities. He cannot walk, talk or move the rest of his limbs and Gogo has to take care of him without the necessary resources despite her old age.

None of the promises have materialised years after their departure.

The dictates of changing weather phenomena too, has not been very kind to Gogo Ncube as Tropical Cyclone Anna which hit St Joseph’s area in December last year destroyed what was left of her cracked mud huts and the scraps of what formed part of her prized possessions.

She recently welcomed a great grandchild from her granddaughter who she fends for. She has to farm in order to feed them and says had it not been for the spirit of neighbourliness she could have died.

“My children are in South Africa, all five of them (females), the other four are late, I had nine. Bakhohliwe ngathi abantwana, umam’umaNgwenya (They forgot about us when they went to South Africa, I swear on my mother’s name). I have heard that they are saying they are not working and have no money. One of my daughters has a few times, sent money for mealie meal, ungakhala kakhulu kwelinye ilanga uyezwa besithi siphiwe iR100 sithenge lathi i10kg ye mphuphu (If I complain a lot to one of my daughters, she occasionally sends R100 for a 10kg bag of mealie-meal),” she said holding back tears.

Gogo Ncube is widow and has nothing valuable to dispose to make life better for her or send her grandchildren to school and does farming with her hands.

“I do a bit of farming with my hands but this year I never got much produce but it is something. I have no cows, chickens or goats, I had five goats but they all vanished, they were stolen. I have one grandchild who failed to write her Grade Seven examination as there was no examination fees for her, the other one has a disability. The other grandchild is currently nursing a newborn baby,” she said.

Gogo Ncube narrated how she had been left in the open after Cyclone Anna washed away her home and how none of her children stepped in to aid the situation.

“In January there were heavy rains and one of my two mud huts gave in one afternoon, there were bits of food and some blankets. Akula

muntu ofayo abantu bekhona emhlabeni, (when you live amongst other people you do not die of hunger). When this occurred, villagers came that same day and helped clear out the flooded but collapsed hut. They removed what was left and threw away the damaged things. I never struggled to eat and feed my grandchildren; the villagers were there for me.

“We then moved into the remaining hut, the six of us with the food donations we had received. However, the place was too small and three people had to go and find shelter next door while the others remained,” she said.

She went on: “We were then visited by officials from the council who then saw our plight and also told their partners from the NGO sector called Sizimele and they teamed up to assist me.

“They assessed the situation and saw that I was not in a position to build my house. A few months later they built me a house that you see here today. I am grateful for their assistance, they brought in a builder from our community whom they paid to do the work.

“The community also played a huge role in bringing water and sand that was used during construction. They also ensured things moved smoothly in making bricks until the structure was complete. I am now a home owner and I am grateful to God for this,” she said.

Village head Ms Eunice Ndlovu applauded the work that was done for Gogo Ncube.

“We are happy as a village for this gift from Sizimele, our local government leadership, our local church Leader Father Innocent Makawule Ndlovu and the villagers for the assistance they rendered when tragedy struck at this homestead. Our councillor Mr Otto Dube has worked hard to find help for us in times of need,” she said.

Ms Sibongokuhle Siziba from Sizimele Consortium spoke about the projects that they have been carrying out in Ward 9 to alleviate poverty in the area, build resilience and also educate them on disaster risk reduction (DRR) in the face of climate change.

“We started work here in 2017 and trained some villagers in DRR and chose a team to form a committee which is headed by the local councillor. They came up with a plan that highlighted the disasters that they come across in the area such as hunger from droughts, shortage of water, death of livestock from shortage of grazing land, strong winds that destroy houses. They have been trained in climate smart agriculture including growing small grains, mushroom production which was easy for the elderly to do as it is not labour intensive. The mushroom also assisted in improving nutrition and bringing income as they sell the excess,” she said.

Ms Siziba said the DRR played an important role in identifying villagers that had lost their homes during the cyclones and the most vulnerable were chosen and received 13 new houses in the area. Sizimele Consortium has done various capacity building projects in Matobo, Lupane and Insiza districts where communities in the districts have gained knowledge and skills on community managed disaster risk reduction. They now have the capacity to report disasters locally, consolidate various resources available for them to assist the affected people to bounce back from shocks and stresses.

A total of 40 houses have been constructed and handed over to villagers in the three districts affected by Cyclone Anna. — @NyembeziMu