Little Window Of Hope
Dear Family and Friends,
For a quarter of a century Zimbabweans have been on the move, many literally running for their lives, leaving not by choice but from necessity. As our country has stumbled from one crisis to another since the year 2000, millions of Zimbabweans have left in order to survive. An estimated 5 million Zimbabweans now live in the Diaspora but they haven’t cut their ties and in 2024 sent home over 2.2 billion US dollars, remittances that make up the second-largest source of foreign currency for Zimbabwe.
This week I had the chance of seeing my country through the eyes of a Zimbabwean who’s been living in a first world country in the Diaspora for a decade and a half and had come home for the first time. It was an emotional and heart-warming journey, a little window of hope in a time of struggle and inequity.
We headed for the government school in Harare where he had taught. I navigated the grossly congested roads across the city passing traffic lights that don’t work and illegible or non-existent street name signs. On street corners we passed people selling toilet rolls, buckets, brooms, mops, phone chargers and bottles of frozen water. What would my friend think of the government school he hadn’t seen for so long I wondered as I parked in the surprisingly neatly demarcated parking bays inside the school gates.
Prince Edward School, one of the oldest schools in the country, was ranked 6th out of the top 100 best high schools in Africa in 2011. It was founded in 1898 when it was called the Salisbury Grammar school. Later changed to Salisbury High School in 1906, the school was renamed Prince Edward School in 1925 after the visit of Edward Prince of Wales who later became King Edward VIII.
My friend had worked for fifteen years at Prince Edward School and knew exactly where to go. “Does anyone here remember me, “he asked as we went into the beautiful Reception area, and they did. Seeing the joyous reunion between him and his former colleagues, nearly two decades later brought tears to my eyes. Back slapping, embracing and laughter, accompanied by their own unique Prince Edward School handshake, was heartwarming; no one had forgotten. The Headmaster, impeccably dressed in grey suit and red tie, came out and invited my friend into his office for an enquiring, friendly chat.
Everywhere we went we were made to feel welcome and as we walked around the school the signs of an obviously insufficient budget were everywhere, but there were also numerous signs of maintenance being undertaken on a shoe-string. There was a feeling of hope in the air and wherever we went students lifted their hats and greeted us. The School’s Technical Graphic and Woodwork Shop which had burnt down 10 years ago, has been completely rebuilt, the school chapel refurbished, lawns and gardens planted and watered and sports fields and courts maintained.
We saw the sapling that had been planted by Queen Elizabeth in October 1991 in the school’s Arboretum, a sapling that is now a towering tree, and the Astronomical Observatory visited by Prince Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh. As we passed the school’s Beit Hall my friend related how, during a test of the cannons for a production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s ‘HMS Pinafore,’ an overcharged cannon blew a hole in the ceiling in a very loud explosion. The passing Ladies in Waiting who were conducting a pre-assessment for the Queen’s visit were apparently “highly perturbed”!
The Prince Edward school motto; ‘Tot facienda parum factum’ (meaning ‘so much to do so little done’) seems so relevant in Zimbabwe at a time when government schools are in such dire need of attention. There is so much to do with crumbling infrastructure, gutted laboratories, staff who are being grossly underpaid and basics like electricity and water not guaranteed, and yet teachers have not given up, they are determined to educate the future leaders of Zimbabwe.
“I wonder if the patch in the ceiling of the Beit Hall from the overcharged cannon is still visible,” my friend laughed, his words hanging in the humid November air as we headed back out into the traffic. “I’ve got hope,” he said and when you see how hard ordinary people with almost no resources are working in Zimbabwe, you can’t help but have hope.
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Until next time, thanks for reading this Letter From Zimbabwe now in its 25th year, and my books about life in Zimbabwe, a country in waiting.
Ndini shamwari yenyu (I am your friend)
Love Cathy 8th November 2025. Copyright © Cathy Buckle https://cathybuckle.co.zw/
My new Photobook “Zimbabwe’s Timeless Beauty The 2025 Collection” and my Beautiful Zimbabwe 2026 Calendar are now available. They can both be ordered from my website or from LULU. Click here to order www.lulu.com/spotlight/cathybuckle2018