The Eagle: 2021 Quarterly Edition

"The pen is mightier than the sword" - Edward Bulwer-Lytton

The

Allied Arts

AFRICA!!!

Assessment 3 PUBLIC SPEAKING

ARTS & CULTURE

COPING WITH COVID-19 NOTICE BY VICE PRESIDENT As many have seen the news, there has been an extension to the COVID-19 lockdown and that means a pause to our economy...again. But "not to fear, the Eagle is here!" And, I am here to encourage all of you to stay strong and stay focused!

We all thought 6 months of school would be a nightmare but look at that, it's already gone, and quite frankly I can't feel what was so bad about it. Nonetheless, I encourage you all to:

Have a support system that will push you to keep going Grab that stationary and start drafting your daily schedules Begin journaling for a therapeutic release, and most importantly...

STAY HOME!!

1

Seriously, I can't stress this enough, we are responsible for this pandemic's outcome, and if we as a college follow the rules, then we can help influence others to do the same: Our families and our friends. They can also do the same with their company, and if we all do this then we can stop the spread and allow our government to think of a plan for moving forward.

STUDY STUDY STUDY!!

We still have a job to do, and that is to pass our exams.

Use this time wisely!

As Vice President of Journalism, I just wanted to remind everyone that they are not alone and that the College still puts you first. If you have any enquiries about your studies and mental health, the teachers are still available; the stewards are also always available to serve, and seniors are eager to support and guide you.

Let us get through these two weeks, College, and resume our task to FLOURISH. STAY FOCUSED AND SOAR!

By Melissa Ngwenya Vice President 2

By Rufaro Chanakira

Africa. Our culture.

What makes Africa Day an African day?

Is it the clothes we wear, or the food?

No, it's more than that, it's about the unity of Africa that brings us together to let us know the independence of our collective peoples.

On the 25th of May, MCC had its own Africa Day festivity. In 2020, we were unable to celebrate this day at school, but this year, with strict COVID-19 precautions put in place, the Culture and Entertainment Committee made this day a success.

"We have to keep moving forward throughout the Corona outbreak. If we take safety precautions, we can still enjoy by just [having social] distance applied, as well as the use of washing your [hands] with soap", says Russell Zvavamwe, the head of Culture and Entertainment, adding a vote of appreciation, "without my committee members, this wouldn’t be possible."

Beginning the day with African games and sports, students were encouraged to run and play but still take the necessary precautions. For example, soccer, we advised that as they played the sport a 1-meter distance should be maintained.

Later throughout the day, we had an MID photoshoot that happened at a certain time because many students wanted to look ‘sun kissed’ and others wanted to shower before the shoot.

Looking forward to the evening there were marimba performances and the College jazz band ended the night with a number of songs that took the cup.

Lastly, I'm sure no one's going to forget the selection of traditional foods: Starting the day with chicken livers and ending the night with a delectable choice of sadza, mopane worms and mazondo, which obviously the students and teachers devoured.

By Rufaro Chanakira 3

Allied Arts

By Kaylee Ncube

Lights! Camera! Action!

Take 1

The Speech and Drama festival of the National Institute of the Allied Arts (NIAA) is finally here. Registrations have been done and the practice began just as promptly. This is undoubtedly my favourite time of the year (besides my birthday of course).

Take 2

It's all about the process. The hard work put into the piece, with the joy and agitation that comes with it, gives a spectacular performance. Isn't it crazy how everything builds up to a couple of minutes that decide your fate, much like exams (relax, the festival is a lot less petrifying)?

To the people participating in this festival, be reminded that time waits for no man and before you know it, you’ll be presenting your piece. Even though we are not at physical school, make it a point to still work as diligently as you would if you were at school. At the end of the day, don't forget to make memories and enjoy the ride.

Take 3 I think it's cool though. Seeing everything unfold into a magnificent orchestra when words come to life, and emotions in the script sing through the heart of the presenter. I guarantee you it is beyond monumental.

Allied Arts is a platform given to us, to help discover talent, build on new skills, and have a step ahead in taking on the world. And sure, maybe you didn't take part in this festival but there's always the next. Don't wait until you’re “ready” or “old enough” to do something, because you might just spend the rest of your life waiting.

4

a 24% increase to mount a 97% pass rate, the highest in the College for nonSixth formers this year. However, for this last Assessment, they fell by 9%, ultimately landing at 88%.

ASSESSMENT 3, MID YEARS, COVID AND... MR SACHINDA’S FAVOURITE SOCCER TEAM?

By Kundai Karl Mpame Assessments are “very important”, says Mr. Sachinda in an interview I had with him on the 21st of May. That was before Assessment 3 results came out, and generally, they seem to be looking good. There was a general climb in passing grades (that is, having 5+ subjects with a C or better) for Forms 1, 2, and 3 and well as the Upper and Lower Sixth forms since Assessment 2.

You know, mostly stable increases, 4% (Upper and Lower Sixes), 6% (Forms 1 and 3), and most notable a 24% increase for the Form 2s! The Upper Sixes attained a 100% pass rate, while the Lower Sixes were just 2% shy of that at 98%. The Form 1s stood at 91%, while the Form 3s followed at 89%. The Form 4s had a pass rate of 88%, while the Form 2s were at 86%.

The most dynamic pass rates come from the Form 2s and 4s, with the Form 2s having begun the year with a 79% in 1st Assessment, then falling by 17% to land at a harsh 62% in the 2nd.

However, they compensated in the 3rd Assessment by climbing 24% to reach a steady 86% of the form attaining five or more passing grades by the end of the first term. The Form 4s began with the lowest pass rate for the 1st Assessment, standing at 73%. The Form 4s quickly compensated for this in the 2nd Assessment by grinding out

I managed to contact two top-achievers from Form 2 and Upper Six respectively: Elizabeth Maphosa and Tirimunashe Shumba. The former having achieved 11 A’s (5 A-stars, 5 normal A’s, and a B), and the latter 19 points (3 A’s and a B). I asked Tirimunashe what advice he’d give to those writing Mid Years this year: “I’d say people should pace themselves by easing into a system of constant reading instead of waiting a week before exams start to start working.”

I also asked Elizabeth what her “secret” to academic success was: “My secret to success, well, remains a secret,” she said cheekily, “but [my] advice to all: Have a mentality to want to be the head and not the tail. A positive attitude towards something produces a positive outcome. Strive for the best, give your all and study hard.

Above all, have God at the center!”

My Interview Sachinda

with

Mr.

During that interview, the Deputy Head outlined two general kinds of Assessment that happen at the College, formative and summative.

5

The former informs the teacher if the kids are actually understanding what they’re being taught, while the latter is more test-based (Mid Years, End of Years, and Public Exams).

About marks, and why we get the kind of marks we get, Mr. Sachinda had this to say: “We have mechanisms that we have put in place to make sure that the mark that a student gets during continuous Assessment should match very closely to what they’re likely to get in the end.” Weighting plays a huge role in end-marks, tests generally tend to have a higher influence on the final Assessment marks than, say homework, but that doesn’t mean that homework doesn’t matter. It just means that when that big in-class test comes, you’d better be ready. If you’re more of a ‘scorehigh-on-homework-and-exercises’ kind of person and don’t really pay heed to those in-classes, don’t be surprised to find that, “because of the higher weighting [on tests], that [overall] mark will go down.”

“And that’s what we prefer,” says Mr. Sachinda, “That what you are getting now should improve constantly and match what you’re likely to get in the end...We don’t want to deceive parents into thinking that you are doing well and then when you get the public exam results, it’s a fail. We don’t want that.”

“At an internal platform, we are saying, “We have done our best to assess the student to the best of our ability and most likely where we are going this is what they will get.” They also serve a purpose in highlighting where we have to emphasize on...So we are not saying that what you’re getting now is exactly what you should get in the end.

But we are saying, “Once we have marked we can change our strategies such that we put more emphasis on the areas of weakness,” so that when you write the final exam then we can get the good results that we all desire.”

Mid Years I asked Mr. Sachinda when students would be writing those infamous Mid Years. He explained that the general period for Mid Years would be from the 5th to the 20th of August.

“Traditionally we have had Mid Years in the month of July, but because of the changes in our calendar, because of COVID-19, we have had to adjust when they should come. We felt that if they were going to come early in July that would be soon after opening. So we want to give students about a month to polish up and prepare for these exams, so that’s when they sit for the exams we will get good results.”

COVID-19 “In terms of health, we haven’t had serious challenges with the students, and so far we can say that the Lord has been very gracious to all of our students. But we have had situations where parents or guardians have been affected by the COVID-19 and in cases where we have lost parents, may their souls rest in eternal peace. It has been hard. For those that have contracted the virus, it has also affected the setup in families and even the economy of the families has been seriously hit in terms of fees,

6

in terms of provisions for the students.

And overall we can say that has really affected some students, but we are thankful to God because He has been protecting the majority of our students and the parents.”

The Future of MCC in Light of Online Learning “I think COVID-19 has made us grow and realize our potentials. We desire to implement an approach where we actually blend online learning and physical learning. Because even right now as we speak we still have some students who are learning online because they were not able to come back to Zimbabwe for physical school.

So we currently have a blended learning approach...and we also feel that going forward it’s something that we really want to consider.” He went on to mention that there could, potentially, in some form be a kind of “online remedial” after normal learning hours to accommodate students who need to polish up on areas of difficulty.

In Unrelated News...Does Mr. Sachinda Have A Favourite Soccer Team?

Short answer, no.

“I don’t have a favorite soccer team, but I do enjoy reading the comments that come from my friends on various platforms,” he says beginning to laugh, “and here and there I try and joke with them because some of them

become really emotional when their teams have been beaten and very excited when their teams have won.”

Mr. Sachinda's Advice to Public and Internal Exam Candidates I would like all our students to master and adopt "the law of the farm" by Dr. Stephen R. Covey as they pursue academic excellence. "The Law of the Farm (Covey, 1994)...In agriculture, we can easily see and agree that natural laws and principles govern the work and determine the harvest. But in education, social and corporate cultures, we somehow think we can dismiss natural processes, cheat the system, and still win the day."

Below are a few tips to help you prepare for Mid-years: 1. Have all your textbooks close by and use them!

2. Have a set of notes for all your subjects.

3. Constantly revise your notes.

4. Attempt past exam questions daily and compare your answers with answers in the marking schemes. Your exam is a written one and so it's very important to write your answers when you revise.

5. Also make use of the examiner's report for difficult questions.

6. Ask for hints and help from your teachers. Teachers are very excited when their students ask for help and engage in the efforts made in trying to solve problems! A student who doesn't seek help is just like any other student who is not studying the teacher's subject. Teachers want to wrestle together with their students in seeking solutions and answers and to share the joy when they learn together.

7.Follow the link for more insight on the law of the farm: https://resources.franklincovey.com/mkt7 7hv1/law-of-the-harvest-2

The Eagle Salute

A NEW DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE Congratulations to Mr. Bachisi for throwing away his old title and pinning on a shiny new one, Doctor Bachisi!

Yes, this College has two Doctors now and soon we will be on our way to becoming a hospital (I’m joking…mostly). Doctor Bachisi managed to attain a Doctor of Philosophy in Curriculum and Instructional Studies at the University of South Africa (UNISA).

The course was online and he had to soldier on alone as the war for balance took a toll on him, but he is a living example that hard work defeats all and finding a balance is possible. The Doc. had to momentary give up on a social life to attain his goal and now he's back in the game, better than ever.

College, take his story as a reminder that everything is temporary, sacrifice for the noble path, time for other interests will avail themselves to you, once you complete your first task.

To Doctor Bachisi, congratulations and thank you for inspiring us all, you are a noble Eagle. SOAR ON!

By Melissa Ngwenya 8

Senior Public Speaking 2021

By Kundai-Karl Mpame It's the 2nd of June, 2021, and the cultural descendants of the art of public speaking (an art honed for thousands of years by philosophers and statesmen) gather in the College Hall: Some nervous, some excited, many both.

It’s the first proper event to be hosted in the hall since the beginning of the term, and it’s no surprise that in the midst of an international pandemic, some things are a bit...different. Chairs arranged in a socially distanced manner, the main hall filled with only seniors, a video camera plopped right in the center taking it all in for those still in classes watching the whole thing virtually. It was strange because the times were strange, but the speeches were not (well, not all of them):

Vimbai Gwimbi, F4, Martial House (Rediscovering Resilience) A Bible-dripping speech that worked around her life experiences in an against-the-grain move that was sure to move many. Part-sermon, partmotivational talk, her piece

opened from the perspective of a girl about to take her life by jumping off the top of a building, there Vimbai dived, metaphorically of course, into this theoretical character’s life — why did she do it? It was the society of course, and although by now we’ve all been preached to death by the catchline: “Don’t let what other people think dictate your life”, the old axiom is still alive and kicking, and ever more needed in our times. “Stop, stop” Gwimbi presses us, she beckons us to listen to her and tells us her story, “I was reaching out for security from a society that was already broken”. And this is where the fourth-year orator gets interesting.

Like I said before, her speech was a counter-normative move, no one ‘brings Jesus’ into their speeches during a public speaking event, the event is almost thoroughly secular in speech content (albeit with some allusion here and there). Now, this is not me saying this was a good or a bad move, it was an interesting move and I would guess she was playing to her strengths, which is always a good strategy in speech delivery.

9

She tapped into her inner emotional bonfire and lit a proverbial vigil for those lost to the cruelties of the world.

She points the audience to find resilience in God, and also urges them to reassess potentially unhealthy relationships they may have and to be kind to others, saying “the only cowardly act one can do is treating someone badly”. It was a healing message, one that likely touched many souls. She ends her speech where she started, back on that building: “Don’t wait till you’re at the top of a rooftop to discover your resilience”.

Nicole Mphela, L6, Bateleur House (‘We Acquire the Strength We Have to Overcome’) Now while Gwimbi’s speech exhorted the audience to put their life into God’s hands and trust His power, Mpehla’s speech doesn’t exactly do the opposite, but surely puts a lot more agency into her listener’s hands: “Your pain becomes your power”.

In the end, however, their speeches seem to hold hands in complementarity rather than tussling in competition. Her speech follows the life of Winnie Harlow, an AfricanAmerican celebrity with a chronic skin condition. She describes the woman’s resilience, candor, and bravery in the face of people's negative perceptions and reactions towards her condition.

This same kind of self-affirming pose is struck by Nicole when she says: “I’m holding my cue cards because I am unique, different” (and maybe because she was having trouble memorizing her speech?

But well that’s an article for another day...). She emphasizes hard work and strength through tribulation: “Adversity acts as a litmus test to reveal what is already within you...hard times make us more aware...stronger, more confident”. It was a powerful speech, empowering, reminiscent of the tiger-like “can-do” attitude espoused by the Michelle’s and Oprah’s of the world.

Timukudzeishe Dondo, F4, Crown House (Rediscovering Resilience) This Crown House speaker gave a Ted Talk-Esque delivery that was informational, effective, and highly practical. She molds her message into a digestible five-step strategy that we might be seeing on a certain red-front, whitebackground, talk-based YouTube channel one day. Ahem, complements aside, Dondo reassures her listeners that adversity serves to “stretch” its subjects and that to survive such high-octane uncomfortableness they must: 1. “Speak the unspeakable” 2. “Prioritise your connections” 3. “Practice mindfulness” 4. “Get rid of that crutch” 5. “Accept the change” It’s a message saturated with timeless advice, her own calmness, and the occasional joke, creating a professionalsounding piece.

Vanessa Ncube, L6, Martial House (Outsmart, Outlast) Given the title of her speech, Vanessa’s oration was unsurprisingly cold and logical. But naturally, the girl with a previous public speaking win in her belt was not one to stick to the shallows, she went straight to the deep 10

end (or maybe for the jugular). In total contrast to her previous form-four standing-ovation piece that tugged at heartstrings, this was a whole new kind of beast. It was ruthless, cruel, and thoroughly Darwinian in nature.

She says in her speech: “Life is a game, it’s a battle - you either win or lose.” She refers to the audience as “Gamemasters” and enters into an analysis of a typical male-female romantic interplay. In line with her usual social commentary, she accounts for four stages of this romance, noting her own “fascination” with what she calls the “male species” (like I said, Darwinian!). There are essentially four stages or cycles of manipulation by the guy in the typical (unhealthy?) relationship, in which he basically emotionally arm-twists sexual trysts from his partner through sweet promises of eternal love, togetherness (and probably a sunset cabin by the beach or something), and after he’s got what he wanted, leaves.

She warns the females in her audience against such predators saying, “it’s a fast game, wake up”.

This analogy, therefore, serves not as the main crux of her argument (she’s not saying that men are predators) but as an aid to the actual point she’s trying to make: Be woke, that is slang for, "be vigilant", don’t be a fool and fall for an illusion. She then goes further and urges her audience to become equally vicious: “Slice, spice, marinate it, then cook it up”, becoming a master at the game of life, because “a fool with a plan can outsmart a genius with a plan”. It’s a level playing ground, and “the so-called ‘game of life’ can only be won with a mind”. It’s an exhilarating message matched by her equally stirring energy. Its shocking nature, and ‘jungle rules' lightning-round type vibe were surely a contributing factor to her taking the cup again this year.

Kudzai Mumba, L6, Bateleur House (‘The Secret of Happiness, You See, Is Not Found...’)

By the time this second, veteran speaker, walked onto the stage, the atmosphere was already heated.

Vanessa’s speech marked the switch to high-gear capital “S”, Senior public speaking. A change of geography and climate to which Mumba was likely ready for.

“Are you happy or are you distracted?”

The public speaking heavy-weight asks the crowd. He challenges the speech title-quote he was prescribed (a quote

by Socrates none the least!), and poses to us his own non-Grecian, totally Mumbian philosophy: “How do you enjoy less when you feel empty inside?”

For Kudzai, the problem seems to be less of an issue of contentment (enjoying less) and more of an issue of wholeness. People aren’t happy because their lives are in disarray, he argues, they are pursuing meaningless new toys and unsatisfying ends, they are distracted. The solution, therefore, is not to make peace with the gaping void but to fill it properly. He posits a Maslow-type roadmap to selfactualization or fulfilment: 1) Finding purpose and achieving one’s goals, 2) Finding loving relationships (this is not just about romance), 3) Living intentionally and 4) Money (Very funny, though we don’t know if he’s actually being serious about this last one as he adds “but that’s a topic for another day”). His speech was one filled with more of this kind of humour, in short: witty, profound, and memorable.

11

Sharon Marangwanda, L6, House (Outsmart, Outlast)

Crown

It’s the end of the prepared speech category, and the proverbial cooker heat has been turned up to a maximum. The event has been a gradual up-scaling escalator, each speech tightening the gateway to success for the other competitor with visceral anecdotes, heavy life-philosophy and hearty displays of one’s own speaking prowess. Sharon Marangwanda, a public-speaker adept herself, steps onto the stage to deliver the last work of pre-written fine oratory. She begins in her usual ecstatically woke, wideeyed, highly hilarious, in-your-face blunt energy: “You are a loser, a fat one in fact.”

She’s speaking on the same topic as Vanessa Ncube, so this puts her in a place where she has to somehow one-up the rival speaker while tackling the same subject matter. So, where Vanessa was fantastically and surgically eviscerating in her rendition of “Outsmart, Outlast”, Sharon teaches you to survive and climb the corporate ladder of life in a funny, laidback, Kevin Hart mention-worthy kind of way. It’s like she’s teaching you to blow up your life obstacles with life hacks, she says: “The real winner is [the one] who found...[the] easiest, fastest and laziest way to get things done.” She recounts 2019 Speech Day and how she, after having won so many prizes, only got morsel-sized praise from her mother, but her brother, whose singular achievement was becoming head boy, was lavished with attention and mommy-love. She, without bitterness (well, knowing Sharon, maybe with just a little teensy bit of bitterness) draws from this a lesson, “Success is not defined by the number of achievements, but the quality.” She picks up her proverbial old man’s pipe (you know, the ones those really wise old people use when they’re rocking in their chairs) and cautions: “Doing too much runs the risk of diluting your achievements”.

As if she were an acolyte of the famed GLS speaker Juliet Funt and her idea of WhiteSpace, Sharon, as her speech progresses ventures far from Vanessa’s tooth-and-claw survivalism, and preaches a sort of pocket-knife-size life-wisdom that focuses on efficiency, good prioritization of time, and energy, and rest. She adds Scripture to sanctify her message: “[and] on the seventh day God rested”, finishing with a Southern African pop culture-inspired inversion of Demi Demi’s quote, saying: “Tough times never last, only smart people last.”

Impromptus - Topic: Behind Every Smile Now, on to the Impromptus...

Impromptus are like little in-between speech snacks that are at once a profound test of a speaker’s creativity and skill.

They’re an opportunity for radical improvisation, tactical time-delaying by intentionally walking slowly up to the stage, and on-the-stand ‘pop-up’ motivational messages (as the speeches tend to be).

Anotidaishe House

Ndoro,

L6,

Bateleur

Anotida Ndoro begins her ‘one minute to shine’ with what was an impression (or impersonation?) of a Hollywood-style producer (or maybe photographer) dressing and prepping her actor/subject for a shoot: “Smile, smile dear you look better with a smile”. The voicing and accent is par excellence, the message (though conventional) is like a dart in its meaning: “behind the smile, there is pain.”

Tashinga Denga, F4, Martial House Speaking with his characteristic, seemingly bottomless, calm 12

and clear steadiness, he enchants the crowd: “Aristotle once said something very wise”, he pauses, “something very wise.”

And the crowd bursts out in laughter. He closes off with, “Behind the subtle smile is a...” and he walks off the stage.

Author’s Interruption: Have you ever noticed this strange phenomenon that occurs when impromptu speakers are given the same topic?

The next speaker always attempts to come up with a speech more radical, memorable, and attention-span-holding than the last. They read the crowd, then analyze the pitfalls of the previous speakers and one-up their fellow contestants, it’s social Darwinism at work! Side note to my literature class: Note the theme of “appearance vs reality” in each speech.

Theodore Masi, L6, Crown House (I don’t know, but is it me or is there something uniquely marvelous about the Masi’s? This creative showmanship of sorts.

Maybe it’s just me.) Theodore gets onto the stage and takes off his socks. He puts them on his hands, and get this, they start talking.

Jokes aside, Theodore’s piece was unique, superbly hilarious, and ultimately soulpleasing. His ‘sock puppet of truth’ was a novel and innovative construction, and though his message did not depart from what had come before him, it was certainly fun to watch.

William Kasitomo, F4, Bateleur House

Tinevimbo House

Chaibva,

U6,

Martial

This may be a biased opinion (you know me being a Literature student and all), but I think what won this Martial house speaker the Impromptu round was that extra bit of layer to this proverbial thematic cake. She inserts a character, a person, to the titular “Smile”, and says: “Behind the smile is a broken little girl trying to make it work”, but doesn’t end there with the usual sentimental, “Be nice to people” message. She gives the suffering but outwardly-smiling audience member agency. She gives them a rod and teaches them to fish! “You’re gonna roar,” she tells that little girl, in what is at once a golden thematic maneuver.

Nadine Mutangara, L6, Crown House Poetic and purposely tentative at first (reflecting her message?). “So here I go?”

She says, “Behind my smile is a brokenhearted girl”. The power is in the “my”.

She personalizes the theme, creating a deeply melancholic piece, with only a glimmer of hope in the distant future: “My hope will be there at the end of the tunnel”. Her speech contrasts Tinevimbo’s in its conclusions: Chaibva puts the power into her hands, while Mutangara has her salvation set in the future (perhaps coming on the clouds or in an afterlife, or am I reading too much into this?)

William gets up on stage and proceeds to jump and stomp his feet once (social Darwinism at work!). Now having caught our attention, he begins his speech, which though again not differing in theme from the rest (The Theme: People’s appeared emotional status manifested by their facial expression and body language does not always reflect one’s inward mental state) is nonetheless precise and powerful.

13

ARTS&

CULTURE

Short Story entitled; Help!

By Thembinkosi Mkhosana It’s 12:15 am, Tuesday, August 19th, 1942.

The air is thick and unnerving. Quiet.

Too quiet.

I thought I could run away from reality.

I thought I could hide. But now it’s too late to fix everything. I would be lucky if they just killed me.

After what I did. I would be lucky…

At this point in Nazi Germany, silence is unusual. Something is not right.

“OPEN THE DOOR!” coughs out an unknown voice.

I can feel my heart pounding at this point, and I can hear it too. A constant beating sound in my ears. Paranoia has never gotten the better of me, but it's uncontrollable right now. I’m Jewish, poor, and helping the wrong people. The end of my life could be waiting behind my small wooden door.

The only reason I am still alive is that I have to treat sick slaves. Although many of my fellow non-Aryans are only meters away from being burnt up in gas chambers, I have limited safety in my being an asset to any rationally thinking Nazi. If all the slaves are sick, there will be no one to do their work. But if I don’t do my job properly, the fate of all my people may just be at stake.

14

First Place; Nadine Mutangara, L6 Piece: Escapism

When the world comes trouncing down, the jarring reality begins to settle in, the world I live in like a sinking ship has no anchor, so I begin to drown.

I need a haven to shield me from the pain, but my only saving grace is to unlock my soul.

A distorted mentality, disproportionality of inevitable reality, seeks to mangle the very place in my mind that comprehends the cataclysmic world war that I feast before my eyes.

An unbreakable chain of inescapable thoughts, wraps itself around me, keeping me distraught.

A place to dream will surely reign supreme.

I need a distraction to prevent reconstruction, of the unwavering nightmare of a reality that repeats the songs of endless brutality in my mind, in my heart, and every place within me that I thought I could command!

I need grace like a flood, to carry me back to shore!

I need a doorway of hope to lead me to a safe space, to a place of peace, a walkway of light, and home of fantasy.

Away from the unpleasant actuality that my body cannot bear!

My querencia is my palace of safety, where I can cast my cares away and let out a solemn prayer.

I want to run, but there’s no place to hide in, I want to hide, but there’s no one to confide in!

I want to confide, but there’s no one to rely on, I want to rely upon, but there’s no shoulder to cry on!

I don’t want to lie, but the clouds in my mind are the ones that will keep me from being buried alive

15

Second Place: Rumbidzai Tsododo, L6 Piece: So I Fled...

So I fled. Away from all my troubles. From the cage that I had been secured in for so long, I began to feel like it was home. I fled away from all the violence, the cold winter nights, the sleepless nights, and the often unknown breakfasts. I fled away from all the darkness and the haunted dreams. I fled away from the trauma and sadly the memories of once being happy.

I was born to a jovial family of five, with the loving presence of both parents and my awesome siblings. I remember vividly the happy smiles and the cozy family moments I had. I remember this because this was the only time I ever felt loved. Yes, the feelings were mutual. We did everything together- my siblings and me I. we cried, laughed, feared, and conquered together. This was all until that day.

I lost my father. I lost him to a fatal accident. At that age, I really did not understand what that was at such a tender age I thought he would come back at some point, maybe an extended business trip? He never returned. I was worried about m/y mother the most, she could never spend five hours without him, she would call me when at work or when he went out with his friends. It would not be easy for her. I tried to give her comfort, she pushed me away. She neglected all of us. My father took care of all of my needs, he made sure I got all I ever wanted in my life. When he left I felt his absence. I missed the morning jogs, the loud boisterous laughter during the day, and the bedtime stories at night, but I had to cope. For my sanity.

One evening, late at night, my mother stumbled into the house, barely able to keep stable and mumbling some incoherent words under her breath. We had not eaten, the house had not been cleaned and it was late at night but she showed no thought at all to the fact that we were young kids who could have easily been mugged and maybe killed. This continued for two weeks, then she started coming back worse, she began torturing my older siblings. She would hit them and blame them for my father’s death. Her theory was that he had been worried about them when he got involved in the accident, it could have been true but it did not mean she had to treat 16 them like that. I was twelve years old.

When I was starting to get used to this, she came home with a man. He was old, chubby, and mostly an eyesore. I heard her telling him that he had the right girl for him. I was the only girl in the house, besides her of course. So I was the right girl, but for WHAT? The man smiled and revealed a yellow set of teeth made up mostly of gaps and clumps of bacteria. He groped me. That’s when I realized what this was about. It dawned on me that I would probably never see my siblings again. The same way I would never get to see my father again.

I was taken to a house, far away from where I had lived all my life. There were concubines and they were all older than me, I figured I would have to join them but this was not a good environment for me. I was assaulted, molested, raped, abused every day. By different men. I never got used to it. It was torture. I wouldn’t sleep well, I was scared of the terrors of the night. Sometimes I would wake up with my pillow drenched with sweat. It was not easy. I was scarred for life.

It became worse, the men per day became more, I was sure to be sick by now. I had to get out of there. It was not going to be easy because I was their property. I did not even know how large the building was because I never got out of my lone corner. I also had nowhere to go but it would probably be better than this place anyway.

I started walking around more, hearing more people talk and their different attitudes to the place, most of them had gotten to terms with the fact that they would never make it out. I was not about to give up. Not now. I found the exit, not guarded and far from people’s views. That was my opportunity, I had to grab my freedom with both hands. So I fled and I did not know where I was going but it was a fresh start from the bottom up and I would find my siblings.

17

Third Place; Kaylee Ncube,U6 Piece: Because I Could Not Stop for Death 20 July Dearest Evengeline I’ll be honest with you, I wasn’t always happy, especially on Tuesdays. And yet, today was different.

I saw a blind man for the first time.

Even with the cold, he reminded me of the summer. Your joy, the warmth of the afternoons, and the wake of the moment. Everything was perfect. I wish we could bottle pieces of our lives, you said. So that when I’m lonely, I simply visit these.

My eyes are heavy, my clothes are wrinkled, my body is deteriorating and it’s still ten o’clock but I have enough coffee for the next hour.

In the summer the wind whispered harmoniously, singing in tune with the steps of your aura, you wanted to go for a ride, disappear for a while, so we did. We, stopping by a flower shop, the bakery, and your favorite spot.

I painted and took Whitney for a walk. You would have loved what they wrote in the papers today. It was Nicole’s book, for the first time since March, she called.

I asked what it is you feared the most and you said ‘the boogeyman’, I laughed, I simply couldn’t believe it. You smiled and said it was poetry. I understood. Then Jeremy called, I got mad and we fought.

18

My coffee is almost finished. I miss the stars, I haven’t seen one since last week. My cold has gotten worse. It might be that fever. I’m not scared though.

We fought all the way home. You walked out. I don’t know where you went, but then again I never did. Two hours passed, and I called your cell. Poured so many apologies into your voicemail. You came back the next day, said you lost your phone, you lied.

My caretaker prayed for me, said I needed to believe that I would be okay. You two would’ve been friends, he loves animals.

It became your little secret and slowly, I became obsessed with it. I’m not proud of the things I did but I don’t regret any of them. We are both to blame for what happened next, I know you blamed me though but I forgave you. Thought nothing of it.

And today the days bleed into each other until time becomes an obstacle we must overcome. But time isn’t everything, we are a vessel for its existence. However, I wish we had more of it because maybe, we could have done better.

I love you, Eve. You were right though, I am crazy. I have decided to give up, so here is one last toast to the mortal because this is as far as I can go, because this is the only way I know to reach for you. After all, I could not stop for death.

19

C CO OM MI IC C B BY Y C CH HR RI IS SP PE EN N T TH HO OM MU U

20

21

A Special Heartfelt Welcome Back to The Deysels

In May our spectacular power-family joined us again, bringing energy back into the heart of the MCGS family. The journey to South Africa for treatment was successful and we thank God that all of them are back with positive spirits.

In the first week of Mrs. Deysel's being back, she was unable to sit quietly by her desk because the workload didn’t magically disappear in her time away; the same goes for Mr. Deysel as the Hostel's chaos never simmers. But we are happy and thankful that we got to finish the term with them and we all still pray that God continues to watch over them as He has in the past.

Journalism is particularly happy to see Mrs. Deysel as she is our T.I.C for the club and her energy towards helping us all achieve our dreams is inspiring.

From all the journalists, WELCOME BACK MRS DEYSEL AND LET’S GET TO WORK!

Writers: Rufaro Chanakira, Lower Six Kaylee Ncube, Upper Six

Thembinkosi Mkhosana, Form 4

Credits

Kundai-Karl Mpame, Upper Six President Melissa Ngwenya, Upper Six Vice President Chrispen Thomu, Form 4

We Would Also Like To Thank:

Dr Bachisi for his support The Public Speakers for their continued efforts Mrs Deysel for making this possible The College for its love and Support Mr Mkhosana for allowing us to spread our wings The Writing Competition Winners: Nadine Mutangara Rumbidzai Tsododo Kaylee Ncube (Special mention To Blessing Madhiri, who came 3RD as well but was unable to upload her piece)

Stay safe!

Thank you for practicing social distancing