Childhood in Rhodesia
Lauren St John grew up in 1970鈥檚 civil war torn Rhodesia. Her childhood reality was one where she wiped her classmate鈥檚 blood from the floor of her bedroom, slept with a knife under her pillow and watched for landmines as she rode her horse.
Lauren鈥檚 oxymoronic world saw her white family return to Rhodesia to fight the war, pushing upstream against the waves of white Rhodesians deserting the country. While growing up on their thousand acre idyll she was surrounded by impala, wildebeest and a pet Giraffe called Jenny while a brutal and bloody war raged between black and white Rhodesia.
Wasn't the civil war also a tribal one, between Matabeles & Mashonas?
I was born in & spent my early childhood in 'Rhodesia'. To this day I get a little jealous of people who have 'roots' ie a country they can call their own. Not that I would want Zimbabwe to be taken away from Zimbabweans, & I wait for the day when the people truly have their country retuned to them & can live in peace.
Complain about this postIt is only 7 years ago I stopped wearing a vest in this country! Could it be something to do with global warming, or did I finally become acclimatised after 30 something years!
however much one disapproves of colonialism, the african population were far better off under it than they are now. At least hospitals, schools functioned and they had employment, however menial and degrading...now they have nothing, and never will - its the story of Africa and her tribes....Botswana has only one tribe and is the most peaceful country. there isnt much hope for many of the others. I too was brought up in Rhodesia - a magnificent country - but then the whole of africa is dark and brooding and beautiful and mysterious. South Africa is next to go - at present Mbeki is the British blue eyed boy -like Mugabe was 20 odd years ago.
Complain about this postAre the persons being referred to as "Terrorists" by Lauren St John the same people she acknowledges were fighting against the racist Ian Smith regime? If so surely they would be "freedom fighters" Perhaps she could tell us about the terror tactics employed by the likes of the Selous Scouts or would she not think of them as terrorists. Also we are all horrified by the situation in Zimbabwe, but using Mugabe to bash other African States is becoming increasingly irritating. Whilst I don't doubt Lauren St John's concern for her nation I'm becoming increasingly irritated at the spate of "White Rhodesian" reminiscing books and the amount of coverage they receive especially from the 大象传媒.
Complain about this postLike song was integral to the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, what role did music play in the struggle for independence in Zimbabwe on BOTH sides of the fight? Does music still play an important, if not censored role today with regard to Mugabe's regime?
Complain about this postKathrine,
May I recommend two films available from Zimmedia on www.zimmedia.com, with whom I worked in Zimbabwe as a second generation Zimbabwean journalist in the eighties. They are 'Mbira Music, Spirit of the People' and 'Flame'. I believe these excellent fillms will satisfy some of your curiosity regarding the role of music from the perspective of the 'freedom fighters'.
The Rhodesian stuff takes some unearthing because (I sincerely hope) there are few white Zimbabweans around today who are proud of their history either as descendants of the British colonisers or as supporters of Ian Smith... Read Owen Shears 'The Dust Diaries' for more insight.
I found Lauren's description of the guilt of having been caught up in the powerful anti-communist propaganda of Smith's government and the consequential geurilla war very moving and quite accurate on this morning's Radio 4 programme.
It has been a rough ride but anything is better than having any part in upholding the rule of either Smith or Mugabe. Neither white scapegoat nor white ostrich, I am lucky to be able to choose to raise my child in England and to have perspective enough to understand how Zimbabwe has arrived where she is today.
We just have to pray that the people of Zimbabwe have the strength to find a solution for themselves which is appropriate to their culture and nation and I believe this is best done without the imposition of Western definitions of 'democracy' and 'human rights'.
Best wishes
Lou.
Complain about this postI heard bits of your interview about your book. I grew up in the sandy, overcrowed, dry, infertile reserves that the rhodesian government had created for blacks.
Now i am a doctor (thanks for the village schools and upper tops that Mugabe built after 1980). Things may be bad in zimbabwe right now, but to suggest we blacks faired well under smith is stretching it too far. No white man ever visited our village, how then do you know how we lived? Without schools, without clinics. If you gave your black worker some pecks here and there, those blacks were a minority, the rest were neglected citizens on the edges of survival in the reserves.
I remember as a child many cases of children (my playmates) with pealing/scaly skins due to malnutrition.
Complain about this postThe fact of the matter is that the average white rhodesian never had a clue how the 80% of blacks in the reserves lived.
VIVA ZANU!
I too grew up as a child in Rhodesia and had fond memories of a beautiful country, and its people. Contrary to Ms St. John, people were better off under colonial rule, however much one disliked it. We only have to look North to see the result of years of corruption and mismangement under local rule, starving children famine disease and hardship. At least under colonial rule, there was organisation.
Complain about this postSouth Africa will eventually follow the rest of Africa. Its started already - the centre of all its cities have become dilapidated and no go areas.
Mugabe was once Britains blue eyed boy, now Mbeki is - but for how long?
It is utterly bewildering that Lauren St John, who still does not understand the Rhodesian war can be allowed to air her injudicious views.
If you want to know the truth then ask the African population who fought against the Chinese and Russian backed insurgents.
To correct her earlier broadcast today, the Rhodesian armed forces comprised mostly native African soldiers who bravely fought against communism. Its true there were racial divides, were in the world, even today is there not? This segregation was based on cultural differences, not as your guest, incorrectly stated, racism. How simply idiotic. Does she even know what the word means?
Smith and the Rhodesians told the world what would happen if the country was forced into a western democracy before it had matured, the result is now clear to see. The indoctrinated Mugabe has made fools of the world, himself and only the heroic Rhodesians can stand tall and say they did their best to prevent this nightmare now unfolding in Zimbabwe, can you?
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