"Behind the Mask" - A Young Woman's Honest Look at the Future for Young People in Zimbabwe

Kuda Vana is fortunate to have local volunteers come and spend time building relationships and teaching Christian dance and through Redemptive Dance Ministries on our Children’s Home campus. One of these special volunteers is Ashley, a local high school student. Ashley shares hope and joy with each child there just by her presence!

However, for many young people like Ashley the future looms uncertain and dark in a Zimbabwe still in economic turmoil with hyperinflation at an all-time high and job prospects slim.

Ashley shared a poem with us that she wrote about the feelings of hopeless she sometimes experiences as a young woman growing up in Zimbabwe. We wish to share her honest thoughts with you, and ask that you pray that she and others like her will be encouraged as they work to build a vibrate future for themselves.

“Behind the Mask” By Ashley P.

The sun rises, accompanying it is a new dawn of hope,

Hope for better days. Driven by a burning desire to achieve the goals 

she set for herself the young girl sets out to do everything she can.

'Smile' they say and without warning her lips curve into a dubbed banana

smile: If only they knew the pain behind the effort but all they can see is

the jovial persona that she has managed to dub so articulately over the years.

Her naive mind allowed her to dream beyond the sky's limit.

So a romance began. Rugs turned into riches, finally hardwork

had paid. Academic excellence had driven away the calamity that had

for so long tormented her family. Breaking free from the clutches of poverty,

she flew high, more like from zero to hero; until reality caught up with her.

Alas life could never turn into a fairytale for someone like her.

The sun sets, nothing has changed, the difficulties are still lurking around,

in the dead of the night. "the struggle is real they say", but it is deeper than they know.

The hope is fading, but the situation is still as cold, inevitable to every young person

like her. A thousand more dreams are dying with the sunset in each passing day,

reluctant to giving up but hope is just not enough anymore. Change is what she has

been patiently waiting for but it seems like a far reach.

Dreaming big is only for the rich, as it is, potential isn't sufficient anymore.

Suffering at the hands of those who were meant to protect her, struggling to

make a living and turning to unscrupulous methods has now become her way of life:

Left with no other choice, because at the end of the day she needs to survive.

Only the lucky ones get to escape to the West but for how long does she 

have to suffer in silence?

Behind the mask, lies a thousand more dreams that have been destroyed

inevitably: hungry for success but opportunities far beyond their reach.

Optimism is no longer a thing for her generation because there's only

more to what she can do. 

It has been going on for years, decades into decades but all they can do 

is speak behind closed doors with no one courageous enough to take action.

She cries out in pain, "my motherland has forsaken me."

The struggle, familiar with everyone who is bound by it,

Waiting for a dawn that comes with not only hope, but effective change.

What kind of future does she and many others like her have? 

It is the fear and darkness that's hidden behind the mask.

We appreciate Ashley’s vulnerability and willingness to share so much. Her sentiments are unfortunately not uncommon in a country that makes it difficult for anyone to rise above their circumstances.

This is why your support of Kuda Vana’s Youth Transition Program is so critical - ensuring each young person who comes through our doors is equipped with the skills and creativity to become self-sufficient adults in a challenging environment. 100% of young people who age out of Kuda Vana’s care complete trade school or university and continue to receive emotional family support.

Young adults in Kuda Vana’s Youth Transition program are enrolled in University, have graduated from University, are engaged in vocational school, or working as entrepreneurs, nurses aids, hospitality specialists and much more! Please provide hope and encouragement to them by donating HERE.