The Sunday Mail
By Shannon Jones, Form 4 Mabelreign Girls High School
Growing up in a small neighbourhood with both my parents, we lived in a small flat which was on the outskirts of a middle classed suburb in Harare.
For some odd reason, I grew up thinking these flats were big castles that were painted yellow and pink.
My childhood was characterised by children playing in the street, men selling baskets and clay pots outside the gate and young women carrying their children on their backs when they went to fetch water by the borehole due to regular water cuts.
I remember waking up early in the morning to find my mother preparing a meal for me before I left to go and play with other children. One would usually find children playing in the car park trying to hose each other with water or find young teenage girls sitting in a corner braiding each other’s hair or telling each other stories.
Then there was the corner where boys played soccer or wrestled with each other the whole day. School days were always the best, meeting one’s friends and having to learn new things always fascinated me. I remember meeting my first teacher.
I remember sitting on a brown carpet while we paid attention to our teacher reading bible stories, I remember sitting on colourful tables which were referred to as group “blue, green, yellow or red” and in the centre one would find a thick black pencil with their name written on it.
I remember how full the playground wasi at break time and how students would race for a place to sit because each class/group had their own “spot”.I remember Friday afternoons; I would go to the park and enjoy the quietness.
I loathed having to wait for someone to stop swinging on the swing set or having to wait for someone to finally get down from the monkey bars so that I could finally enjoy my turn, but alas I would always enjoy ten minutes of playtime then it would be time to go home.
I remember how exciting it was when school had closed and there were so many exciting things lined up. I remember going to Greenwood Park and spending the whole day enjoying fun activities such as riding the train, jumping on the trampoline and getting my face painted by a clown.
I remember family trips when we would visit places like Bulawayo in order to attend the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair which was not so different from Greenwood Park because I was usually taken there to visit the amusement park where there were many activities that would leave a child happy for many days until the Trade Fair ended.
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