The Sunday Mail
Tinotenda Nigel Rusere Near East University, Cyprus
This article was instigated by the not-so-positive behaviours of some Zimbabwean students studying in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
Consequently, I was prompted to undertake a general survey of the lifestyles of other Zimbabwean students studying abroad and discovered irrefutable similarities.
However, this article, in particular, submits the behaviours, imminent consequences and the varying lifestyles being led by some Zimbabwean students in Cyprus.
It appears that a shocking majority of Zimbabwean students here do not understand the main reason why they are in Cyprus. They tend to lead wayward and unruly lives which makes other nationalities depreciate us as Zimbabweans. It is quite evident that education is not at the top of their priorities. These ‘behaviours’ include heavy drinking, chain-smoking, drug abuse (mbanje, heroin and cocaine) and sleeping around.
The behaviours in discussion stem from internal and external forces. The internal forces, that include orientation, mind-set and upbringing, contribute greatly to how a young adult behaves when they leave their home and go to school in a foreign land.
The external forces are peer pressure, the immediate environment and the brazen sponsors of such activities.
The Bible says (in Proverbs 22 verse 6) “Train a child in the way he should go so that when he is old he won’t depart from it”.
Therefore I feel that sometimes the way some of my peers behave reveals that something was lacking in their upbringing. However, most of the time the parents, in particular Christian parents, would have tried their level best to instil morals and values in their children but unfortunately like in the profound parable, the seed would have fallen on bad ground.
The bottom line is no matter which of the above is the root system of the problem, it is equally painful to see friends wasting their time on things which do not edify their lives.
One of President Mugabe’s favourite sayings states, “Do not sacrifice principle on the altar of expediency.” This loosely translates to “do not do stupid things at the expense of the final goal or achievement.”
I have adopted this as the impetus in my life here in Cyprus because these ‘stupid’ things hinder us from achieving the common goal of graduating from university and becoming citizens that add value to our society.
Europe is laden with infinite material things that can catch one’s eye and obviously for them to be acquired money is required. The existence of all these desirable things is not a problem until our Zimbabwean sisters, after noticing that some of their peers have all these enticing things, are determined to obtain them too.
Being students, some, if not most, are unable to afford the designer shoes, accessories and clothes hence they resort to finding someone who can provide the financial means and in the process of finding such a person they sell their bodies.
Inasmuch as we can put it across in a politically correct way, it is tantamount to commercial sex work.
Our Zimbabwean young women are ‘bought’ by Nigerian scammers who are in the country on the false pretence that they are students yet they are stealing people’s hard earned money for a living.
Therefore, I am issuing an irrevocable mandamus to parents that if you are not ready to send your children to university abroad, please do not and if you do please try to keep communication lines open so as to have an idea as to what will be going on in your son or daughter’s life.
On the same note, it is not only the female students who engage in despicable things. Guys are seen getting involved in gangs that abuse drugs and participate in massive drinking. Before you know it a bright future has been destroyed as this leads up to missing lectures and having nothing to write in the subsequent exams.
All these odds are not only happening in Cypriot universities, but they are a worldwide epidemic.
With regards to the adversities I went out to ask some students in different universities in The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus about the challenges they faced when they got to university and the persistent challenges in their day to day school lives. The problems that were apparent include language barriers, sexual harassment by other nationalities, drug and alcohol abuse, location of off-campus accommodation, provision of daily necessities and obtaining housing contracts.
Sadly on the issue of sexual harassment one finds that sometimes the ladies allow it to be that way.
In the Shona language we say ‘mazvokuda mavanga enyora’. While trying to find a financially beneficial relationship, girls end up being strong-armed by men from other nationalities, mainly from Western-African countries.
Housing problems become a real pain because for one to have a student permit in Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus they need to have a housing contract from their landlord or landlady as proof of residence.
Now for a landlord/landlady to issue out the housing contract the tenant has to first pay six months’ rent upfront. In most cases students do not have this money to pay at once so it’s either they stay somewhere without a permit, deeming them illegal, or they resort to sharing a house with many other students so that they can put together enough funds to acquire the proof of residence.
Inasmuch as the latter may make financial sense the reality is that this may be a two bedroomed apartment with six people sharing which implies dismal standards of living.
So I strongly suggest that parents opt for the on-campus accommodation, at least only until the student has settled in the foreign country so as to ensure their safety and ease of attaining proper documentation as well as little or no transport costs of commuting to the campus.
As for drug and alcohol abuse, it is mainly because of peer pressure and may also go back to the upbringing I mentioned earlier as well as the ‘urge to experiment’.
This urge to experiment materialises because students go to university straight from high school and their social life is a blank page which is yet to be written on.
In most cases where a student leaves high school and goes on to university a month or two later, they do not have the opportunity to experience some things that are in the world. If life unfolds when they are alone they are prone to make some decisions that may lead to self-destruction.
However, if one decides to take a gap year, it gives them a chance to discover who they really are and establish a blueprint of themselves.
This blueprint is what will be the impetus of their university life. Of course, there are universities like the ones in South Africa which only have one intake in February but that doesn’t mean that if one doesn’t go to university in that particular intake they have missed their chance. Those who are mentally fit to proceed to university soon after high school can do so, but I do hope they will be equally prepared to go Taking a gap year also helps the parent or guardian to prepare financially such that their child will not have yet another problem: Late payment of tuition fees. This results in students having to start classes later in the semester and losing out on important lectures.
I also urge parents not to decide what the child must study when they go to university. Let your young adult choose on their own.
University is one of the stages to freedom therefore a student should be able to choose whatever they feel they will enjoy studying. If one does something out of passion and the going gets tough, they will have the urge to go on.
I am not shunning the prospect of parents giving career advice, because that is quintessential, but I believe parents should let high school leavers make their choices freely and follow their dreams.
I believe all degrees are equally important as long as they are acquired by choice and if they will be applied well by the holder.
As is common knowledge Zimbabwe is probably the most literate nation in Africa. I would like to commend the efforts made by our President, His Excellency, Cde Robert Gabriel Mugabe and his government in ensuring that our literacy echelon is where it is. I was shocked to realise that most people from other countries cannot speak English and do not know the basics of a computer.
Computer literacy is somewhat compulsory at institutions in Zimbabwe from kindergarten.
The fact that we can speak English better than most Africans makes other nationalities, including the Turkish if I must add, feel rather inferior to us because we can express ourselves easily. Going forward, I strongly advise our government to create incentives for those students who are studying abroad to return soon after graduation. Places like Harvard and Cambridge are there for people from the four corners of the universe to converge and conglomerate and tap their brainwaves.
When all this has been done and dusted, they go back to their different places of origin and contribute to the development of their countries.
The economic blueprint of our country, Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation ‘ZimASSET’, needs to be fully implemented by injecting the youthful population in the various industries.
I also look forward to the sprucing up of local universities such that they match up to the international standard so that we won’t have to go outside the country for a satisfactory tertiary education.
To Florence Z Shadrecks and Chipo Kapondoro, I thank you for being my sisters and for being my pillars of strength in a foreign land.
To my mum, the voice behind my voice, thank you for bringing me up in Christian ways that I have not departed from since I left home. I love you.
I was driven to write this article by my desire to equip future university entrants and their significant loved ones.
I hope that after reading this article the students will be better prepared and parents will send their children to university with a clear and fortified conscience that they will bring back results and make Zimbabwe proud. It’s better to be safe than sorry. We only live once.
About the writer
Tinotenda Nigel Rusere is a student at the Near East University, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, studying Tourism and Hotel Management. He is a former student of Eaglesvale School. Tinotenda is a member of Zhuwao Institute which is an economics, development and research think tank of Zimbabwe and a faithful member of The Redeemed House of God Church led by Dr Nick Ohizu. [email protected]
