The Sunday Mail
Leroy Dzenga recently in CHIMANIMANI
MAJIVA Magweva was the last person in Kopa to be rescued perched on a treetop when Cyclone Idai struck the growth point at the eastern edge of Chimanimani.
The 36-year-old was swept together with her husband, three children and mother, as raging waters destroyed everything in their path.
She was the only member of her family who survived what she describes as a miracle.
“I was dragged for about a kilometre and was left on top of a tree. I spent the whole day and slept in the tree. The flood happened on Friday around 9pm and I was rescued at 4pm the next day,” she told The Sunday Mail Society.
She is still traumatised to this day.
“My first-born was a boy (15), the second-born was a girl (10) and the last one was a girl as well (4). A part of me died that day. There is nothing that I did not do for my children. I endured long hours on the bus working for them, only for them to be snatched away,” she said.
The family she had taken care of since 2005 was snatched away from her, leaving her to nurse a broken heart.
After the calamity, she and other survivors were housed in nearby villages.
As time passed, their hosts began asking for rentals.
However, the Government and other organisations came to the rescue.
“We were provided tents, which have been our shelter here at Kopa camp. We saw International Organisation for Migration (IOM), WHH, Government officials coming to help.
“I don’t know what would have happened had they not intervened. It is better than squatting on someone’s yard, but the tents are now worn out,” said Magweva.
Despite the difficult circumstances she has had to endure while waiting to be moved by the Government to a new settlement called Runyararo, she has decided to pick up the pieces.
She has since decided to move on and start a new family.
“I was left alone, I was always alone in the tent. I felt that it would be better for me to have a child who will comfort me,” she said.
She met and married her current husband in March 2020.
The two are blessed with a daughter, who is two-months-old.
“I named my daughter Covenant, nekuti iyi isungano yangu naMwari (as my own pact with God). I am praying that I am not robbed of the child again.”
But she is currently struggling to provide for her.
“Until recently, I was living in the tent with my husband and child. It was difficult. The tent was destroyed by winds and we had to move into the village to rent,” she said.
Raising rentals has been a struggle.
Her husband is a bricklayer, a job that has not been as rewarding as people are not building as expected.
“Life is currently tough. We have to go and work in farms, getting a dollar or two per day so that we can get something to eat. If it was not for well-wishers, maybe we would be walking around naked.”
She hopes that when borders are reopened, she will be able to engage in meaningful activities to sustain her family.
“Our predicament was that we came from the cyclone and Covid-19 came. Some of the people who were assisting us are now in need of assistance because they lost jobs in the pandemic,” she said.
“All I want is another passport and for the borders to be open. Everyone here in Kopa knew that I was a hustler, I would toil to ensure that my family is well fed. I can’t afford to replace my passport and it is worrying me because I know borders will be open one day and I will not have the document ready.”
But her new family has given her a new meaning to life.
“There was a time I woke up thinking that it was better if I had been swept together with my family, but, since Covenant came, it has been different. I now have something to live for. Things may be difficult at the moment but I know that something will give,” she said.
Magweva is among those who were promised homes about 40 kilometres from Kopa by the Government.
She added: “I rarely sleep these days; the cyclone left me ‘naked’. I am now shuttling between the village where we live and here with a child on my back. We spend the day waiting, hoping that maybe someone will come with a donation. If I can get clothes for my daughter and food for my family, I would be at peace.”
However, she wants to be given a chance to fend for her family.
Her relatives know of her desperate situation, but they, too, are not people of means.
Although she is trying by all means to be strong, sometimes she questions her decisions.
“I sometimes feel selfish that I brought Covenant into the world when things are like this.”
Magweva hopes her late family is in a better place.
She is trying to pick up the pieces, but at times they seem heavier than she imagined.
