“It was so loud, so chilling, I couldn’t believe her screams hadn’t woken her!” said her mother, Tenjiwe.
Mandisa would scream continuously for up to 15 minutes at a time, without waking up, and nothing could rouse her. Afterwards she would be so spent, she would lie shuddering in her bed.
When Tenjiwe took Mandisa to the family doctor, she didn’t have to wrack her brain when he asked if there was anything different in the home, any trauma which could have triggered the 13-year-old’s terror, manifesting itself in her sleep.
Two weeks earlier, Mandisa’s father, Peter, hadn’t come home from his job as manager of a local retail company. On one of the coldest weekends of that bitter winter, Peter had spent two nights in prison, stripped of his shoes and jacket – only two items of clothing are permitted in a Zimbabwean holding cell – and forced to share the 2m sq space with the Friday night regulars: a motley crew of criminals and prostitutes.
His crime: trading in foreign currency in the dark era of hyper-inflation, before the adoption of the US dollar as an official currency. He was finally released on Monday morning.
Mandisa, who had always been a restless sleeper, began having intense and frequent night terrors soon afterwards. Nothing the doctor advised helped, not the holistic tranquilisers nor the change of bedroom. Within a year, Peter resigned from his job and the family emigrated.
Speaking to Tenjiwe in Essex, England, where the family now lives, she remembers the period as if it was yesterday.
“We’ve tried to put it all behind us, but when we allow ourselves to relive it, the feelings are quite indescribable,” said Tenjiwe. “First there was the arrest, then the on-going court case with the real threat of charges being laid and serious jail-time. Plus Peter’s passport was taken away for the duration.
“It was definitely a deciding factor in us leaving. I will never forget the feeling of utter helplessness when he was arrested. You realise how powerless you are.”
Tenjiwe has noticed a significant difference in Mandisa since moving to the UK.
“Little things that you don’t even think children notice, like meticulously locking up at night and driving with all the car doors and windows locked,” said Tenjiwe.
“When we first got here, Mandisa would start getting anxious towards dusk, and ask if everything was locked up. With time, the terrors stopped and now she sleeps like a log!”
Soon after moving to the UK, Tenjiwe began suffering from digestion problems and was diagnosed with a rare condition, most likely triggered by stress.
“The doctor who diagnosed me felt that what we had experienced could well have set off the condition, one which is incurable and I will have for the rest of my life,” said Tenjiwe. “So, in effect, Zimbabwe has left its mark on all of us.”
Post published in: News