Having been exposed to an under-privileged upbringing and life on the streets of Chegutu, he has also lived through the trauma of xenophobic attacks on foreigners in neighbouring South Africa. But he managed to turn his life from that of a mere survivor into being an inspiration to many.
The metamorphosis has seen the Zimbabwean getting involved in an number of initiatives aimed at empowering the downtrodden in the neighbouring country – where he lives in Pretoria.
Joe is involved in a number of hope-building initiatives, including “I am Young Republic SA” and Trail of Hope Foundation, where he is the founder.
He is also a social entrepreneur, philanthropist, concept originator, filmmaker and writer, and is currently studying marketing management with University of South Africa.
“I also work with the Tshwane Home of Hope, a shelter for disadvantaged girls from SADC countries, including Zimbabwe, DRC, Uganda and South Africa,” he said. “I have dedicated most of my time to helping vulnerable teenage girls and the homeless, through an institution that offers residential care and educational and health support for them. We have managed to put one of the beneficiaries on a full bursary for university, while another is now gainfully employed by one of the leading SA banks. We are talking empowerment here and that is my passion.”
Inspiration
But what is driving the 29-year-old to involve himself in these charitable causes, instead of following his peers in chasing after alcohol, night life, fame and fortune?
“I always say that, behind every successful story there is a STRUGGLE that could inspire you. The way I grew up and how I had to struggle to survive and go to school inspired me so much that I promised myself that one day, I would be able to make a difference in someone’s life,” he says.
The fifth in a family of 10, Tendai was born to a Mozambican father and a Zimbabwean mother in 1982 and grew up in a farm setting near Chegutu, where his family life took a nose-dive when his father was transferred to the Chegutu urban area just before the 1992 drought.
When his family could hardly afford their upkeep, Tendai and his brothers would on weekends and school holidays, sell wire toys or pick cotton at a nearby farm to help feed the family.
Scavenging
It became commonplace for them to have no food on the table and with no-one to turn to, scavenging became the way of survival, till Tendai and one of his brother’s reached a point where they would sometimes eat direct from the dustbins.
“Shameful as it was, there was talk of me and my brother having to be sent to a juvenile institute. We landed in the streets, where life was never easy and people saw a criminal element in every street child,” he recounted.
“It was a struggle in which I was fast becoming a criminal, mentored by older friends in the streets/ But the dream for me was to go back home, live a normal life again and return to school.”
Bullied
On his return, Tendai was bullied at school and lost a tooth in the process and with no access to a psychologist or social worker, his emotional scars would never get the attention they needed for him to heal.
However, he vented his anger on his school performance. But after attending primary school for two terms, the only bread winner in the family. his father, was retrenched in 1995, forcing the family to relocate to Mudzi rural
“I completed primary education at a rural school, where it was more like a fresh start for my life, as no-one knew that I had once lived in the streets,” he said, but that was just an early consolation compared to his urban life.
Going to high school became a challenge, as the nearest school was about 17km from where he lived. With no money and resources for him and his brothers to attend school, he was told to drop-out and pave way for the big brother.
But fate struck!
“I got informally adopted by a teaching couple in 1998, who started providing for me. Then on February 25 2000, I became a victim of Cyclone Eline, when the bus I was travelling in from school to visit my family plunged into a flooding river, killing 34 people, including my friend and classmate. I was the first survivor of that accident.”
After passing his “Ordinary” level examinations in 2001, but having failed to get a scholarship, Tendai became very depressed.
“With no-one to share my hardships with, at a time when I desperately needed a counsellor or psychologist, I at times thought that the only way out would be suicide. I later managed to look beyond the pain, considering that I had managed so well straight after the streets.”
Walked through Kruger
He migrated to South Africa in 2005, where he illegally crossed through the dangerous Kruger National Park.
On arrival, he lived in an informal settlement – Spruit, West of Pretoria, where he did odd jobs. In May 2008, he was among the targets of the ugly xenophobic attacks that killed at least 62 people in South Africa, but as he has done throughout his life – he survived.
Having turned the corner and found his feet – with the willpower to succeed and change people’s lives still growing strong, Tendai is now a youth leader in South Africa and has had a chance to work with some high profile individuals during his tenure as a volunteer at a Cape Town-based Youth Organization. He has mentored former street children, drug addicts and former juvenile in-mates.
His work has been endorsed internationally, even by the Mayor of London – Boris Johnson.
He is also active on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, where he has been very active on children and other social development issues.
Tendai is currently an office administrator at Tshwane Home of Hope (a shelter for under-privileged girls) where he has arranged visits by high profile personalities including footballer Teko Modise, Sonia Booth (wife of popular SA footballer Mathew) and Theo of award-winning Afro-pop group Mafikizolo.
Human Trafficking
Tendai is also a well-known anti-human trafficking activist. From a street kid to an inspiration, what made Tendai turn around from a path where many who have trudged it have easily reached a point of no return?
“I just decided to leave the streets and get back to school after some incident that did not go well with me. I felt I had been taken advantage of and I was also tired of people judging me. People did not see any potential in me and there were times when other kids would make up songs to mock me. That was enough drive for me to prove what I could do.”
On how he found his feet, he had this to say, “God stood by me I guess. Many people have been influential in my life. I always had brothers who cared for me, a loving mother and also friends and community members. I particularly thank the Manunure family for affording me to complete my high school in a very stable environment at Kotwa Growth Point in Mudzi, where I attended Kotwa High School.”
Post published in: News