Kudzai Dzomba

By Sniko

Ebony, chocolate, brown, coffee; but he is not just that, he is a black man with an astonishing personality. He was named Kudzai, which means honor in Shona, by his parents and indeed this tawny skinned gentleman has a very high self-esteem, he has so much respect for himself and those around him. His warm presence is welcoming. His smile pierces through your saddened soul. “I’m a free spirit,” he says, smiling. He laughs generously. He makes you desire his presence.

The 20-year-old Kudzai Dzomba, born in Harare, Zimbabwe, has always dreamed of becoming a lawyer but little did he know that Rhodes University would be the institution for him to study law in. He explained that he was not interested, whatsoever, coming to Rhodes but circumstances led him to come here. Kudzai wanted to study law at the University of Zimbabwe but unfortunately did not qualify, so he came to Rhodes.

He comes from a very strict family; when he did not qualify for law at the University of Zimbabwe his feelings were shattered because he thought he was a disappointment to his family, especially his father “I called my father over the phone, ‘dad I failed’, he hung up on me,” he said. At that moment Kudzai knew he needed to sort his life together, he applied to Rhodes University and was accepted, and now he is working towards his degree. His parents could not be more proud.

Kudzai is very glad that he got the opportunity to study in South Africa “South Africa is a free country compared to where I come from. I feel completely free to do whatever I want as long as it is abiding by the law,” he said. Ever since Kudzai has been here in South Africa he has not experienced hatred from South Africans in any kind of way. He said the people he met so far have been nice and friendly towards him.

He is a sports person “basketball is my life,” he says, with a strong and barely controllable emotion. He has received lots of sports medals when growing up. He has a medal for cricket, tennis, swimming, and basketball. He is very passionate about sports “I played tennis in 2013, and I was playing for the national team in the IT of competitions,” he said.

The warm-hearted Kudzai also shared that he donated money for charity back home “I felt like I didn’t need the money, I felt like there were people who needed it more than I did,” he said, and you could tell from his facial expression that his heart was torn apart, if he had more than what he gave, he would have given more.

Kudzai loves going out. He loves meeting new people. He loves making friends. He is an extrovert “in these few months that I’ve been here, I have befriended a lot of people. I can’t even remember how I met some of them,” he said, genuinely giggling with a smile that leaves you wanting to be best friends with him.

He is all about a healthy lifestyle, he exercises, eats healthy. In his spare time he goes to the gym “to enjoy the glow of good health, you must exercise,” he says. Because what is life if you are not healthy?

In the short period of time we had, I had learnt a lot from him. He is one of those people you would meet with every day, and every day would still feel like a first time. As our time came to an end, we had to say our goodbyes but I knew they were temporary, because in him I have found a friend, in him I have found a brother.