Author: Tanaka
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Forget the Suit: Why Zimbabwe’s Skilled Artisans Are Looking Towards Australia
The joke was about marrying an artisan who could take you to Australia. The deeper conversation was about skills assessments, migration costs, women in…
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“I’m Fine” Is Sometimes Survival: What Zimbabweans in the UK Are Silently Carrying
They go to work, answer messages and tell people they are fine. Behind those words, some are missing their children, sleeping hungry, carrying marriages…
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My Side Hustle Is NHS”: How Zimbabweans in the UK Are Making Money Beyond the 9-to-5
It began with a question many people probably think about after payday. A member of the Facebook group Zimbabweans in the UK asked others…
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“That Sadza Is Fighting for Its Life”: Can Zimbabwe’s National Dish Really Work at 40,000 Feet?
A photo of an Air Zimbabwe in-flight meal sent Zimbabwean X into stitches. But beneath the jokes about “brick moulding” was a bigger question:…
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She Asked Almost Nothing About Him: Was the Perth Date Shy, Uninterested—or Simply Observing?
He asked most of the questions and received few in return. Some said she was not interested. Others insisted she was studying everything he…
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£1,700 for a Sick Cat: When Zimbabwean Workers Meet Britain’s Pet-Family Culture
The cat was admitted, given a bed and discharged with antibiotics after a reported £1,700 bill. To some Zimbabweans it was absurd; to pet…
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“He’ll Start Being Clean When We Marry”: Is Marriage a Partnership—or a Rehabilitation Centre?
He ate beef in bed, licked his fingers and promised to become cleaner after marriage. Was it one unpleasant habit—or a preview of the…
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“Zimbabwe Is Back”: But Which Zimbabwe Is the Diaspora Seeing on Social Media?
After 20 years in New Zealand and only one visit to Zimbabwe since leaving, a Zimbabwean asked a deceptively simple question on Facebook: is…
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“GoFundMe is not a Funeral Policy”: When the Diaspora Is Asked to Pay for a Death Nobody Planned For
A poorly supported funeral fundraiser became a warning to Zimbabweans in America. Is GoFundMe simply the diaspora’s new chema—or is the old system of…
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Send Him Back to Zimbabwe”: When Diaspora Parents No Longer Agree on What Discipline Means
When a Zimbabwean teenager’s behaviour frightened his mother, many advised sending him “back home.” But can Zimbabwe discipline children the diaspora feels unable to…