Zimbabwe's Writing Diaspora

Zimbabwe's diaspora has given birth to yet another interesting writer,Tapiwa Kapurura, author of Touching the American Rainbow. Tapiwa Kapurura studied law in Zimbabwe before migrating to the United States in the year 2000.

The synopsis of Touching the American Rainbow reads:

Leaving Africa as an attorney, the young man from Zimbabwe left family and friends, and sold all his earthly possessions, hoping to start a better life in America. He took everything for granted. Considering himself educated enough to easily fit into the American job market, he hoped to easily pass the legal bar exam, become an American attorney and live “large.” Before departure, he combined his childhood fantasies with a mature analysis, convincing himself that he was bound for the biblical Canaan—“a land of milk and honey”. Just like anyone from the Third World, the author possessed a vivid-colored picture of America. He never contemplated any glitch in the transition process. Because of media hype, celebrity “buzz” and Hollywood stories, he believed he was coming to a Nirvana, hoping to strike gold and associate with celebrities upon settling. It took only a few weeks after arriving in America for the painful reality to strike. He needed to survive! In order to do so, he compromised his professional status, took off the legal robe, rummaged for furniture from dumpsters, applied for jobs as a high school graduate, improved his accent and endured the culture shock test. This is the fascinating, inspirational story of a young man’s quest to touch a piece of the American rainbow, and what it took to finally grab hold.

Tapuwa Kapurura can be considered as one of the pioneers of what might turn into a wave of new biographical and memoir writing by Zimbabweans home and abroad. The timing is perfect, the idea is excellent, and those who have the inspiration and talent should tell the Zimbabwean story. Kapurura is working on other books, and one that seems very promising is Diaspora Exposed, described as follows:

Immigration is spawned by many factors. War, poverty, famine, disease, search for greener pastures, Third world despotic practices and many other factors. When immigrants land on foreign territory, they have countless problems. They live two lives in one world because they are in the Diaspora yet they keep links with the life patterns at home, carrying a duty to take care for those who missed the train into the Diaspora. As they live away from home, they also undergo certain experiences that need to be shared. Those who remain at home have wild imaginations regarding life overseas. They view it as a green land flowing with “milk and honey.” At times greed and ingratitude can be a disappointing factor as they ask for more than enough assistance. Those who work overseas struggle hard to keep their heads above the water yet that part is little shared with those at home. The jobs are physically draining, time to rest is hard to come by, weather conditions are at times challenging and home-sickness is also an issue. Among many factors, families are breaking apart through cultural erosion and inevitable separation actuated by prohibitive immigrant visa laws.

Through fictitious social drama, this book inspiringly exposes some ordinary moments of joy and gloom in the true life of a Third world immigrant living in the First World. “No one knows the point of return home. Nothing seems to be changing. Back home, most people continue to suffer and die. Inflation is the national anthem. It’s a matter of endless weeping, regretting and toiling until the return of Jesus Christ. The situation sounds rather punitive, yet there is no promising remedy on the horizon.” The book also delivers some highlights regarding the implications of living and working abroad.

Tapiwa Kapurura is a conributor to the online newspaper Zimdaily, an affliaite of Zimnet radio. For more details on Tapiwa Kapurura's work, visit his website.