Welcome to Fifth Word's We Need New Stories. Episode One, Blessing's Story, A Chitzungwiza Boy, written by Zodwa Nyoni and directed by Anastasia Osei-Kuffour. One day I will be a travelling troubadour. Reciting Zimbabwean memories of fractured homelands of bread baskets gone stale, of my people burning money to stay warm. One day I will be a travelling troubadour door with tales of boys becoming men in the absence of their mother.
Bedtime stories of Robin Hood were read over, long distance phone calls, prayers to be sent for become fairy tales we questioned would ever come true. One day I will be a travelling troubadour. Who cross oceans to join a tribe. A tribe of displaced immigrants will gather in staff rooms on late night shifts to perform rituals of belonging. Our tongues will bend and stretch as we learn how to call this foreign place home.
When day breaks and doubt creeps in, we'll listen to ancestors' wisdom, whispering in the wind, reminding us their resilience strengthens our spines. One day I will be a traveling Troubador, shaking hands with princes and paupers. They'll gather and marvel at this griot's melodies not knowing their own own magic is buried treasure, waiting to be discovered. One day I will be a travelling troubador recalling Chitungwiza boy on the veranda, playing his mbira.
Dreaming of crowds chanting his name like a hero's welcome. The man he's yet to become is a mystery to him, but his legacy, songs his children will inherit as heirlooms when his aged body has been returned to the earth. Thank you for listening. The next episode in this series is Ken's story. The Karate Master son has big dreams.