From Brunapeg with love, proudly Kalanga and a pilot

Born in the Brunapeg, a business centre and village in the Matabeleland South Province of Zimbabwe,Simon Talon Moyo is both proudly Kalanga and a commercial pilot with many flying hours experience.

A fourth born to Talon and Tjike, Moyo was born on the 24th November 1960 and his is a story of rags to riches. Like many from rural Zimbabwe would relate, Moyo's mother gave birth to him in a kitchen floor of a hut, a type of vernacular architecture, built of readily available materials such as mud, cow dung, wood and grass.

"I did my primary level education in the area- Grade 1-5 at St Anna and 6-7 at Brunapeg Primary school respectively" Moyo narrates.

After completing his primary education in 1975, Moyo proceeded to do his secondary education at Mzilikazi High School in Bulawayo the city of Kings between 1976 and 1979. Moyo then went on to do his A levels at Mpopoma High School in 1980 finishing in 1981.

"My initially motivation was in 1975, when as primary school kids, we visited the Bulawayo airport on a school trip. I went closer to one of the planes, touched it and said "I will fly this thing. One day is one day". My classmates laughed their lungs out upon hearing such ambitious words from a kid who always came to school bare footed. However, they seemed to have forgotten the fact that records showed that I was the best student in class". For Moyo it was worth believing that every great dream begins with a dreamer.

Moyo's brilliant performance in class was no surprise as he came from a family of academics. "Nearly ten of my family members were schoolteachers, therefore, we were relatively a family of academics and lovers of books".

In 1981 Moyo registered for entry tests in the Airforce of Zimbabwe. His candidate number was 1174 which is a reflection that the examination was choke-a-block with ambitious candidates for the limited air force entries. The selection prerequisite was that one candidate was to be selected from each of the then 9 country's provinces. Moyo, a Kalanga child from Brunapeg came tops representing the Matabeleland South province.

"We started our training in 1982. We were 18 trainees, 9 white and 9 black students. Each black apprentice was selected from each of the then 9 provinces. By the time we finished, the number for black trainees had reduced to 2 while that of white trainees had reduced to 7, nevertheless, out of all of the candidates, I was the only one who qualified to be pilot", reveals Moyo.

While with the Airforce, Moyo flew a number of planes including the Boeing 737, 707 and Being 767 as well as the Airbus 340 to 500.Despite his humble beginnings, Moyo's success is a motivational story to the young generation in general and rural kids in particular.  His life story reveals that a dream does not become reality through magic but takes sweat, determination and hard work and that one's dreams can come true, if one has the courage to pursue them.

His son followed in his father's footsteps and is now a pilot in Hongkong, flying the Airbus 350, which is the latest generation of the commercial jets. The son is an Oxford University Graduate but did his pilot training in South Africa.