Opinion / Columnist
Diasporans must fly Zimbabwe flag high
22 Oct 2022 at 05:38hrs | Views
JOHN Wirimai worked for a railway company. His duties were to give warnings at rail and road crossings. Those days many rail crossings were at a low level so cars had to give way to the trains.
John would stand between the car and the train. He would give the drivers signs to stop or go.
His job was very important to many drivers who owed their lives to John.
One evening John was sitting in the guard room. As it was getting dark John started dozing off. Suddenly a train approached with a loud honking sound. John was startled.
He saw a car approaching very fast. He jumped in the middle of the road frantically waved the driver to stop.
The train had already reached the level crossing. John shouted and waved, but the car was approaching fast.
John jumped off the road getting bruises in the process. He looked up in time to see the car crushing into the moving train.
He had the crashing and screeching sound of the impact, a sound that lived with him all his life.
The police came and to John's horror there was a family of five in the car. John had to brave the horror of seeing body bags being loaded into the police van.
Few days later he was summoned to court.
John got the best lawyers. They showed the court bruises on John's legs and hands. They proved that John was on the road that he did his job and that he had to jump to save his life.
The court acquitted John.
John went down the court stairs. He sat by the corner and sobbed and wept. His family was surprised. His lawyers wondered why John was not happy.
They approached him and asked him why was he not happy. John wiped his tears and said:
"It is true I tried to stop the car. I was in the middle of the train and the car. It is true I jumped off the road. But I killed those people. It was dark and I did not light the lamps. The driver could not see me nor the train. It was dark. I killed that family."
It was just a small omission which killed that family. A slight scratch of a match stick looked small but proved deadly in the end..
While we are abroad omission of small things may cost your life and lives of our families in our Mother Land.
The lives of your children. The lives of our children who are coming up. A small thing in this job may prevent loss of lives. Just like being positive about your country.
When you are out of the country you are the light and keep your lights on.
A small spark causes a big fire, do not take short-cuts. You might be good in talking but lives depend on you.
Many people in Diaspora talk evil about their country. They see nothing good about Zimbabwe.
The job of every Zimbabwean is to lift the flag of Zimbabwe high.
This flag makes us. And we are Zimbabweans. Being in diaspora does not change you from being a Zimbabwean.
Diaspora or no diaspora we remain Zimbabweans.
Vazet2000@yahoo.co.uk
John would stand between the car and the train. He would give the drivers signs to stop or go.
His job was very important to many drivers who owed their lives to John.
One evening John was sitting in the guard room. As it was getting dark John started dozing off. Suddenly a train approached with a loud honking sound. John was startled.
He saw a car approaching very fast. He jumped in the middle of the road frantically waved the driver to stop.
The train had already reached the level crossing. John shouted and waved, but the car was approaching fast.
John jumped off the road getting bruises in the process. He looked up in time to see the car crushing into the moving train.
He had the crashing and screeching sound of the impact, a sound that lived with him all his life.
The police came and to John's horror there was a family of five in the car. John had to brave the horror of seeing body bags being loaded into the police van.
Few days later he was summoned to court.
John got the best lawyers. They showed the court bruises on John's legs and hands. They proved that John was on the road that he did his job and that he had to jump to save his life.
The court acquitted John.
John went down the court stairs. He sat by the corner and sobbed and wept. His family was surprised. His lawyers wondered why John was not happy.
They approached him and asked him why was he not happy. John wiped his tears and said:
"It is true I tried to stop the car. I was in the middle of the train and the car. It is true I jumped off the road. But I killed those people. It was dark and I did not light the lamps. The driver could not see me nor the train. It was dark. I killed that family."
It was just a small omission which killed that family. A slight scratch of a match stick looked small but proved deadly in the end..
While we are abroad omission of small things may cost your life and lives of our families in our Mother Land.
The lives of your children. The lives of our children who are coming up. A small thing in this job may prevent loss of lives. Just like being positive about your country.
When you are out of the country you are the light and keep your lights on.
A small spark causes a big fire, do not take short-cuts. You might be good in talking but lives depend on you.
Many people in Diaspora talk evil about their country. They see nothing good about Zimbabwe.
The job of every Zimbabwean is to lift the flag of Zimbabwe high.
This flag makes us. And we are Zimbabweans. Being in diaspora does not change you from being a Zimbabwean.
Diaspora or no diaspora we remain Zimbabweans.
Vazet2000@yahoo.co.uk
Source - The Herald
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