Tapiwa Ziwira — Like polished onyx, 48 year-old Janet Tongogara's eyes shine with deep-seated strength as she nurtures her thriving sugar bean crop, the sound of gushing water and the scent of damp earth evoking a sense of renewal.
Runyararo Community, Zimbabwe's haven of hope against climate change provided by the Government, is where she confronts the devastating impact of Cyclone Idai, which ravaged her home and livelihood in March 2019, by transforming her story.
Janet's journey of resilience and adaptation is one among many that a team of foreign and local journalists encountered first hand on a recent media tour of Chimanimani, Manicaland Province, arranged by DanChurchAid (DCA).
The cyclone's vicious winds and torrential rains ruined her, sweeping away her cosy home in Ngangu Extension, thriving sewing business, and cherished loved ones.
This Thursday afternoon, she braves the searing September sun, standing tall amid the burdened foliage--celebrating new leaves--her spirit unbroken. Like a baobab tree, she weathers the harshest of storms, vowing to rewrite her story, against all odds.
"To me, Ngangu was the place to be before Cyclone Idai. Now, I do not have any wish of returning there," she says, her eyes glowing.
Shattering impact
Cyclone Idai devastatingly hit Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Malawi in March 2019, leaving a trail of destruction and heartbreak. Chimanimani, a picturesque district in eastern Zimbabwe, was one of the hardest-hit areas.
The cyclone caused 344 deaths, with 257 people reported missing, and 60 000 displaced in Manicaland, Mashonaland East, and Masvingo provinces.
The economic toll was substantial, with damages estimated between US$542 million and US$616 million across nine districts, primarily Chimanimani and Chipinge. To fully recover, the affected sectors require between US$557 million and US$767 million in the short to medium term.
In Chimanimani, the impact was severe, with costs ranging between US$66 million and US$71 million. More than 60 houses were buried under boulders in Ngangu Extension, and 70 households were swept away at Kopa Growth Point.
Janet's anguish: The call of the dead
Janet sits on her veranda, clad in red flared pants, a scotch brown and white top, and black soiled sandals.
She removes her black sunhat, revealing dreadlocked hair, then she curtsies before settling into her thoughts. Her gaze drifts northward, beyond the chicken run and goat pen, to the boulder-lined wall bordering her homestead and garden.
Memories of the fateful night flood back.
"I heard a deafening roar, and my neighbour's house disintegrated before my eyes," she begins.
"A mass of raging waters, uprooted trees, and boulders swept away their child. My heart racing, I grabbed my two children, aged 14 and nine, and ran."
Janet's husband was away in Mozambique. Her brother-in-law, his pregnant wife, and two children perished, leaving an aching void.
Now, the five-year-old shock trails her. Her 19-year-old son, a survivor of the cyclone, still grapples with the trauma. His eyes cloud over, and he falls into trances, communicating with the departed, especially his late uncle.
"He speaks in his uncle's voice, saying his spirit needs rest," Janet reveals. "He said he had been told to return to the world of the living, for his time wasn't up."
In one trance, he implored Janet to hold an invisible baby, saying his aunt, who was pregnant when she was swept away by the floods, had given birth.
"He was supposed to write his O-Levels last year, but deferred due to this. Now, he is living with my sister in Mutare, preparing to sit his exams this year," Janet whispers.
She pauses, overwhelmed by emotion, then she gathers herself, before unburdening her inner turmoil: "Last year's trance was different. With a swollen leg, he was told to heal first, for they had a long journey ahead. Afterwards, my son said it was the last time he would communicate, then he would be gone."
What compounds the situation is that her husband's relatives question why the deceased brother-in-law only communicates through her son. They accuse her of having been overly close to him, insinuating improper association. Her husband does not seem supportive, either.
"With the family divided on the matter, my son's ordeal continues," Janet's words hit like a tornado.
Rising from the ashes
Despite the anguish, Janet's focus is on changing her story, her determination burning brighter than the scorching September sun.
Along with scores of other Cyclone Idai survivors, she moved to Rusununguko Community, a settlement established by the Government in Chimanimani, and started anew.
Her well-furnished seven-roomed house, once a symbol of pride, was reduced to rubble, but she adapted, cultivating life from the semi-arid land. The cyclone swept away her sewing and overlocking machines, too--thus burying a thriving tailoring business under colossal boulders in Ngangu Extension.
Yet, when she arrived here, her first impression was negative, feeling forsaken by the Christian God.
"As compared to Ngangu and other parts of Chimanimani, this place is arid and rocky. Although, at about three-hectares, the space is big, it was riddled with huge stones," Janet says. "To create space, I gathered, and lined them up into a barricade against cattle and goats for my garden."
After clearing the arid land, Janet created a garden and cultivated sugar beans and vegetables.
"It dawned on me that a silver-lining persisted in the perceived doom. Now, Ngangu is a fading past before Cyclone Idai. Despite the aridity, I feel I have been given a new lease on life. We are much safer here," she says.
She thanked the Government for building houses for them in Runyararo.
"When one has shelter, then everything else follows," she says.
Janet lives here with her daughter, another survivor, now in Grade Seven, since her carpenter husband works in Harare.
Having studied agriculture at school, she saw market opportunities in Runyararo where local demand for greens, owing to the area's aridity, is high. She started with sugar beans and vegetables, with plans for potatoes and other cash crops in the offing.
"There is money in farming," Janet enthuses. "I am inspired by my relatives in Centenary, Mashonaland Central Province, who have transformed their lives by working the land."
With a new marketplace opened close-by, the only way for her is forward.
Janet's garden, a drapery of green and red earth, thanks to piped water provided by Welthungerhilfe (WHH) Zimbabwe with the Government's support, flourishes under her tender care, sugar beans and vegetables bursting forth like emeralds.
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Sewing hope into every stitch
A resolute mother and wife, Janet's passion for sewing remains unshaken. To her, it is a flame that flickered in the ferocious winds and waters five years ago but never died.
With a trusty hand-sewing machine, she crafts school uniforms, her specialty in Ngangu, each stitch personifying her pliability and adaptation in the face of nature's armoury.
"Sewing gives me joy," she says, her eyes sparkling like diamonds on black velvet at night. "Let me show you some of the uniforms that I have crafted."
Janet dreams of acquiring an overlocking machine, buttonhole machine, and industrial sewing machine to expand her business, weaving hope into every thread.
Runyararo rises like a phoenix
Like Nyahode River flowing through rocky terrain, Janet's story endures. In the fashion of a butterfly emerging from its cocoon, she adapts to the new normal, hinging on her community's support.
Her story is woven to other threads of love through safety nets provided by the Government and partners, like DanChurchAid, the Zimbabwe Council of Churches, and WHH Zimbabwe.
It is a tale of hope interwoven among many in Runyararo. This haven, aptly named "Runyararo" (Shona for "place of peace and consolation"), sheltering over 260 families, with 120 houses already constructed, symbolises hope.
The new urban settlement is situated in Chayamiti Village under Chief Mutambara in Chimanimani, Manicaland Province, near Nhedziwa Business Centre. The place was formerly known as West End Farm.
With its modern health centre commissioned by Vice President Kembo Mohadi in June, school, tap water, and irrigation facilities, Runyararo inspires hope, rising, like a phoenix, from the ashes.
