HOM : Brilliant Khoza

Brilliant Khoza

Salibonani! Hello!

You are reading the very first feature in this Humans of Matebeleland series! I’ve chosen a coworker of ours here at Ebenezer to be the first participant. His name is Brilliant Khoza, he’s a farmer, husband to Stha, and father to Karen.

 I don’t want to give much as far as introductions go, since I think his answers to the questions are better than what I can write. All I’ll say is that anyone who knows Brilliant knows he is dedicated to his work, passionate about farming, and has the best laugh on the farm!

Okay, to the questions! (Keep scrolling!)

Brilliant feels at home among the crops.

What is something about you that surprises people?

What surprises people more with me, is my health, because I am surviving with one kidney. It was [disconnected] when I was 6. My parents wanted to do a transplant but they couldn’t. So it’s there, it is just dead. The other thing that surprises people is my smile and my humor. People say I’m always cheerful.

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned in the last year?

Giving up is not an option. Giving up is not a solution, it makes things worse. So I’ve learned not to give up. I’ve gone through some life challenges recently. I pay the school fees for my niece, she became pregnant, and then a few days after delivering the baby she lost the child. So we are caring for her. I also have to decide with my wife how to pay for school for our daughter, how to provide… It’s tough right now but giving up is not an option. I think of James 1:2.

Brilliant teaches cropping to apprentices.

What is something that you’d like people to know about Zimbabwe?

Zimbabwe is a multicultural setup- not many languages, but many cultures. They [Zimbabweans] love religion, syncretism is very common. It sounds quite negative, but Zimbabweans are believers. They’ll believe anything that comes by. If it favors part of their life, people will pounce on it. I think its because of desperation or survival methods.

What is the most courageous thing you’ve done?

There are 2 moments. Firstly, it’s how I gained my education. I was raised in a rural area, I was 14 km from school, I would walk 28 km to school every day. So I would only see the daylight at home on the weekends.

Secondly, it was when we started Ebenezer. We would have a [water] pipe that was crossing over to this side when they were installing the water system and it would break twice or thrice a week and it would need to be joined back together under the water. So I was the only one brave enough to do it without a mask. They would tie a rope to my foot thinking I wouldn’t come back up. But I would go and fix it and join the pipes back together, even looking out for trees under the water since it was a newly filled dam.

One lesson Brilliant teaches is focused on "a farmer's best friends," of which one is the ladybird (ladybug).

Thank you Brilliant, for your time and your contribution!

To add some context to the second part of his last response, I'm going to go ahead and say that it is a fairly common (and true) stereotype that Zimbabweans are afraid of being in the water. So, it is no small feat that he was willing to get in the newly dammed river (now a large long lake), go under water, search for the unconnected pipes, and reconnect them, all while dodging the flooded/underwater trees and holding his breath!! I'd call that courageous! I'm sure the farming apprentices were very thankful for the ability to irrigate each time he would fix it.

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One quick closing story about Brilliant. I was recently in a staff focus group with some app developers visiting Ebenezer from the Netherlands. We were asked to pair up and introduce our partner to the group. Brilliant was paired with one of the visitors, Roef. When it was Roef's turn to introduce Brilliant to the group, Roef said, "This is Brilliant ..." and stopped his introductions to turn to Brilliant and say, "You know, that really is a great name."

Brilliant responded, "When I was young I didn't like my name. I thought it was revealing a bit too much. But now, I guess I'm okay with it!!"

We all burst out in laughter. We can always count on Brilliant for a smart comment like that!

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Well there you have it, you've read about the first Human of Matebeleland that I was able to grab for a few comments and photos. I hope you've enjoyed your brief interaction with Brilliant. The questions aren't always the same for each person I reach out to, but I do always ask about a courageous thing they've done, because I want you to know you can be courageous too! Until next time!

Growing in Courage,

Mackenzie