HOM: Stha Khoza

Welcome back, readers! This week I’ve got a new friend to share with you, her name is Stha Khoza! Stha is Brilliant’s wife, who you met as our first feature on Humans of Matebeleland. Stha is a mom, a graduate of Ebenezer, and works on staff here. Please enjoy her answers, and check in tomorrow for the October Fearless Family Update.

Sthambiso Khoza, age 29

What is something about you that surprises people?

The thing is, when I tell people about my life story, the challenges I faced as a child growing up, that I am here at Ebenezer now, and the challenges I faced in marriage, they will say “Ah, how did you manage to overcome all that??”

What is the most courageous thing you’ve done?

When I said I was coming to Ebenezer, a lot of people told me I wouldn’t be able to manage. We had to clear all the trees for the fields, and they said I wouldn’t be able to do it. But we worked together, the boys cutting and the girls pulling the trees out. So I decided to listen to the Ebenezer people who told me to come and see for myself, instead of all the others that said I wouldn’t be able to do it. If I would have listened to those other people at the orphanage that I stayed with, I wouldn’t be here at Ebenezer. But I graduated, and I was even a model farmer, and now I am staff!

Stha at work in the office.

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

I am still learning to be patient. I am learning that I can’t give up if I fail, I just need to start again and learn more, and that with God everything is possible. I failed my O-level mathematics. But I am going to try again.

Who has been an influential person in your life?

Ren [the director here at Ebenezer]. When I see her, the heart that she has towards other people, and even if she is just managing the whole place at Ebenezer, to see her love towards all other people is encouraging. And even the way she talks to other people, she talks in love.

What is something you’re working hard towards?

I’m working hard to write two subjects, mathematics and English. That’s what I want to do. [For those in the States, “write two subjects” refers to passing the exam to earn a certificate equivalent to a GED in those particular subjects, in the Cambridge system].

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

I would love people to know that Zimbabwe is a peaceful country. And that most people in Zimbabwe, I think they love God and they have heard the Bible, it’s spread all over and now they know about God. Maybe the don’t know a lot, but the message has been spread to them. And you can share the message of God freely, no one will attack you for it. And even if you come here, you are protected in Zimbabwe. Like when I go to South Africa, I am scared, you can see someone shooting and they can shoot at you, but here I feel safe, I am protected. But God loves Zimbabwe, that’s why there’s this peace that we have.

Stha enjoys this view out her front door!

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Wow, thanks Stha for sharing a bit about yourself! You’re very strong and have overcome so much this far in life.

Friends, did you notice how she decided to not listen to the nay-sayers around her when she applied to come to Ebenezer? She was a part of the first few cohorts through Ebenezer, and before they could even plant their crops, they themselves had to clear the fields of the brush and trees themselves, gals included! She was willing to do the hard work, which is something that keeps a lot of us from getting started in a new season of life- we’re afraid to do the hard work, afraid of failing, afraid that the critics might be right. And Stha had a more than one critics in the orphanage she grew up in. But she took a chance! I hope Stha’s story can be of encouragement to you.

Growing in Courage,

Mackenzie