Author: Kim Mukwa

  • in her shoes

    I Survived

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    Sean Kingston in his song “Beautiful Girls” sang a line, “all these beautiful girls, they only wanna do you dirt; they’ll have you suicidal, suicidal when they say it’s over….” Adults and kids sang along, oblivious to what they were singing, myself included. It is only when it hit closer to home than l could ever imagine that l understood what it truly meant to be suicidal. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, suicide is “the act or an instance of taking one’s own life voluntarily and intentionally.” For me, it had been a gradual build-up of situations and circumstances that led me to that dark and messy place. A place where an impulsive moment could not have been reversed if… Continue reading "I Survived"

  • faith, her story

    How a Relationship with God and the Power of a Vision Transformed Sibo Hlabangana’s Life

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    (I met Sibo Hlabangana whilst attending a girls’ workshop last October and was immediately drawn to her level of faith in God’s word. This compelled me to want to share her journey from being a lawyer to authoring four books already. She narrated to The Weight She Carries how she has since stopped practicing law to becoming an author, blogger, motivational speaker and more.) Growing up in a country where [most] people identify as Christians, l was one of them but l did not have a personal relationship with Him. And so in my twenties, l went through my rebellion against God. At the time, l was unhappy because l felt that l had done everything right and yet He… Continue reading "How a Relationship with God and the Power of a Vision Transformed Sibo Hlabangana’s Life"

  • in her shoes

    TWSC Submission: How the Illness and Death of My Husband Changed My Whole World

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    Widowhood is a painful and traumatizing experience. The death of a spouse causes mental anguish that only time can heal. Haruchemwi Nhengu narrated to The Weight She Carries how she was abandoned before and after the death of her husband by her in-laws. What follows is her account of what happened: My name is Haruchemwi Nhengu. l am 45 years and was born in Chivi, Zimbabwe, and attended school in the same area. l later relocated to Chipinge which is where l met my now-late husband. During our marriage, l had no problem at all with my husband. We were happy. He was an only child and would often refer to himself as being a loner. Coming from a polygamous… Continue reading "TWSC Submission: How the Illness and Death of My Husband Changed My Whole World"

  • faith

    Daughters of Zelophehad

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    The Bible, the greatest book of all time, has a way of touching the heart and mind of the reader and encouraging a response. I am often uplifted and sprung into action each time l read it. One of the most compelling Scriptures l have come across is the story of the daughters of Zelophehad. Each time l am sinking, l am often reminded of what these five sisters did. Their names are first mentioned in Numbers 26:33 and we are told that their father had no son. The next chapter further elaborates how they refused to be invisible. They refused to have their rightful possessions passed over to another who did not deserve them. These sisters could have simply… Continue reading "Daughters of Zelophehad"

  • her story, in her shoes

    How This Single Mom of Two Rewrote Her Story

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    Child-headed families have become the norm over the years due to various circumstances – mostly very painful ones. Christine* narrated to The Weight She Carries how she experienced such an ordeal first-hand and came out on the other side with her first degree in hand. “Just before l turned nine, my parents both passed away in the same year (2000), leaving behind six children: me being the fourth, the oldest being 21 and the youngest just 11 months old. Our oldest brother raised us because he was the one with a job at the time. We could see he was trying but there was just never enough for everyone. Eventually, our brother took us to Harare from Bulawayo where he… Continue reading "How This Single Mom of Two Rewrote Her Story"