The Sunday News
Nqobile Tshili, Sunday Life Reporter
ALOIS Sundano Sikuka (24) from Hwange has an ambitious dream of a modernised Jambezi rural area.
Jambesi is a rural area in Hwange district, Matabeleland North whose majority of the population is walloping in poverty and underdevelopment, and is in constant conflict with animals from the nearby Hwange National Park.
Having grown up in the rural area before getting in touch with the developed world, Jambezi’s backwardness is something that seemed normal to him. Sikuka enjoyed hunting like any rural kid, but his world turned upside down when he moved to the city where he came face to face with modernity.
His eyes became more wide open after learning with the elite when he moved to Prince Edward High School in Harare where he excelled in sports, resulting in him representing his school in United Kingdom in soccer.
After being exposed to the United Kingdom he pleaded with his father to take him there for university studies where he graduated with a law degree.
Sikuka however, remained emotionally attached with his rural home in Jambezi where his heart bleeds over lack of development.
“I’m actually named after my grandfather, the name Sundano which means a king or leader. And I was named Alois after a famous warrior. Growing up, I was a boy who was almost close to everyone in my community, playing football, going hunting and herding cattle. So I’m very familiar with the set-up and how it is. Fortunately I was lucky to go and live with my parents in the city but every holiday I would visit the village so I was very attached to my community,” said Sikuka.
He says he believes being exposed to development has driven him to empower his community and he has managed to mobilise resources for close to 16 000 in buying books and providing medicine for his community. He said chief among his dream is to inspire the youth so that they also can work towards improving their community.
“This is the vent I want the kids to benefit the most. The kids to me are the people I want to impact on, they are the people I want to inspire, they are the people I want to invest in. I’ve donated books to all the schools in my community because I’m from a constituency that does not have a single doctor. So investing in these kids maybe one day we can have someone with the same mindset of giving back to the community,” he said.
Sikuka said he appreciated that he was initiating the projects at a time then the country’s economy was not viable. He said such times call for individuals to think outside the box and thinking outside the box entails using available resources for profitability purposes. Sikuka has since turned his home in Hwange Town’s Baghdad into a guest house. He hails the Government’s empowerment policy programme saying it the greatest asset to equip the nation with.
“There is the big thing that our country gives us which is indigenisation. If you think outside the box and look at the situation there is a no employment. So thinking out of the box is why can’t you create employment. If you see successful people in this country they are people who have empowered themselves. In my opinion that’s the most beautiful idea that any black man can have for any black man. Because when you get to other countries you’ll never get that,” said Sikuka.
“If you go to other countries you remain at the same level, they give you stability but don’t give you empowerment. Zimbabwe gives you empowerment and I was lucky to tap onto that.”
He said others might raise eyebrows that he was providing free services to gain political relevance, but he has no immediate plans to join politics and it was purely on giving back to his community that he initiated the programme.
Sikuka challenged other youths to reach for the skies and never settle to be mediocre. He said it only started as an imagination to give back to his community which grounded him to be the man he is.
He bemoans underdevelopment in the area where he says access to health care is but a privilege as the society has normalised poverty and underdevelopment.
(See more stories on Pages 3 and 6)
