Nhamo Nyakambangwe was in Michael House from 1990 – 1995. In addition to being the sports captain in 1995, he was also the first choice goalkeeper for the senior soccer team from 1993. His antics on the soccer field are unparalleled, ask Patrick Jack Mangava!!!
Nhamo says:
I have always read all the articles where the editor has been bemoaning nonparticipation of KOBA in the development of the school that so nurtured them to be who they are where they are and that got me thinking. Why are we like that, me included? Have you ever taken time to look at schools like PE, St George’s etc and what their old boys are doing for their schools and why. Here are my thoughts.
To start with, what makes me want to give back to someone or someplace that I have been to before? My mere attendance is not enough to make me feel indebted to give back to that special place that I passed through. For starters, are we really proud to be KOBA and do we embrace each other as KOBA when we leave the school? I will leave you guys to ponder on those issues but I will give you real life examples that I have come across ever since joining the Diasporas. In US and Canada alone I should say there are hundreds KOBAs in the various states and doing different things, but how many of those hundreds or so are willing to assist fellow KOBAs in any way? It might not be financial, it could be giving someone who is visiting your state a plate of sadza at your house/apartment or simply meeting up with them for a drink at some cool spot. We shouldn’t be helping or associating with just those guys we were in the same stream with, but everyone who has been to KC. Many a times at least one of these KOBAs knows something or someone that can change the life of another KOBA but without that unity of purpose, all is in vain.
Do you guys realize the power of networking? Something that usually takes you a month to get done can be delivered to your doorstep just a minute because Nhamo knows someone who knows someone who knows someone who can make it happen. The world is not an even playing ground and unfortunately it will never be. Like they say, “vemberi vachagara vari vemberi”.
Unless and until the guys who have left Koreji feel indebted to the school in one way or the other, trying to revive KOBA in any form will continue to be futile because as one guy said to me, ‘do you donate anything to the first company you worked for after school for all the training that they gave you?’ My answer was a big fat NO. And his next question was how then this is any different to giving back to the school that you attended seeing as you paid your fees, did your morning duties, did maintenance and won the school honours during the time you were there? As some people say, you served your time; you don’t owe the Nhamo Nyakambangwe 1990-1995 school anything. I will leave you to deduce the truth in that statement.
How do we and the school get people to feel indebted to the school? These are some of the ways I feel we can make a difference starting at our own school level and can even grow to a national level. Let’s create meaningful relationships and networks of purpose. I read in this one book , 48 Laws of Power; that one should assess his company and if you gain nothing by associating with someone, you don’t need that someone or thing in your life, lose it. At this point most KOBA, besides the great time that they had at school nothing great has happened to them simply through their connection with the school. Imagine if there was a company that would hire you simply because you went to Kutama, or your getting some scholarship rested solely on the fact that you went to KC; wouldn’t that make you feel like you owed the school a penny?
I should say the school has in a way tried to put that into effect, making sure that the school building projects went to someone who learnt at Kutama. I am sure the constructor after getting such a huge contract simply because he learnt at the school then threw in a few freebies to the school. Kandiro kanoenda kunobva kamwe. Let’s take a leaf out of this and we will see more KOBAs rushing to help the school. The school should take the initiative of identifying all the KOBAs in positions of influence and power in the various organizations in the country and without and start creating or building on already existing relationships. I should say it used to be a pain in the behind each time I would end up competing with an ex-PE guy who has less qualifications than I had simply because the people who were making the decisions were ex-PE folk. Look around you, we always say PE is for not so clever people, but have you seen that many PE folk who are unemployed?
It pained me when I met a couple of my ex-classmates begging in town or becoming elements that you wouldn’t want your work folk to know you once shared a desk or a dorm with. We can even leverage off the parents of kids attending the school or have attended the school in the past and forge lasting mutually beneficial relationships with them. Face it guys, KC produces some of the best in the country and any institution that gets into a partnership with the school and guarantees to provide opportunities to those folks willing to join them will never go wrong. The guys, who have left, are leaving and those who will leave KC are cream de la cream so why not exploit that to the fullest extent.
One other thing the school can do is simply making it easier for all those folk who help the school to have their kids enrolling their sons at our great school, provided of course that they meet the standards.
That’s what the school can do, what can we; KOBA do? We have the simplest of them tasks; all we need to do is be one big happy family. Let’s not just look out for our fellow classmates but everyone who has the KOBA tag to them. As soon as someone introduces themselves in the name of KOBA, let’s give them a helping hand or point them in the right direction. Giving someone cash is not always the best thing you can do for them, talking to them and giving them advice or simply telling them of an opportunity that might suit them can mean a whole lot more to someone. Like the Chinese saying goes, “give a man a fish and you feed him for one day, but teach him how to fish and you have fed him for life”. These are just my thoughts and like Sekuru Zvidzwa used to say, “ Nhasi izuva regakava and VaNyakambangwe ndivo vanga vari sachigaro!”
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Food for thought from Nhamo there! Let’s claim our spot at KC guys and even our sons should be have the same pride that we have in our Alma Mata. If you have a contribution that could benefit fellow KOBA members please feel free to contact the editor on infor@kutamaoldboys.org