dyton mupawaenda
Flora Fadzai Sibanda–Bulawayo Bureau
MANY couples vow to stay together in riches and in poverty at the wedding altar, but not many can prove it as well as the owners of Third Heaven Construction.
The young couple, Admire Mukuya and Lishael Ndhlovu-Mukuya, have been through the worst of times before they finally achieved success in the construction industry.
Their journey started five years ago, when they met at the Bulawayo Polytechnic, where they were both studying diplomas in construction. Admire, who came from a humble background, was afraid that Lishael, who came from a better one, would not love him because of his situation.
“My mother was a security guard and we were renting a garage at Sauerstown. The place was so bad that the doors could not close properly and we had to deal with snakes. The food we used to eat was also very poor. The first time she asked to accompany me home, I tried to send her back, but she insisted on seeing where I lived. She told me that it was nothing to be ashamed of, rather a chance for me to change the place for my mother,” says Admire.
Lishael encouraged Admire to start doing tutorials to children at school, as he had done it before and was good at it. She also used some of her pocket money to buy bananas in bulk, which they sold around town.
“That is when I knew she was the one, because she would walk with me and sell those bananas, not even ashamed that people would see her. The banana business, however, did not do so well, so we ended up buying potatoes, which was also hit by inflation. But fortunately, we had some more savings from tutoring,” says Admire.
It was during the Covid-19 lockdown that they decided to use the skills they had learned from school and try construction. Their first project was to fix a ceiling at someone’s house, but it was a big flop.
“We laughed so hard when we saw the result. It looked like a disaster,” says Lishael, holding her husband’s hand.
They did not give up, though. They registered their company and named it Third Heaven, inspired by the Bible. They vowed to make their houses a third heaven for their clients. They also hired some of their friends from school to help them with the work, as they were also into construction.
Their company now does big projects, such as building the Nkulumane Vegetable Market, which was recently opened, and helping to tile and do the walls of the big Student’s Accommodation Complex near Nust.
The couple, who has a one-year-old daughter, say they are grateful for their journey and their love, which has grown stronger through the challenges. They also advise other young people to pursue their dreams and work hard, no matter the circumstances.
“Another thing to note is that from there we both decided to not go back to school but rather to focus on our company as we knew it as either it or nothing. By God’s grace the next projects that we did were quite successful and people started giving us reviews which were good by the way.
“Once business started moving we made sure to move mama from where they were living and got them a big proper place because we believe that is where our blessings come from. We are in the process of building her, her own house,” says Lishael.
She says so far they are happy with the progress their company has made because they are just four years old but have managed to score big projects like the Nkulumane fruit and vegetables complex and the Nust one.
“I am hands on with the business because l love what l do and as a couple we believe it’s always best to be hands on so that in the unfortunate event that one of us dies our children will not suffer because the other is not able to run the business.
“My advice to anyone who wants to venture into construction is that push and push it’s not easy but it’s worth it at the end of the day. Nothing is as magical as seeing a project you started from scratch come to life,” says Lishael.
Online Reporter