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Dr Masimba Mavaza
As a Diaspora or expatriate, getting married in a foreign country may involve complex legal procedures and regulations that differ from one country to another.
But the most challenging is the mass migration.
“Transnational Zimbabwean Migration to Europe” outlines a number of important themes in contemporary migration of Zimbabwean migrants to Europe.
This special issue focuses on marriage and intergenerational ties and tensions within families.
Making a decision on how your children will grow up is a challenging task.
Raising a child was traditionally a community duty.
A parent brings him out the community brings him up.
Now being in a strange community which minds its own business is like raising children in a desert.
Raising a child in a foreign country comes with its own unique set of challenges, but many Zimbabweans make the decision to do so every year in many countries around the world.
Some decisions are made out of selfishness, some after serious planning, but most people had no choice as conditions at home pushed them out and children had to be the unwilling parties to migration.
There are two different types of problems.
Children either adjust or just get lost.
Some children managed to see the opportunities while others get lost to the drug culture of their host nations.
Some children become a blessing while others become total curses.
How easily children adapt to a new lifestyle in a different country depends on their age as younger children will often find it easier to adapt than older children.
Some children join their parents after a long separation. Most of them become total strangers to their parents, and that triggers problems.
When relocating children face serious language barriers. Yes, they speak English but the accent distinguishes them and makes them targets for ridicule.
This treatment hardens them and without proper counselling, they become wild.
While most children will have a good command of English, they face difficulties in pronunciation, making it hard for them to fit in and make friends quicker.
This challenge forces children to engage in mischief so that they please their new acquaintances.
For school-age children, leaving behind an education system that they had been accustomed to, as well as the friends that they had over the years, is very hard.
Starting from scratch in a new environment is overwhelming and some children may exhibit a change in behaviour.
In most cases Zimbabwean students become so sharp and excel in their studies.
It is also important to keep some consistency in lifestyle between home and abroad. Sticking to the same day-to-day routines can help children to feel more secure.
Children are plucked from Mt Pleasant to a Council House in Luton.
This shocks the children who are faced with a big dilemma of going back to Zimbabwe and be ridiculed by those you had left or soldier on in the shack being called home.
This shocks them to confusion and most are so disappointed by what they see. Their expectations are not meet.
Relocating can be very difficult for children emotionally. It’s important to be there for them and empathise with what they are going through.
They are leaving a lot behind – friends, family, familiar places and their home.
It’s a lot to take in, and they may feel a sense of loss when first moving. It’s important to let them talk about how they are feeling and to help them through it.
The big problem is that the parents are married to their jobs and have little time with their new arrivals.
While it is difficult, there are so many benefits to be had from raising children abroad.
Children are often more confident and sociable, as they have had to adapt and learn to settle in.
They may also be exposed to more diverse cultures, which gives them a better understanding of the world that we live in.
They are likely to learn tolerance, understanding and openness, which are traits we can all aspire to.
Sadly some parents always make Zimbabwe a bad place. If a child does anything wrong, they threaten to send him back to Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe becomes a threatening name such that children associates the country with punishment.
Raising children abroad is a challenge and a skill parents must learn.
Some parents try to erase every memory of Zimbabwe from the mind of the children. Home is best and our children must be raised with the full pride that they are Zimbabweans.
Zimbabwe is the only country we can call ours in the whole world.
Online Reporter