adminEvery single day for the past two years, Mr Shepherd Bwoni and his wife, Zandile, visit their daughter Ropafadzo’s gravesite at Warren Hills Cemetery just to spend time with her and on her birthday and Christmas Day they shower her with roses.
The couple also employs a gardener who ensures her “home” is comfortable at all times.
Mr Bwoni says their affection will forever endure.
“We used to pick her up from school in Chisipite every day. Since she is gone, we feel she still deserves the love we gave her while she was still alive,” he said.
Ropafadzo succumbed to aplastic anemia on June 18, 2008 aged 11. The rare condition results in one’s bone marrow failing to sufficiently replenish blood cells. A second born child, she was healthy, hardly exhibiting any signs of the condition.
She excelled academically and was also a keen sportsperson who enjoyed athletics and tennis.
Ropafadzo’s warm demeanour endeared her to her parents, two siblings and those she interacted with. All seemed well until May 5, 2008.
“On the day, we picked her up from school as usual. We later took her to hospital after she complained of a cold,” said Mrs Bwoni, as she battled to hold back tears.
“We thought she would be given medication and discharged. But to our shock and horror, we were told she was suffering from aplastic anemia.”
Ropafadzo was hospitalised for three weeks. However, she could not receive specialist treatment because the country did not have a haematologist at the time. Her parents later flew her to South Africa where medical experts tried to save her.
But it was too late.
“We watched her die; she closed her eyes right before us,” said Mrs Bwoni who, at this point, could not hold back the tears.
Mr and Mrs Bwoni were deeply grieved by the loss, so were those close to the 11-year-old.
The couple saw no better way to keep her alive than to nurse her, even in death.
The section in which she was buried has turned into a colourful garden which is watered regularly by a sprinkler. A gardener tends the area which is home to more than 30 other graves. The Bwonis visit their daughter’s grave everyday just to spend precious time with her.
“Looking for someone to maintain the other graves in Section C where Ropafadzo lies was necessary,” said Mr Bwoni.
“We realised that she is resting in peace with her newly found brothers and sisters.”
He added that maintaining a beautiful environment would encourage others to tend abandoned graves. So far the couple has purchased grass cutters, a lawnmower as well as a sprinkler and also connected water supplies to that section. Mr Bwoni urged members of the public to respect the dead and local authorities, funeral service providers and corporates to help maintain cemeteries. Mrs Bwoni always has fond memories of Ropafadzo as “a loving girl with a big heart”. “Ropa had the impression of a loving child. Visiting her burial place on a daily basis has become therapy to me. I just cannot forget my child.”
Mrs Bwoni has established a foundation called the Ropafadzo Aplastic Anaemia Foundation to assist children grappling with cancer-related ailments.
Online Reporter