51) The End of an Era
Eventually it became obvious that Rhodesia was fighting a loosing battle against the terrorists and against the rest of the world. In April 1997 elections were held that allowed certain African leaders to stand for parliament and the UANC (United African National Council) party won a majority in this election, and its leader, Abel Muzorewa, a Methodist Church bishop, became the country's prime minister on June 1st 1979 and the country was renamed Zimbabwe-Rhodesia. The British government would not accept these results and continued to insist that all the leaders who were out of the country and who were involved in the war should return to the country to stand for election. With just about all our men having to do six weeks in and then six weeks out of the army, and many people leaving because of the increase in fatalities, the economy was just not coping and so when talks were held at Lancaster House an agreement was made. Our first full elections were held in January 1980 and everyone was a little on edge. The army, the police and all the forces were on full alert to monitor the polling booths and make sure that all went off as peacefully as possible. All the men in the neighbourhood were on call up and the women were asked by the police to stay at home as much as possible to ease the burden on the police. The schools were closed and all the children were at home. On the actual day of the election our neighbour Beryl Shaw had a party for the youth group from her church and invited all the children from around there to join in. She felt that the young people needed a distraction when we were all very worried about our future.
Of course Jonathan and Dominic were invited and I could hear the fun that the whole crowd was having. Half the way through the afternoon one of the older lads came over the fence with Jonathan and told me that Jonathan had had a fall out of a tree. He had been swinging on a rope and lost his hold. He had hit his head and that he was not feeling too well so Beryl thought that maybe he needed to be checked by a doctor. She said that she would keep Dominic there until I got back.
It was a very strange feeling driving into town. Salisbury was almost a ghost town. Hardly any cars on the road and no people walking about, I had never seen it like that. But it was all very peaceful. We went straight to the emergency room of the new hospital and even though there were not many people around we had to wait. We told the lady at the reception desk what had happened and she told us to sit over there and wait. I remember that Jonathan was not in a lot of pain but we thought that a hard knock to the head should be checked out. As we were waiting he suddenly vomited all over the floor and then I really began to worry a bit. He was cheerful enough though and complained that he had “lost all the lovely sausage” that Beryl had given him.
I think the fact that he had deposited his lunch on the floor made the staff realise that there might be something wrong so they hurried up and got him into the x-ray department. A young lady x-rayed his head and I stayed with him and teased him so that he would not be too worried about what was going on. I told him that I was sure that he was fine, that he had a very hard head and it would take more than a fall out of a tree to crack his skull. When the x-rays were done we were told to wait for them to be processed and for the doctor to see them and to examine Jonathan.
Eventually the doctor came to attend to us. He was a young Indian man, a very seriously minded young man who took his job seriously and had no sense of humour. He examined the x-rays and examined Jonathan thoroughly. Eventually he said, “there’s no sign of any fracture at all”. I was standing behind him and he was facing Jonathan. I said “You see Jonathan, I told you your head was too hard to crack” I was given a withering look by the doctor who turned back to Jonathan and said “No sonny, your head is the same as anyone else’s, it is not too hard it is just right, you were very lucky that it was not damaged but there is nothing wrong with your head at all” Poor Jonathan had to try and keep a straight face while I, behind the doctor was in fits of giggles. We laughed all the way home. It was dark by the time we left the hospital and with the high security alert I was a little worried about being out on our own but everything was still peaceful and we had no trouble.
We collected Dominic from the Shaw’s house and went home. Jonathan had been given an injection by the doctor and was just about asleep by then. I got him to bed but then about 10 o’clock at night he woke up and complained that he was hungry. He said “Don’t forget Mom, I left all my lunch on the floor in the hospital”.
The countrywide elections had gone off relatively peacefully and Mr. Robert Mugabe was elected as the president of the new country of Zimbabwe. It might not have been what we wanted for our country but we looked forward to the end of the fighting and the deaths. Many promises were made at Lancaster House and we were hopeful that peace could bring a better understanding between the races and so we could learn to get on together and share the lovely country we lived in. It was a time of great uncertainty as we did not know what lay ahead but it was also a time of great hope, now the bombing and the land mining would stop, all our men black and white could come back to their families and we could get on with our lives. There were people that were not keen to give it a chance and they left but most people were willing to give it a try and although there were mixed feelings we were happy the war was over at last.
Of course Jonathan and Dominic were invited and I could hear the fun that the whole crowd was having. Half the way through the afternoon one of the older lads came over the fence with Jonathan and told me that Jonathan had had a fall out of a tree. He had been swinging on a rope and lost his hold. He had hit his head and that he was not feeling too well so Beryl thought that maybe he needed to be checked by a doctor. She said that she would keep Dominic there until I got back.
It was a very strange feeling driving into town. Salisbury was almost a ghost town. Hardly any cars on the road and no people walking about, I had never seen it like that. But it was all very peaceful. We went straight to the emergency room of the new hospital and even though there were not many people around we had to wait. We told the lady at the reception desk what had happened and she told us to sit over there and wait. I remember that Jonathan was not in a lot of pain but we thought that a hard knock to the head should be checked out. As we were waiting he suddenly vomited all over the floor and then I really began to worry a bit. He was cheerful enough though and complained that he had “lost all the lovely sausage” that Beryl had given him.
I think the fact that he had deposited his lunch on the floor made the staff realise that there might be something wrong so they hurried up and got him into the x-ray department. A young lady x-rayed his head and I stayed with him and teased him so that he would not be too worried about what was going on. I told him that I was sure that he was fine, that he had a very hard head and it would take more than a fall out of a tree to crack his skull. When the x-rays were done we were told to wait for them to be processed and for the doctor to see them and to examine Jonathan.
Eventually the doctor came to attend to us. He was a young Indian man, a very seriously minded young man who took his job seriously and had no sense of humour. He examined the x-rays and examined Jonathan thoroughly. Eventually he said, “there’s no sign of any fracture at all”. I was standing behind him and he was facing Jonathan. I said “You see Jonathan, I told you your head was too hard to crack” I was given a withering look by the doctor who turned back to Jonathan and said “No sonny, your head is the same as anyone else’s, it is not too hard it is just right, you were very lucky that it was not damaged but there is nothing wrong with your head at all” Poor Jonathan had to try and keep a straight face while I, behind the doctor was in fits of giggles. We laughed all the way home. It was dark by the time we left the hospital and with the high security alert I was a little worried about being out on our own but everything was still peaceful and we had no trouble.
We collected Dominic from the Shaw’s house and went home. Jonathan had been given an injection by the doctor and was just about asleep by then. I got him to bed but then about 10 o’clock at night he woke up and complained that he was hungry. He said “Don’t forget Mom, I left all my lunch on the floor in the hospital”.
The countrywide elections had gone off relatively peacefully and Mr. Robert Mugabe was elected as the president of the new country of Zimbabwe. It might not have been what we wanted for our country but we looked forward to the end of the fighting and the deaths. Many promises were made at Lancaster House and we were hopeful that peace could bring a better understanding between the races and so we could learn to get on together and share the lovely country we lived in. It was a time of great uncertainty as we did not know what lay ahead but it was also a time of great hope, now the bombing and the land mining would stop, all our men black and white could come back to their families and we could get on with our lives. There were people that were not keen to give it a chance and they left but most people were willing to give it a try and although there were mixed feelings we were happy the war was over at last.
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