Hello everyone,

wil said:
Still totally confused... Being born in the CAF weren't you an English citizen? It became Rhodesia when you were 10...and you moved away before to SA before it became Zimbabwe?

Were you able to retain English citizenship the whole time?
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Ok: it was named 'Southern Rhodesia' when I was born: to distinguish it from 'Northern Rhodesia' which became Zambia, and Nyasaland, which became Malawi. But don't ask me for dates.

And, yes -- British citizenship allows dual or multiple citizenship. However Zimbabwe does not. And so I was forced to have to choose between keeping my British or my Zimbabwean passport.

I kept the British one, so am no longer a citizen of the land I was born. Require a visa to enter.
 
RJM Corbet said:
Sorry, I've gone back and edited that to:

... born and schooled in Zimbabwe which was then Rhodesia ...

Am white.

Thanks for your interest. However, as for the rest, wil -- it would fill a book. But it'll never be written, because I can't really summon up enough interest in my own life history to even talk about it much, let alone write about it here. It's too much hard work, for me, I'm afraid. Sorry :)

'Mukiwa' the international bestseller by Peter Godwin (Grove Press) tells it all much better than I could, and leaves out nothing that I would have said. Godwin is also white Zimbabwean, educated at the same school that Justin and I attended, at around the same time that Justin was there, I think. Its available from Amazon.

Sorry. I hope that'll do, wil? Obviously no offence intended
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I knew Peter Godwin's sister Georgina. She married Jeremy Summerfield who was one year below me at St Georges. They formed a group of Bright Young Things with Manuel Bagorro (friend of mine in Saints) and Maria his sister. Manuel became a classic pianist and now organises the Zimbabwe version of the Grahamstown Arts Festival. Maria married Stewart Wilson, another friend of mine. I think they're still in Zim, thought I'm not sure how they live up there. I've lost touch.

The whole Rhodesia saga - RJM is right. We don't much like talking about it. There's plenty about it on the web.

PS: just found Manuel's photo. So he's still up there!
 
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My dad was born in England, moved to Southern Rhodesia after the war, to farm ..
 
Good grief ... we're awash with cat'licks!

And two hundred lines! That takes me back to my 400 strong all boys, rugby-playing, Catholic Secondary School!

Lines, detention and 'the wack' — them's were the days.
 
Thomas said:
Good grief ... we're awash with cat'licks!

And two hundred lines! That takes me back to my 400 strong all boys, rugby-playing, Catholic Secondary School!

Lines, detention and 'the wack' — them's were the days.
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Saint George's was an all boys Jesuit school, with a high standard of education.

I was a boarder, from age 7yrs, at primary school, because my Dad's farm, like most others, was hundreds of miles from the nearest real town.

In my time the whack was still in use. And seniors were allowed to smoke, in the Form 6 common room. God help any junior they caught with cigarettes. We were much more afraid of the seniors than of the staff, at 'Saints' as it was known. :)
 
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If a moderator is reading this, could it be arranged that I automatically do NOT receive email notifications about comments on threads without me having to tick the box to opt out of email notifications every time?
 
RJM Corbet said:
If a moderator is reading this, could it be arranged that I automatically do NOT receive email notifications about comments on threads without me having to tick the box to opt out of email notifications every time?
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You can't set that in your account preferences?
 
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Automatic email notifications...

Imagine if you got those in response the domino effect our words and deeds have...

IMA gonna flip everyone's preference to "on"... Except mine.
 
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Just curious ... Are Catholics the majority of African Christians? Do they have a large number of Protestants as well? What are other churches that are dominant other than Catholic, if any? Sorry, I'm still fairly ignorant of Christian cultures in other countries outside the U.S. ... Perhaps you can educate me?
 
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Lux said:
Just curious ... Are Catholics the majority of African Christians? Do they have a large number of Protestants as well? What are other churches that are dominant other than Catholic, if any? Sorry, I'm still fairly ignorant of Christian cultures in other countries outside the U.S. ... Perhaps you can educate me?
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Lots of all religions, including mixed Christian/Animist type religions, like the very popular Church of Zion. Lots of Moslems, Hindus etc, too. So no -- I wouldn't say the majority of African Christians are Catholic. But I'm not really very knowledgeable on the subject
 
Lux said:
Just curious ... Are Catholics the majority of African Christians? Do they have a large number of Protestants as well? What are other churches that are dominant other than Catholic, if any? Sorry, I'm still fairly ignorant of Christian cultures in other countries outside the U.S. ... Perhaps you can educate me?
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About 10% of the population in Zim are Catholic. The figure is about 6% for South Africa. 80% of South Africans are Christian, 87% in Zim.
 
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Justin Swanton said:
About 10% of the population in Zim are Catholic. The figure is about 6% for South Africa. 80% of South Africans are Christian, 87% in Zim.
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Amazing!
Did you have those figures ready, or did you just Google them up?
Why didn't I think of it?
:)
 
Thanks Roger and Justin! It seems only natural to me that the Africans have their native beliefs mixed into Christianity. (It's probably a no-no from the Church's perspective though?)

One of my all-time favorite movies is Richard Attenborough's Gandhi (1982). Back then as an atheist, I was rather surprised by the close friendship between Gandhi and Rev. Charles Freer Andrews (what a great middle name!). I remember thinking, "oh, not all religious folks are closed-minded towards other's religion" ... I wonder at one point in their fellowship, if either of them tried to convert the other to his religion? ... That would be a conversation I would pay to watch!

There's a memorable line from the movie (I don't know if Gandhi has actually said the exact thing, could be a little embellished creation by the writer?) that shocked me back then.

"I am a Muslim, a Hindu, a Christian and a Jew, and so are all of you."

... This is the very spirit of "interfaith" to me.
 
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I'm still getting those annoying email notifications for every comment though I've signed off from them every which way ...
 
RJM Corbet said:
I'm still getting those annoying email notifications for every comment though I've signed off from them every which way ...
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on the top of this thread at the level of "Page 2 of..." but on the right I have 'Watch Thread'. Do you have the same or something else?
 
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