I Will Always Write Back

In Zimbabwe in mid-October, the teacher Mrs. Jarai announces to her class that they have just received letters from the United States. Martin Ganda and his classmates know America as the birthplace of Coca-Cola and the World Wrestling Federation. Hulk Hogan in particular is popular among Martin’s classmates.

There are 50 students in Martin’s class and only 10 letters. Because Martin scored high on placement tests in school, he is in Group One, and so he gets a letter. In first grade, Martin was at the top of his class. When he slipped to number two in third grade, his parents told him he had to get back to number one. Martin’s mom, who had to drop out of school for financial reasons, believes that school is Martin’s only hope for a better life. From then on, he was always number one.

Martin’s school has large classes and only four textbooks to split among all the students. When Martin gets his letter, Mrs. Jarai asks him to read it for the class. (Martin is fluent in English but speaks Shona with family and friends.) The class laughs at Caitlin Stoicsitz’s name, which is strange to them and which Martin struggles to pronounce. They like the part about the Spice Girls, since the Spice Girls are very popular in Zimbabwe. Mrs. Jarai tells Martin to write a response letter as homework.

That afternoon, Martin walks home with some other kids who live in Chisamba Singles, a housing development built in the 1960s for people working in factories outside of Mutare (the third-largest city in Zimbabwe). Like Martin, his mother was also first in her class growing up. But she was poor, so at age 12, her family sent her away to work. Martin’s father was comparatively well-off, from a family that owned some goats and chickens.

When Martin’s mother got pregnant (with Martin’s brother, Nation), she and Martin’s father were forced to marry. Otherwise, according to Shona tradition, they would bring shame to both families. After Nation was born, Martin’s father got a job in a paper mill, which was how he first ended up in Chisamba Singles. He liked alcohol and women, and soon he was only coming home every six months. Martin’s mother got pregnant on one of these visits, but the child died in a couple days.

In Martin’s culture, any problems around childbirth are often blamed on the woman. Some of Martin’s father’s friends suggested he should get a new wife. (Polygamy is uncommon in Zimbabwe but accepted.) Martin’s mother was determined to keep her family together, however, and so she brought Nation and moved in with Martin’s father in his small shack in Chisamba Singles. This was where Martin was born in 1983, three years after Zimbabwe’s liberation from Britain.

Names in Zimbabwe often have direct significance. Martin feels lucky to be named after the British medical student who delivered him. (His brother Nation was named after Martin’s father’s favorite cow.) Martin also has a Shona name, Tatenda, which means “thank you.” Martin’s other siblings are named Simba, Lois, and George. Other workers bring their families to Chisamba Singles, and sometimes 12 people end up living in a room meant for 2.

Martin tries to imagine Caitlin’s life, but it’s difficult because most of what he knows about the U.S. is from TV, like the World Wrestling Federation and The A-Team. Though Martin’s mother warns him to be careful around girls, she doesn’t mind Caitlin because she’s so far away.

Martin’s father leaves for work every morning at 6 a.m., then comes back every evening at 7 p.m., usually singing a rock and roll song, sometimes Thomas Mapfumo (a Zimbabwean legend), sometimes the Rollings Stones, Cream, and Led Zeppelin. The whole family gathers around a fire pit—shared with three other families—to eat dinner. Most meals consist of sadza (a cornmeal porridge).

Electricity is rationed in Martin’s community, so he writes his letter to Caitlin by firelight. Martin figures Caitlin must be white, and although some white people live in Zimbabwe, Martin doesn’t know any. Though Martin has a lot of questions, he tries to write a simple letter, using Caitlin’s as a guide. Martin tells Caitlin about his grade, his family, and how he likes to play soccer. He closes the letter by saying he hopes they will continue to write back and forth to each other.