Kwapi Vengesayi's Blog, page 6

5 Reasons Your Partner Doesn’t Deserve You

Some relationships soar, and others crash and burn. Caught in the struggle of trying to navigate through love’s often undulating and unpredictable nature, the strongest bonds persevere while the weak fall off. Sometimes you realize you’re with someone who doesn’t appreciate you, or they realize you don’t appreciate them. That’s the moment your mind starts to have a conversation with your heart as they debate the pros and cons of staying in that relationship.  The things that are petty and neg...

Video: Why France Produces The Most World Cup Players

Why France Produces The Most World Cup Players Produced by Vox.com

France has had the most native players and coaches in the last 4 World Cups… and their dominance has been on the rise. Players like Kylian Mbappe and Paul Pogba are the children of immigrants and the product of the French soccer academy system. French- born players have played for Togo, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Argentina, Portugal, and many more.

To truly understand the international conflicts and trends shaping our world yo...

Zimbabwe: This New Bilingual Children’s Book is A Game Changer

I was lazily scrolling through my Instagram feed the other day when something my good and longtime friend Nomusa Ndebele posted caught my eye: her and her partner Carol had just published their first bilingual Ndebele/Shona story book to help children engage in learning Ndebele and Shona.

Gorgeously illustrated and beautifully written in both Shona and Ndebele, I told myself, “I need to tell EVERYONE!”

Why am I so excited about this book?

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This could be what many young Zimbabwean parents have...

A Netflix Guide to Activism & Change

A Netflix Guide to Activism & Change

We live in a very complex world. It’s as beautiful as it is ugly, as hopeful as it is depressing, and as light as it is dark. We find ourselves trying to make sense of it; and when we do, our next struggled is trying to figure out how we can make a difference and make it better.

In my quest to make sense of the world and figure how I can be someone who contributes to making it better, I try to expose myself to knowledge that expands mind and how it sees an...

Where Do Broken Hearts Go?

Our hearts waved goodbye as we blew kisses into the wind. Before today, together forever was a promise. We didn’t shake on it, but as our lips locked for the first the time a pact was made. We were in love. A love so strong that if we died of old age and were reincarnated, our minds, bodies and souls would make their way back to each other just so that we could do forever all over again.

However, the emotions that inspired those moments of affection soon faded—at least for me. I broke it off....

Zimbabwe: A Conversation About Mental Illness, Stigma, and How We Can Do Better

I’ve never shied away from talking about my battle with depression and anxiety. Triggered by my mother’s passing away, I’ve fought through the highs and lows and shared my story through that journey. And the reason I share these stories is to always stress this point: therapy saved me, and it can save you or your loved one.

It’s not my intent to sound preachy, or take up too much of your time. So I will try keep this conversation about Zimbabwe and mental health as concise as possible.

 

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On Zimbabwe: A Quick Story of How We Embraced Violence

As the dust settles and the amber and ashes cool after days of violence in Zimbabwe, I took a step back to understand how we got here. Politics and socials issues aside, an affinity for violence was one thing Zimbabweans were never known for, until now. In fact, many argued that because we are not a violent people (partly due to many still alive today having experience the liberation war and not wanting to live it again), we were easy to oppress and control.

So what changed? I’ll try try give...

My 3 Sentence Book Review: Born a Crime

I’m lazy, but always eager to share my reading choices from popular Good Black Reads Instagram page. So I write 3 sentence book reviews! Today’s review: Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah

 

[image error]Erma Bombeck said there is a thin line that separates laughter and pain, comedy and tragedy, humor and hurt. Like Freddy Nock on a tightrope, Trevor Noah walks that line superbly. This book is hilarious, touching, inspiring, honesy and witty: a masterpiece.

Sincerely, Kwap...

My Father Warned Me About Candy and Bananas

When I was about fourteen years old, my father once told me a story. We were about twenty minutes from home and had just come from running an errand for my mother. Well, my father had. I was just along for the ride.

“Kwapi, imagine I wanted to send you on a long journey. Now imagine this journey was on a train that would take a few days to get to your destination and all I gave you were bananas and candy, what would you eat first?”

I was used to my dad’s random stories. If they were stories f...