|
|
 |
Where
I came from
"I was born in the southern side of the country in a small village.
I stayed there for some time, 'til I was fifteen. And then I had to
move to the second capital city of the country. Life was still very
hard by then so I couldn't do anything for myself. I had to go to
South Africa. And then when I got there I got a job in a farm. And
the I did work for some months, seven months, and then I had to come
back home for Christmas. Then I was home for a long time."
 |
| Jason
on a break from rehearsals at college |
Changing
countries
"Then in 2002 I had the privilege to come to England and I thank
god for that. But some people are still in Zimbabwe. They are dying
of hunger and all that sort of stuff. And I pray that God may help
our land. Heal our land that every bird might sing a freedom song."
Family
left behind
"I've still got my mother, my grandmother, the whole family
anyway is in there. Over here I've got my three aunties, and one
brother, my uncle. I'm living with my other auntie now. Yeah I've
got a lot of friends and family in Zimbabwe still."
Arriving
in Leicester
"I came here and I found life was very difficult 'cos I couldn't
speak proper English and it was hard, you know what I mean? Because
you can't communicate very well with people. That was the only major
thing holding me back you know, not speaking proper English. Not
understanding the accent of the people and all that. And I was not
doing anything. And I stayed for a year doing nothing."
Starting afresh
"Then I started going to college, doing some drama for performances
and all that. And I find it very good 'cos I've learnt so much.
It's in Leicester Adult College. I had a wonderful teacher. She
knew I couldn't speak proper English and she was helping me a lot.
But I'm getting well now because I can good speak English."
This city
"But I find Leicester is great because it's got beautiful people
and they understand people, you know what I mean. They don't care
where you are from, all they want is yourself. That's what is good
about these people. I like the city too. Very quiet. It is beautiful
anyway. It is different where I am from. I like it. I think I appreciate
Leicester."
Jason's
most recent performance:
Summer
Saturday mornings mean opportunities in theatre. Each year, Leicester
Haymarket Theatre joins forces with Leicester Adult Education College.
They fling open their doors to anyone who wants to try out drama,
performance, poetry, song and more. Director of this year's performance
piece is the Haymarket's Dawn Bowden: "Jason was one of the
people who just came along. This year we looked at censorship across
the world, and his poem [hear
it here] was about that.
"The piece of drama has been performed in its entirety already,
but a second performance which is raw - no video, no lights and
stuff - is going to be put on at the Adult Education College on
17th June," she addss.
|
