Africa Stage: Monica Dispatch

Teen Pen Pals Dream of Hollywood and Big Changes for Zimbabwe

I met up with two teenage girls, Nicci and Danni at a cafe in Bulawayo one Friday afternoon. They were on break from their boarding school, Girls' College Bulawayo, and were taking the afternoon off after a busy week at school. Later, they kindly emailed me some answers to questions I had for them.

What did I ask them?

Please tell me a little about yourself.
Where do you see yourself in ten years?
When you are of voting age, which issues do you think will be most important to you?

Their answers are below. I'd really appreciate hearing your answers to these questions, too. Feel free to email me your responses at monicaflores@bigfoot.com. Thanks!

P.S. If you want to contact other students in Bulawayo, write them at:
Girls' College Bulawayo.
P.O. Box FM 510
Famona, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

DANNI:
1) My name is Daniella Mason and I'm 16 years old. I have lived most of my life here in Zimbabwe in the little town of Victoria Falls. I spent all of 1997 in Capetown, South Africa. My hobbies are keeping fit, dancing, drama and diving. But I do enjoy all kinds of sports.

2) In ten years time I am not really sure where I'll be, but I do know where I'd like to be. I want a degree in drama and do theatre for as long as possible. After that, I want to move on to the screen and live in Hollywood.

3) We can vote at 18 years old. The changes in the country, I feel, are going to be very drastic. Our government is terrible and I don't think our president realizes that the poverty is effecting us very badly. In my point of view, we have very selfish president and I hope that our country will soon be "rescued".

NICCI:
1) My name is Nicola Wilkins and I am 15 years old. I was born in Zimbabwe and have lived here my whole life. I have two older sisters, no brothers, and my parents have been happily married for 25 years. I enjoy the bush and love animals, but a good party also sounds like me. I play team hockey and tennis for my school and enjoy them both.

2) In ten years time, I am hoping to have finished university. I want to become a botanist to study plants. My sister goes to Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa and I would really like to go there. I might be working somewhere or who knows, I might be married. I really don't know. But one thing is for sure - I don't think I will leave Zimbabwe.

3)We can vote at 18 years-old. I think the changes in our country are coming and some of them are not going to be good. I hope that we can get through them and just get on with our lives. I don't think the people here want a war, they just want peace but we'll need some big changes in the government.

Thanxs. I hope this all gets to you and your project goes down well. Thanx again for asking us. See you when we get to Hollywood.

Cheers,
Nicci and Danni

Monica