Time to Hibernate

I have shared a little in the last six months through the newsletter. It was a time of necessary hibernation. I understood during the named period why tortoises hibernate. Hibernation helps them to conserve energy in lean seasons. I have been through a poor season in the last few months. While so much was happening around me, I had the minute capacity to engage with the bigger world. I needed the space to hold myself and retain as much energy for my existence.

Living in a foreign country presents many opportunities for growth, including in domains such as culture, experience and spirituality. However, it also affords challenges of isolation, exclusion and reminders of not belonging. I spent months processing the employment permit to allow me to work in the Republic of South Africa. While I was eventually issued the visa, the delay cost me job opportunities. Specific opportunities could not wait for the process to conclude. As the process continued, I was a helpless customer in the bureaucratic enterprise. I have awakened to the need to be kind and patient with foreigners. Abraham welcomed God into his midst by welcoming three strangers, perhaps an angel or two. It is as the New Testament admonishes: “Do not neglect hospitality, for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels” (Heb 13:2).

Much of the employment visa wait happened while I was in my home country, Zambia. The process I initially thought would last at most a month ended up extending to four months. This was the longest time I have stayed with extended family members in over two decades. The silver lining in the waiting period was that I spent time helping on a farm. I was one extra hand in providing physical labour as we built goat shelters. Working with my hands relieves the frustrations from the bureaucracy. Opoteni Farms focuses on goat breeding and fattening. As a growing investment, it aims to be a wealth growth platform for future generations.

Life has a way of surprising us time and time again. The last six months were not a departure from that for the Moonga family, with my sister being diagnosed with stage II cervical cancer. Between the earthy work of building goat shelters and dealing with the paperwork for the visa, I accompanied my sister through the diagnostic processes for cancer. The processes are long and financially demanding. I have learned that cancer treatment has three phases to it. The first phase is the prediagnosis which ends with the diagnosis. This phase follows the symptoms to arrive at a firm diagnosis. The second phase is the pre-treatment which ends with the start of treatment. The phases focus on determining the nature of the cancer and whether it is spreading, and how fast. The information helps to determine the suitable treatment. In my sister’s case, the only treatment is radiation therapy. The third phase is treatment. In Zambia, there is only one hospital that specialises in cancer diseases. Only the Cancer Diseases Hospital houses the only radiation machine in the country. The radiation machine is more out of order than it is working. My sister was scheduled to start radiation in March 2023 but could not begin as the machine has been out of order. We do not know when the machine will get back online. I have been advocating for cancer patients in Zambia by engaging relevant authorities. I encourage readers of this newsletter to find a way of advocating for cancer patients in Zambia.

You can see why I needed to hibernate. The tricky part was to keep my doctoral work going. I have only done a little of it except for administrative work. I have regularised my licences in Zambia, where I have renewed my licence as a psychological counsellor. I have been a licenced professional counsellor in Zambia since 2008. Such a license will support my research work in Zambia. I have also registered with the Psychology Association of Zambia, which is working to protect the public from quackery. Further, I have registered as a health researcher in Zambia. Any health researcher in Zambia must be registered as such under the National Health Researchers authority. These registrations will help facilitate my research work in Zambia.

Winter is slowly creeping in in our hemisphere. For some beings, it will be time to hibernate. It is necessary to allow for such hibernation for all of us. The world around us might not accept that, but we can allow ourselves the grace to slow down and disappear into an inner world only we can experience. We can watch the world turn without us from time to time.

Ah, world, what lessons you prepare for us,

even in the leafless winter,

even in the ashy city.

I am thinking now

of grief, and of getting past it;

I feel my boots

trying to leave the ground,

I feel my heart

pumping hard. I want

to think again of dangerous and noble things.

I want to be light and frolicsome.

I want to be improbable beautiful and afraid of nothing,

as though I had wings.

Excerpt From Starlings in Winter by Mary Oliver