One hot summer day, as Gudowas wandering up and downthe streets of Tonota village inthe Central District, he saw, to his delight in one of the compounds, what looked likefreshly delivered heaps of sand,soil and bricks.

Timid as a cornered mouse, the then 26-year-old Gudo entered the yard and proceededto greet the middle-aged man he found ensconced in theveranda of one of the houses.

“Dumelang,” he said hesitantly. 

After the greetings, he went straight to the point: “I ama builder, and I am looking for construction jobs,” he pleadedin broken Setswana.

Curiously, Mothusi Rabashi - the man in the compound  – quizzed him on where he came from, his bricklaying experience, where he stayed, and how much he would charge to build a modest house known locally as two-and-a-half.

Two days later, Gudo and another three fellows weresoaked in sweat digging foundations at Rabashi’s place.

“And this is how I met the family that would help me makesense of my stay in Botswana,” with a vague smile, he tells Kutlwano in an interview.

That was in 2000, when Gudo first arrived in Botswana after decisively leaving his family and country, Zimbabwe to seek a better life for himself and his family.

In Botswana, he had been told that prospects of employment and politicalstability were guaranteed.

In the words of a Zimbabwean illegal immigrant

“It was a tough decision to take but I had to leave,” he says before condemning his country; “there was absolutely no work,no food, and no life in Zimbabwe, and that is what drove me and others out of our country,” he argues.

“Of course, I was disturbedthat I was leaving my parents and home but I knew God was therefor me,” he philosophises.

Gudo is part of the latest wave of Zimbabwean immigrants which began in 2008, following economic and political problems in that country.

Earlier waves of forced migration date back to the1970s, when Zimbabwe was struggling for independence from a white minority rule.

Now aged 38, Gudo says never at anytime had he imagined living outside hiscountry.

He grew up in Mutare, and still remembers the features that defined his home.

“Home is the best place to be; thereare your parents, your relatives, and yourfriends. There are familiar surroundings;the buildings, the rivers, the trees, the hills, and the animals,” he imagines with a tinge of nostalgia.

Nastiest of all, he was forced to abandon the hopes and dreams he held to face thegrim reality on the ground.

By now he would have long married Elizabeth, his longtime sweet heart, and, together with their fiveyear-old son, they could be leading a decentlife in their own home or so he reckons.

“I often imagine walking with them to theshops and making them happy,” he says.

The hard-talking bricklayer sayssometimes he travels back home to Mutare to give them money, and if he did not deliverthe money himself, he would often trust hisfriends who would deliver it on his behalf.

He says it is hard to travel home as often aspossible because “we are often here illegally,we overstay a lot,” he reveals.

Obviously living illegally leads to a number of vulnerabilities, such as being frequent victims of unpaid wages, unfavourable conditions, and discrimination, among other abuses.

Further, illegal immigrants risk beingarrested and repatriated, or they could land in Immigration Detention Centres, such asthe one in Francistown.

Although heading for greener pastures seemed a good move, Gudo, a skilled builder, says he was not prepared for theshock that awaited him when he finally settled in Tonota.

Initially, he shared arented room with three other compatriots, all unskilled labourers who survived by whatever job they could get, he says.

“Although it is good for cost saving, sharing a room deprives one of privacy,” he regrets, adding, there is also harassment, be littlement, and isolation by Batswana, who would always refer to them not by their names but as ma Zimbabwe.

“Even their children grow up knowing we are simply ma Zimbabwe,” laments Gudo.

Very so often when they are about to finish a job, and thus expecting to be paid thereafter, the police or immigration officials would appear from nowhere to check for their permits.

However, always as alert as a bird in springtime, they usually dash for cover before the police know it, he says.

The law is the most agonizing aspect of their dilemmas; every time they go outto work, they are never sure if they will get back. And if a fellow has not arrived by sunset, they know for certain that they havebeen arrested but then they cannot help them because they might go the same way too.

As anyone would expect, dishonest employers prefer undocumented immigrants because they work for so littlemoney.

“This is not fair because they are taking advantage of our situation to cheatus,” charges Gudo.

 For instance, he says often employers benefit when immigrants are arrested and repatriated before beingpaid for work done.

Construction work, domestic work, cattle herding, working as farm hands,and street trading, are the main tasks illegal immigrants are employed to do.

Incidentally, it is a well known fact that government does not condone this type of practice, and anyone caught employing an illegal immigrant is equally guilty.

Amidst all these troubles, life must go on for the Zimbos - whether by hook or crook.

For Gudo, moving in with Rabashi’s family turned out to be a God send.

His life changed profoundly, and today, the settler says Tonota is a home away from home.

He says he had to stand firm against all odds because going back home was definitely not an option.

He no longer goes home asoften as he used to, “Tonota has become my Mutare,” he says with a chuckle.

“He is like my own child, perhaps even better than them; we share the same food; we sit around the fire together and talk a lot about our countries; we go to the cattle post or masimo with him,” cuts in Rabashi, who adds that, twice Gudo has remained in Botswana for Christmas.

Further, Rabashi praises the Zimbabwean national for his ability to interact well with Batswana; he has never missed an opportunity to attend Rabashi’s family weddings, funerals, or any family gathering.