So Chuffed!

I was chuffed... Miss Kelly, my English teacher would probably have slashed her pen across the length of this page for my use of a slang term right now, shrieking “Chuffed! What is ‘chuffed’?”  I miss Miss Kelly... But chuffed is how I felt when updating a friend’s younger sister, on vacation from university, about my activities and after I told her about the Facebook group, she asked that I send her an invitation so she could join. Then the dear girl went on to score further points in my heart forever when she offered, without any prompting on my part (I swear), to invite all her other Facebook Friends to join! And she would have done it there and then too if we could have figured out how to do so using the internet on her cellphone.

Then there was the young man I met at his father’s office who didn’t know me from Eve. And yet when he heard about the campaign group (conversation with me invariably heads in that direction)... he took such interest (in the group tssk) that the next time I saw him and he managed to get online, he typed in a search for the group, joined- and there  and then proceeded to invite all his friends to join the journey to my dream. Incredible! As is every single one of you that has done the same upon request or by your own judgement. You are all so incredible and I am so chuffed.

Cyberspace is a biiiiiiig (Miss Kelly would have a fit, but I only meant this for emphasis) extensive place. And full of ideas i.e campaigns, lobbies, petitions...  
Womens Rights Campaigns  ;
Children's Rights ;
Fight Hate and Racism ;
Save The Environment 

It is not easy for a crusade to be noticed in the endless mass of serious- and some not so serious- online crusades there are or to catch the right eye, the right ear. Still you have that something that you are so passionate about, so sure of- so you are willing to take the chance. You put it out there. You know what you must do and you do what is in your power to do. But that is as much as you are able to do.

I cannot will the winds of fate to blow the link for Belonging into stranger’s Inboxes or onto their Walls. I can only hope that if I tell someone I know about Belonging/ what I’m trying to do, they will tell someone (or others) that I don’t know (so cannot tell myself) and they in turn will reach that other (those others) that I and our mutual friend did not know... and so it will go on. Because it is a good word (and a link) shared from friend to friend(s) that can grow the campaign for Belonging into a force noticeable by all... which is why I can’t help being so ‘chuffed’ (forgive me, Miss Kelly) every time anyone passes on the word...

And Then We Were 255...

Wandering the wilderness of No Laptop Land, sometimes the only way I had to keep my spirits buoyant was checking the membership of the Facebook group for the Belonging campaign. So I was a little put out early into that nightmare when I was advised not to divulge the number of members in the group to prospective producers in my submissions.

Why?

Because anything less than 100 did not count when talking of online group figures, I was assured. Membership was in the 60s for the Belonging campaign at the time. I saw where the advice-giver was going...

• Lady Gaga commands (if twitterholic.com is to be believed) a following of more than 8, 9 MILLION on Twitter, statistics dwarfing Obama with his humbler 7, 1 million followers who dropped  from pole position, down three places, to N# 4.

• And recent youtube sensation, Rebecca Black boasts an enviable (yes, I am only human) 29 MILLION hits for her song 'Friday'... whatever her critics say! 

Success seems to only come in MILLIONS in cyberspace!

And good for all the above! But all these started from 1, 2, 3... 10... even if only in their first second/ minute or hour... And yes, even Charlie Sheen with his Guiness World Record breaking feat of  becoming the fastest person to reach 1 million followers on Twitter. They all had to start somewhere... So 67 counted for me. As did the 50 something before it, the 40 something before that and every other (for want of a better expression) ‘lesser’ number before arriving at that. But I was conscious of a pressure (that I really didn’t need at that point) to get the numbers rising.

Going into the 80s, 90s- regardless of whether pundits deemed the head count noteworthy or not- was growth. When we reached 103, I distinctly remember suppressing the surge of excitement in case some left the group and we would be back in the 90s. As we pushed through the 180s, I suppose there was an element of smug satisfaction...Where we hadn’t before, now we ‘counted’.

And then- before I knew it- we were at 255! OMG! (as the techno generation’s lingo goes) The incredible feeling any support will inspire then multiply that by the 254 standing with me for my dream for Belonging as of this morning and you will get an idea of how good I am feeling. So good that I have decided to put up a Member Metre on the blog (left column). So we can keep track of the group's growth from here, ponder on it and enjoy it together.

An Interview on Kubatana.net

At the beginning of the year, I sent Kubatana an email sharing my New Year Resolution as they had invited their readers to do. No prizes for guessing what mine was (3rd from top). I would never have imagined being asked to do an interview. Over the years, the Kubatana newsletter has been a resource for social commentary, opportunities (contests, grants, fellowships and vacancies)... see the opportunity in Mi Week Spot (left hand column). My reaction therefore at the thought of being in Kubatana ( profile and all) as an interviewee-  Hello!- can  only be imagined! Fever pitch delirium.

Because it was a defining moment that went unmentioned here as I was wandering, lost in the wilderness of No Laptop Land... for the benefit of those of you who haven’t had a chance to read (or listen to it- they have audio file options too) here is my Kubatana interview.

Belonging for ‘A’ Level Study!

This past week, I learnt that ‘In the Continuum and Other Plays’, the textbook which features four plays including ‘Belonging’ has been  (in my publishers words)... put on the A-level list of prescribed texts! This means local school children are going to be reading Mirirai Moyo (okay, my work...) along with Ibsen, Pinter and Wilde!

While this will not be putting me anywhere near the JK Rowlings et al earnings bracket, it is an incredibly satisfying (emotionally- hey, money's not everything!) achievement.

When I think of the authors that have sat in those classrooms before me- Chinua Achebe, Ngugi waThiongo, Shimmer Chinodya, Charles Mungoshi, Yvonne Vera, Tsitsi Dangerembga amongst others and the great man of words, ah yes- Shakespeare himself (this is the point where I swoon), I have this indescribable feeling deep inside. To tread (even if it is just in mincing tiptoes) where such great literary luminaries have gone is humbling. And it reminds me of how much further I have to (and want to) go.

And the idea that young people all over my country are going to be reading my work, putting their interpretations to my words is truly incredible... and I must say, daunting. I hope that they come away from the story of Kuku having learned something about life... as they certainly will from the other plays:

In The Continuum by Danai Gurira and Nikkole Salter

When I Meet My Mother by  Kathleen McCreery
Power Failure by Jide Olugbenga Afolayan

And most important of all, I hope they derive the same pleasure in reading In the Continuum and Other Plays as I did (and still do) in the books that have moulded my thinking to this point in my life.