Eriza: A woman's journey, a country's hope, a family's freedom

Eriza is a quietly ambitious and self-assured girl living in a small village, Chena, in rural 1960s Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) where family is everything and everything is family.

Against the backdrop of a rapidly changing political and social landscape and with dreams moulded by her community, she sets off to England to study nursing. Whilst for many this would be in pursuit of personal success, for Eriza, this move is solely about improving her family’s existence. This is, after all, a family - immediate, extended and adopted - whose love and sacrifice are what allowed her to board a plane to a foreign land.

As she blossoms, so does her beloved country, transitioning from Rhodesia to Zimbabwe. On her return home, she’s enthralled by the dramatic changes that have taken place and the daring roles that many of her own loved ones played in securing freedom from colonial rule. With Chena now no longer the centre of her family’s world, she can’t help but wonder, as she innocently asks her brother, “Where are we going?”

Eriza is not just a tale of the becoming of a young woman. It’s also a tale of a family’s love and hope and a nation’s journey to freedom.