My past life...Tine

In my last blog I wrote about “past lives”, and thought I would share a snippet of my past life with you, dear reader.

I made a quiet debut on the 4th of April 1983 at the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka, Zambia (home to the Victoria Falls--one of the 7 natural wonders of the world). My legal name is “Tinenenji”, directly translated to mean “what can/shall we say?”(My folks were either exhilarated or resigned--I prefer to think it was the former) The only girl in a family of 4 boys, I was the butt of many jokes, the victim of some not so funny pranks, a tree climber, a soccer dribbler, and a pillow fighter. On the up side, I had my own room, never had to change a light bulb, and had a personal team of exterminators at my service day or night. Looking back now, I see that my life growing up was one of deep contrasts; I lived in a racially and culturally homogenous country, but attended a school with kids from over 50 different countries; I lived in a high density neighborhood where the prevalent after school activity was itinerant street roaming, but coming from a strict and conservative family, I was always indoors reading or doing chores; I lived in a modern home in a fairly urbanized city, but frequently made trips to see my grandmother in Petauke, a village that is the quintessential depiction of rural African life; I lived in a country where girls were routinely passed over for education in favor of boys, and yet I was encouraged to pursue education in all its various forms and consequently cultivated a penchant for learning and scholarship.

I attended the International School of Lusaka by day. By night however, my father was my true educator, making me substantiate my opinions and listen to the evening news. He schooled me in doctrine, and solicited my childish “advice” on a myriad of issues. My favorite childhood activity was our nightly ritual, a write up of the “news of my day” which my father vetted for clarity and analytical rigor. I realize now that my life would have read very differently had it not been for my father’s guidance and influence, and so my life is a tribute to the man I call Daddy. After obtaining my Baccalaureate Diploma, the “executive” decision that I should leave Zambia to attend the University of Cape Town in South Africa, was made. I cried at the airport. That day signaled the end of an era and I knew it. Initially drawn to a career in journalism but dissuaded of this on several fronts, I turned to a more traditional and black letter career, law, which I studied first at the University of Cape Town, in South Africa, and then at Cornell Law School in New York.

…and then I enlisted with UYC Jordan, and the 3 weeks I have been here have been eventful to say the least! In my next blog I will begin to speak specifically about this. Till then dear reader, so long.