Power of father this Father’s Day

Obituaries
AT a tender the age of nine months, Tiger Woods’ golf talent was identified by his father Earl Woods. The power of fathers upon their children, a prodigy indeed. This is a touching story that portrays the role fathers play in our lives as evidenced by Woods’ golfing success, thus fulfilling Albert Einstein’s words: “Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think.”

By Nothando Bhila

AT a tender the age of nine months, Tiger Woods’ golf talent was identified by his father Earl Woods. The power of fathers upon their children, a prodigy indeed. This is a touching story that portrays the role fathers play in our lives as evidenced by Woods’ golfing success, thus fulfilling Albert Einstein’s words: “Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think.”

Malam Mamuda Kibir Dutsinma goes on to say: “The basic truth of life is that the skills that are needed to be much sought-after and become more successful in life are not really found within the walls of the classrooms, you are full of possibilities when you think beyond your degrees and certificates”.

This story shows how involved Earl Woods was with his son’s life from such a tender age to be able to spot such a gift in him. In my opinion, the gift of discernment was at work as well as the science of observation.

In Ghana we met Gyakie, a female musician who was raised in Kumasi in the Ashanti region.

She was born into a family of musicians and by age eight, she had started joining her father in the studio. She was also influenced by Asa and Ghanaian musician Omar Sterling of R2Bees.

This is another touching story on fathers and how they can play a part in what becomes of their children and contribute to how they make a living later in life, if not from a young age as we have already seen from the above models.

Coming back home to Zimbabwe, we have Mudiwa Hood, whose father and great-grandfather also played an interesting role in shaping who he is today.  Hood is not his stage name but it is actually his real name as his great-grandfather’s name was Hood.

The socialite sensation could not have been any better than his rich history that has proudly landed him the brand he is today, Mudiwa Hood, we applaud the social work he does in the community.

A father’s love is one of the greatest influences on personality development, which is one of many findings in a new large-scale analysis of research about the power of parental rejection and acceptance in shaping our personalities as children and into adulthood.

Fathers do not verbalise as much as mothers do, they tend to be more direct and use fewer words. They may seem to be “too tough” than the moms, but their toughness is rooted in helping children to be prepared for real life.

Sulumani Chimbetu, the son of the late dendera musician Simon Chopper Chimbetu, was influenced to sing by his father who rose to stardom in the 1990s and it became somewhat a taboo to watch the musical show, Mutinhimira Wemimhanzi Ezomgido on Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC-tv) without one of his songs featuring.

The founder of Killian Education Trust is the son of a teacher and he told himself he would not follow in his father’s footsteps until he got an appreciation of what he did.

He not only named the education trust after his father, but went on to become a teacher too and he thoroughly enjoys his job and the contribution he is making to Zimbabwe’s education system.

The very author of this article won an award for writing at the age of 10 after her father Clarence, Ransome Bhila had accustomed her to writing and reading. Her father’s influence is so much so that words are to date among her favourite toys.

Her late grandfather Ransome Bhila was a man who enjoyed philanthropic work in Manicaland East, becoming one of the first headmasters in this region until he went to be with the Lord in 1960. He believed in giving back to the community because we do not live on islands since the community plays a role in our success. Some of the rewards God gives us are for our great-grandparents who honoured God, but did not get what they deserved.

This Father’s Day, as I wrap up this article, help educate an Epworth girl through the Ransome Campaign run by Family Integration Serum Trust and take part in writing the epic story about her life journey like the stories we have read about here today.

Biblically, the father is the head of the family, the steering wheel of the family. This Father’s Day, help strengthen the family unit by educating an Epworth girl so that they can better explore the opportunities life throws at them from the training they receive to think along the lines of Albert Einstein and Malam Mamuda Kibir Dutsinma’s school of thought.

  • Nothando Bhila is a Pan-African writer passionate about issues to do with Africa. She writes here in her personal capacity.