Heather van Buuren
Watercolours
My parents emigrated from Suffolk, UK to Rhodesia in 1927. My father was a farmer on Harleigh Farm in the Makoni district and I was born here in 1932. Farming required clearing the land and stumping out trees – how that hurt my sister and I. We would sit in the branches and cry as we fondled the cool soft leaves as the sap leaked out. I think we also wondered what the birds would do without them to live in. The trees were mostly “msasa’ – a gentle tree that sheds its leaves at the end of winter when the August winds blow. But then in spring out pop new leaves so soft and feather-like in a kaleidoscope of colours – mostly differing hues of red, some orangey and some a khaki shade of yellow. Then they turn apple green, a shade so beautiful one could just drink it!
I went to boarding school, under protest, in the nearby village of Rusape and then sent further afield to the Convent in Salisbury. I missed home terribly. Many a time, as a young girl, I would hide in the stables with my beloved Basuto pony come the time to return to school. I was then shipped off to Groote Schuur in Cape Town to train as a nurse. On my days off, I would stand, alone, at Rhodes Memorial and gaze longingly north – how I yearned for my homeland. So much so that I eventually persuaded my rather stubborn Pa to allow me to return and complete my training at the Salisbury Central.
I met a handsome young farmer. We were soon married. Again I wept over the trees as we cleared the virgin bush on a farm we bought near the Mozambique border. We had three beautiful daughters.
It was only many years later, when in my mid-sixties and my girls had left the nest, that I picked up a brush and, self-taught, headed off into the bush to sketch and paint. My daughters are my best encouragers, and although each of them and their families live far away, they understand why I love the land of my birth. And so here I am still in Rusape, at Resthaven, amongst fellow pensioners who all face the plight of trying doggedly to make the best out of this difficult life in Zimbabwe.
I am, and always have been, an ardent believer – seeing the magnificence of God in all that surrounds me. I give Him the glory for each work I create!
