|  | Where I came from
"I was born in the southern side of the country in a small village. I stayed there for some time, 'til I was fifteen. And then I had to move to the second capital city of the country. Life was still very hard by then so I couldn't do anything for myself. I had to go to South Africa. And then when I got there I got a job in a farm. And the I did work for some months, seven months, and then I had to come back home for Christmas. Then I was home for a long time."
 | | Jason on a break from rehearsals at college |
Changing countries
"Then in 2002 I had the privilege to come to England and I thank god for that. But some people are still in Zimbabwe. They are dying of hunger and all that sort of stuff. And I pray that God may help our land. Heal our land that every bird might sing a freedom song." Family left behind
"I've still got my mother, my grandmother, the whole family anyway is in there. Over here I've got my three aunties, and one brother, my uncle. I'm living with my other auntie now. Yeah I've got a lot of friends and family in Zimbabwe still." Arriving in Leicester
"I came here and I found life was very difficult 'cos I couldn't speak proper English and it was hard, you know what I mean? Because you can't communicate very well with people. That was the only major thing holding me back you know, not speaking proper English. Not understanding the accent of the people and all that. And I was not doing anything. And I stayed for a year doing nothing."
Starting afresh
"Then I started going to college, doing some drama for performances and all that. And I find it very good 'cos I've learnt so much. It's in Leicester Adult College. I had a wonderful teacher. She knew I couldn't speak proper English and she was helping me a lot. But I'm getting well now because I can good speak English."
This city
"But I find Leicester is great because it's got beautiful people and they understand people, you know what I mean. They don't care where you are from, all they want is yourself. That's what is good about these people. I like the city too. Very quiet. It is beautiful anyway. It is different where I am from. I like it. I think I appreciate Leicester."
Jason's most recent performance:
Summer Saturday mornings mean opportunities in theatre. Each year, Leicester Haymarket Theatre joins forces with Leicester Adult Education College. They fling open their doors to anyone who wants to try out drama, performance, poetry, song and more. Director of this year's performance piece is the Haymarket's Dawn Bowden: "Jason was one of the people who just came along. This year we looked at censorship across the world, and his poem [hear it here] was about that.
"The piece of drama has been performed in its entirety already, but a second performance which is raw - no video, no lights and stuff - is going to be put on at the Adult Education College on 17th June," she addss. |
