I posted some details a while ago about Lizeni. Here's some information about another of the sculptors, Mike Masedza, in his own words:
'I was born in a family of eight, six boys and 2 girls. We all grew up to adulthood until AIDS scourge started to knock on our door. Four boys and a girls are now deceased and they all left their children behind. My father died in 1992, my wife died 2001 leaving me with two young children to take care of. Daniella was 12yrs and Tatenda 8.
Operation Murambatsvina ("restore order") took its toll again, leaving me with the sole responsibility of taking care of 10 orphans, my ageing mother and my own family of four.
Daniella is repeating her O'levels, Tatenda is in form 1 and i also pay school fees for my brother's 4 children. So i would say every dollar i earn will go a long way in helping more than 15 people, which is very difficult task for me considering our economic climate.'
It may not make sense to call Mike's experience "typical", but certainly one feature is a recurring theme: many of the artists are supporting numerous family members, mostly orphaned children, because AIDS and other diseases have wreaked havoc with families in Zim. As well as Mike and Lizeni (see below), Peter Kananji supports 17 people, Godfrey William 30+, and so the list goes on.
