Beloved African

Beloved African is a story of a great and enduring love -- in the early days of Rhodesia -- of the builders, educators, the history, the triumphs and the troubles of that beautiful country. The story is remarkably intact. It draws upon Nancy Hammond's precise memory for detail; upon hundreds of letters written and lovingly preserved since the early 1900s; on the headmaster's annual reports from Tjolotjo, Mzingwane, Goromonzi and Domboshawa to his Head Office, from 1936 to the early 1960s; and upon a series of tape recordings with John the "Beloved African", 18 months before his death in South Australia in 1996. John Hammond was one of Rhodesia's great educators -- loved, respected, and sometimes misunderstood by black and white alike. The extraordinary role he played is woven against a background of increasing tension as he strode the political and educational stages, fighting for the extra time he needed to educate his schoolboys and girls to the point where they would be in a position to lead the new Zimbabwe with wisdom and integrity. The agonies of what subsequently occurred and the effect it had on him are woven through a wonderful tale of the continuing love story and partnership between John and Nancy. The book gives a not always popular view of what life was like to those who were determined to try and make it work, but whose efforts were so often thwarted by political duplicity.