Last week we received two pieces of news from the Zimbabwean diaspora – one bad and the other good.

The desperate economic situation and our suffocating politics have forced an increasing number of despairing young people, some with great first degrees, to train as nurses or caregivers just as a way of getting visas into the UK. There is a huge demand for healthcare workers in that country but this has the negative effect of eroding skills from the job market in Zimbabwe.

According to a report in The Zimbabwe Independent – Zim caregivers sing the blues in UK Zimbabwe caregivers are under the burdensome bondage of rogue employment agencies run by fellow Zimbabweans. Heavy deductions from their wages coupled with onerous working conditions have made life utterly unbearable for most.

There has been at least one reported suicide as a result of these modern-day slave conditions. Sad, is it not, that these Zimbabweans are being exploited mostly by fellow Zimbabweans, this time in a foreign land?

One would have thought that Zimbabweans would take care of each other when abroad. In this sad development we must look inside ourselves and ask, “What is wrong with us? Where is our love and compassion for fellow citizens? Are we this broken?”

News that one of us, namely Samantha Nyikadzino @dzinosam, has made it in the diaspora was heart-warming and a source of great pride. Time to declare my interest here – I am a great F1 fan and a #TeamLewisHamilton supporter.

Samantha announced on her twitter status that she had started work as Design Engineer for @MercedesAMGF1 on 12 September. She is a product of our own National University of Science and Technology. She also studied at Cape Peninsula University of Technology and has a degree in Applied Mathematics and Computer Science from Unisa.

This is a huge break for Samantha and a moment for national pride. She joins fellow Zimbabwean Stephanie Travers who joined the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team as trackside engineer a while ago. We have been pursuing Stephanie to be a guest on ICWT and we won’t give up.

This week we celebrate a great milestone of our own. We have reached 5 million views on YouTube and are still counting. We are on 34 000 subscribers and growing steadily as we inspire and change lives with each conversation. We are grateful for your support and your feedback. After watching the Douglas Hoto Episode on YouTube Brian Makwara had this to say, “I use this platform as my pseudo-MBA class.” And Teacher Dreamer said, “Your platform is a free university.” These are just a few of your responses on social media. Thank you for your kind and generous words!

Empretec Executive Director, Busi Bango, was candid about the paucity of skills in Zimbabwe and the fact that our curriculum has failed to address our ever-changing economic needs. It is high time we disabused ourselves of the notion that we are the best educated nation on the continent and that our work ethic is one of the best. That is what we used to be about 20 years ago but not anymore. Busi recommends that Zimbabwe revamps its education system by implementing the recommendations of the Nziramasanga Commission. You can watch the full episode here.

Coming Next: Dr Chaii, AKA Phillip Kembo In Conversation With Trevor

The team had lots of fun putting this episode together and we have no doubt you will love it. Talented and LA-based Dr Chaii, AKA Phillip Kembo was in his element sharing his musical journey that has seen him work and collaborate with some of the world’s mega-artists such Chris Brown, Nicki Minaj, Jason Derulo etc. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel YouTube.com//InConversationWithTrevorso you don’t miss out on this quality conversation.