Dream like Frank Ziba

Nearly 31 years ago, I entered St. Patrick’s Seminary in Rumphi with a desire to become a priest.

A year ahead of me was another young aspirant Frank Roy Ziba. After Form Four, we both changed plans and he went to The Polytechnic, then a constituent college of the University of Malawi, now Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (Mubas) for engineering where a year later I followed him in the same course. We remained big friends.

Close to his starting university education, Frank lost his father. His father was his role model. He was a civil engineering technician and Frank chose to follow his dad’s steps, and taking it higher as a full civil engineer. His dad had shown him the way, a good way.

While at university, it is open secret that Frank struggled given the mother had to take care of him and all his siblings. The sudden death of his father completely changed the formation and architecture of their family set up. The whole situation was indescribable.

But Frank never lost three things: his love for the family, his self-confidence/self-belief and his hope.

I loved the way Frank sustained these three attributes. We were lucky to be in the same Ndirande hostel. Frank was in the front wing and I was in the back wing.

Often, he would walk from his room to my room to simply tell me three things. First, how much he loved his family and how much he wanted to support and spoil them once he graduated. Secondly, Frank would tell me how great he was inside himself, that we didn’t know the full measure of his potential. And third, he would tell me of his unwavering hope for a bright future.

Frank was going through real big challenges beyond the scope of this column. Yet in that abyss of crisis and tribulation, he never lost hope. Rather, he gathered himself up and worked hard to take his family and himself out of the big challenges.

I was privileged to be constantly shared his vision and hope for the future. Jokingly, Frank would tell me “I am Frank Roy Ziba, chief engineer, main designer, head of department, dean of engineering and managing director.” When he was in the final year he added another title “flammable liquid”.

Upon graduating, Frank told me clearly what he would become 10 years down the line. He worked with a big international construction company and he oversaw the construction of the new Chiweta-Karonga Road at the start of the new century.

Soon after the project, he trekked down South Africa, for greener pasture and to maximise the potential he had been telling us about.

While there, he struggled to find his feet for a couple of years. A few of us his close friends tried hard to recall him but this never worked. We gave up when he told us clearly, “You guys don’t see the future that I see”. Within a few years, he found his feet and as they say, “the rest is history”.

Now Frank is one of the top civil engineers in South Africa. He owns a company that has constructed some of the most beautiful and best civil engineering feats in South Africa. He has done extremely well, far beyond the vast majority of his generation. We are all so proud of him. I am personally not surprised at all, when I look back to the level of self-belief that he had, the amount of determination and the zeal he had.

We can all learn so much from Frank’s story. When down, you are not done. Wake up and fight on. You may lose big things including your loved ones but the fire in you remains, ignite it. Do not listen to negative voices when you are sure of your path to success, listen to that still powerful voice inside you.

I must add, Frank is so good with people and remembers all the people that walked with him along the tough patches of the journey.

Do that too, to remain blessed. Good luck as you seek to rise and shine like Frank Roy Ziba, the min designer. You too will become the chief ‘professional’, head of department and managing director. Good luck!