On February 14, 2004, Wanda Kawadza was thrown from a twin cab pickup truck she had boarded to take her home, bringing an abrupt end to her journey, the long awaited romantic weekend she had planned to spend with her husband and life as she knew it then. 

In that fateful moment as one journey came to an end it brought with it the dawning of a new journey of survival.  One that would consist not only of the healing of physical wounds but emotional ones as well.

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Wanda’s road to recovery is marked with miracle upon miracle, which spanned over four momentous milestones.  Milestones in which readers cannot help but see the Hand of her God persistently at work on behalf of his Princess.

In her book, ‘Saved to Tell,’ she takes us through that incident and her journey of recovery and restoration.

She writes, “Life’s mysteries are many and often go unconsidered. Brutal awakenings as a result of unexpected events that arise and beset us, often lead to their realization.”  Insight from a wise and strong woman, proud of her faith and saved to share it, with the world.

The first milestone is notably Wanda’s survival, upon her arrival at the hospital, one of the nursing staff self-assuredly declared, “Why bother with this one?’’ “She is going to die anyway.”

Saved to Tell is available on Amazon.com.
Saved to Tell is available on Amazon.com.

After all Wanda had been savagely hurled from the vehicle, hitting the ground with immense impact, rolling over several times – resulting in massive head injuries, nine broken ribs (some in two places), and lacerations to the left side of her face, a contusion below her left knee, additional injuries and lacerations on her hands and a pierced lower right back.

Her regaining of consciousness marked the second milestone. However, when Wanda woke up she did had lost the memory of much of her life. Who was she? Where was she? Why was she there? Who were the others around her?

She could not even remember her children.

Not only had her memory been affected, Wanda had to contend with the physical damage the accident had caused.  Her injuries included painful-heel wounds, loss of taste, slurry speech, poor balance,  loss of verbal memory that inhibited her from constructing logical sentences.

It took three months for Wanda to be medically pronounced ‘recovered for discharge’ – her third milestone.  Not only was Wanda starting from scratch, like a newborn baby taking its first breath, her discharge was not without its challenges.  Accompanied by cautionary advice that was both incarcerating and disheartening Wanda returned home, the path ahead a morass of uncertainty. Her journey back to a normal life commenced.

After traumatic events, it is often the case that the physical scars are the first to heal.  What of the emotional scars?  Though it is not always apparent, emotional wounds tend to be more crippling than the physical.  This was Wanda’s fourth milestone, a milestone that remains a lifelong process, ongoing to this day as she progresses from strength to strength.

Wanda’s faith was duly tested and perhaps to this day like any other Christian, faith is always tried and tested. She writes that the mysteries of life are hidden and we don’t understand why some survive catastrophic injury while others succumb to comparatively minimal injury.

As life is speckled with disappointments, tragedies, losses, shattered dreams etc., it is testimonies such as Wanda’s that bear witness to the fact that, for as long one is alive, it is never the end.

We all hold certain truths dear that emanate preponderantly from life changing experiences.  Wanda shares a few of her own:-

  • Life carries on despite our awareness of it and there are irreversible events.
  • Things and people get discarded with or without our knowledge.
  • Some of us ignore litter on the ground and some of us ignore or violate the living, helpless, injured and deceased.
  • We are more valuable than the things we possess – (on the night of the accident Wanda’s wedding ring was taken without her awareness, but her life was saved).
  • God created us and truly saves us even in such moments of our total unawareness.

As one saved to be a living testament, Wanda admits she is a work-in-progress perfected daily by the Author and Finisher of Her Faith.

Wanda Kawadza (nee Smith) was born in North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  She met her husband John Kawadza at Taylor University, Indiana. She has been living in Harare-Zimbabwe since September 19, 1982.  She has worked in various sectors within Zimbabwe and Botswana, which include University of Zimbabwe and Chemonics International respectively.  Wanda and her husband are involved in various projects, having founded Kuumba Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to restoration of families.  She is an active member of Fresh Water Christian Fellowship-where she has written her own Sunday school lessons and taught preschoolers.