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Gospel diva reflects on life experiences

BY WINSTONE ANTONIO UNITED KINGDOM-BASED Zimbabwean gospel songbird Olinda Marowa (pictured) has said losing her mother when she was only 22 was one of the worst things that ever happened in her life. The Ndinouya Baba hitmaker, who is soon set to drop the video of the song Muridzi Wehupenyu off her fifth album Yahweh, took to Facebook to express her deep feelings about losing her mother in 2010 and being widowed in 2017. “I longed that she (her late mother) would at least see her grandchildren (my children), but that never happened because she died before I even got married. As if that was not enough, I got widowed at the age of 29, left with two kids, the elder one was four, who is now turning seven and the younger one was four months old, who is now three years old,” she said. Marowa said wailing and complaining became the order of the day in her life until God touched her heart and deposited the song Muridzi Wehupenyu in her which she said strengthened her. “I understood that God is the owner of my life and I could not continue or stay in tears. I have cried for too long, the wounds inside my heart were so excruciating. People could say words of comfort, but it never made sense,” she said. “He wiped my tears, healing comes gradually, it is a process, but I thank God for where I am today. I managed to move on and God has strengthened me all the way. May everyone in tears right now find comfort in the Lord because He is the owner of life.” In a follow-up interview with NewsDay Life & Style, Marowa said God had been faithful to her as He enabled her to find her feet again in showbiz after the devastating deaths of close family members. “I remember after receiving (news of) the death of my husband in 2017, I just told myself that it was the end of everything, no music ministry, no church ministry, but God has been so faithful. I found myself continuing regardless of all the misfortunes that had happened,” she said. “My life was literally centred on crying because losing my mum in 2010 and seven years down the line, my husband, I had not really healed from mourning my mum and suddenly the death of pastor Michael Ziwenga came into the picture. I remember crying almost everyday, having sleepless nights, failing to come to terms with the bereavement.” Marowa, who lost her first husband, Ziwenga, in 2017 has since remarried Mike Mapiya and has relocated to the United Kingdom to be with her new husband, a sound engineer. During the global COVID-19 pandemic, Marowa said while things had been on the low side in terms of gatherings and live shows because of the lockdown, she had been doing more on social media. “I have been doing more of my stuff on my social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. There is so much potential here (UK) because I once came in 2018 for the Gospel Divas show hosted by Timothy Ngwenya and Mama Redrose and it was very successful. People here received my music so well and the purchase of it was also very overwhelming,” she said. Meanwhile, Marowa said working with other fellow gospe