Nearly 31 years ago, I entered St. Patrick’s Seminary 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 now Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences for engineering where, a year later, I followed him. We remained big friends.

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

While at the university, it is open secret that Frank struggled that his mother had to take care of him and 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 his love for the family, self-confidence/self-belief and 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 mine 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, second, how great he was inside himself and that we didnot know the full measure of his potential and third, 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 sharing 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 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 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 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 that country. 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 powerful voice inside you. I must add, Frank is so good with people and remembers all those 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. You too will become the chief ‘professional’, head of department and managing director. Good luck!

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