05/06/2026
The Day We Lost 88 Brahmas
Before I begin a brahma is priced between $120-$200
Dearest friend,
About two months ago we had a serious nhata problem in our chicken project.
One of our long-serving staff members from another branch visited and advised our animal caretaker on a treatment he had successfully used before. He has worked with us for years and has always taken excellent care of our animals. His intentions were good. His advice came from experience.
Now, when I say chickens, some of you might imagine ordinary chickens.
I am not talking about ordinary chickens.
I am talking about Brahmas.
The kings and queens of the chicken world.
Massive birds with feathered legs that look like they are wearing royal trousers. Gentle giants. Elegant. Majestic. The kind of chickens that make visitors stop walking and ask questions.
I love my animals.
Anyone who has followed me for a while knows that.
And by God's grace, I seem to have been given a strange gift for animal multiplication.
What started as four Brahmas has grown into more than 600.
In Harare alone, we keep around 200 Brahmas.
So the caretaker followed the advice and dipped the birds.
Everything appeared normal.
Until about thirty minutes later.
The chickens started dying.
One after another.
People became frightened.
Nobody wanted to tell me.
By the time the news finally reached me, nine birds had already died.
By the end of the day, we had lost eighty-eight adult Brahmas.
Eighty-eight.
The staff were devastated.
Some looked at me as if I was under su***de watch.
Others expected shouting.
Others expected blame.
Others expected tears.
Instead I said,
"It is okay. These things happen. People die. Animals die. Life goes on."
And the funny thing is they did not believe me.
They kept watching me.
Waiting for the explosion.
Waiting for the breakdown.
Waiting for the moment I would lose control.
But it never came.
You see, one of the most important lessons leadership has taught me is this:
When everybody else is panicking, the leader must remain calm.
Not because the leader feels no pain.
I felt it.
Eighty-eight Brahmas is not a small loss.
Not emotionally.
Not financially.
But panic never solves a problem.
A leader's first responsibility is not to react.
It is to think.
To assess.
To stabilise.
To create safety for everyone else.
Because when a leader loses control, fear spreads through the entire team.
People stop thinking.
People start hiding mistakes.
People become afraid to tell the truth.
And then one mistake becomes ten.
That day I was not calm because I did not care.
I was calm because I cared enough to protect the people around me from unnecessary fear.
Mistakes happen.
Businesses lose money.
Projects fail.
Animals die.
Products go wrong.
Employees make errors.
Leaders get disappointed.
That is life.
The real test is not whether something goes wrong.
The real test is what you do when it does.
Anybody can lead when things are going well.
The true leader appears when things fall apart.
Tiri kudzidza.
