Beloved African

More about the book

John Hammond was one of Rhodesia ’s foremost educators of the black population and this book throws light on the current plight of Zimbabwe. It is also the story of the great love between John and his wife Nancy, the daughter of an English country vet who left England and all she loved to follow him. It tells of their struggle through separation, war, disease and natural disaster and of the enduring strength they found in each other. John Hammond was an extraordinary man – son of the headmaster of a remote European school in Plumtree, Rhodesia. He was born in a pole and dagga hut and wore no shoes until he was 14. Brought up speaking Ndebele like a native, he tracked with Ndebele friends over weekends and shot for the school and the village pot. His decision to go into black education following his MA at Cambridge University is the vital core of this book. John ’s Christian faith runs as a thread through the book, giving insight into the motivation and strength of character that inspired him and so impressed the black population that he was called ‘our father – the great teacher, loved by all Africans ’.