Wetskills-Zimbabwe 2026 – Blog 7 –
Day 7 should have been titled The Day We Tried to Rescue a Bird, Got Roasted by Our Peers, and Then Ate Our Feelings. Here is how the rollercoaster went down.
The Great Bird Rescue (That Wasn’t) – The morning started with a metaphor so obvious it should be in a movie. “It’s stuck,” Michael whispered, already rolling up his sleeves. “I need to save it.” Just as he reached the bird, ready to cradle it to safety… the bird flew away. Michael stood there, broom in hand, defeated but laughing. Lesson Number 1: Sometimes the problem doesn’t need your rescue. But the effort? That’s what builds the team.
The Solution Presentations – With egos slightly bruised (Michael’s, not the bird’s), we started the main event: Solution Presentations. Each team had to pitch the solution we’d been bleeding over for five days. The formulas were airtight. We were proud.
And then came the Brutal Criticism – I’m not talking about gentle feedback. I’m talking about the kind of “red teaming” that makes your soul leave your body. One judge (you know who you are, Craig) looked at us and said, “2.5 what? million?” Another panelist told a different team: “You want us to lie and tell you this is good when you know it is not” It stung. You could see jaws tighten, but here is the truth: That criticism was a gift. They weren’t attacking us; they were attacking the blind spots we had ignored for three days.
The Release (Game Playing) – You cannot survive that kind of morning without a dopamine reset. We took the games out, and the inner children emerged. There was a vicious, sweaty round of musical chairs that nearly ended a friendship. Another group played a card game where the loser had to drink a full glass of water. The laughter was loud. The stakes were low. It was exactly what we needed.
The Braai (Where Magic Happens) – The Zimbabwean Braai is not a BBQ. It is a ritual. As the smoke rose from the grill, carrying the scent of marinade and boerewors, a shift happened. The same people who were brutalizing each other’s business plans at 11 AM were now fighting over who kept picking meat off the grill (Lloyd by the way).
The Heartwarming Meal – We sat on benches and chairs. Paper plates on laps. The lights were on, lightning up the patio. We ate. We drank. We told terrible jokes.
The End of a Long Day – Day 7 wasn’t about the perfect solution. It was about the process.
- The bird taught us to try even if we look silly.
- The criticism taught us to listen even when it hurts.
- The braai taught us that sharing a meal is the only real closure.
We came for the solutions. We leave with the scars, the laughs, and the taste of grilled meat on our lips. Here’s to Day 7. Here’s to the struggle. And here’s to flying away on our own wings.
Blog by Thandekile P Ndlovu & Nicole Chinyanga
P.S. Michael confirmed the bird is fine. We checked.
