Kathleen O'Dea

Marshmallow Fishes Kathleen O'Dea

Captured by murderous land-grabbing 'war veterans', former Zimbabwe international swimming star Kathleen O'Dea and heavily pregnant Heather, wife of anti-Mugabe politician Roy Bennett, were forced to watch the horrific beating of Bennett's loyal black farm workers, some of whom were raped and murdered. Under threat of death from the machete-wielding mob the two women had to chant pro-Mugabe slogans. Heather later lost the baby she was carrying. Bravely defiant, Kathleen stayed to help other white farmers, getting caught up in more terrifying farm raids, before she fled to England with only £10 in her pocket, believing that she might get the British Government to stop all the brutality in her beloved homeland. Sometimes disturbing, sometimes sad, sometimes wickedly funny, Kathleen's extraordinary story personifies the impact Mugabe has had on the lives of thousands of "wandering Zimbabweans."