Beneath the Trampoline: Natures Lesson

The final years on our farm in Zimbabwe for my family and community felt like living under a sky that had forgotten how to shine. The air was thick with tension, the kind that clings to your skin and settles in your bones. The whispers of the government land seizures grew louder each day, until they weren’t whispers anymore, they were shouts, threats, and the sound of boots on our farm soil that enforced authority that the soil was no longer where we could belong.

A Fractured Peace: The Land Seizures in Zimbabwe

Government employed war veterans and loyalists swept through the countryside, claiming white-owned farms in a campaign that left devastation in its wake. Families were torn apart. Workers who had lived and loved on that land for generations were displaced, beaten, and in some cases, killed.

It was a time of fear, my family and friends watching everything they built unravel. Although, in this darkness, there remained light, small, flickering, and pure.

Innocence Amid Chaos: The Children and The Gecko

I was three and a half years old, too young to understand politics, borders, or betrayal, old enough to feel the soft African sun on my cheeks, and the earth beneath my feet. Our backyard was my kingdom, the garden beds filled with beautifully filled blooming flowers, the tree branches sprawled above us, filled with leaves providing shade below. The magic enchanted herb garden boarded by evergreen cherry shrubs, a maze path of granite stepping stones weaved around the rounded bricked garden beds. Herbal scents mingling wildly free from the abundance of healing herbs, whilst the branches reached towards the heavenly sun in gratitude of life.

Our backyard playground retreat. Sheltered by a caste shadow of our house building, shielded our jungle gym and in-ground trampoline from the afternoon suns rays. This is where my sister and I would play often. Bouncing our moments away until our laughter drowned out the silence of worry that weighed heavy on my parents.

Innocence and Nature: A Gecko’s Quiet Lesson

One morning, my sister and I lay on the trampoline, gazing up at the soft blue sky, which was scattered with puffy-shaped clouds. We were playing our game of spotting imaginary cloud images, when the morning sun rays began to warm the dark surface of the trampoline, soon warming our skin. Feeling the heat, we decided to seek shelter. After flipping over and peeking over the edge of the trampoline, we saw shade underneath, squeezing our small bodies through a corner opening, slipping beneath it.

As our bare feet hit the red, soft soil below, we looked around, feeling excited. We had discovered a new secret hiding place. Then, we noticed a tiny, beautiful gecko nestled in the dust and shade. In its stillness, we observed that its tail was missing.

We crouched beside it, eyes wide with concern. “Is he broken?” I asked my sister. Feeling a rush of compassion and fear filled thoughts wondering how we could save it. Scrambling out from beneath the trampoline racing as fast as our little legs could carry us, searching to find the closest parent, who could support our quest to save our newfound little broken friend.

Rooted In Resilience

When my parents met us, showing alarming concern, as my sister and I shouted over one another in panicked excitement, trying to explain our tragic find. My father laughed kindly, calming us down and telling us everything was fine.

He explained that the gecko must have got its tail caught on something, or something tried to catch it. He explained the geckos tail’s release is nature’s incredible design to save the gecko from a predator, furthermore, he mentioned that geckos can regrow their tails again.

At this early age in life learning the quiet wisdom of nature, how it heals. We watched that gecko for days, checking on him like a nurse tending a patient. And slowly, the tail began to return. It was a miracle to us.

That little gecko became more than just a creature beneath a trampoline, it became a symbol. A quiet messenger from nature reminding us of its incredible ability to restore. Tail gone but not broken. And slowly, tail reborn.

Journey To renewal: From Zimbabwe To Canada

As life grew darker on the farm, families forced to flee, workers stripped of their homes, entire communities swallowed by fear, the gecko held on, and so did we, for a short while. Sometimes healing doesn’t announce itself. It comes in small, persistent ways. Like a child checking on a wounded creature, believing fully in its ability to bounce back. That belief stayed with me.

When we moved to Canada, the rhythms of Zimbabwe didn’t leave me, they echoed inside. The sun. The soil. The hurt. And the hope.

From Healing to Purpose: The Birth Of Victoryblok

VictoryBlok was born from those echoes. From that instinct to protect, to nurture, to renew. Our skincare products isn’t just about surface beauty. It’s about deeper care, rooted in ancestral wisdom and nature’s quiet resilience. Every soap bar, balm, and moisturizer carry whispers of that trampoline, that gecko, and the vast African landscapes that taught me to listen.

We believe healing is cyclical. Like the gecko’s tail. Like the seasons. Like the earth itself.

So, when you hold a VictoryBlok product, you’re not just holding an alternate healthier skincare. You’re holding stories, restoration and a little piece of Zimbabwe.

Thank-you for reading my post, getting to know me a little more through a cherished memory.

Luanna 🫶🏻 💕