On the 18th of April, 2025, the Zimbabwean community in South Korea turned Vineworks, Seoul into the closest thing to home most of us had been in for years.
Zimbabwe's 45th Independence Day gathering drew members from across the peninsula. The event was honoured by the Honorary Consul of Zimbabwe in Korea, Mr Baik and representatives from the variety community leaders in South Korea including Ms. Bia Lee, a marker, quietly significant, of how seriously this community is now taken.
On the programme: speeches that landed, food that ran longer than planned, music that pulled the older heads and the younger ones onto the same dance floor, and a certificate ceremony recognising members who have spent the past twelve months building this community from nothing. The hall was loud in the ways you want a hall to be loud. Strangers swapped numbers. Old friends argued about the correct way to eat sadza. The Honorary Consul was, briefly, the target of an impromptu dance lesson. It landed.
Thank you to every single person who showed up, cooked, organised, volunteered, drove, decorated, or simply brought the energy. The night belonged to all of us.
Photography from the celebration are up on the Events page.
