Where It Started
Roots don't disappear, they build you
Marvellous Mukumba × Kade Culture
Before the bright stadium lights, there was Mbare, a place where football wasn’t just played; it was lived.
For our August digital cover, we asked footballer Marvellous Mukumba to take us back to where his story begins and what he still carries with him now, as a father and as one of Zimbabwe’s Premier Soccer League (PSL) players.
“Football was our therapy in the ghetto.”
His journey has moved through clubs like Triangle FC, How Mine, Black Rhinos and Dynamos before settling at Ngezi Platinum FC in Mhondoro. But when asked what comes to mind first about where it all started, he doesn’t reach for a single memory.
“It has so much history in itself,” he says of Mbare, before turning to the people who filled it. Some he still calls friends. Others, somewhere along the way, became something closer to family.
These days, home and career sit hours apart. He plays for Ngezi Platinum FC, based in Mhondoro. A world away from the streets that raised him. But he’s quick to challenge the idea that success means leaving. “Success isn’t about leaving where you grew up, to be honest.” What matters more is staying connected to the people who knew him before any of this. “It goes both ways.”
Asked what’s changed between Mbare and his current life, his answer is simple.
“The Marve you knew from Mbare is the same Marve you'll find in Mhondoro, Ngezi.”
That same steadiness carries into what he wants to pass on. When asked what he hopes his son takes from his upbringing, there’s no hesitation.
“Never, ever think of giving up in life, no matter how bad or how hard the situation gets, because in the end you'll come out a winner.”
It's a version of the same message he hopes will reach beyond his own household. When asked what young boys in his community see when they look at him now, he doesn't downplay it. “An example, a fighter, a warrior, a winner.”
WHERE IT STARTED
The full story, in his own words
Marvellous Mukumba reflects on identity, pressure and staying connected to where it all began, in his own words.