Phillimon Zongo

Phillimon Zongo got his first pair of shoes at 12 and moved out to rent at 14. His dilapidated room had no electricity, no running water, no windows, and had a makeshift unlockable door. Two of the township’s toughest prostitutes occupied the two adjoining rooms. Most Friday nights, he ran back home, 23 kilometres away, and ran back to school on Monday mornings.

In 1994, on the cusp of dropping out of school because he could not afford the fees, a benevolent German took a bet on him. She gave him one of life’s greatest gifts – a chance to pursue his boundless potential. Despite countless obstacles, Zongo never entertained self-pity. He topped his class and became the first to graduate from university in his family.

Zongo migrated to Australia in 2007, armed with $300 and boundless ambition. But the deeply rooted belief that his odds to succeed in Australia as a young African were wafer-thin proved all too-crushing. In 2011, he sold everything and returned to Zimbabwe.

But a strange twist of fate forced Zongo to return to Australia in 2012. A mindset shift ignited a whirlwind run of success. Zongo published a bestselling book, won multiple global awards, co-founded the Cyber Leadership Institute, and keynoted events alongside the former Head of FBI cyber-crime division.

This poignant, hilarious and impeccably written memoir – spanning Savannah grasslands, Harare ghettos, Australia and beyond – proves the remarkable power of education and grit to defeat poverty and despair.

Kagisho Nkhabutlane

The Gift of Obstacles: A Memoir of Grit, Grace and Gratitude

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