There is always a common question...
'What do you want to be when you grow up?'
I always told myself that I want to be the richest man in the world.
And if you asked me what it means to be rich,
I could not give you an answer.
But I knew that I wanted to be the richest man in the world.
I am a Zimbabwean, born in Zimbabwe.
Our economic situation back home was really bad
and life was becoming difficult.
I had to think, what is better...
Can I stay with my family in poverty?
Or can I be separated from my family
and go and find some greener pastures
and then provide for the family.
And to separate yourself from your family is not an easy thing.
But circumstances force us to be in that position.
I then stayed for three years
without my children and my family.
And that was very, very difficult.
Sometimes you hear people saying that they are lonely
even when they are sitting amongst other people.
And you wonder what makes them feel lonely
when there are so many people around them.
Loneliness comes
when you are taken away from
your people.
When that thing which is so close to you
has been taken away from you.
You long to see them or to hear them again.
And after three years without my children
I said enough is enough - I must just get my son to come here.
I remember it was quite an emotional time when he finally arrived.
I could see the smile on his face, looking into my eyes.
And I didn't know what to do.
Whether to embrace him or to lift him up?
I didn't know what to do.
It was such a great feeling.
After a long time of not staying together as father and son
it was really something else.
There was a lot of gratitude.
I can't even explain the feeling, it was too deep.
I felt complete.
I was whole again.
The complete Obert...
together with my son.
There are so many lessons which can be learnt from being a parent.
I think it teaches you to become more loving.
And I believe love covers everything.
Because if you're loving, then you're gentle.
If you're loving, you're patient.
And if you're loving, you're kind.
And all those things begin to take place around you
if you are filled with love.
You know... Ted, my son...
he's such a difficult boy.
And I love him so much.
I sat down with Ted and I asked him
'Ted, tell me'
'what do you want to be in life?'
And he said, 'I want to be like you.'
And I said no, I don't mean you becoming like me...
but I mean when you grow up, what do you want to be?
What do you want to do in life?
And he still came back with the same answer.
He said, 'Dad, I want to be like you.'
It makes me very emotional because
I see a part of me in him.
Like he becomes my twin brother
if I may put it that way.
My children are my life
and they are part of me.
I want to see him happy all the time.
Because if he is happy,
he will also share the happiness with other people.
And the moment he begins to do that
he is making the world a better place to be.
Looking at myself today
I think I am amongst the poor, if the world is to judge.
People are controlled by a thing called 'status'.
I don't know whether it's a word, or it's a status.
But if wrongly used
it can be of much detriment to one's life.
I've seen people with mansions
who are very sad.
So for me,
those are the poorest people in this world
because they are not happy.
Life is a good teacher...
life is a very good teacher...
I think an experienced one.
As I grow, I discover that
life can bring some different meaning
to what we believed when we were young.
Now I understand that riches are not material things.
Having my health, that's rich.
Having children around me, that's rich.
I may not have material things,
but I'm always happy.
If you want to see a happy man,
come and see me.
So I still stand by my statement from when I was a young boy...
I want to be the richest man in the world.
And the richest man in the world is the happy man.
That one happy man
is what I want to be.