Crispen Karanda

Crispen was born in 1955 in the Mondoro rural area and grew up herding cattle and tending fields.

Being the last born of ten children, the family had little funds to send him to school for long even though he enjoyed it and was good at school.

He says life at home was stressful due to a series of domestic problems and he even attempted suicide at the age of twelve.

A chance meeting with a man from the UK who saw potential in Crispen ended with him attending school again and, after a long struggle, now proudly holds a master’s degree in Business Administration.

He started to work seriously with stone in 1999 but had no one to learn from, so he is completely self taught.

Even though Crispen is obviously a gifted sculptor, the art is second to everything else in his life.

He is a very charitable man with his time as he spends a lot of spare time with the elderly and under-privileged.

His son Trinity and daughter Sandra both study in the US.

Outside of his work, Crispen has no real hobbies or interest other than charity work.

He married Irene in 1979 and they have three children.