When Mugabe had completed his training as a teacher, he taught at Catholic schools in Zimbabwe before leaving for Ghana, where he met his first wife, Sally Hayfron. They were married in a Catholic church in Harare in 1961, and three years later Mugabe was imprisoned for 10 years by the Rhodesian government for opposing white rule.
Lapho uMugabe eqeda ukufundela ubuthishela, wafundisa ezikoleni zamaKatolida eZimbabwe ngaphambi kokuya eGhana, lapho ahlangana khona nomkakhe wokuqala, uSally Hayfron. Bashadela esontweni lamaKatolika eHarare ngo-1961, kwathi eminyakeni emithathu kamuva uMugabe waboshwa iminyaka engu-10 uhulumeni waseRhodesia ngecala lokuvukela ukubusa kwabamhlophe.