Danga remombe

Here you see a danga remombe (cattle corral) on the left and on the right. The yellow stuff seen through the trees is fodder for the cattle (probably maize stalks, etc.). Notice the large ant hill in the center of the picture. That's an ideal place for cobras to live and also a great source of clay for making bricks. The ant hill, large rock toward the right, and barren earth is typical of the Chiwundura Communal Land where this photo was taken.

There is a Shona expression:

Kuvaka danga

Mombe pasina

To build a cattle corral before you have cattle.

That's equivalent to the English expression: Count your chickens before they've hatched.

Who's Your Mother?

Just as in Shona culture one may call more than one person baba, father, so one may call more than one person amai*, mother. In the same way that all brothers of one's biological father are addressed as baba, so one's biological mother and her sisters are addressed as amai. Similarly, elder sisters of one's biological mother are referred to as amaiguru or maiguru. and younger sisters are referred to as amainini or mainini in the same way that elder brothers of one's biological father are referred to as baba mukuru and younger brothers are referred to as baba munini or baba mudiki.

This way of expressing family relationships is very logical and makes clear where in the hierarchical family structure every member of the family fits. Each time one speaks to or about one's parents and/or their siblings, that person's location and responsibilities within the family structure are identified and reinforced. This will become clearer as names for other family members are discussed.

*In most Bantu languages the word for mother is mama. Shona tends to use amai, sometimes shortened to simply mai. It is interesting that the Portuguese word for mother is mai. With the definite article it becomes a mai. Could this use of the Portuguese expression for mother in Shona be related to the contact between early Portuguese explorers and and the Monomutapa, ruler of the 16th century kingdom from which modern Shona people are descended? I'm sure some scholar has researched this issue. Said scholar has yet to reveal himself or the results of his research to me. Maybe some day.

Tsumo - Shumo

Chinokanganwa ibadza

ivhu harikanganwe

The hoe forgets but the soil does not.

-- Shona Proverb
From Tsumo - Shumo by Mordikai A. Hamutyinei and Albert B. Plangger

The offender easily forgets but not the offended.

Victoria Falls Rain Forest

A rain forest stretches from the Devil's Cataract to the Main Falls.

Heavy spray from the falls makes possible the lush vegetation of the rain forest.

The rain forest scenes in the 1985 version of the movie King Solomon's Mines staring Richard Chamberlain and Sharon Stone were filmed in the rain forest at Victoria Falls.

The 1985 version of King Solomon's Mines is probably the worst movie adaptation of the book ever made. When driving down Enterprise Road in Harare one day my family and I saw what appeared to be a huge clay pot on the back of a lorry in front of us. It turned out to be a prop from the movie. In the movie Richard Chamberlain and Sharon Stone are tossed into a pot full of plastic vegetables, presumably to make some sort of unappetizing soup. (Typical of the silliness of this movie.)

The set for the exotic town scene in the movie was constructed beside the main highway from Harare to Kadoma near the cut-offs for the Larvon Bird Garden and the Lion and Cheetah Park. Plans were for it to be developed as a tourist attraction. It mysteriously burned without ever being exploited for tourism.

A visit to Victoria Falls and a stroll through the rain forest is highly recommended. Only watch the 1985 version of King Solomon's Mines if you need a few laughs. (The 1950 version of the movie staring Stewart Granger and Deborah Kerr filmed in East Africa is the best version. An earlier version with Paul Robeson is interesting as well.)

Who's Your Father?

The young Shona man approached his European employer and asked for time off to visit his musha* for the funeral of his father. His employer felt sympathy for his faithful worker in his time of sorrow and granted his request.

A few months later the same young man again approached his employer and once again requested time off for the funeral of his father. This time his employer began to berate him. "What kind of fool do you think I am? You just buried your father a few months ago. Don't make up lies just to get a holiday. Be off with you! You no longer work here."

This unfortunate termination of a loyal worker was the result of differing understandings of the answer to the question "Who's your father?" on the part of members of the Shona community and Europeans.

For the European, one's father is his immediate male progenitor. One only has one father (although allowance is made for step-fathers). In Shona culture, one may have many fathers. The Shona word for father, baba**, refers not only to one's immediate male progenitor, it also includes all of that person's male siblings.

A person's father's brother is called baba. If he is an older brother of his father, he is baba mukuru. If he is a younger brother, he is baba munini.

So, the answer to the question "Who's your father?" depends upon the language you're using or the culture within which you are operating. If you try to operate with word for word translations, you can end up with misunderstandings, broken relationships and conflict.

*musha -- homestead

**Baba is pronounced with implosive "b"s as opposed to the explosive "b" used in English. Hold a piece of light paper in front of your mouth and say "b." If the paper moves, you have used an explosive "b." The puff of air exploding from your mouth moves the paper. The implosive "b" will not move the paper since any movement of air flows gently into the mouth rather than exploding outward. Shona has explosive "b"s as well as implosive. The explosive "b" is written as "bh."

Tsumo - Shumo

Muromo haupi

chinopa maoko

The mouth doesn't give. The hands give.

-- Shona Proverb
From Tsumo - Shumo by Mordikai A. Hamutyinei and Albert B. Plangger

"Actions speak louder than words" would be an English equivalent.

Great Zimbabwe -- The Acropolis

Great Zimbabwe has two major structures. The Acropolis sits upon the mountain top and the Valley enclosure sits in the valley below. See entry Great Zimbabwe for detailed pictures.

The valley floor is strewn with unrestored ruins and an abundance of native aloes.

Old Hwange Photos

Elephant in Hwange

Young Impala Male -- Hwange

Buffalo at Hwange Water Hole

There was a mother hippo and her baby in this water hole. The baby decided to challenge the buffaloes' right to drink there. It charged up to the edge of the water startling the buffalo who moved away a bit. The emboldened baby hippo charged again. The buffalo looked at it with disbelief whereupon it charged again, moving out of the water. The buffalo became irritated by the interruption of their morning drink and decided to depart until later.

The little hippo who could, began to leap about in the water in celebration of its great feat of bravery and daring. It spied a lone elephant drinking at the other side of the watering hole and began to swim toward it to defend its territory against another intruder. That was more than the mother hippo would tolerate. She let out a snort and herded the baby back to deeper water away from the elephant. Even a hippo has to share with an elephant.

Send a Message to Mugabe

Each Monday send a picture of former Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu to Robert G. Mugabe.

Each Tuesday send a picture of former Ethiopian dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam to Robert G. Mugabe.

Each Wednesday send a picture of former Tunisian dictator Zinedine Ben Ali to Robert G. Mugabe.

Each Thursday send a picture of (soon to be former) Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak to Robert G. Mugabe.

Each Friday send a picture of (should be former) Zimbabwean dictator Robert G. Mugabe to Robert G. Mugabe.

Maybe he'll get the message.

The Zimbabwe Dollar

When I moved to Zimbabwe in 1982, the Zimbabwe Dollar was worth $1.10 US. It had just dropped from about $1.40 US, and at one time had been worth even more. In other words, to get 1 Zimbabwe dollar, you had to pay US$1.10. By the time the Zimbabwe dollar fell out of usage, it took in the billions of Zimbabwe dollars to purchase one US dollar. It's hard to keep track of how far the Z$ fell due to the dropping of zeros from the exchange rate during the process.

It is sad to see a once prosperous country fall so far.