Re-living history.

by Nyaradzai Matambanadzo (Zimbabwe)

Making a local connection Zimbabwe

I had never imagined such a place existed. Having grown up in a small and modern suburb of Henderson, this experience came as an adventure to me. Yes, it had been my life dream to travel around the world and explore. I was in my first year at university when the school took us for a tour around the ancient city. Seeing the Great Zimbabwe ruins took me back into the history of the state. The mortar-less structures still stand incredibly, portraying the beauty of the nation and the genius minds behind it. It is this place that the modern nation of Zimbabwe derived its name from. The conical tower still stands high above, depicting its significance in history. Oral tradition suggests that it was once used as granary for the Shona people who lived at the Great Zimbabwe. They say the king distributed grains to his people as a sign of protection. Some scholars are of the view that the conical tower was a sanctuary which was used for religious purposes by the natives of the Great Zimbabwe State. The tour guides took us deep into the nature that surrounds it. It was green and beautiful and would make a great pasture for livestock. One of the places we explored was an ancient village. There were a dozen of old people singing and dancing. They were playing different musical instruments that include rattles, drums and thumb pianos. What intrigued me was the vigor that the old women displayed when they danced. They are more flexible than most of our youths today, believe me. They could jump as high as six feet into the air. They are old people, we were told and we saw for ourselves. Many of them in their hundreds and some of them had lost count. They had lost teeth, but that does not affect their melodious singing. They are the custodians of our pure culture, we were told that is their home. They still dress the traditional way, in animal skins that cover only the genitals and breasts for women. They still practice hunting and gathering. They still consume wild diets, no wonder they are strong. Up to now i wonder why they had no youngsters among them. The tour guides went on to encourage us to drop coins in their baskets so they could perform again for us. We did so, and they entertained us one more time. I felt excited and enchanted. It seemed as if history was unfolding itself to me. Bracelets made of beads were being sold there and we bought some. We were told that performing arts were another way the people in that village earn a living from. In the same village, we were shown the houses of the late Nyatsimba Mutota, one of the earliest kings in history. We were shown sculptures of his wives. They have maintained the ubuntu way of life as they live together and share everything. You could tell just by their appearances that they have never come into contact by modern technologies. It seemed as if we were worlds apart, as even our languages differ. Of course for us the new generation, our tongues are polluted due to colonization and the coming in of globalization. They say the state declined because of failing trade, famine, political instability, water shortages among other reasons. Whatever the case, the Great Zimbabwe monuments gives a clear picture of the civilized society that inhabited in it throughout history, it tells a tale of an organised people both politically and socio-economically. My zeal for the history subject since high school resurfaced and i became more eager to explore the world. Nothing is as breath taking as entering a world you only read in books and let alone believe.