Lakosi Village

We’re going to visit a village of about 520 homesteads (5000 people), part of the Ndwandwe tribe. Before going, we stop to buy groceries for the village at the store in Hwange. This will be our gift to the people for letting us spend the morning with them.

 

Buying groceries for the village

We spent most of our time at the homestead of the headman of the village. While only six people live here, they hosted many of their neighbors for our visit. In this village, each of the homesteads has a water tap, courtesy of the European Union. First thing, they gave a tour of the homestead: the water tap, their water bucket shower, grainery, girl’s bedroom, kitchen, headman’s home, chicken coops and cattle corral. The bedroom and kitchen were made by the women using termite mound bricks. The bricks are the cylindrical form of a bucket, hand cemented together and then the surface is smoothed. The men build the roof with branches and straw. The straw needs replacement every five years. In the bedroom, was mosquito netting to reduce malaria, furnished by UNESCO. Shalom, the headman’s son was born in this room, and acted as our host. He was vaccinated at the local clinic for free. Most simple health problems are handled at the local clinic for no cost. But they must pay for doctor visits or going to the hospital in the town of Hwange.

 

The Kitchen

We asked what had changed the most in their lifetimes: Clean tap water has removed the threat of cholera, and there is bus transportation to the nearby towns. But a problem which persists in Zimbabwe is that the banks have no money. While general stores will accept a bank debit care, the open markets (which are cheaper) require cash. Sanction said “don’t be surprised if someone offers to pay your bill with their debit card, if you’ll pay them with cash”. Today the unemployment rate is high, even when you are highly educated, jobs are scarce. Many people go to South Africa for jobs, but there, Zimbabwe people are considered a threat (to the local jobs) because they are more educated than South Africans. The village has a shared irrigated field for growing fruits and vegetables. Built by the government in 1929, when the villagers were moved out of Hwange National Park. We ended our visit by presenting them with the groceries we had bought.

 

The villagers accept our groceries

After our home visit, we went to St. Mary’s school built in 1935. The school has 800 students and 24 teachers. School starts at 7:30 AM and ends at 4:10 PM for 9 months of the year. Subjects include the local language, English, math, science, home economics, social studies, art, and music. OAT has helped with the library, computer lab, furnishings, water pump, and paying for 4 additional teachers. The children walk from as far away as six kilometers. We visited the computer lab and then spent time with the sixth graders, conversing to them in English. I talked to two students: the girl had a good command of English and great penmanship, the boy was herder to understand, but he was studying agriculture in his class (and wanted to be an airplane pilot). Both had visited Hwange National Park on a school trip. We came away with the impression that education is deeply valued here in Zimbabwe, but the country is still struggling to build an economy that will provide jobs to these students.

Sixth Grade Students

Hwange National Park has over 45,000 elephants. We could see elephant damage to the mopane trees near our camp. Most of the trees are browsed down to waist high. The elephants prefer the leaves of the mopane over other vegetation. But the trees have a natural defense: after 15-20 minutes of browsing the leaves produce a bitter taste. The mopane tree is the first to leaf in November, but the young leaves are highly toxic until they have a chance to mature.

In the evening, we drove to Sinamatello Camp with a viewpoint of the valley. From here, we watched a lioness cross the valley and elephants browse through the bushes. We headed down into the valley and had an obstructed view of the lioness, but did get a good look at the elephants.

Sally’s Story

Sally, the 24 year old assistant manager told us her story. Sally’s mother had moved to another village and married her father, but later found that she was his second wife. She divorced her father and raised Sally as a single parent. Sally got pregnant before she had completed high school. The expectation of Zimbabwe society was that she quit school and marry the boy. This is exactly what her father recommended. Could it be because he would get the 10-cow bride price? She moved to the boy’s village for two months, but discovered that being a traditional wife was not for her. Her mother, meanwhile, encouraged her to leave the boy and complete high school. Her boyfriend’s family did not want her to leave their village. Her mother offered to take care of her child and pay for her education. Sally says “I put on ear plugs to ignore society’s wishes”. She graduated second in her class, then went on to the University. She fell into tourism as a major quite by accident. While in school, she had an internship with Wilderness Safari in Victoria Falls and had a supervisor who was an excellent mentor. She also had a four-month internship at a camp. After graduation, Wilderness Safari offered her a job and trained her in camp management – so she could support her daughter. She became a manager in November, 2013, but still faces the challenge of a male-dominated society. (For example, she is only one of two females at this camp.) Men sometimes ignore her orders or decisions. She’s learned have her facts in hand and use the employee’s surname (totem) to show respect for the men. But occasionally warning letters have been required in the man’s personnel file to ensure compliance. Of course, as a woman, she can’t hang out with the guys at camp. She’s often lonely, but decided to fill her time by studying for an MBA. She’s hoping to do marketing or accounting for Wilderness when she completes her degree. This would allow her to work in Victoria Falls, and live with her daughter.