A facet of Shona life

ZIMBABWE | Sunday, 23 November 2014 | Views [615] | View Smaller Image

Shona is a patriarchal society and chores are divided according to gender then ranking. This is my brother’s wife Vimbai and their first child. As a daughter in law she has been up since 5am sweeping the yard and doing last night’s dishes, all the while carrying a baby on her back. This photo was taken as she was heading off to help cook breakfast for over twenty-five people. There is always a chore for her to be doing and she won’t rest until going to bed in the evening.

There was a mixed reaction to my white partner among the children. The younger child seen here is Letty, she’s a little under two years old. Young children have no concept of race, to Letty my partner is an adult and as far as she was concerned it’s an adult’s job is to pick her up and hold her. She was not shy about letting my partner know this. Her older sister, Faye, is eight years old and has an apprehensive look on her face. This would have been her first interaction with a foreigner who also happened to be Caucasian. Similar to how some Australians responded negatively to me, Faye does not trust what she has not been exposed to.

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In rural life, the men tend to spend the day sitting at the dare (pronounced dar-ray), meaning ‘court’, seen to the right hand side. Here they drink home brew beer and discussing secret men’s business. Due to their rank, the younger men have the duty of herding cattle and collecting firewood, which is why they are not present in the photo. The four men shown are all my grandfathers, even though we’re not related by blood. This is because most Bantu tribes, the Shona included, believe in hunhuism, that everyone is family.

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A facet of Shona life

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