Tuesday August 16, 2011
I met Chengerai & Angeline at Chengerai’s family home just outside Makumbi mission at 07:30. They were to be my guides up to the bushman cave about 6 km away. One of the fun notes is they just got married on Sat so this was their honeymoon with the American…. we had some good laughs.
First though I was introduced to the whole family. Luckily I have learned a few Shona greetings and was able to say good morning. It is a sign of respect to slightly bow and clap cupped hands together. There were about 15 people for me to greet. Chengerai kindly translated. It is such an honor to be invited into an African home. Most of the huts are about 20 feet in diameter with a cement floor and cement insides and brick exterior. There is one door and one window. The roof is thatched. In the center is an open fire for cooking and heat; it has a grill over the fire. A big pot of Sadza was cooking. There are no bathrooms so the great outdoors becomes a latrine. There is a wooden rack for drying dishes in the yard. The yard is fenced with barbed wire. The chicken, dog and kids run freely. There is a separate often square building for sleeping.
We headed out on our 6km walk; along the way at every hut the people of the village greeted us. The last ¾ mile was scrambling up a granite face, we criss-crossed until we reached the mouth of the cave. It is a long slit in the mountain. There were folks camped out holding devotions all night, the only problem being they were burning a fire which over time has covered the bushman paintings with carbon. The only visible paintings were at the mouth of the cave. So cool…painted in the stone age.
Above the cave there is a huge cross in memory of a Jesuit priest who fell to his death in 1939… happy to say I did not leave a cross behind!
I shared some American protein bars and organic fruit leather with my friends, then we headed down. Which was much more scary than climbing up!
When we arrived back at their hut they invited me in for tea and bread baked over the open fire. I feel so lucky to have spent my day with my new African friends. I also received Shona tutoring as a bonus.
After sitting in the hut for an hour I smelled like one does after sitting around the camp fire…especially when the wind shifts and the smoke blows at you until your eyes and lungs burn.
Tuesday is the night they have mass in the children’s home…picture 80 squirming 1-16 year olds crammed in your living room singing and swaying There was a 2 yr old near me climbing, poking, jabbing at anyone he could reach. The African sisters were glaring at his antics, I had all I could do not to bust out laughing.
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