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Beaven Dhliwayo, Correpondent

United Kingdom-based woman, Martha Musonza Holman, who runs Love Zimbabwe charity with her husband, David Holman is building a culture centre in Domboshava under Chief Chinamhora to preserve the Zimbabwean culture and let many have an appreciation of the rich Shona culture.

Domboshava is named after a large granite hill near the village. There are several rock formations at the top of the hill which have been formed by natural erosion. The hill, and rocks, are covered with lichen. There are three colours of lichen at Domboshava: red, green and grey.

Domboshava is derived from the Shona word dombo meaning “rock” and shava (pronounced shawa) meaning “light brown”.

The mountainous area of Mashonaland East, arrested the attention of early Catholic priests and made them recall the story of Mary’s visitation to Elizabeth.

The link between mountains and religious miracles and pilgrimage is historical and up to this day many visit Domboshava mountains for consultation with spirit mediums and others for prayers with Apostolic sects prophets and prophetesses.

Thus it is more important to build a culture centre in that area of rich Zimbabwean history.

Cultural centres have become popular across the globe as technology is making the world feel connected. More and more people are becoming interested in other cultures in addition of wanting to share their own.

Cultural centres are a prime way of bringing communities together in learning which makes it more enjoyable and often times, even more helpful.

Thus the development of cultural centres and villages is crucial to national identity and conscience as it serves as a neural fibre to the historical and social core of any particular nation. 

As such, on an ethnographic scale, the prevalence of such facilities would be far reaching in saving both immaterial and material heritage.

Ethnic culture is not just a mere heritage. 

The law on the Basis of the National Protection of Ethnic Culture defines ethnic culture as the totality of cultural values that is transferred from generation to generation and is constantly renewed, helping to retain the national identity and self-awareness and the peculiarity of ethnographic regions (LRS, 2004). 

There are no doubts that ethnic culture largely consists of a living tradition that is expressed in all spheres of life of the nation, is always changing and adjusting itself to the consciousness and needs of the society in a certain period of time.

In an interview with our sister paper The Herald during an umbuyiso/bira held at the mountains in Domboshava to appease the ancestors ahead of the construction of a culture village, Holman who could not hide her tears of joy said this is a dream come true.

A bira is an all-night ritual, celebrated by Shona people from Zimbabwe in which members of an extended family call on ancestral spirits for guidance and intercession. 

The attendees who braved the chilly weather at the mountain top participated in singing, dancing and hand clapping.

Two mbira players were joined by a player with a pair of gourd shakers (hosho), which emphasise the underlying triplet beat. The mbira playing and singing are all improvised off the familiar basic patterns, resulting in a constantly changing polyphonic texture.

At the ceremony, music that was favoured by the ancestors when they were alive was played to summon the spirits to possess living mediums; thus the religious belief system helps to preserve older musical practices.

The concept of bira will be a story for another day.

Holman said many people in the UK are keen to learn and participate in the rich Shona culture hence the idea to come back home to construct a culture village just adjacent the famous Ngomakurira mountain.

“We want to protect the environment as well as preserve our heritage as the people of Zimbabwe. At this centre we will have a variety of projects including nutritional gardens, fishery, piggery, fruit trees, and poultry.

“We will build stone houses so that when people visit they will have an appreciation of the Zimbabwean culture. In other words, the place will be an African village. We are going to construct a hozi (a room where harvests are stored), nhanga (a room meant for unmarried girls), gota (a room for single males) and a traditional kitchen,” said Martha.

“A lot of people want to know about the Shona culture and heritage. Since I have been living in the United Kingdom (UK) for 19 years now, I love my culture and also teach about Zimbabwean culture back there. I want to bring out the positive side about our country. The only way I can do as an educator is to mobilise young people to understand what is that Zimbabwe has. And the only way I can do it is to build somewhere people will feel safe. 

“I will bring students who are studying Anthropology and many other people in the UK to come and have a feel of the African culture at the culture village we are starting to construct after this umbuyiso/bira.

“The centre will be open to everyone, both domestic and foreign people. People are struggling to get employment, even if they have ideas, it is hard for them because when you are suffering to much you can even stop thinking. So this is the place they can come to enjoy and relax and get a little bit of work so that they can get some money.”

The centre will be the new rendezvous for artistes who intend to promote and showcase cultural diversity and the importance of upholding the country’s cultural heritage.

The centre will also promote cultural dialogue, networking and the creation of new cultural resources for both the public and private sectors. There will also be a commercial arts and crafts shop that will offer an intimate sight of Zimbabwean culture and heritage. To grasp the transfer of knowledge that takes place through the centre or Village, the writer had to engage the local chief amid the dance and music as villagers enjoyed the traditional opaque beer, popularly known as “seven days”.

“A Cultural Village is important in these days as it will show the value of our culture to our children and those that will visit from the diaspora. Most children born after Independence have never been to the rural areas, so the culture centre will show urban kids how ekhaya/kumusha (rural area) looks and feels,” said Headman, Mick Guwa, Chief Chinhamora’s young brother.

“There will be traditional houses for people to stay when they will be learning about our traditional ways of doing things, like ukuchola/kukuya zviyo (grinding) using grinding stones which the old ladies of my village will provide. Traditional food that will be consumed  here will be rich in nutrition, nourishing and to an extent have herbal and therapeutic value,” he said adding that he was happy as the project will develop his community and create employment for the villagers.

Construction of culture villages should spread to all corners of the country as they are pivotal to the preservation of National Heritage, as such, they enrich lives through perpetuation of customs and traditions.

They are even capable of bringing in the much needed foreign currency in the country since many foreigners are amused by the country’s cultural practices.

Schools should also build culture villages so that the national cultural practices are passed on from generation to generation.