We left at 7AM this morning to drive to a homestead near Hwange Town to experience a day in the life of a homesteader. Clyde, the trip manager, had an assignment for us. For the first task, he gave us each $5 out of the allotted budget from the trip expenses and a short list of grocery items we needed to find and purchase. The second task was to find out what the Namibian name he gave each of us means in English. Mine was Nomqhele (you click on the “q”).
These tasks are designed for the purpose of getting us to interact with the local people. We stopped at the village stores and began our search. The two items Chris and I were assigned to buy were impuphu and itshukela, which turned out to be very easy to find: sugar and maize. Our new friends from South Carolina were assigned mopani worms, only sold at one shop. The storekeepers don’t work on Fridays because that’s the day they collect trash, so they were unsuccessful.
On the name front, I got two different answers to what it means. One woman said it means one with no worries. The homestead leader told me it means a crown. It turns out that the crown answer was actuate. Clyde said it also means “queen.” Yes.
All of these purchases would be gifts to give to homesteaders for hosting us. We pounded millet, held baby goats, stirred a pot of tomatoes and mopani worms, and whisked polenta. The village elder’s wife, Mrs. Menches, proudly showed us her kitchen, which had been built using a termite mound. She had shelves carved into the wall and a neat little spot for all of her tools and supplies.
We gathered in a common hut with the villagers to introduce ourselves and share in the meal of polenta, sautéed cowpea greens, and mopani worms. I cleaned my plate. Mrs. Menches had Maxine help her serve the food; she latched onto her because, as she kept telling us, she has four sons and no daughters. Maxine and Edwin both tried the worms so as not to offend the villagers. They were like salty, slightly fibrous shrimp and packed with protein.
After leaving the groceries and other random gifts we had brought from home, we said our goodbyes and headed to a school.
We visited Lukosi Secondary School, which is supported by the Grand Circle Foundation, funded by the company we are traveling with (a portion of their profits go to this fund). We also brought donations from home, like calculators, soccer balls, and other school supplies.
After the principal met with us and gave us a brief overview of the school’s challenges and recent initiatives, we went into a classroom to talk with the students. I sat down with a curious, bubbly and funny group of 16-year-old girls: Kimberly, Ella, Bernadette, Cherish, and Susan. We started off a little awkwardly as Kimberly asked me scripted questions, but we were soon laughing and joking around. They spied Maxine and Edwin talking to a group of boys at the table behind us and peppered me with questions about them, especially Maxine.
“Would you like me to introduce you to her?”
“Oh, yes!” I didn’t want to steal both of them from the boys, so I called just Maxine over. Soon after, the principal directed the students to show us around their garden. I was escorted by a boy named Eric, and Maxine and girls fluttered around like a bevy of birds. As we were leaving, they asked her for her phone number. As she began to the tell them, the principal walked near and they straightened up and shushed her. Once the coast was clear, Maxine finished giving them her digits. They also said they would look for her on TikTok. We hugged and waved goodbye as Clyde was finally able to usher us all back toward the van. Nobody wanted to leave.
This was our last day in Zimbabwe here at Kashawe. Tomorrow it’s on to Lufupa River Camp at Kafue National Park in Zambia. Chris and I stayed up later tonight, sitting around the fire with Parker, a fellow traveler; Clyde, our trip manager; and Terence, Charles, and Victor, who work here at the camp.
It’s time to get some shut eye. I just heard a lion roar, no lie. This is the trip of a lifetime.
My Corner of the Village 